2013 Comprehensive NFL Draft Database

[SMU Redskin]

Eh, what really impresses me with their defense, is their ILB tandem. You don't know whose blitzing, you don't know whose guarding whom...and when they do, that guy is locked down. It adds so much to the D. TE's are a favorite for QB's to check down to. We've all heard of them being a safety valve. When they feel a little pressure and look to the TE to dump it off to, he's not open. That's when the pass rush hits home. 49ers smothered the Saints TE's, and that's not easy.

If we had better coverage of TE's, that Falcons game would have been different. I hope Keenan Robinson's injury isn't season ending.

Yeah, they have stud ILB's, but their front 3 really open the blitzing opportunities for their linebackers. Having a solid front 3, and especially a stout NT, is a prerequisite for 3-4 defense. Cofield is a good player and serviceable NT, but I cant help but think he's out of position there.

[Laron Burgundy]

Yeah, they have stud ILB's, but their front 3 really open the blitzing opportunities for their linebackers. Having a solid front 3, and especially a stout NT, is a prerequisite for 3-4 defense. Cofield is a good player and serviceable NT, but I cant help but think he's out of position there.

I think you are over-estimating how much Sopoaga does for their defense. He's the 6th or 7th best player on that defense. Having a stout NT is great, but I really think their importance has been over-inflated by laymen.

Case in point, if NT were so important to 3-4 d's they would be drafted very early by 3-4 teams, correct? The 1st round NT I can think of are Wilfork, Poe, Hampton, Raji and Dan Williams. Williams doesn't belong grouped with the other three, too soon to tell with Poe, and Raji spends much of his time at 3 tech or DE. 6 of the top 10 defenses are 3-4, only 2 of them have elite NT play and with one of those being Ratliff (a 7th rounder at only 303 pounds) I think it shows that a 3-4 can not only function, but thrive with average NT play.

I would tend to agree with you more if our run defense was poor, but as it stands now I would even say NT is the position I'm least concerned about on defense. Even olb is of more concern because Orakpo is going into a contract year, coming off injury and we see how our defense looks with no quality depth at olb. I think our d could function if Nield had to play extended time at NT, though obviously this year he's out with injury.

[stevemcqueen1]

Yeah, they have stud ILB's, but their front 3 really open the blitzing opportunities for their linebackers. Having a solid front 3, and especially a stout NT, is a prerequisite for 3-4 defense. Cofield is a good player and serviceable NT, but I cant help but think he's out of position there.

NT play isn't what makes their defense so great. Particularly their pass defense.

Plus we get good NT play from Cofield and we probably would from Jenkins if we played him there. Our run defense is fine.

[The Robert Griffin Experience]

ILB is the most undervalued position in football imo.

I think the biggest reason for our decline is because London went from a DPOY type player to a below average starter.

[maskedsuperstar]

It is a treat watching the 49ers defense. I REALLY wish we would get a true 3-4 NT to make our defense click...we could kick Cofield out to DE in the rotation and keep our DE's fresh with Cofield, Carriker, Bowen, and Jenkins all rotating in, which could really do wonders for our LB's to make plays.

We obviously won't have a shot at the top NTs like John Jenkins from UGA or Loutulelei, but I'd like to see us take a good look at Jesse Williams from Bama and Kwame Geathers from UGA (if he declares). I like Brandon Williams as well, but have concerns just because of the competition he's faced. I think a true NT would do wonders for us defensively, though.

NT isn't the issue.

[darrelgreenie]

Yeah, they have stud ILB's, but their front 3 really open the blitzing opportunities for their linebackers. Having a solid front 3, and especially a stout NT, is a prerequisite for 3-4 defense. Cofield is a good player and serviceable NT, but I cant help but think he's out of position there.

I agree that Cofield is out of position at NT. I think he's serviceable but not stout. Imo a 34 NT shouldn't have to work as hard as Cofield does to hold the point. And in that respect I think we could use an upgrade at NT to a natural 2-gap NT. But I think we would benefit by moving Cofield to DE because having an upfield penetrator at DE is the most underrated aspect of a functional 34 and our current lack of one is a bigger flaw in our front then NT.

