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Nick Foles QB Arizona #8
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Ht: 6’5″
Wt: 240 |
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| Strengths: | ||
| Elite height. Decent athleticism for his size; can avoid pass rushing ends and tackles relatively consistently. Looks good throwing on the run. Strong fundamentally; no significant flaws in throwing motion. Quick release. Above average accuracy on short and intermediate routes. Does a nice job going through his progressions; not afraid to check down. Made significant improvement in decision making from junior to senior year; cut down on number of times he forces the ball into tight coverage. | ||
| Weaknesses: | ||
| Quick release is a plus, but also has a tendency to rush when pressured; leads to poor decisions and inaccurate throws. Gets happy feet when pressured consistently; needs to learn to remain calm and patient, even when offensive line is struggling. Kind of an awkward athlete; reasonably mobile, but takes a lot of false steps and just doesn’t look fluid moving around in the pocket. One-year wonder? Very inconsistent until second-half of senior year. | ||
| Comments: | ||
| Assessing Foles’ NFL future is extremely difficult due to his Jekyll and Hyde routine. At times, Foles looks lost; at other times he flashes NFL starter ability. However, it wasn’t until relatively late in his senior year that he began to show any consistency. This could be a great sign, indicating that his best football is still ahead of him. Or it could be a fluke; nothing more than a string of good games, to be followed up in the future by a string of mediocre performances. Given his size, decent athleticism and improvement late in his career he definitely deserves a shot at the next level. However, his late-season performance in 2011 will likely lead to a lot of hype, and he simply doesn’t have the body of work to warrant the praise. | ||
| Videos: | ||
| 2011 vs Arizona State (great example of the good Foles) 2011 vs Oklahoma State (great example of the shaky, inconsistent Foles) |
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Category: Scouting Reports – 2012
Vontaze Burfict scouting report
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Vontaze Burfict ILB Arizona State #7
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Ht: 6’3″Wt: 250 |  |
| Strengths: | ||
| Prototypical size and strength. Strong, fundamentally sound tackler. Has the ability to deliver the big hit and knock the ball loose. Impressive speed and athleticism for his size; when he takes the correct angle, he can close on the ball carrier in a flash and deliver a big hit. Tons of upside if he can harness his aggression and improve his awareness and discipline on the field. | ||
| Weaknesses: | ||
| Extremely overaggressive to the point where it became a major issue; routinely flagged for late hits. Football intelligence is lacking; struggles to diagnose misdirection plays and frequently over-commits in the wrong direction. Does a poor job keeping his eyes in the backfield and adjusting to the play when blitzing. Struggles dropping into coverage; taken off the field in many obvious passing situations when not being used to blitz. Headbutted Oregon State quarterback Ryan Katz in 2010. Failed drug test at combine. | ||
| Comments: | ||
| Burfict has been a big-time playmaker since arriving on campus in 2009. Unfortunately, he has shown little improvement in that span. When casually watching Arizona State, Burfict immediately jumps out because he’s all over the field and always around the football. A close look, however, reveals his poor instincts and complete lack of discipline. His reputations as a dirty player is well know and, even if his late hits don’t come with ill-intentions, he’s still consistently putting his team in bad situations due to the penalties he racks up. At worst, he’s flat-out dirty; at best, he’s just plain stupid. Either way, Burfict is often a detriment to his team. He has the raw talent of a fringe 1st-rounder, but has yet to show the maturity on or off the field to warrant that status. Given his serious character concerns, it would be difficult to justify spending even a late round pick. Unless he grows up fast, he’ll be nothing but a headache for the coaching staff, and his play on the field won’t make it worthwhile. | ||
| Videos: | ||
| 2011 vs USC 2011 vs Illinois 2011 vs Oregon |
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Janoris Jenkins scouting report
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Janoris Jenkins CB North Alabama #1
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Ht: 5’10”
Wt: 182 |
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| Strengths: | ||
| Impressive athlete. Has the speed to stick with any receiver. Elite quickness and change-of-direction ability – has true “cover corner” skills. Gives a solid effort in run support; decent tackler for his size. Not afraid to match up against bigger receivers, and will occasionally step up and try to jam them at the line of scrimmage. Looks comfortable in zone coverage; does a nice job staying in his zone, while keeping his eyes on the quarterback. Occasionally used on corner blitzes while at Florida. A pesky cornerback; gets in receivers faces, lots of unnecessary shoving after it’s clear the play isn’t going his direction – so long as he keeps it under control, this is an asset. Played through a shoulder injury in 2010. Playmaker on special teams; one of top return specialists in this year’s class. Plenty of experience against top competition (37 starts at Florida). | ||
