Malik Hooker S Ohio State

Originally posted by MuggD:

Was listening to Jim Rome today and this dude was supposed to be on but flaked out on the interview. Red Flag. Character issue.

No. Just no. It's an interview, not an OTA.

Originally posted by adrianlesnar:
Absolutely conjecture.

How is it? All I'm hearing is how crucial FS is to this defense to have success. Pete Carroll is a defensive HC. Yet at #6 with Eric Berry already off the board he was willing to risk seeing Earl Thomas get drafted before their next pick?

You don't do that if you think the position is so crucial and the player is that important to your team's success. Now if they didn't have him graded as a top 10 pick then it makes sense to make that gamble but if they had him as a top 10 pick then you don't risk him going somewhere else if the position value is that high.

Pete Carroll is a former DB coach the idea that he took a DB early isn't ground breaking. He has coached with other teams, maybe if he drafted FS every time he took over a team we'd have a legit point but otherwise I think people are reading way too much into the Earl Thomas pick.

Thomas was BPA when they picked. Simple as that.

Originally posted by Lobo49er:
You have no idea who's faster.

Are his intstincs good enough? Are you grasping for straws here? Lol.

Don't take my word for it.

NFL scout sees Ed Reed as good comp for Ohio State safety

Link

Daniel Jeremiah:
"He has the best combination of range and ball skills that I've ever seen in a college safety. His anticipation and awareness is off the charts. I wasn't in Baltimore when Ed Reed was drafted, but I arrived the following year to scout for the Ravens and spent four years around the future Hall of Famer. Hooker is the closest thing I've seen to Reed seen since I've been scouting. He is also very effective in the run game. He takes proper angles and he's a reliable tackler.

I'm not alone in my opinion. Evaluators around the league rave about him and can't believe he's only been a one-year starter. He's just scratching the surface of what he will eventually become. -- Daniel Jeremiah

Link

"He's on a level with Earl Thomas, and I don't expect any other player to match that this year. Hooker combines awareness, instincts, and excellent burst to cover the field from sideline to sideline like the NFL's greatest. Still young and developing, but his potential is sky-high."

"The first name that comes to mind when watching Hooker is Seattle star safety Earl Thomas. Some have brought up Ed Reed, but Hooker's body type and game are more reminiscent of Thomas than anyone else. "

Link

Mike Mayock on Malik Hooker: He's comparable to Ed Reed and Earl Thomas

Link

Only because Hooker was too hurt to run at the combine to give us actual comparison there. You love referencing experts, I'm sure I can find several breakdowns mentioning that his speed isn't elite. Earl ran a 4.43 at the combine which is pretty darn fast.

Ed Reed played 4 years at Miami. Thomas had 2 years at Texas. I'm not questioning how good Hooker played last year or that the kid has some rare ability to make plays and find the ball as a FS but when talking #2 overall he better check all the boxes.

1 year experience
Injuries
Work on tackling
Thought about quitting when things didn't go his way before

....those are not the things I want to see of a #2 overall pick. Player comparisons are great, here's one of Solomon Thomas being compared to JJ Watt

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/stanfords-solomon-thomas-draws-j-j-watt-comparison/

Does that mean he's going to be JJ Watt?

I'm sure we've all seen guys compared to greats before who never panned out. At #2 you need to make sure you not only draft for potential in the future but also to make sure you eliminate the risk of that player not turning into the guy you expected.

Originally posted by genus49:
Only because Hooker was too hurt to run at the combine to give us actual comparison there. You love referencing experts, I'm sure I can find several breakdowns mentioning that his speed isn't elite. Earl ran a 4.43 at the combine which is pretty darn fast.

Ed Reed played 4 years at Miami. Thomas had 2 years at Texas. I'm not questioning how good Hooker played last year or that the kid has some rare ability to make plays and find the ball as a FS but when talking #2 overall he better check all the boxes.

1 year experience
Injuries
Work on tackling
Thought about quitting when things didn't go his way before

....those are not the things I want to see of a #2 overall pick. Player comparisons are great, here's one of Solomon Thomas being compared to JJ Watt

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/stanfords-solomon-thomas-draws-j-j-watt-comparison/

Does that mean he's going to be JJ Watt?

