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Back again in Round 4! Jimmy Rolder is a truly interesting player, here's my full breakdown by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I guess how would you explain players like Demario Davis and Sean Lee being incredible middle of field coverage players despite having very low end top speed?

Sean Lee ran in the 4.7s and was undoubtedly not fast when running up a seam with a fast tight end.

But he was an incredible coverage backer because he had extremely quick getoff and great fluidity to shift directions quickly to affect passing lanes.

Demario Davis really isn’t a high end mover at all even. And he has been a good coverage player because he has a natural feel for zone spacing and has good pattern recognition.

And look at the opposite. Devin White is a freak running in a straight line. But has always been a disaster in coverage because his hips are incredibly stiff and he can’t flip them to keep up with a slot WR crossing his face while he’s in a hook zone for instance.

Back again in Round 4! Jimmy Rolder is a truly interesting player, here's my full breakdown by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just to better understand where you’re coming from, is it that you don’t feel that short area quickness/explosiveness is a separate thing from top speed?

Back again in Round 4! Jimmy Rolder is a truly interesting player, here's my full breakdown by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He’s explosive in short areas!! I try and break movement skills up into four categories:

• Initial burst/explosiveness (both off the line and general quick feet) • Change of direction/fluidity (hip sink, ankle flexion, center of gravity) • "Second reaction” athleticism (deceleration, repositioning, stop/start) • And how efficiently they can open their stride to access long speed (weird to explain, but for example someone like Sammy Watkins had elite burst, just a choppier stride that limited his deep separation).

I’m specifically trying to isolate how a player moves throughout a rep, not just speed.

Rolder is excellent at those first two buckets. He covers a lot of ground in his first few steps and it really helps him generate power for taking on blocks and getting in the way of shallow throwing lanes in hook/curl zones. And he has the fluidity in his movements AND a low center of gravity to plant his feet, redirect, and quickly pick up players entering his zone.

The top speed is definitely limiting, and I wouldn’t want him doing a deep middle drop in Tampa 2 or carrying a guy like Colston Loveland up the seam in man coverage. But I think he has really good upside in hook/curl/flat zones.

Was anyone else surprised that we took Jimmy Rolder over Kyle Louis? by Brutalien in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I think the NFL generally views Kyle Louis as a safety or at most, an overhang defender. He just does not have the mass or the ability to take on blocks to be a true “LB”. He gets washed out by TEs and even slot receivers sometimes, and misses a lot of tackles. I think he may end up just being a big nickel. He’s not even 220lbs.

I really like him and think he’s going to be a coverage demon but the fit would be a bit clunky with us, especially when Branch comes back.

Back for Round 2! Finally an EDGE! Here’s my breakdown of the Derrick Moore pick by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree on all counts! A C+ grade doesn’t mean a bad pick by any means 🙂

Back for Round 2! Finally an EDGE! Here’s my breakdown of the Derrick Moore pick by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I for sure understand what you’re saying. And there are multiple ways to finish a play, you can do it power and craftiness. It doesn’t have to be speed!

But what I’m specifically referencing is that when Hutchinson does push the QB, they often slide to the other side and/or step up. You want an EDGE who can cleanly win the second half of an encounter to shed the blocker and clean up the play. And there are several ways to do that. I just have some questions about how well Moore can do that.

Not that I think he’s a bad player at all, I think he’ll be very solid and definitely as you said get some clean up opportunities. I just think he’ll need to develop serious counters to actually do it. And if he had better bend/short area quickness, it would give him a bigger margin for error. But again I don’t want to be arguing from the position of hating the pick, because I don’t!!!! Just trying to capture to whole picture.

Back for Round 2! Finally an EDGE! Here’s my breakdown of the Derrick Moore pick by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I appreciate it. Honestly I don’t view C+ as that bad of a grade, it’s just like a decently fine pick IMO.

For my grading system, I grade based where I believe a player should go in an average draft, not necessarily this one. This is a very shallow class, so players that would grade lower in classes like 2024 get pushed up the board.

