Today I spoke with Kaleb Eleby for ‘The Rebuild’ podcast. We discussed his pre-draft process, the chances of reuniting with Dee Eskridge in Seattle and much more.
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Seems like a total team type of guy. Very likable…sign me up but not sure where he gets drafted? I have seen him ranked all over the place to not drafted at all.
Really enjoy and appreciate your work!
Great interview, intriguing prospect.
He’s all over the map among other draft corners. Some call him a mid-round “sleeper”, others don’t even think of him as a top 10 QB in this class. NFL.com says he’s an UDFA. On leadership alone he’s worth a 4th rounder I’d gather.
It does make the mock drafting more fun when selecting a qb in day 3 rather than forcing a QB in rd. 1/2.
Another nice one Rob. You’re really keeping them rolling this off season!
A couple of questions for you, and/or the community at large:
-Where do you think the Hawks would need to grab him if they wanted to add him to the mix? Could he be an early day three flyer, or would that be too late?
-I loved your question re: pre-existing chemistry with Eskridge. Do you sense any fan tendency to overvalue that aspect of selecting him?
-How do folks see his fit with what we know so far about what Waldron wants to do scheme-wise?
-How would folks overall feel about him being added to the mix in camp?
-Any hints of interest in him on the part of PC & JS?
Gotta be honest here. Do we know anything about Waldron’s scheme? Minus Rob breaking down oline types via the rams last year looked like every year with Seattle.
When i look at the rams vs. The hawks I don’t see any parallels yet. Not to say waldron would do that exactly but who knows what his style is.
I would love this guy in the 3rd round, or later, much better than a huge reach in the first on another QB. His numbers are very good and his video is impressive.
Whoa! Just went to watch a little tape on Eleby, and was knocked out by #24 Moore at WR!
Hadn’t really had the occasion to watch any W. Michigan before, but that dude floored me!
Rob will recent draft trade between Eagles and Saints make any difference in 1st round for hawks?
So I watched highlights of Eleby, Coan, and Howell. I’m fine with any of these in R4 or later. Preference would be on Howell and Coan because of level of competition. But I defer to Rob.
College football note. Reason one million notre dame should never be in the playoffs. Their level of competition vs. W. Michigan….notre dame does great scheduling with classic teams such as USC, Navy, VA tech, etc. Last year they only played two top 25 ranked teams and lost both.
W. Michigan plays at a lower tier but just barely so. Faced two ranked teams and unlike the fighting Irish actually beat a top 15 team.
Like Eleby’s interview. Fairly standard stuff except the part about getting into yoga ( tom brady effect,) and how much he lit up about his recievers.
Either coan or eleby in round four. It’s flyer territory and the area to start taking swings on QB’s.
Coan also played at WI.
Just making my multi times a year comment for my disdain of notre dame.
Jack coan. I think could be a bit of a surprise.
If you put corral, willis, pickett, ridder’s stat line up next to Coan’s and none of the draft narrative’s were being baked in…..first i think you’d see some fairly middling play. But second coan isn’t a runner but past that I’m not sure any of them are better than any other of them at the quarterbacking part of being a qb.
Corral and Coan have similar production. But are both accurate. Pickett was very good for one year but pretty middling for his time in college. And every time I go back to scan over Willis to this day I do not get how a fairly ineffective qb at such a low tier conference is getting hyped so much because he’s the best athlete at his level and can run I guess. I know the league us hoping to strike gold. But I see him as fool’s gold when the level of competition ramps up steeply.
I think the development of Josh Allen has clouded the judgement of some GMs. They see the same type of physical tools and think their staff can do the same for Willis for example as Dabol and Co. did for Allen. I think that’s why SF drafted Lance too, with that thought in mind. I happen to think Allen is the exception, not the rule however. I’d much prefer a guy like Wilson for example, with his 35 TDs and 3 ints at Wisconsin his Sr. year which tells me he sees the field and reads defenses well.
One thing’s for sure, if Lance doesn’t become nearly Josh Allen 2.0, it’s gonna cost John Lynch his job and possibly Shanahan too.
💯
On the niners and the league. Josh Allen is the exception.
