Peeking Ahead
Posted: July 7th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 44 Comments »I know we have yet to see the 2015 Eagles in action, but it is never too early to start some good draft talk. Right?
The one player that intrigues the heck out of me is DB Jalen Ramsey from Florida State. He will be a Junior in 2015, but has already established himself as quite a player. He actually started some games for the dominant defense on the 2013 National Championship team.
Ramsey played CB and FS that year. In 2014 he became a full-time starter as the Star, a hybrid position that allows him to move around and do a variety of things. I think the Eagles would love Ramsey as a Safety because he has good man cover skills, but is also very versatile. Ramsey passes the eye test. He lists at 6-1, 201 and is athletic enough that he is a member of the track team.
I have no idea if Ramsey will be on the board when the Eagles pick, but if he is, I’m betting he is one of the players the team will be strongly considering.
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Of course the Eagles might be looking for an OL in the 1st round. Or maybe a QB. Jimmy Bama has done a bit of draft writing already and has some thoughts up on USC QB Cody Kessler.
Bama isn’t sold on Kessler. Nor should he be. Kessler is somebody to watch this year, but you need to focus on the final year of a prospect’s game tape. Players can take a serious step forward as they get experience. Some do go backward, unfortunately.
This doesn’t appear to be a strong QB class, but we’ll see how the guys play this year. All it takes is one or two to emerge and things can look very different.
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“This doesn’t appear to be a strong QB class, but we’ll see how the guys play this year.”
Come on, what about Hack if he leaves early? As you can imagine, I’m a PSU homer.
The kid from Cal is pretty good too I heard.
Nothing against Hackenburg or Penn St, and yes I am a Rutgers alum and I am being honest lol, I think he is being vastly overrated at the moment. I know he didn’t have the greatest talent around him at PSU and a strong year this year can boost his stock but I just don’t get how he is being mentioned as a top QB this year.
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Me personally I am looking forward to seeing what Connor Cook can do this year and if he excels I think he can be the 1st qb taken next year.
At 6’4″ and 236, he has an absolute cannon for an arm. Yup, he made lots of mental mistakes last year and posted pretty crappy stats while constantly getting beat up, but when under the tutelage of Bill O’Brien in 2013, he looked like a star in the making.
xmas shopping in July ….
We wish… This kid is too good for us. He will be drafted early. For us to get him it will mean having to endure a miserable season, so it’s a double edge sword.. We either have a fun year and have no shot at the STUD, or get the Stud and endure a miserable season….no win/win scenario for us, unless Jaylen suffers an injury that drops him into the 20s… This kid is a SERIOUS STUD… Been waiting years for. Safety like him to come around. Future NFl GAME CHANGER, kids Official!
Think Quinn blanding will change your mind this year…this prospect is good but he ain’t no Eric berry….
It’s not easy building when you’re in the middle of pack of a draft each year. Like you said, no win/win anywhere. Would have to trade up to get him. Which means, losing picks. Oh well. If Bradford goes down, I’ll raise an eye brow and say ‘Suck for Ramsey’ .. wait, that doesn’t rhyme…
The interceptions and big hits were nice and all..but what sold me was when he tossed/stripped Walford to the ground. Walford is a 250+ pound TE.
Another DB to watch out for is Cameron Sutton. He looks like a total package right now (minus a little tackling work) and he has kept almost all SEC WRs under a 100 yards.
http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/tennessee-football/is-cameron-sutton-the-most-underrated-db-in-the-sec/
http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/vernon-hargreaves-vs-cam-sutton-2015/
boy these are slow days in the sports world. Sixers have summer league, Phils stink but look to be getting rid of Amaro (when is the trade deadline? Maybe a great Hamels deal is coming. I hope so.).
I do think we are going to surprise some teams. I wouldn’t want to be the Falcons.
I’d love to see someone like Wilson just not sign and eventually hit free agency. He would make truck loads of cash (and I don’t think he is all that). The chances of him really getting a career ending injury are smaller than you think, and he got insurance for that. I don’t know, but does the franchise tag eventually get too high and/or can you only use it twice.