I'm sure we've all seen guys compared to greats before who never panned out. At #2 you need to make sure you not only draft for potential in the future but also to make sure you eliminate the risk of that player not turning into the guy you expected.

Earl actually ran a 4.47. That d internet sometimes gets things wrong. Ed Reed ran a 4.57 so you may be overlooking speed because instincts/ ability to diagnose a play is what matters. Thomas's resume is nowhere near as filled out as Cowboy's or Donald's. Just 1 year of sack production.

Originally posted by tjd808185:
Earl actually ran a 4.47. That d internet sometimes gets things wrong. Ed Reed ran a 4.57 so you may be overlooking speed because instincts/ ability to diagnose a play is what matters. Thomas's resume is nowhere near as filled out as Cowboy's or Donald's. Just 1 year of sack production.

http://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=8648 says otherwise but whatever

So Thomas' resume is nowhere near as filled out as Cowboy's or Donald's but Hooker's resume is ok to mention with Ed Reed and Earl Thomas?

Originally posted by genus49:
http://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=8648 says otherwise but whatever

So Thomas' resume is nowhere near as filled out as Cowboy's or Donald's but Hooker's resume is ok to mention with Ed Reed and Earl Thomas?

I know what you're talking about because I've been corrected on it before. Everywhere says 4.43 but if you look at the official #'s it's 4.47. There's a NFL link I'd have to find.

So you can constantly mention it but I can't? That works both ways.

Originally posted by tjd808185:
I know what you're talking about because I've been corrected on it before. Everywhere says 4.43 but if you look at the official #'s it's 4.47. There's a NFL link I'd have to find.

So you can constantly mention it but I can't? That works both ways.

1 year of tape vs 2 years of tape with the 2nd year having a clear improvement in performance....which one instills more confidence that a kid isn't a one year wonder?

Originally posted by genus49:
1 year of tape vs 2 years of tape with the 2nd year having a clear improvement in performance....which one instills more confidence that a kid isn't a one year wonder?

Hooker did play in 6 games his redshirt freshman year. He's no doubt more raw than Thomas but Thomas still has a very less than filled out resume for the 2nd pick. Miles Garrett 31 sacks, Solomon Thomas 11.5 sacks.

Originally posted by genus49:

Originally posted by tjd808185:
I know what you're talking about because I've been corrected on it before. Everywhere says 4.43 but if you look at the official #'s it's 4.47. There's a NFL link I'd have to find.

So you can constantly mention it but I can't? That works both ways.

1 year of tape vs 2 years of tape with the 2nd year having a clear improvement in performance....which one instills more confidence that a kid isn't a one year wonder?

Another thing that bothers me with Hooker (at two) is the lack of starting experience...if he's at the Reed/Thomas level why couldn't he beat out Vonn Bell? Bell was a 2nd rd pick this past yr and played a part in NO having the 32nd overall pass D. He was the 49th overall S this past yr.

I'm not saying Bell is better than him, but when you're dealing with the 2nd overall pick and are looking at drafting safety (which hasn't been done at the spot in 25+ yrs) He'd better be f**king perfect!

Originally posted by tjd808185:
Hooker did play in 6 games his redshirt freshman year. He's no doubt more raw than Thomas but Thomas still has a very less than filled out resume for the 2nd pick. Miles Garrett 31 sacks, Solomon Thomas 11.5 sacks.

What does Myles have to do with anything? Pretty sure we'd all love to draft him at two...no one is saying Thomas is better than him, plus they didn't play the same position.

Originally posted by NYniner85:
What does Myles have to do with anything? Pretty sure we'd all love to draft him at two...no one is saying Thomas is better than him, plus they didn't play the same position.

It's not just Miles you can compare him to Donald, Bosa, Clowney or Cowboy. He's a got very raw resume. So did Watt so it's not the end of the world but a 2 year starter with 1 year of good pressure still has a lot to be desired there.