Lamar, Herbert and Mahomes were similar traits guys who worked out so I do think there is something to it beyond just random chance with Allen.
But comparing Willis to those guys misses a lot of the nuance. It’s not just finding guys with traits, Willis has some serious issues that are not as easily fixable. Those 4 all showed the ability to do what they’re doing now and just had to do it more consistently, Willis has just shown that he can run around and throw it far. I’d comp him more to Hurts than those guys.
Agree with a lot of this. Part of the Allen comp, to me, is the traits plus the small school. This idea of finding a lotto ticket.
Lamar, herbert, mahomes though traits guys have something in common that willis diesn’t.
All played in power five conferences.
Lamar was the superior runner considering his production and conference.
Herbert was more accurate, pro ready.
That’s part of why allen feels the exception and teams are future casting on Willis. On any saturday he was the best player on the fied by a mile but that’s a big ask to ope he can be a dynamic runner with bad throwing mechanics and can “just make plays,” when the leap from liberty/uab type schools vs. Georgia type players is pretty huge.
Would be really nice to hear of some news on the OT position. So odd that it has been virtually silent.
Concerning as well
No worries. Feels like a majority of hawks youtubers keep telling me how unexplosive, air raid, zero run blocking Cross is the truth.
Problem solved.
Hopefully the plan is that the market is so dead they have handshake deals going with Brown. I don’t know what is going on with Eric Fisher. 31 years old. I’m at the point of just sign a body so you can let the draft come to you instead of pressing with penning at nine. I don’t dislike penning. But I’d hate to go to the draft hoping “my guy,” was there. That’s how you end up with collier and sad trombone noises playing in the background.
Yeah, hopefully they have a deal set with Brown, but want to wait until after the draft to announce it.
If everyone thinks we need a tackle going in to the draft, it could help us to get the edge guy we truly want.
No Brown or Fisher would put pressure on to force a tackle at 9.
That’s the concern for me
Aaron Wilson: Baylor cornerback Kalon “Boogie” Barnes, the fastest 2022 NFL Draft prospect on either side of the football, has visits lined up with the Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders, and Minnesota Vikings, according to league sources. He will also have Zoom meetings with the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Chargers. He has met with the New Orleans Saints, as has Baylor teammate Tyquan Thornton. Barnes met with the Tennessee Titans prior to his campus pro day workout.
https://twitter.com/AaronWilson_NFL/status/1511333570840829959?s=20&t=viBaeDb6p-vXNxRF2bjPWw
Rob has talked about speed being an important attribute to look for with their new CB profile. Another guy with that I’d be interested in is Zyon Mccollum from Sam Houston. Elite testing numbers.
4.33 40
39.5″ Vert
11″ Broad
6.48 3 Cone
3.94 SS
If you guys don’t follow Benjamin Allbright on Twitter (@allbrightNFL) he is pretty dialed in with happenings in the NFL for a non-mainstream guy. He recently posted his “if I were guessing on the Top 10 today” picks this morning:
1 Jags- Hutch
2 Lions – Malik Willis
3 Texans – Travon Walker
4 Jets – Sauce Gardner
5 Giants – Evan Neal
6 Panthers – Kenny Pickett
7 Giants – Kyle Hamilton
8. Falcons – Kayvon Thibodeaux
9 Seahawks – Ikem Ekwonu
10 Jets – Drake London
I guess the thinking behind this is he would play LT for Seattle even though most experts think he would slide inside to play Guard in the NFL?
Yeah… you might want to google that guy
https://tbdailynews.com/guy-with-questionable-military-history-who-lied-about-getting-into-harvard-wants-minihane-and-steve-robinson-fired-for-asking-him-questions/
Thanks Rob. The dude is a Grade-A turd with “I’ve gotta be the smartest guy in the room” complex. He never went to Harvard and from my understanding is that his mediocre performance reviews in the military kept him from re-enlisting.
As a military vet, I’m just a normal dude and that was a decision I made coming out of HS school. People that flex the “veteran” card to force their opinion or win an argument are complete morons
i genuinely want to thank you for your service
Check your email
Will do
https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/1511372001776226312
Everyone is talking about Malik Willis. Well. Why not take a 3rd or 4th round pick on Kaleb Eleby? After all in the year 2012 there was a team that used a third round pick on a Quarterback from the University of Wisconsin.
