Mayock updates rankings board
NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock updated his prospect rankings today. It’s his first update since the combine. Here are the headlines:
— Kevin King is ranked as Mayock’s #3 cornerback
— Gareon Conley and Fabian Moreau move into the top five at CB
— Budda Baker is now classified as a slot corner, ahead of Chidobe Awuzie
— Jarrad Davis is now the #3 linebacker
King’s rise is the big news here. This is a deep cornerback class and a lot of players will have similar grades. Upside can be a difference maker, so can size and length. King has everything.
Furthermore, his tape has always been really good. Perhaps because he was the ‘other guy’ across from Sidney Jones, he never quite got the credit he deserved.
The only real concern mentioned by anyone was long speed. He ran a 4.43.
He has no character flags. He regularly references tape study and the intricacies of the position. He has experience in the slot and working outside.
King won’t necessarily be graded any better for his play than Tre’Davious White. Yet the size, length, athleticism, agility and upside could act as a tie breaker.
By placing him at #3 in his rankings, Mayock is practically asserting he’s a top-25 pick. In this class, the corner’s will go early and often. It brings about a scenario we touched on in last weeks mock — with King off the board before Seattle’s pick.
Conley, Awuzie and Moreau are also seemingly moving up boards for the same reason. They too showed tremendous upside at the combine. Although this is concerning:
#UCLA CB Fabian Moreau suffered what's believed to be a pectoral injury during the bench press today. Full injury extent not clear yet.
— Courtney Fallon (@CourtneyFallon_) March 21, 2017
Jim Mora spoke after the workouts stating the injury ‘was nothing to worry about’.
Kris Richard apparently attended the UCLA pro-day. If Moreau had 32-inch arms you’d have to think he’d be a legitimate option for Seattle with his explosive, twitchy athleticism. That’s not to say he won’t be on their radar — but he’d be the first corner they drafted with sub-32 inch arms in seven years of the Pete Carroll era.
The talent at cornerback and safety is so good early in this draft, we could see an unprecedented run on defensive backs in the first round. Teams will want a part of this. They won’t want to miss out. This is without doubt a defensive back draft. We could see 13-15 DB’s going in the top-40. It’s not as crazy as it sounds when you list the names out. It’s quite realistic:
Jamal Adams (S, LSU)
Malik Hooker (S, Ohio State)
Marshon Lattimore (CB, Ohio State)
Marlon Humphrey (CB, Alabama)
Gareon Conley (CB, Ohio State)
Budda Baker (S, Washington)
Kevin King (CB, Washington)
Obi Melifonwu (S, Connecticut)
Jabrill Peppers (S, Michigan)
Adoree’ Jackson (CB, LSU)
Tre’Davious White (CB, LSU)
Chidobe Awuzie (CB, Colorado)
Justin Evans (S, Texas A&M)
Fabian Moreau (CB, UCLA)
Quincy Wilson (CB, Florida)
Teez Tabor (CB, Florida)
Cordrea Tankersley (CB, Clemson)
And this isn’t accounting for arguably the top corner prospect, the injured Sidney Jones. There was some good news on Jones’ achilles earlier today when he tweeted this:
Surgery was great ✊🏾
The doctor said that I will for sure be playing this upcoming season 😎 #DontCountMeOut 💯— Sidney Jones IV (@SidneyJonesIV) March 21, 2017
It’s still quite likely Jones will start the season on the PUP list and may endure a medical redshirt in year one. However, he’s a highly talented corner and well worth a second round investment by someone.
A defensive back in round one still feels the most likely pick for Seattle considering the lack of roster depth at both corner and safety. It’ll be interesting if both Kevin King and Obi Melifonwu are off the board at #26. With Garett Bolles and Haason Reddick very likely to be unavailable too, a trade down scenario at that point could come into play.
Notes on Cordrea Tankersley
I spent a bit of time watching Clemson’s Tankerlsey over the weekend. He could be an option for Seattle with their second round pick or if they trade down from #26.
According to Charlie Campbell, he met with the Seahawks at the combine.
— Tankersley has a knack of undercutting routes, showing ample recovery speed to react and make a break on the ball.
— He’s generally very sticky in coverage. He’s grabby and might have some rough days early in his career as he works out what he can get away with. Yet unlike Gareon Conley he’ll jam and use his hands to control the route and get a feel for what the receiver’s going to do. This is a really underrated part of a CB’s game and it’s a big problem for Conley, who too often gives a free release and the room to make a cut or double move.
— Tankersley appeared to have a strong grasp of Clemson’s scheme and worked well with the free safety to cover his zone and pass off receivers.
— Showed ability to bait the QB by dropping off route, getting out of the line of sight only to make a late adjustment and play the ball. This was the type of move Kam Chancellor made against the Niners in the NFC Championship game. On two occasions I saw Tankersley pulled a similar move, gaining one interception.
— Uses his length well. Will jam at the line and disrupt routes. Has 32 inch arms. High pointed the football to make one brilliant sideline pick. Has some understanding of how to use the sideline to his advantage.
— He’s less finesse than other CB’s in this class. He’s not Brandon Browner but he’s not Ahkello Witherspoon either.
— Tankersley is an opportunist. Bad throws were punished. When a quarterback was moved off the spot and running for his life, Tankersley would read his eyes and make a play. Showed instinct and feel, has a habit of being in the right place at the right time.
— He had 16 PBU’s in 2016, the same number as Kevin King (who got a lot of targets as teams avoided Sidney Jones) and only one less than Adoree’ Jackson and Tre’Davious White.
— Tankersley matched-up vs Virginia Tech’s Bucky Hodges and won that battle comfortably, showing he can cover big, athletic receivers/tight ends. He did blow an assignment covering Isaiah Ford in the same game.
— He ran a 4.40 at the combine so there’s no problem with long speed.
— Run support was fine. He had a nice TFL vs Derrick Henry in the 2015 National Championship. Fine in this class is a bonus because a lot of the corners are below average in run support.
— Athletically he didn’t have an amazing combine despite the 4.40. He only managed a 29.5 inch vertical at the combine (improved to 30.5 at his pro-day). His 4.32 short shuttle was slower than a lot of the top prospects (and doesn’t compare favourably to some of the LB’s either) but it’s only 0.03 seconds slower than Richard Sherman’s 4.29. He ran a 7.00 three cone. The Seahawks have drafted three players with a +7.00 three cone (Byron Maxwell, Tharold Simon and Jeremy Lane) and Tye Smith ran a 6.97.
— He has the playing style of a Seattle corner and has a bit of the Byron Maxwell’s about him (Maxwell went to Clemson too so this isn’t a surprise in terms of playing style and technique).
While the Seahawks are unlikely to see him as a freakishly good athlete worthy of the #26 pick — he could be a very solid cornerback investment in round two. He isn’t as flashy as some of the corner’s being tipped for the first round but he’s grittier with a knack for making plays.
Vince Biegel insight
If the Seahawks don’t take a linebacker in the first two rounds, Wisconsin’s Vince Biegel could be a target in round three. The Badgers make videos of their players offering an insight into their background and personality. There’s a T.J. Watt version too. Here’s Biegel’s: