I have found my man crush for this year’s draft class, and like my other man crushes from the past 3 classes, it’s a defensive end. Ezkiel Ansah converted to the Mormon faith and became decided to go to BYU. He wanted to be basketball player and tried out for the team but was cut from both the 2008 and 2009 teams. He then set his sights on to track successfully made the team where he ran a 10.91 in the 100 and then a 21.89. He eventually decided on playing football despite some of the cautions he had for the game. After sitting his first year and playing on special teams his second year, he finally cracked the starting line up his senior year and made his impact felt. He had 62 total tackles, 13 going for a loss, including 4.5 sacks. And then at the Senior bowl, after having a so so week, he absolutely dominated in the game constantly giving tackles hell. After the strong performance he had, his stock, in the minds of many, mine included, sky rocketed.
Athleticism
For those who are in track, running a 21.89 in the 200 is pretty darn good, espically at 240-270 lbs. Ansah is coming in as one of the most athletic defensive ends to come out since Jason Pierre Paul. I can see him easily having Vernon Gholston type day at the NFL combine.
Raw ability
Watching tape of him at BYU, you can tell that this guy still has a lot to learn about the game but definitely has the raw potential/ability to be among the top of the league as one of its best defensive ends. If he is open to coaching from his NFL coaches, Ansah has what it takes to be special.
Size
At 6-5 265+, Ansah has the stout size to play as defensive end in the 4-3 but also has the athleticism to stand up and play in the 3-4 even though I would recommend a team due that due to his inexperience in pass coverage.
Conclusion
I love Ansah and his athleticism he brings to the game. His power and speed is something that if he can harness and refine at the NFL level can be very lethal to QBs and lineman everywhere. Plus as a Nigerian-American I love to see Africans make it in the
Zaviar Gooden has not been getting as much recognition as he deserves so far, but watching Gooden on tape, he should definitely be projected higher than the 4th round grade that he has been given by some. Many scouts say he was the best linebacker of at the senior bowl and he also won practice player of the camp award at Mobile during the week. He is a bit undersized, as he is only 230 lbs but if he bulks up to around 240 lbs he should definitely see his stock rise. If he can do that and run a good to decent 40 time at the combine and or pro day he could come of the board day 1 of the draft.
Tackling
For someone his size, Gooden is a very good tackler. From the tape I have seen from him, he wasn’t would wrap and bring down the ball carrier on first contact and really didn’t have many missed tackles.
Size
His size is what is keeping Gooden from being a golden NFL prospect. He will need to bulk up a lot more before the combine and pro day without losing his speed and quickness.
Coverage ability
Because of his athleticism and instincts Gooden has superb coverage skills that should give him a lot of versatility on defense.
Finial thoughts
Gooden should be able to play the will in a basic 4-3 set but can also play the mike in Tampa 2 or cover 2 scheme. He is one of my favorite prospects in this year’s draft and should be taken somewhere in the mid to late 1st round based of talent and intangibles alone.
The Golden boy of college football, Barkley came into the year ranked very highly and seemed to be a shoo-in for the #1 overall pick. USC seemed primed to make a NC game run, however, those dreams came crashing down as USC lost early to Stanford and then proceeded to lose 4 out of their last 5 games of the year. Barkley’s USC career ends in a disappointing fashion to say the least. However, his draft stock still is up in the air. Barkley possess a lot of the intangibles a team would look for in franchise signal caller but also lacks the tools that would make him a stud in the NFL.
Pre-Combine Measurables:
Height: 6 – 2
Weight: 230 lbs
40: 4.84
Scouting Video #1 – Matt Barkley vs Cuse
:45 – makes a bad presnap read and nearly throws an INT
1:33 – should have taken sack
1:46 – Climbs the pocket well, however needs to feel that pressure and find an escape route
2:00 – throw is off his back foot but still shows accuracy
2:17 – could have lead Woods better and gotten an extra 10 yards
2:40 – Nice strong throw to the sideline
2:50 – shows great poise under pressure and makes a smart decision
3:15 – recognizes one on one coverage pre snap and makes a impressive throw to Woods
4:20 – Not the smartest throw, had Lee coming off a curl at the bottom of the screen, he had sometime could have stepped up and gone through progressions
4:25 No pressure at all and makes an absolutely horrid throw, had the whole middle of the field to work with, should have lead Woods towards the deep center part of the field. 6 points if he does so.