Originally posted by tjd808185:
Hooker did play in 6 games his redshirt freshman year. He's no doubt more raw than Thomas but Thomas still has a very less than filled out resume for the 2nd pick. Miles Garrett 31 sacks, Solomon Thomas 11.5 sacks.

Garrett played for 3 years so the comparison is already lopsided. Thomas this year alone beat Armstead's college production and was way ahead of Buckner after 2 seasons of tape.

You want to see growth of a player and that growth is tough to figure out when a guy only starts for one year. You said it yourself, Thomas was an interior rusher mostly in college. Those inside guys typically don't pile up double digit sacks. 8.5 sacks from a guy playing inside that much is pretty darn impressive.

I know you're the guy who likes to poke holes in everyone else's points(i think you've admitted as much) but can you honestly say Thomas has as many concerns about him as Hooker?

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by NYniner85:
What does Myles have to do with anything? Pretty sure we'd all love to draft him at two...no one is saying Thomas is better than him, plus they didn't play the same position.

It's not just Miles you can compare him to Donald, Bosa, Clowney or Cowboy. He's a got very raw resume. So did Watt so it's not the end of the world but a 2 year starter with 1 year of good pressure still has a lot to be desired there.

I'll take that over a 1 yr wonder at safety

Originally posted by tjd808185:
It's not just Miles you can compare him to Donald, Bosa, Clowney or Cowboy. He's a got very raw resume. So did Watt so it's not the end of the world but a 2 year starter with 1 year of good pressure still has a lot to be desired there.

You want to see that one good year be the last year which it was. The kid is still raw so his raw resume is understandable. The fact that he's showing this much while being so raw is what's impressive about him.

Strength, athletic ability, drive and passion is a great combo to have.

Originally posted by genus49:

How is it? All I'm hearing is how crucial FS is to this defense to have success. Pete Carroll is a defensive HC. Yet at #6 with Eric Berry already off the board he was willing to risk seeing Earl Thomas get drafted before their next pick?

You don't do that if you think the position is so crucial and the player is that important to your team's success. Now if they didn't have him graded as a top 10 pick then it makes sense to make that gamble but if they had him as a top 10 pick then you don't risk him going somewhere else if the position value is that high.

Pete Carroll is a former DB coach the idea that he took a DB early isn't ground breaking. He has coached with other teams, maybe if he drafted FS every time he took over a team we'd have a legit point but otherwise I think people are reading way too much into the Earl Thomas pick.

Thomas was BPA when they picked. Simple as that.

So I guess it's impossible to think that maybe Seattle had a okung slotted at 6 on their big board and Thomas at 7? Or maybe even vice-versa and Thomas was the highest rated player on their board available at 6 but they went into the draft thinking okay we have two picks in the top 15 and we need to come away with both a left tackle and a free safety. The calculated risk of us not getting both if we take Thomas first is 80% because teams after us value tackle and have a need for tackle as much as we do whereas the calculated risk of not getting both if we take okung first is only 33% because we know the teams picking between 7 and 14 do not value or have a need for free safety like we do and so they took the better odds that would allow them to come away with both the tackle and the free safety

Hell, maybe even the Seattle staff was kicking themselves in the arse for missing out on Eric Berry one pick before them.

Obviously left tackle and QB Trump all other draft picks but we all know there are none available at 2 this year

Does the 49ers defense need help stopping the Run? Yes. Can Solomon Thomas help our run defense? Yes. Would Solomon Thomas be a great choice for the 49ers at 2? Yes! But we need a little context. Last year the 49ers had no nose tackle, an injured defensive end, nobodys at outside linebacker and special teamers starting at both middle linebacker spots in a new scheme while, without checking for a reference, being on the field more than any other defense in the league. Nose tackle can be had in the 5th to 7th round. So that means we need Edge players and linebackers and we need them to be top tier talents. Drafting a free safety, should he develop as we all hope, will allow us to put a strong safety in the Box and have high pics for a middle linebacker Sam linebacker and defensive end. If we take Solomon Thomas in the first either our second or third pick should be free safety and so you would be sacrificing one of either linebacker or defensive end in the top three. it is of my opinion that a three technique is not worth it.