In 2017, Romo retires and..Wilson is a Cowboy after the Seahawks refusing to tag him again. I can just see the cap hell that Jerry loves.
Hey, cap hell hasn’t kept them from mediocrity for the past 15 years why stop now?
His son is mostly in charge now right? He’s been making more sane decisions but he does have Jerry’s genes (maybe?)….
I think I speak for everyone when I say the future is Travis Long.
The Eagles already have a “future” on the team with 2 ACL tears to his resume, they don’t need another.
Somehow he’s only 23 which seems insane to me. He’s been on the IR since the Obama children were in daycare.
I’m sure Ramsey does Intruig you, he is the best Safety to enter the NFL in YEARS with CB versatility..and probably the best Defensive back since Desmond Trufant,l.This kid will be one of the Rare Safeties worthy of a top 15 pick… Been raving about the kid all year,.. If we have a shot at drafting him, it will most likely mean the season DIDNT go as we hoped…
Mcnabb arrested with his 2nd DUI……
He spent a day in jail last time. He may have to do up to 90 this time around. I’m starting to wonder is he has a serious problem with alcohol. If that’s the case I really hope he does something about it. Alcoholism is a very serious disease that not only affects him but his family/friends, and of course random people such as the one he rear ended.
On the one hand I agree with you, on the other hand F that guy. Just about the only thing worst than DUI in my book is rape.
Loved his smile and attitude. Hated his chest taping ‘my bad’ in the big games.
Was a big fan when he was here, even with his personality issues -he’s a guy that doesn’t seem comfortable in his own skin.
DUI, no excuse for that at all. Twice? Hell no!
I get that he may have “issues”, honestly -what we know of his behavior is reminiscent of a few guys I know who were struggling with their sexuality at right around same age. Whatever his problem is, getting behind the wheel drunk TWICE is inexcusable.
Murder?
Murder seems like a reasonable option sometimes.
I think the fact that he was the most underrated quarterback of his generation still haunts him to his day. Or maybe all those groundballs he would throw.
Or coming very close to winning a SB, or all of the NFCGs that went south.
‘starting to wonder’? What more signs do you need?
I know people that are idiots and have gotten two DUIs, and I know people that are aclcholics and have gotten two DUIs, so yeah I’m starting to wonder if he is one or just an idiot.
He just got his second one yesterday, so yeah, starting yesterday I started to wonder.
1 DUI didn’t exactly scream alcoholic yet, while yes it is an indicator.
So, just because you don’t know how he will do, how the other players will do, where we will pick or what the teams ahead of us are looking for, you decide to punt and say you don’t know if he will be on the board. Weak, Tommy, weak.
O YEH ATG!!!!!!!!!! WELL……… uhhhhhh……… YOUR WEAK! Burn.
Tommy is saying, in a round about way, picking at slot 32, he’s not sure he’ll be there.
LOOOONNNGGG time reader(i’d say 4+ years), rare poster. So rare I forgot my pw and had to set up a new account. hah. Seeing as we have draft talk going, any thoughts on Su’a Cravens? Not just as an Eagle prospect but as an NFL prospect in general. I think he is too small to be playing LB in the NFL but Trojans insist on having him there. Love his versatility and overall game, been following him since high school.
Also, given he has been playing at linebacker, his tackling should be exceptional for a DB. And given we already know his coverage skills, seeing as he was a CB and Safety previously, does he not tick nearly every box possible from a scouting perspective if he reverts back to safety for the pros?