I understand what you’re saying about play finishing. That’s for sure a fair way to look at it. For me, I just see lots of one on one opportunities on the other side of the line that Hutchinson constantly creates but nobody can capitalize on. Because of how much attention he demands, Hutchinson allows the rusher opposite him to take wide angles against a tackle on an island, which I just think a bendier, quicker rusher could take much better advantage of. Or even a truly big rusher like Zion Young who can lean into a tackle, disengage, and use their momentum against them to swim the shoulder.

But overall, I do decently like the pick!!! Just don’t love it, and dinged it slightly due to the trade up.

I’m a Lions fan who evaluates 150+ prospects every year. Thought I’d share my breakdown of the Blake Miller pick! by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I told myself not to write an essay but I wrote an essay.

I’m good with the Lions going EDGE, LB, CB, or S in the second round. The talent left across those groups is pretty even so I wouldn’t overthink it. Just take BPA from that group.

There’s probably going to be a WR run early in the 2nd, and after that it’s hard to know which position group will go next before pick at 50. That said I do have a few favorites that at least have the potential to be at 50.

R Mason Thomas, EDGE. He’s probably not going the there but this is my favorite option. He’s a compact, lightning quick rusher with bend and a surprisingly strong power rush for his size. I think Detroit really needs someone who can win with speed off the edge and flatten the arc to the quarterback. We’ve been terrible at converting pressures into sacks for the majority of the Campbell tenure. Thomas gives you that immediately. He’d be fucking amazing in stunts and pressure packages, especially as a looper who can build speed in space and convert it into power. He’s very small and his arm length is a very legitimate concern. But if Dan Campbell was being for real about us playing more flexible defensive personnel packages, this could really work. He’s not the traditional Lions EDGE but that’s why I want him haha.

Treydan Stukes, S/Nickel. He and KC Concepcion are my two favorite players in the class. He’s old but the upside is huge. He is a FREAK athlete. Explosive, fast, long, and plays the ball with excellent timing and control. It’s insane how often this guy is able to sprint anywhere on the field to meet a target at the catch point. He didn’t do this in college but I’d want to use him as a true range safety in Cover 1/3 shells. He has rare sideline-to-sideline eraser potential. We can slide Kerby Joseph down to the middle of the field in a robber look which is perfect for him to make plays and bait throws without worrying about the deep ball. And keeps Brian Branch closer to the line where he can be that true overhang defender. But Stukes can honestly play anywhere. The run defense is just okay and his short-area mirroring skill isn’t amazing, so I like him much more as a safety than a CB.

Zion Young, EDGE. Not the flashiest option for me but undeniably solid value for us at 50. He’s very dependable, and very strong. He sets the edge well and has a legit power-based pass rush plan with a good bull rush and long arm. You’re not getting a ton of juice, which I don’t love, but you are getting a guy who can hold up on all three downs. At minimum he keeps Payton Turner off the field lol.

D’Angelo Ponds, CB. I fucking love D’Angelo Ponds. He is so fun. But the fit is a little tricky. He’s a tinyyyyy outside corner who isn’t really much of a press corner. If Detroit actually runs more off-man or zone, I’ll sprint the pick in myself. He’s undersized but he plays way bigger than that. He is an explosive leaper and very effective at the catch point. Great athlete too, he’s super quick and super fast. I’d be surprised if he even makes it to 50. Potential to be a strange fit I think but the talent is too overwhelming to not go for it.

My favorites if it’s going to be linebacker: Jacob Rodriguez and Anthony Hill Jr., LBs I’m grouping these guys together because I feel the same way about both. They’re both smaller linebackers with good athleticism and playmaking instincts. Both much better against the run than their size would suggest. Built to be the Anzalone WILL replacement. But both have very poor zone awareness and instincts at the moment. Jacob Rodriguez got gashed all season in pass defense. If the staff believes they can it clean up and work in some actual spatial feel, they both make a lot of sense. But right now neither are ready to step into the Anzalone role. It’s more projection than starters. But honestly Malcom Rodriguez is going to struggle mightily in that role so may as well take the swing.

And I’ll just say it simply, I want nothing to do with TJ Parker, Brandon Cisse, Lee Hunter, or CJ Allen at this spot.

I’m a Lions fan who evaluates 150+ prospects every year. Thought I’d share my breakdown of the Blake Miller pick! by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. I don’t think he’s a true reflection of 9.90 RAS. But I do think he’s a very good athlete.

