Derwin "Pooh Bear" James S Florida State University

I think there is a good chance this guy is our #1 pick. I would love it honestly.

His stock has been plummeting somewhat. No one is quite sure if he'll ever get his previous athleticism back. He needs to be evaluated on the player he is now and not the guy he was pre-injury. Considering the Baalke track record, I'd be hesitant to go all in on a guy with serious past injury concerns, especially at a position that isn't a particularly major need.

SI's Albert Breer spoke with one anonymous AFC personnel executive who is concerned that FSU redshirt sophomore S Derwin James "is not the same" since his injury last year.

"Right now? No way in hell" does James belong in the top overall prospect conversation, per the professional evaluator. James missed almost all of the 2016 season after tearing cartilage in his left knee right when he was considered the model of success at his position. The Seminoles have asked him to move around more this season, but he has missed open field tackles and is not making as many big plays.

Florida State safety Derwin James arrived in Tallahassee in 2015, and his freakish play as a true freshman conjured images of super-sized safeties of the past, like Sean Taylor and Kam Chancellor. Then, he blew his knee out last year, and clearly didn't look like the same player, according to scouts, when he came back in September. The redshirt sophomore has already declared for the draft, and made the call to skip the Independence Bowl. A lot of people were talking about him as a Top-5 pick earlier in the year. I had him going 11th in early November, and he fell to 18th (to Seattle) on my latest list.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/12/27/2018-nfl-mock-draft-notes-marcus-davenport-quenton-nelson-tremaine-edmunds-derwin-james

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
His stock has been plummeting somewhat. No one is quite sure if he'll ever get his previous athleticism back. He needs to be evaluated on the player he is now and not the guy he was pre-injury. Considering the Baalke track record, I'd be hesitant to go all in on a guy with serious past injury concerns, especially at a position that isn't a particularly major need.

I disagree on the need personally. I think its a very underrated need.

Reid wont be back, Ward is clearly not a long term solution to much, and Tartt is still a huge ??. I Like the rookie, but lets be fair, he is a 7th round pick who hugely overachieved this season. I hope to see continued growth, but Derwin would instantly be the best S on the roster.

I think once the combine rolls around his stock will be back where it is supposed to be, his sweet spot is right around where we are picking.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

SI's Albert Breer spoke with one anonymous AFC personnel executive who is concerned that FSU redshirt sophomore S Derwin James "is not the same" since his injury last year.

"Right now? No way in hell" does James belong in the top overall prospect conversation, per the professional evaluator. James missed almost all of the 2016 season after tearing cartilage in his left knee right when he was considered the model of success at his position. The Seminoles have asked him to move around more this season, but he has missed open field tackles and is not making as many big plays.

Florida State safety Derwin James arrived in Tallahassee in 2015, and his freakish play as a true freshman conjured images of super-sized safeties of the past, like Sean Taylor and Kam Chancellor. Then, he blew his knee out last year, and clearly didn't look like the same player, according to scouts, when he came back in September. The redshirt sophomore has already declared for the draft, and made the call to skip the Independence Bowl. A lot of people were talking about him as a Top-5 pick earlier in the year. I had him going 11th in early November, and he fell to 18th (to Seattle) on my latest list.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/12/27/2018-nfl-mock-draft-notes-marcus-davenport-quenton-nelson-tremaine-edmunds-derwin-james

I would like to see these missed open field tackles, or an actual tally...

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

SI's Albert Breer spoke with one anonymous AFC personnel executive who is concerned that FSU redshirt sophomore S Derwin James "is not the same" since his injury last year.

"Right now? No way in hell" does James belong in the top overall prospect conversation, per the professional evaluator. James missed almost all of the 2016 season after tearing cartilage in his left knee right when he was considered the model of success at his position. The Seminoles have asked him to move around more this season, but he has missed open field tackles and is not making as many big plays.

Florida State safety Derwin James arrived in Tallahassee in 2015, and his freakish play as a true freshman conjured images of super-sized safeties of the past, like Sean Taylor and Kam Chancellor. Then, he blew his knee out last year, and clearly didn't look like the same player, according to scouts, when he came back in September. The redshirt sophomore has already declared for the draft, and made the call to skip the Independence Bowl. A lot of people were talking about him as a Top-5 pick earlier in the year. I had him going 11th in early November, and he fell to 18th (to Seattle) on my latest list.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/12/27/2018-nfl-mock-draft-notes-marcus-davenport-quenton-nelson-tremaine-edmunds-derwin-james

Yup, we discussed this on the previous page. Dude is not the same since the injury.

Originally posted by Heroism:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

SI's Albert Breer spoke with one anonymous AFC personnel executive who is concerned that FSU redshirt sophomore S Derwin James "is not the same" since his injury last year.

"Right now? No way in hell" does James belong in the top overall prospect conversation, per the professional evaluator. James missed almost all of the 2016 season after tearing cartilage in his left knee right when he was considered the model of success at his position. The Seminoles have asked him to move around more this season, but he has missed open field tackles and is not making as many big plays.

Florida State safety Derwin James arrived in Tallahassee in 2015, and his freakish play as a true freshman conjured images of super-sized safeties of the past, like Sean Taylor and Kam Chancellor. Then, he blew his knee out last year, and clearly didn't look like the same player, according to scouts, when he came back in September. The redshirt sophomore has already declared for the draft, and made the call to skip the Independence Bowl. A lot of people were talking about him as a Top-5 pick earlier in the year. I had him going 11th in early November, and he fell to 18th (to Seattle) on my latest list.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/12/27/2018-nfl-mock-draft-notes-marcus-davenport-quenton-nelson-tremaine-edmunds-derwin-james

Yup, we discussed this on the previous page. Dude is not the same since the injury.