| Weaknesses: | ||
| Significant character issues. Arrested in 2009 for his role in a fight. Arrested twice in 2010 for marijuana possession (in a span of four months). Kicked off team (at Florida) after most recent arrest and enrolled at North Alabama. Ejected from a game in 2011 for throwing a punch. Slightly undersized; can get pushed around by some bigger receivers. Impulsive on the field; can play solid fundamental football at times, but takes too many big risks. Tackling technique could improve, but the effort is there. Easily blocked by most receivers in the run game. Missed 2010 bowl game with shoulder injury. | ||
| Comments: | ||
| In terms of raw talent, Jenkins is a legitimate 1st-round pick, and could even be viewed as a potential top-10 prospect. However, his off-field issues severely limit his draft stock, and he will likely be removed from many draft boards. Given his long list of transgressions, which continued to an extent at North Alabama, spending a 1st-round pick on Jenkins would be a huge risk. That said, his character concerns are not significantly worse than Jimmy Smith, who was selected in the 1st round by the Ravens in 2011. He’s the type of prospect that bad teams should steer clear of, but he may be worth the risk to a contender. | ||
| Videos: | ||
| 2010 vs Georgia, Alabama (A.J. Green, Julio Jones) 2011 highlights (North Alabama) |
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Riley Reiff scouting report
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Riley Reiff OT Iowa #77
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Ht: 6’6″
Wt: 300 |
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| Strengths: | ||
| Prototypical height and overall size. Solid fundamentals; does a nice job staying low and using leverage to hold his ground against more physical defensive linemen. Strong lower body allows him to hold his ground against the bull rush. Excellent footwork; uses quick feet to recover when beat off the snap. Nasty run blocker; stays low and consistently drives his man back. Decent athleticism; has the ability to get to the second level. Strong hands/arms; does a nice job fighting off pass rushers with his upper body. | ||
| Weaknesses: | ||
| Quickness off the snap could be improved; when he gets beat, it’s often by a faster edge rusher who’s past him before he’s even able to get into his stance – may be viewed as a right tackle by some teams for this reason. Looks much more confident as a run blocker; more assertive in run blocking; seems hesitant and less comfortable dropping into pass protection. Not asked to move around much in Iowa’s offense; limited experience on screens, pulling, trapping, etc. Arrested in 2008 for public in intoxication and avoiding arrest; stopped by police while undressnzing in an alley and proceeded to lead them on a 20-minute chase on foot. | ||
| Comments: | ||
| Reiff has all the physical tools necessary to start at the next level, potentially at left tackle. The only thing holding him back from elite prospect status is his somewhat limited athleticism, which will probably cause some teams to view him as a right tackle. Regardless of where he ends up on the line, he should be plugged into a starting role immediately and left there for the next decade. | ||
| Videos: | ||
| 2011 vs Oklahoma (bowl game) 2011 vs Nebraska |
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David Wilson scouting report
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David Wilson RB Virginia Tech #4
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Ht: 5’10”
Wt: 205 |
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| Strengths: | ||
| Well built for his size. Surprisingly tough to bring down. Great vision; does a nice job squeezing through tight holes between the tackles. Quick feet and impressive athletic ability; tough for defenders to tee him up for a big hit. Experienced as a receiver out of the backfield; good hands. Has experience returning kickoffs. Steady production throughout his career. | ||
| Weaknesses: | ||
| Slightly undersized; may struggle with a feature back workload at the next level. Sometimes tries to do too much; needs to be more decisive – pick a hole and hit it hard. Generally ineffective as a blocker; can slow some guys down, but doesn’t stonewall anyone and will occasionally completely whiff. Yards-per-attempt average is somewhat misleading; he’ll rip off a 12 yard run, then get stuffed in the backfield on the next play – isn’t consistently picking up 5 yards per touch. | ||
| Comments: | ||
| Wilson definitely has the skill set to be an effective third-down back at the next level, and may be able to play a more significant role in the right system. I would hesitate to bring him aboard with the intent of making him a feature back, but he could be effective in a two-back system in which he gets 10-15 carries per game. | ||
| Videos: | ||
| 2011 vs Wake Forest 2011 vs Clemson |
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