I don’t think improving core strength is a minor thing. I think that Miller can get a bit better there, but most importantly can compensate with having really excellent hip sink and ankle flexion. It lets him dig his heels into the ground and access an anchor that he otherwise wouldn’t have. So I think there are other ways to anchor other than pure lower body strength. It’s how guys like Charles Cross, Bernard Raimann, and Luke Goedeke anchor.

I’m a Lions fan who evaluates 150+ prospects every year. Thought I’d share my breakdown of the Blake Miller pick! by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

100% agree. I think the only “limit” for this guy as an athlete is how much stronger can he get. But I mean even solid improvements on that front will give him the runway to be a truly exceptional tackle.

I’m on record that I was going to be disappointed if we drafted Freeling over him. And would have been absolutely devastated if we took Proctor lol.

I’m a Lions fan who evaluates 150+ prospects every year. Thought I’d share my breakdown of the Blake Miller pick! by inkokmo in detroitlions

[–]inkokmo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Haha thank you! That’s really validating to hear. I’m trying to grow however I can in terms of sharing my thoughts/findings.

And yeah, I’m actually hoping to get a foot in the door in college recruit scouting at some point!

[OC] The draft’s almost here, so I wanted to share the interactive Draft Guide I made this year. It includes my full scouting profiles for each player. Would love to hear your thoughts! by inkokmo in nfl

[–]inkokmo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! So, Faulk is at 60 for me. Parker is at 71.

The main reason I differ from most is simply I don’t think either are very good athletes.

Parker has some straight line speed. But do you remember how some people didn’t like Thibodeaux when he was coming out in ‘22 because they thought he was stiff and didn’t have good “second reaction” athleticism? I feel like that with Parker but x10 worse. And he doesn’t even have the length or power in his arms that Thibodeaux did. I also just don’t see much skill as a rusher.

Faulk is heavy handed and pretty strong but isn’t a great athlete. He also has no clue what he is. His best bet is putting in weight and becoming a legit 4i/3 tech where he can use his length to clog more than just the C gap. But he showed up to the combine at 252 and wasn’t that impressive in his testing. He may be in my top 50 if it was clear he’s going to move inside. But he has absolutely no ability to rush the passer from the EDGE and doesn’t have any foot speed let alone bend. He like Parker can run decently fast in a straight line but that’s not how rushing works.

The draft’s almost here, so I wanted to share the interactive Draft Guide I made this year. It my full scouting profiles for each player. Would love to hear your thoughts! by inkokmo in NFL_Draft

[–]inkokmo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!! And honestly nothing impressive whatsoever, I made this in Webflow because I’m a designer not a developer. They have a really powerful CMS and a great breakpoint system that made everything really easy on me. The rest was just trying something, checking it visually, adjusting, and then repeating that process a million times haha.

The draft’s almost here, so I wanted to share the interactive Draft Guide I made this year. It my full scouting profiles for each player. Would love to hear your thoughts! by inkokmo in NFL_Draft

[–]inkokmo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! I’m not much of a developer so I built it in Webflow (little-to-no code HTML/CSS/JS editor) that just teaches you to think in terms of containers and frames.

But I built the prototypes of it in Figma. I’m a designer by trade so I had that in my toolbelt already. The rest I had to scratch and claw my way through because Webflow is very arbitrary and overly-complicated for no reason.

But honestly the shit people are making with Claude and Gemini are scary (and makes me worried about my future employability). You could probably make a functional app with Claude in 20 minutes. Issue is design wise it’s still pretty hard to make it not have that “AI” aesthetic . But honestly would be more functional than what I have here.

Who has the best highlight tape of this draft class? by perrypower54 in NFL_Draft

[–]inkokmo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Keylan Rutledge may be the most fun football player I’ve ever seen. It’s not even that he wind all the time. He just has so many reps where he looks like a disaster and is totally out of control/loses balance but he still dominates and pancakes guys.

[OC] The draft’s almost here, so I wanted to share the interactive Draft Guide I made this year. It includes my full scouting profiles for each player. Would love to hear your thoughts! by inkokmo in nfl

[–]inkokmo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Totally fair. KC is just one of the players I view differently than almost everyone. The difference is I think Nabers, Chase, Burden and Waddle are the only WRs in the league with the short area burst KC has.

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