Originally posted by Overkill:
I say we take him at 31. Who cares if he's never played the sport before? He looks like he could play & that's the important thing.
In all seriousness, it's a tough balance. Eye-popping measurables were the reason MadDog was so sure JJ Watt was special, and he was right. Now 10 teams regret passing on Watt.
Since Okoye has never played football before, you can't take him early, that much is obvious. But if he has once-in-a-generation measurables for a big man, he becomes the ultimate boom or bust pick. He'll never be a mediocre player. He'll become a star, or he'll never play a down. Different teams are going to evaluate that risk differently, so it will be interesting to see where he falls.
For the 49ers, I personally wouldn't object to taking him as early as our 4th comp pick. That would be after taking six safer players in the first four rounds, which is practically a whole draft for normal teams.