Both of Willis and Eleby are going to need time before they are thrown into the ring of fire. Instead of using a 1st round pick on Willis, why not use a mid-round pick on Eleby. I LOVE Eleby’s attitude. I don’t think Eleby will be available when the Hawks pick in the 4th round. If the Hawks are interested in Eleby they might have to use a 3rd round pick on him.
Would LOVE to see a healthy competition between Eleby and Drew Lock.
I keep bringing this up. Brock Huard knows QBs. He said that he gave Drew Lock a higher than any QB in this draft.
I think both will be available 4th and beyond. The knock I see both having on various draft sites is that neither have RPO ability. Who knows if Waldron cares about that but pete has.
I hear what you’re saying about Huard. Though I’m not sure that’s as much an endorsement on Lock or a truer evaluation on a qb class that feels increasingly like people are trying to wish into being decent.
This has the hallmarks of being a repeat of the ponder/manuel draft all over where everyone is a back up in a few years.
bUt LEt’S dRaFT oNE oF THESE qBs At #9
(not saying anyone around here is saying that)
Great interview Rob.
He seems like a really good kid. Good arm and athleticism to move around. I have watched a few of his videos and his play reminds me a bit of Trevone Boykin. Where do you think he goes in the draft? I see in a couple places they have him a Day 3/Priority UDFA.
Great interview, Rob. Likeable kid.
But I can’t help but think Eleby’s physical traits don’t seem to meet the standards that most of us agree John and Pete seem to prefer. He reminds me of Minshew. His arm might be slightly better, and his ability to move around is certainly better. But–eyeball test–he does, he reminds me of Minshew.
But I like him as a prospect. He’s got touch, a quick release when he needs it. And his mechanics are better than most. He’s actually been coached to plant and step through his throws, unlike nearly every other QB in the past two drafts.
I’d take Minshew in a heartbeat.
Ditto. His TD to Int ratio is quite good. He’s not perfect but better than Drew Lock imo.
https://theathletic.com/3230295/2022/04/05/seahawks-7-round-nfl-mock-draft-trade-alert-seattle-addresses-offensive-line-then-makes-move-for-qb/?source=freedailyemail&campaign=601983
Bad mock draft by MS Dugar behind a paywall: #9 Cross Trade up to take Ridder #30 (DET). #4l K Gordon CB #72 Abraham Lucas.
Seahawks need a lot of DEF talent, not to reach for positional need. Cross is not the BPA.
He admitted that Cross isn’t a great run blocker….but he can pass protect. Bad fit.
Ridder at #30? Seahawks may do that for Corral. Otherwise they should pass on QB until R4+.
Gordon at 41, maybe. But I hope he isn’t the first defensive player we take.
#72 Lucas. He’ll be gone.
I’ll stick with Rob’s insights.
He’s been beating the cross drum for a month now
I read that this morning and gave it a “meh”
I enjoyed the interview. He’s a good kid and I wish him well.
New interview dropping shortly with…
Shelby Harris
Be prepared to have a new favourite Seahawk
Excellent! Well done
Been a Shelby fan for years now- love his game and his off-field personality. Great get and looking forward to it.
That’s awesome! How did you manage to get an interview with an active player?
Shelby talking to Seattle media.
I like him already.
Jordan Schultz: @GoBearcatsFB QB Desmond Ridder has a top-30 visit with the #Seahawks next week, per source. Ridder is the two-time reigning AAC POY and has already met with the #Steelers and #Panthers.
https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/1511411724297154562?s=20&t=3Ozl0WOmJSkvXqvVKE1ZxA
https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/1511411724297154562
What does Top 30 visit mean?
Teams get 30 official visits with players to their facility. Seattle using one on Ridder.
Has been a tell on interest in the past. But not always, it has to be said.
Teams can have a max of 30 players visit their facility pre-draft.
Why is there a limit? Who cares how many a team brings in?
Because the popular teams would end up with 150 visits and the bad teams would be left out
That’s very interesting