Specific to the 49ers, Justin Smith makes it easier for Aldon to get to the QB on DE stunts (partially because he hold the offenisve lineman during the stunt ) but look around the league at the better 34 fronts they all have at least one down DL that can penetrate/pass rush. And imo Cofield to DE would add more upfield rush at DE and the drop in production at NT from Cofield to Jenksins wouldn't be much; there's even a drop off at all.

---------- Post added November-26th-2012 at 09:09 AM ----------

...Our run defense is fine.

Where would you rate our run defense? I don't think our run defense is as good as people think. And I'm not saying this to imply anything other then imo our run defense is average or unknown. To be clear I am not advocating saying that adding a NT is a priority.

In today's NFL most teams want to pass and our terrible pass defense invites teams to pass with impunity. I think its more true that teams don't try to run against because our pass defense is league worst.

[stevemcqueen1]

Bjoern Werner is so fast. Has some Vonn Miller/Clay Matthews in him.

The 3-4 OLB class is pretty ridiculous at the top of the draft this year.

[darrelgreenie]

See, I don't care how bad our defense looked this year, I wouldn't spend our second rounder on a S. I'd try to find a few safetys with a lower pick and draft the more important positions early, like LB, DL and RT. Those are where I'd be looking early because our pass rush has been non existent this year and we don't know how Orakpo and Carriker will be when they get back, Jenkins has not provided the pressure we thought he would and our defense has suffered as a result. There are other reasons (Fletcher and our ILB's coverage abilities, our lack of competent safeties), but like the old saying goes, a good pass rush can hide other defensive inefficiencies. Especially when we have a lead late (as we've had at least 4 times this year) and teams are in a passing mode. Out pass rushers should be teeing off, but instead we have no pass rush and that's hurting is.

All things being equal I think a pass rusher OLB or DE always wins a tie when it comes to BPA.
But, Safety play particularly FS is very important to this defense and the S position/play has been a point of failure.
If there is a FS on the board that has potential to start and help the defense then imo they certainly warrants selection.

I'd also look for a RT who can also play LT in the instance the Trent goes down.

I've been one of the staunchest proponents of strength through the trenches. But, based on what this FO has said/done at the RT position and considering the level of success the offense has with the current level of RT play and Mike Shanahan's history of mid/late round success with OL: I don't think RT requires using top level rounds resources(1-3) via the draft.

[stevemcqueen1]

Where would you rate our run defense? I don't think our run defense is as good as people think. And I'm not saying this to imply anything other then imo our run defense is average or unknown. To be clear I am not advocating saying that adding a NT is a priority.

In today's NFL most teams want to pass and our terrible pass defense invites teams to pass with impunity. I think its more true that teams don't try to run against because our pass defense is league worst.

Well I certainly don't think we're as good as our #3 ranking. But I think we're better than average.

Giving teams the pass has definitely been a factor. It's hard to say how much of one, but it would stretch credulity to say it hasn't unnaturally inflated our rush D ranking. However, I think the run D being pretty good forces teams to choose the path of least resistance and throw on us. So it's going both ways to some extent.

In general, I think the run defense is sound, independent of the numbers. There are teams like Minnesota that surely wanted to run the ball against us but didn't have a ton of success doing so. I think we've placed a high emphasis on creating a good rush defense (to the point of sacrificing ability to defend the pass) and we're reaping the fruits of that. We've got a lot of good run defenders in prominent roles. And I think a team with linebackers as good as ours is generally going to be a strong run D.

Cofield has been a pretty good run defender IMO. He's not the pure stout type, he likes to run. He's always been more of a 3 technique IMO. But I think he can be pretty effective at any of our DL roles. Jenkins is pretty much a pure run defender. Riley, Lorenzo, and London are stout players. Kerrigan is a pretty good run defender. Deangelo is excellent in run support. Doughty is a sure tackler and is solid in the box. Orakpo was a pretty good run defender when he was healthy.

