Originally posted by strickac:
From my perspective, I think Latimer going in the 3rd is accurate. He's only a junior, so he's going to continue to get better. Despite his time speed, Latimer isn't going to fly past many DBs, but he's fast enough to gain separation. I don't envision Latimer as an ideal deep threat in the NFL. What he is though is a smooth, natural athlete, with good hands that can get physical. He's one of, if not the best, blockers out of this WR class. You know the team loves that. Comparing him to former 49ers, I'd say you're getting a bigger, more productive version of Josh Morgan. Latimer's ceiling is a consistent #2.
I'm not blown away by Moncrief, like my zoners, but there's something there. He has deceptive speed for his size and he's able to behind defenses for big plays. He has the skill set to be a #1, but he seems to lose interest at times (just my impression). I see Moncrief as an inconsistent player that's to look like a star some weeks then completely disappear for several games.
It's hard to predict how their game translates, but I think most would agree the Moncrief has a higher ceiling. Latimer though could be a steal in the 4th. The team has said that you need a speedy #3 to force Seattle's safeties off the LOS. Latimer isn't that guy, whereas Moncrief could be a real problem in that role, particularly for Chancellor. Latimer would be a great pick to stash on the bench for a year or two, meaning we'd probably want to draft another WR prior to him.
I see Latimer as being legitimately strong, being very physical and getting his hands on guys and knocking defensive back's around. I haven't seen that same level of beast strength from Moncrief although he's got a solid frame. Moncrief has better deep speed and by far my favorite trait of his is his ability to simply separate and get open. As you mentioned, Latimer is very raw, he's been playing football for like 5 years total. I think he could have upped his draft position by staying in school but maybe he figured in the long-term he'd be better off with pro level coaching, I don't know, but both of these guys have a lot of potential to develop into high quality NFL receivers.
I think they actually complement each other pretty well.