All I could get for video was his game against Nebraska and some highlight vids but he does look exceptional in man coverage, especially if he was playing at 215-225. While he does struggle getting of blocks at times, he is able to engage blockers aggressively but perhaps lacks the knowledge/practice to know what to do once he gets there. He doesn’t run around blockers, a la Shaq Thompson. He plays fast which can hinder him at times because he runs like a bull seeing red, however, I’ve always heard it is easier to teach a player to slow down than speed up. He does make 2 critical mistakes in coverage. 1. He let a receiver leak behind him in the flat and played too shallow allowing the qb to complete the ball over the top of him from a decent gain. Another is maybe a better play design and execution by Nebraska than his mistake, regardless, he rushed around the edge and the LT gave a blocked but then leaked out into the flat and the qb was able to find him from a TD. Again this was a good play designed and Cravens may have not had any coverage responsibilities whatsoever. On all accounts he look good playing in space and in man coverage. He is able to blitz and generate pressure off the edge. He looks to have more than average ball skills as evident by a tipped ball he had to contort his body to intercept. Best case scenario he finds his niche this year and USC sticks him at either LB or S and he develops his skill further. Worst case, he isn’t able to gain weight and he has a fate similar to Shaq Thompson this year. He obviously looks fantastic in his highlight video which is a good start. In summation, I think his pro’s include: aggression, coverage ability, tackling ability and decent understanding of dealing with blocks. The cons: Plays a bit too fast, can still get overwhelmed by blockers, and isn’t assignment sound consistently with the latter possibly being due to immaturity. I would imagine a definite Eagles target as long as the maturity is there because of the versatility he brings.
I sincerely hope he doesn’t get put into tweener category because coming out of high school he was exceptional. He had the hands to play WR, coverage skills to play corner and safety and then they even had him be able to play LB and RB.
I understand USC playing him near the LOS to make use of his sure tackling, blitzing and sideline to sideline speed. But it pains me to see him used as a LB where in college he can compensate for his lack of strength vs OL, but in the NFL that will be a major problem.
All his exceptional traits, speed, ball playing and even blitzing would make him an exceptional safety. Even Ronnie Lott has compared him to Polamalu.
Maybe the fact he could be viewed as a tweener could be a positive for us. He could drop nicely to number 32 🙂
Sure and like I mentioned previously, he already shows more willingness to takes on blocks than someone like Thompson. I hope that if he does play linebacker this year he shows more development in that area. If he does, it will give him good marks in not only the ability to shed but also the ability to learn and improve. I’m not sure if Cravens is Samoan or not but I’ve said for a long time, no defense is complete without one, that and someone with dreads.
He is Samoan. Hence why I started following him at high school level. heard wraps on him back then.
He is actually the cousin of TE Jordan Cameron, who I didn’t know was samoan until I tried to put together a samoan NFL team. side note: that nfl team was heavy on lineman but very light on DB’s. at least we’d have a good qb with mariota now.lol
I’m a big FSU fan, and the moment Ramsey stepped onto the field you could tell he was a special talent.. He’s a versatile, big Long quick twitch athlete who’s just seems to make impact play after impact play, seemingly most effective while being used as a blizter.. Over the last two years FSU has lost a lot of quality defensive players to the NFL especially in the secondary, but some would safe he was the best of those prospects even as a freshman. It will be interesting to see how he will be used while they break in a few new starters in the back end of that unit this year.Best safety prospect since Eric Berry left Tennessee IMO
Having watched most of FSU’s games in the past two years, I echo these sentiments. Ramsey is the rare combo-db who could either shut down an elite WR, blow up a TE or bring speed to a team’s blitz package options. He is very willing to come up and hit a RB at the line. His athletic abilities, measurements and ability to anticipate make him the complete package. It is rare when a freshman makes a major impact on FSU’s defense, but Ramsay did just that and he probably was a better leader as a sophomore than his junior and senior teammates. (Stuff Chip likes.) The NFL DC whose team selects Ramsey can gamble, or play it safe, because Ramsey seems disciplined enough to play either way.
I hope that we aren’t going to be in position to select him, because that would mean the season would be a failure since Ramsey barring any unforeseen circumstances like injury will be a top ten selection come next Spring
Anyone else think JPP is hiding misinf fingers? Would explain why the team hasn’t been allowed to see him in hospital. Dude picked up a “dud”.. If he closed his hand on that thing..
Sucks to see how his career has turned out.
And kind of exciting to see how Graham’s will end.
Idk, it’s been reported its non career threatening. Honestly though, what the point of hiding that? It’s not like if he hides it for a set period of time they will grow back. Unless I’m missing something if he tells people he is missing 2 fingers a month from now or yesterday the outcome will still be the same.
one of the most impressive db highlites ive ever seen wow