I think our MO has been acquiring size and power in the defensive front rather than speed and explosiveness. We've been building a cold weather natural grass team designed to be able to excel in a slower, more physical game. I think we'd be able to feature a good rush defense even if we improved the pass defense. They should also be able to work in concert. Balance could make things like misdirection plays less of a threat.

I agree with you that NT is an area we could upgrade and that Cofield is a natural in our pass defense packages. If he can only take so many snaps in a game, I'd rather most be in pressure sets. Like you, it wouldn't be among my first concerns, but I'd always keep my eye out for opportunities to upgrade any part of the team.

Ideally, I'd want a NT who could play passing downs. In the draft, my favorites are Kawann Short and Jesse Williams. I like their versatility most of all. Their stock is hard to pin down. Short has great production but he's an inconsistent player. Probably not a first rounder, but I'd have a hard time seeing him go later than the third. His motor isn't the greatest but sometimes he can flip the switch and just start dominating the LoS. He's a deceptively excellent athlete. He led the nation with 4 blocked kicks this year. He's got a ridiculous 48.5 career TFLs and 17 sacks, he's been very disruptive. I see him as primarily a 1 technique and a NT but he has played multiple techniques for Purdue and done a good job pass rushing from wider techniques.

Williams is a tremendous athlete but his potential is not indicated by his production. He's only got 6.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks for his career. He's a JUCO transfer and only played two seasons at Alabama. Josh Chapman was a more polished prospect, and he went in the fifth. Williams is 4 inches taller and a better athlete though. If I had to guess, I'd say the fourth probably, maybe the third. Williams looked monstrously powerful against Auburn and you can see how good a runner he is and how good his body control is from his snaps at FB. He's a really interesting long term project.

[darrelgreenie]

Any one else feel that with this deep WR class we need to snag a dynamic slot receiver?

Not I said the fly.

Obviously a falling talent that can play on the outside could be more valuable, so if a guy with a more complete skill-set falls we should grab him. But if Tavon Austin somehow falls to the top of the second I think we should trade up for him. Hell, even the end of the first. I could easily see him being the BPA in that scenario, and like others I see us picking up a DB in FA and drafting another DB in the 4th or so. I'd rather see us invest in a play-maker (sorry darrelgreenie, I know you hate that descriptor being used on a prospect ) and a RT in the first two rounds.

WR is not high on my priority list of positions to address with our limited top level draft choices. Our offense is already above average even with all the injuries and we have good core of talent already in place that includes some young developing players in the pipeline that imo have not reached a large enoufh sample size to be passed over/given up on.

I am 1000% against trading up.
I want us to invest in several playmakers at DL, OLB and DB.

[Thinking Skins]

All things being equal I think a pass rusher OLB or DE always wins a tie when it comes to BPA.
But, Safety play particularly FS is very important to this defense and the S position/play has been a point of failure.
If there is a FS on the board that has potential to start and help the defense then imo they certainly warrants selection.

I so disagree with this and it really goes back to my feeling with when we drafted Taylor and Landry. We had a hit with Taylor and a miss with Landry. You can say that he made our defense so much better, but if you ask me whether replacing Fletcher or Landry is more important, I think having a viable option to come in at that ILB spot is more important because he simply impacts more plays. A talented FS is important, but I don't want another Stanley Richards who leads this team in tackles because our front 7 can't stop anybody. We've also got to consider the possibility that we won't have Haslett at DC, so we can't really say we're drafting for "this" defense. But if you do a look at starting lineups around the league, I'd be willing to bet that the average draft picks of the DEs and OLBs is higher than the average draft picks of the FS or SS.

I've been one of the staunchest proponents of strength through the trenches. But, based on what this FO has said/done at the RT position and considering the level of success the offense has with the current level of RT play and Mike Shanahan's history of mid/late round success with OL: I don't think RT requires using top level rounds resources(1-3) via the draft.

