MadDog's Big 253 Board- March 23rd Edition

Very cool seeing Josh Kaddu at #155.. He has been friends with my sister since middle school. I was a freshman when he was a Senior at my highschool and they won the MEL section championship.. Crazy that he is about to be in the NFL. I was wondering if anybody here had any feedback on him? I can't say anything because I'm obviously bias towards him

Originally posted by Zachary:

Very cool seeing Josh Kaddu at #155.. He has been friends with my sister since middle school. I was a freshman when he was a Senior at my highschool and they won the MEL section championship.. Crazy that he is about to be in the NFL. I was wondering if anybody here had any feedback on him? I can't say anything because I'm obviously bias towards him

Good backer. A riser in the draft with solid instincts. Performed well during East-West Shine week. May end up going top 125.

Originally posted by D-Money:

Nice work Maddog, but I cant see the niners taking Zeitler in round 1. Not with Fleener,Perry, Reyes,L. Miller available. Not need picks but I think you could easily argue any for any of these players over Zeitler. Feel you on Upshaw dropping. Did not look smooth at the combine at all and has the smallest hands in the draft.WTH.
How I would go with the player available. Rounds 1-5
1. Fleener (obvious Coice)
2. Casey Hayward
3. Philip Blake-will be gone IMO, but we need more of a future center/guard
4.Greg Childs
5. Love the Duke pick.
once again nice job MD

The Niners are pretty set with starters at nearly every position, except RG. Since it is a first rounder, it makes sense to attempt to get him significant minutes right away, and I am not surer any of the players listed would be getting many snaps. Could be wrong, but the Niners severely need offensive interior talent.

I really like Blake and think he has a good shot in this league. Played really well during Senior Bowl week against solid DT's

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Just looking at the guys who could be available to the Niners based on this, I might go with:

Rd 1 Coby Fleener TE
Rd 2 Brandon Brooks OG
Rd 3 Marvin Jones WR
Rd 4 Derrick Wolf DE
Rd 5 Quentin Salisbury C

I think the Niners would solidify their OL and DE and get a couple of weapons with Fleener and Jones.

Not a bad list of players. I Really like Brooks and graded him out better othan any other lineman in any of the off season bowl games. Pure domination. Jones a solid target

Originally posted by mebemused:

MadDog great job as always. Much appreciated.

I was using the value board from cbsdraftscout.com and Kevin Zeitler was #36. After trying various WRs and Fleener at #30, it dawned on me that Zeitler at RG would make an immediate impact. Most importantly, he would give Smith the time to throw some of those 5 step drops to Moss and Manningham which would open up the run, and the underneath routes.. And he is a mailer in the run game, so we could punish on the run. Love that pick.

BTW, cbsdraftscout.com has Alameda Ta'amu NT around our 3rd round pick, while you have him off the board at #61. Another impact player as a rookie.

Josh Norman in the third. Really like your first 3 rounds!

Ta'Amu should come off the board in the second round. With so many teams running a 3-4 defense the NT position carries a ton of weight. I have been sold on this concept since Ron Stone was selected so early by the Patriots a few years ago. I could see the Chargers beating us to the punch in the second round.

Norman works out on Tuesday and many will be curious how he performs. Tall corners are a hot item

Originally posted by 5280High:

Much appreciated as always, one constuctive criticism would be puttnig Hill before Wright. Hills measurements are off the charts, but Wright was very impressive at his proday, is much more polished at this point in his routes, and breaks in & out of them on a dime. In my pretend GM opinion there just isnt enough film on the Hill showing things that are succesful at the NFL level to justify picking him over Wright that early.

Would definitly like the draft to fall that way cause I would dump my Fleener crush for Upshaw in a heartbeat and wave goodbye to Parys. But I dont see him or Barron lasting that long.

Every year, the draft throws everyone a curve all. This year, I think someone will gamble a bit and use a top 20 pick on Hill. The upside is greater than any receiver this year. Any tall WR that can burn like Hill, you have to seriously consider, and I think teams fall in love with the potential.

Had a chance to watch portions of his Pro-Day and the kid looks sharp in his breaks.

Rarely do I get suckered into measurables in putting a grade on a player (I think Sanu is going to be really good in the NFL), but I have Hill as the second best WR in this draft?

One final note: while there are a number of sub 6' talented WR's in the NFL, I think teams are a but conservative with their first rounders and height at the position. Some see Wright limited to the slot at the next level, and this may impact his draft status

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:

Hey MD, always value your draft opinion, so wanted to know how you felt about Akiem Hicks.

