Originally posted by LieutKaffee:
Depends who you ask. I'm a big 49er fan and draft mock reader, but I'm 0% of a scout myself. Based on the reports, Dion Jordan and Sharrif Floyd both strike me as "freakish" type talents. Here is a tidbit from our own MadDog, who is rarely prone to hyperbole:
Side note: The team(s) that pass on Sharrif Floyd are going to kick themselves for the next 10 years. He is the best player in this draft, and I'm not sure it is close. Knowing the Raiders luck, the Jaguars's front office will have a team of mules kick them in the head and dump the idea of Jordan at 2 and select Floyd. He is a 20 year old monster in the making
Yeah, I've read a lot of different things on Floyd - he is very athletic for a DT, but not big enough to play NT. He is much younger than the other top DE/DT (Star = 23, Ziggy = 23, Dion Jordan = 23, Richardson = 24, Floyd = 20). His best fit is probably in a 4-3 because I doubt he can be as effective at DE with his short arms (he's the only defensive lineman prospect I know of with arms shorter than 32"). Arm length isn't everything and Floyd has powerful hands, but it definitely helps with shedding blockers, especially on the outside when going up against tackles that often have 34-36 inch arms (even longer in DJ Fluker's case). I've also read that a lot of the hype concerning Floyd is coming from the media after he had a big bowl game, but the production (especially sacks) isn't really there which could suggest that his short arms limit how effective he can be. He's young, so he will probably be better at 23 than these guys, but his arms probably aren't getting much longer which might limit his upside. Even if he fit our system, I don't think it would make sense to give up whatever it took to get to the top 3. I'd probably rather have Richardson since he can play DE and DT like Justin Smith even though he's 24 and has some past injuries.
Dion Jordan is more of a freak in my opinion. He's big, fast, pretty long (not as long as Ansah), and very athletic. He appears more agile and is a better bender than Ansah right now and he's good in coverage. I don't see him ever bulking up enough to play 3-4 DE, but he's a solid OLB and might be able to move up in the nickle to rush opposite Aldon Smith. Ansah probably has as much upside as Jordan and could possibly develop into a 3-4 DE. He has a lot more bulk than Jordan, longer arms (35 1/8 vs 33 7/8), and as much straight line speed, but they are projected at different positions. It's hard not to like the idea of a 6'5 290 pound 3-4 long-armed DE who can run in the 4.6's which Ansah might become.