I kinda see what you're saying here, and I'd agree with you with any other position along the line. Notice that Mike drafted Trent first because he didn't want some ZBS bum protecting his QBs blind side. If you look at our RT this year, Polumbus has been getting ABUSED by just about everybody. I've got a fantasy league that allows us to start defensive linemen and my initial concept was just to pick the top DL from the other team and play him because I knew he was good for a sack or two if he lined up on the left side. Having RG3 makes this look a lot better than it really should, but most of the almost sacks that RG3 has to avoid come from that spot, so I don't even think we can ignore it because of that. I'd also add that the Eagles ignored the OL thinking that Vick could scramble out of it and it led to them being 3-7.

[stevemcqueen1]

ILB is the most undervalued position in football imo.

I think the biggest reason for our decline is because London went from a DPOY type player to a below average starter.

That has been a big factor no doubt. It reminds me of 2006 when we had a bad defense despite having very good defenses in 2005 and 2007. One of the conspicuous issues was our 2006 MLB was a revolving door with LaMar Marshall being the day one starter IIRC. In 2005 we had Pierce locking it down and in 2007 we got London.

I do think the importance of the ILB is understated. But I would hesitate to say that's the biggest reason our defense has struggled. I think the loss of Orakpo and our starting safeties has been the biggest reason. Then I'd say a lack of playmaking talent has been the next. Though London's decline ties into that, because prior to this season, he was our best player and biggest playmaker.

I've thought about London's impending decline and retirement a lot. It's part of the reason I made it a point to watch so much of Luke Kuechly last year. London is a HoF talent. I don't think we're going to be able to truly replace him. But I think if we were able to draft a player like Kevin Minter or CJ Mosley, we could keep ILB a position of strength.

[darrelgreenie]

....But I think we're better than average.

Giving teams the pass has definitely been a factor. It's hard to say how much of one, but it would stretch credulity to say it hasn't unnaturally inflated our rush D ranking. However, I think the run D being pretty good forces teams to choose the path of least resistance and throw on us. So it's going both ways to some extent.

Don't want to quible to long. But when the pass defense is league worst its a given that any OC worth their salt is gonna attack via the pass because nothing can offer less resistance then league worst.

There are a bunch of different stats to look at for run defense. For me I look at number of attempts per game and YPC. Our YPC is middle of the pack as a unit we have the 2nd least number of rushes attempted. Imo those numbers suggest the reality over our run defense.

...but I'd always keep my eye out for opportunities to upgrade any part of the team......Ideally, I'd want a NT who could play passing downs. In the draft, my favorites are Kawann Short and Jesse Williams.

Agreed about always looking for upgrades.
I'm not overly concerned about our NT playing on passing downs. I would be fine with a Casey Hampton-esque 2-down NT that comes off the field to get our pass rushers on the field.
I'm not up on the NT yet so I'll look at the guys you mentioned. I've only looked at S and some of the CB and DEs and of course QBs.

[Thinking Skins]

ILB is the most undervalued position in football imo.

I think the biggest reason for our decline is because London went from a DPOY type player to a below average starter.

Funy. I was saying this in the offseason and especially in the beginning of the year and it was like I burned a cross or something. Glad to see I'm not the only one noticing this now.

---------- Post added November-26th-2012 at 10:40 AM ----------

I've thought about London's impending decline and retirement a lot. It's part of the reason I made it a point to watch so much of Luke Kuechly last year. London is a HoF talent. I don't think we're going to be able to truly replace him. But I think if we were able to draft a player like Kevin Minter or CJ Mosley, we could keep ILB a position of strength.

I think if we plan ahead we can replace London like we're supposed to be able to replace any other player. Finding a good ILB is not the same as finding an elite QB. There are several out there and its all about getting players to come in and compete. I hate these draft player projections, but we don't need another London Fletcher (in his prime) back there. We just need somebody who's not going to make the mistakes. That's what we had in Pierce.

[Monk4thaHALL]

swearinger vs clemson:



showcasing the talent ... and then the questionable mental aspect.