5:22 – bad ball placement could have put the ball in front of WR, however catch should still have been made.
Scouting Video #2 – Matt Barkley vs Oregon Ducks
0:05 – Strong throw while on the run
0:19 – might be his best throw of the season 52 yards opposite sideline.
0:55 Had no sense of the pressure , released the ball due to pure luck
1:20 – Beautiful throw, great touch on that
1:45 – WTF
2:00 –Read preplay, good throw
2:40 – Throws 58 yards in the air, still not elite arm strength but it is NFL caliber, long developing play and had all the time in the world
3:15 – Nice job avoiding the rush
4:18- locks onto lee and nearly gets sacked, does not move through progression at all. Touchdown on the play but not what should be taken from the play
5:00 – It is better to take a sack or throw away than to force that
5:10 – steps up perfectly, eyes down field, delivers a strong accurate throw to Aguiliar. Touchdown
6:24 – Odd stance in the throw, you would like to see him step into that and to throw from a neutral position
7:23 – Good job avoiding pressure, very poor throw
8:00 – plain inaccurate
9:25 – Throw into triple coverage he was asking for trouble
10:00 – 5 step drop, should have seen Woods fall and then adjusted accordingly. He made his decision to throw before the play. Lucky that there was a PI was called ( there should have been no PI)
10:26 – what….
10:44 – ends up working out but that throw should not behind the WR
11:35 – Biggest mistake of the game. Look at the situation, it is 4th and 5 in the biggest game of your career so far. Indecisive if he wants to throw to Lee, which is okay but he does not go through his progressions, tunnel visions onto Lee and then forced a throw that was nearly picked off. You want to see him go through progressions or throw to Lee on immediately. Did not execute the play.
Strengths
Mechanics are sound
Field General
Reads defenses incredibly well presnap
Avoids the pass rush well
Controls the pocket and steps up well
Can throw on the move
Generally Accurate in short and intermediate game
High Character
Weaknesses
Not the strongest arm, leaves a lot to be desired
Deep Ball accuracy
Decision Making is not up to par
Tunnel Vision- Locks onto WRs and waits for them to beat the CB
Does not go through progressions
Forces ball to WRs
Ball placement can be suspect
Has not played well in Big games
Conclusion – Matt Barkley might be the most popular QB in the nation. Barkley brings a good understanding of the game as well as all the intangibles and awareness needed to be a successful QB in this league. Where he lacks is in his decision making and his arm strength. Coming into the year those were what needed to be improved and he made marginal improvements.
I view Barkley has a 2nd round QB prospect and that is the talent level I think he is at. However, the NFL is a QB driven league and his value will be inflated due to that. I think you see Barkley go Top 25 picks in the draft. There is a chance teams pass on Barkley and he does fall to the 2nd round however. Barkley really hurt his stock by staying a year; he could have easily gone behind Griffin or Luck if he declared last year.
NFL Comparison – All of his tools match up with former Trojan Mark Sanchez. Sanchez was taken 3rd overall. Chad Pennington and Matt Cassell are other adequate comparisons
With draft season rapidly approaching, Black and I have decided to start a page where we can create or most indepth scouting reports on prospects for the NFL Draft. We plan on breaking each scouting report down so that the casual draft fan can understand the scouting report. The players could be as popular as Manti Te’o or as unknown as Ryan Aplin.
We plan on giving the casual draft fan, easy access to the prospects they will want their teams to draft come April.
Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah
Black and Blacker - Football Guru's 