I first noticed his size at the combine and started doing some research. I watched a 15 minute YouTube video that showed about 30 or so plays he was in on, and he was dominant. Everything I read says he has tons of potential. Now I also read somewhere that he has some character concerns, and from watching the videos you can tell his level of competition is horrible, so I have curbed my enthusiasm somewhat, but still do like him.

I see you got him pegged around rd. 5, but how do you personally feel about him?

Hicks is super raw, but a guy that big and quick with the upside he possesses is someone worth throwing the dice in the 5th round on. I see him as a legit 3-4 DE prospect and have him as late third round value. He is a player the team should seriously target in the 4th round.

I like him best one the edge because of his 84" wingspan, and smooth feet. Plus, a 32" vertical at 318 pounds is pretty remarkable.I like what I see in limited video, and he looked pretty good at the Shrine game, although he was put inside in the 4-3 defense scheme.

Originally posted by buck:

I like Dale Moss. You have him at 240.

Here is information I found on him.

Use a late round pick to draft Moss
http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/nfl-draft/164629-use-late-round-pick-draft-moss/

One of the great offseason workout in a long time. With a late rounder teams might be willing to pull that lever? The cone time is mindboggling. Crazy fast

Medicals are the one blind spot any draft prognosticator or casual fan confronts. It is what drives players like Charles Brown or Bruce Campbell Unexpectantly down boards

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

I dont know jack about college players, but you sure seem to have a lot of WRs going before 30, which seems odd only because the WRs didn't seem that impressive from a combine standpoint. None of them seem to have superior measurables (speed or size). So is your big board a result of talent or a general feeling that the league is starving for WRs? Do you think it's been influenced by all the Webzone talk about how we need a WR?

Thinking back the last few years, guys like Jackson, Crabtree and Bryant fell much further than expected and I dont remember there being a big run on wrs, ever. Anyway, just curious.

The league is pass heavy and teams are looking for guys who can move the chains. Unfortunately RB's and FB's are the big losers

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
Every year, the draft throws everyone a curve all. This year, I think someone will gamble a bit and use a top 20 pick on Hill. The upside is greater than any receiver this year. Any tall WR that can burn like Hill, you have to seriously consider, and I think teams fall in love with the potential.

Had a chance to watch portions of his Pro-Day and the kid looks sharp in his breaks.

Rarely do I get suckered into measurables in putting a grade on a player (I think Sanu is going to be really good in the NFL), but I have Hill as the second best WR in this draft?

One final note: while there are a number of sub 6' talented WR's in the NFL, I think teams are a but conservative with their first rounders and height at the position. Some see Wright limited to the slot at the next level, and this may impact his draft status

FWIW, Grant Cohn's just released mock has the Bills reaching(?) for Hill at #10.

Originally posted by ishkabibel:

MD - I keep going back to you not drafting WR until 6th round. Are you anticipating a big contribution from Moss this year?

Moss, not really. I think he ends up pretty frustrated playing for the team, so I was not excited about the move. Would probably feel differently if he was picked up by the Chargers. This is a square peg round hole relationship, in my opinion.

The Niners are pretty much set at WR this year, so I simply think the team waits until the latter portion of the draft. I know a lot of fans are down on Williams, but I think the organization likes him, and sees him as having a roster spot in 2012. So, that means the team already has five WR's.

Originally posted by 49erThrowback:

FWIW, Grant Cohn's just released mock has the Bills reaching(?) for Hill at #10.

Stranger things have happened. I can see a scenario where the Jags select Hill at 7.

Originally posted by Born49R:

MadDog, I'm surprised that you have Mark Barron so low after all of the hype on him during the season. Plus I watched him play at least 3 games this past season and though it is difficult to watch db's on tv during games he always showed up making plays. What's the deal with him? Too slow?

Hard to sell a SS going in the first round. Just a position teams wait until later in the draft to address. However, I see the Pats making the choice. They have to get better on defense
In the back end.

Personally, I see a day one starter, but not a dynamic player that carries a first round grade. I see a guy like Sean Richardson of Vanderbilt having much better draft value, since he will picked about 4 rounds later, and may end up just as good.

Originally posted by GORO:

MadDog could the 49ers draft a DL to replace Soapaga or J. Smith in a few years?

I think they do it in the first four rounds this year. The reason I see Ta'amu as a likely pick is due to Soap's contract ending after 2012. And since Sopoaga has experience playing the 34 DE, the team can put a jumbo DL on the field in situations with Soap and Ta'amu