O-line prediction

[samhain]

(03-06-2022, 01:24 PM)Dr.Z Wrote: I try to watch actual game tape and not just read online scouting reports, highlight tapes, and articles from the media.   Those are fun and valuable too, but they can certainly lack objectivity and be wrong obviously when you revisit coverage from past drafts.  I'm certainly not banging the drum for Petit-Frere , but he's an intriguing prospect who needs refinement but seems to get trashed, while guys from smaller schools get hyped and more of a pass on areas of improvement.  I love Trevor Penning's upside and am extremely intrigued by him, but he had his struggles as well on tape, such as mental lapses, holding penalties (against relatively weaker competition), being too upright, etc. Also, does this "mean streak" stuff remind anyone of Tevon Jenkins from this time last year?   I'm not saying P-F is a better pick (and probably isn't), but think he gets unfairly criticized relative to his peers.  He was a 5 star recruit for a reason, so this is very hypothetical, but it makes me wonder what articles would look like if he had played for a small school and dominated lesser competition with his size/athletic profile he possesses.

I see him getting trashed by fans moreso than draft sites or anyone in a professional capacity.  I'm not saying that the dude is going to be Jonathan Ogden week 1 or ever, but the negatives I read about NPF are pretty garden variety for a young tackle.  His alleged bad games were against premier  DLs, and they were more inconsistent than flat out bad.  

The positives on him are his use of hands, his feet (two huge pluses IMO) and his arm length.  He's got great size and played both tackles spots with a lot of success vs the highest level of competition outside the SEC.  

He may require some seasoning as all tackle prospects at that point will, but you could do worse than starting with his skill set.  Unless a player is coming from a triple option offense or some ancient wing-T program, I think it's absolutely pointless to dismiss a prospect based on past players from the program.