One year removed. He was being compared to Sean Taylor pre Injury. Pretty hard to live up to that hype one year removed from an injury. Again, i would like to see the missed open field tackles.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
His stock has been plummeting somewhat. No one is quite sure if he'll ever get his previous athleticism back. He needs to be evaluated on the player he is now and not the guy he was pre-injury. Considering the Baalke track record, I'd be hesitant to go all in on a guy with serious past injury concerns, especially at a position that isn't a particularly major need.

I disagree on the need personally. I think its a very underrated need.

Reid wont be back, Ward is clearly not a long term solution to much, and Tartt is still a huge ??. I Like the rookie, but lets be fair, he is a 7th round pick who hugely overachieved this season. I hope to see continued growth, but Derwin would instantly be the best S on the roster.

I think once the combine rolls around his stock will be back where it is supposed to be, his sweet spot is right around where we are picking.

Tartt is not a question mark at all. He's a baller and we have much bigger needs across the board.

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

His stock has been plummeting somewhat. No one is quite sure if he'll ever get his previous athleticism back. He needs to be evaluated on the player he is now and not the guy he was pre-injury. Considering the Baalke track record, I'd be hesitant to go all in on a guy with serious past injury concerns, especially at a position that isn't a particularly major need.

I disagree on the need personally. I think its a very underrated need.

Reid wont be back, Ward is clearly not a long term solution to much, and Tartt is still a huge ??. I Like the rookie, but lets be fair, he is a 7th round pick who hugely overachieved this season. I hope to see continued growth, but Derwin would instantly be the best S on the roster.

I think once the combine rolls around his stock will be back where it is supposed to be, his sweet spot is right around where we are picking.

Tartt is not a question mark at all. He's a baller and we have much bigger needs across the board.

He has 1 year on his contract. That's not a long term solution as of today.

Originally posted by tohara3:
Would love this kid on the 49ers! As an FSU fan James would fit Lynch & Saleh's defense perfectly

I feel really good about our safeties but man this kid is a player and would be a perfect fit in this scheme.

If he could get back to his old form I don't think anyone would question this pick. However we have been burnt over and over from hoping players can get back to their old form. Picking 9/10 you should play it safe and get an upgrade at talent that doesn't have a big question mark. I was a huge James fan but now I just don't want to see another Tank where every off season we are wondering if this is when he is 100% and ready to explode on the season. I hope James does get back to his old form but I would rather go with Nelson or Smith at 9/10

Originally posted by Hysterikal:

If he could get back to his old form I don't think anyone would question this pick. However we have been burnt over and over from hoping players can get back to their old form. Picking 9/10 you should play it safe and get an upgrade at talent that doesn't have a big question mark. I was a huge James fan but now I just don't want to see another Tank where every off season we are wondering if this is when he is 100% and ready to explode on the season. I hope James does get back to his old form but I would rather go with Nelson or Smith at 9/10

I believe in ShanaLynch when it comes to investigating injuries. If they believe a player can bounce back from injury, they'll go for that player. Ie. Reuben Foster - he does get hurt but it's not due to that shoulder everyone was worried about. I believe Baalke was a gambler when it came to picking injured players

Originally posted by Hysterikal:

If he could get back to his old form I don't think anyone would question this pick. However we have been burnt over and over from hoping players can get back to their old form. Picking 9/10 you should play it safe and get an upgrade at talent that doesn't have a big question mark. I was a huge James fan but now I just don't want to see another Tank where every off season we are wondering if this is when he is 100% and ready to explode on the season. I hope James does get back to his old form but I would rather go with Nelson or Smith at 9/10

I agree with most of this page, the injury scares the hell out of me, most younger guys bounce straight back from knee injuries, and it's a big concern that he didn't.

I was excited about Derwin last year, but I agree that this is too risky. I like our Safeties, and a prospect has to jump high above the rest to be considered, 2015 James did, 2017 James doesn't.

Im still super confused by some of your comments. One SI article quoting "scouts" and the dude is a bust who regresed last season and missed tackles?

Again, please show me where. I have seen the guy miss exactly one tackle in his entire career, and it was a bad one, so it went viral a bit, because the guy simply doesent miss tackles.

Outside of the missed tackle in the NCS game, where are the others?

84 combined tackles, 2 INT, 5.5 TFL, 1 Sack, 4 QB hurries, 1 blocked kick. He had less tackles post injury, BUT, HE had wayyyy more PD's last year than he did pre injury. He had 11 last season compared to 5 in his rookie season.

It was a different season, he was asked to do different things, and he was coming off a serious injury.

Where is the regression?

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:

Im still super confused by some of your comments. One SI article quoting "scouts" and the dude is a bust who regresed last season and missed tackles?

Again, please show me where. I have seen the guy miss exactly one tackle in his entire career, and it was a bad one, so it went viral a bit, because the guy simply doesent miss tackles.

Outside of the missed tackle in the NCS game, where are the others?

84 combined tackles, 2 INT, 5.5 TFL, 1 Sack, 4 QB hurries, 1 blocked kick. He had less tackles post injury, BUT, HE had wayyyy more PD's last year than he did pre injury. He had 11 last season compared to 5 in his rookie season.

It was a different season, he was asked to do different things, and he was coming off a serious injury.

Where is the regression?

You won't see missed tackles in a highlights video