Tempered Expectations for Draft Picks

[J24]

(05-12-2017, 03:41 PM)eoxyod Wrote: Alright so Evans ranked 8th in terms of SPARQ score of all off ball LBs. This puts him in the 84th percentile of NFL off ball LBs in terms of athleticism. As you and others have noticed, the Bengals did a great job at drafting pure athletes. Especially towards the end of the draft this is a great idea because these are your developmental projects and if they don't work out they can often turn into special teamers. However, while Evans had strong aglity/speed scores, he was pretty weak in terms of explosion tests like the broad jump, although he had a slightly above average vertical jump.

The Bengals drafted him as purely a cover LB which is a pretty big change towards what the Bengals get. Evans is not good at getting off blocks and his lack of explosion shows there. In other terms from what I've read and briefly looked at, he's soft and gets washed out relatively easily. Of course I don't know the Okllahoma's playcalls to know how the flow of the defense is gone, but he seems disinterested in fully engaging in blocks in the run game.

But again turning him into what they sort of wanted out of Lamur would make sense. If he makes it through, he would be an exclusive special teamer. A fast guy with his body can be a dangerous weapon on cover teams. That is if he becomes more aggressive though. If not then he won't be able to make the team because that's #1 key on STs

His best case scenario woud be as a 3rd down LB/S hybrid that also is a STs ace. His worst case is not gaining that physicality and not making the team

He reminds me of a Taylor Mays with playmaking skills fair comparison or nah?