Top ILBs in upcoming draft

A whole lot of talent in the Bayou. God given ability is a tough nut to crack.
and other than Cali, Texas and Fla, Louisiana is the place where football players are.

 

If Pratt tests well, I think the Steelers need to consider him at #20. He could be a 3 down ILB for them.

 

revamp the position. Pratt, fort, connelly, gilbert Add burns from fla.st. to the ol b spot. Dump vince , matakevich, bostic and dupree. Add speed to both units.

 

Burns is a guy that hasn't gotten a bunch of talk here. I have seen his name a couple times but nothing hard core. If the draft does D heavy like some are saying guys like Burns, Ferguson and Z. Allen could be guys we look at. So much time and so much movement to come..........

 

I have a question which games did you watch of Pratt? I just watched the Georgia St game and was not impressed. What I do is watch the film then go to the game stats, so I was shocked when I saw that he had 7 tkl 5 solo ad 1 sack. The sack he had came unblocked and almost missed the tackle. This is something I noticed all game, plays fast and out of control a lot. One play he dropped into coverage lost his guy then left his zone open for the QB to run right into. The center #50 ate his lunch all day, Pratt could not shed his blocks. He was able to beat him once in the 3rd. I need to watch more so was wondering which games you liked of him.

 

One name that I would like to bring back up is Jordan Kunaszyk CAL. I was high on him during his bowl game in December and he didn't disappoint. I liked what I saw from him just forgot about him until now, could be a diamond in the rough, speed at the combine will make or break him as far as draft stock goes.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jordan-kunaszyk-1/gamelog/2018


Another name I came across while looking up Pratt was, Juwan Foggie, Charlotte. I am not sure if he is an OLB or an ILB, but he is a former WR turned LB and he lead the country in INT's by LB's. I have a feeling he isn't gonna get drafted so he is high on my FA list.

 

At #20? Or 2nd?

 

Thanks I will check them out this is what's cool about threads like this. Everyone see's things a little different, I went back and watched that game after your post and I don't see it any different. I watched right up till his sack in the 3rd and I still saw the same things. Yeah he went a long way for the sack but he went around the left end untouched, sorry that don't impress me. And #50 owned him all day, in the first on the first TD it was like from the 7-8 yard line the OT came out and took Pratt out of the play allowing the RB to run around the end for a TD. This shows me he has a problem with shedding a block which is something I worry about with a ILB.

Now onto the other pressures he had yes there were a few where he did come up the middle and run the RB over, I did see that and that was nice. However also in the 3rd he had a pressure coming up the middle untouched. He does play a lot of coverage and has what looks like the speed to go sideline to sideline. I will look at some of these other games that you said to see more.

Hanks is also on my list and it will be interesting to watch him and see if he plays the same way as many here have talked about him too.

 

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/01/2019-nfl-draft-player-profiles-alabama-lb-mack-wilson/

 

Hmm....


Agree overall with the summary. Issue is remains is why Wilson lost playcalling duties to Dylan Moses. For that matter, how well can he answer those questions at the combine?



Time will tell.

 

You can say that again about long back and forth's there are a few around here that don't know what an opinion is and think their's is the only one that matters. But anyways as far as you and I go we usually disagree on prospects but we usually do it open minded and bring up good points about them.

I am not a Combine guy, I put a lot of stock in game film and bowl games. I by no means am saying that some drills and numbers aren't important but they aren't my drafting reasons. If a guys runs a nice 40 or something and I haven't watched him then I will look more into him. I too am no expert, heck man I am far from it I am just a fan. However this IS a message board and this is what we do here talk back and forth about different things. And for the most part it is usually done in a fair and knowledgeable way and I like many of the posters looks on different players. Sorry if this got to long

 

I think Bush also benefited from a strong front. Similar to Wilson so these guys are hard to evaluate. I do like Wisconsin's boys. Connelly is undervalued I believe. If Edwards was faster he would be a great pick. Both of these guys can play the position and have been consistent for a few years. Just good, smart college football players. Will it translate is the question. If it were up to me, I would bring fort back and grab two minimum in this draft.

 

That's why they have a mute button for those highlight videos

 

The more I see Mack Wilson, the more I wonder if he is a top 32 player or top 50 overall. Something is not right within watching some of the tape. While I do not believe his success are the result of those great Alabama Defensive Lineman, the fact of the matter is he seems more adept at being deployed in coverage than having an all around skill set.



While I do believe he will hear his name called on Day 1 of the draft, I do not see a top 20 prospect in Mack Wilson. There are too many unanswered questions with his athletic abilities alone. Add the fact he lost his playcalling duties to a sophomore and that increases the concerns even more.



To say he NEEDS to have a great combine in it of itself is an understatement if he wants to be considered a top 20 prospect. He must have a great one. Here is something else to consider. These points are as follows:



- This season, 337 prospects will coverge in Indy for the combine. There are plenty more prospects that will enter the combine. For the sake of keeping things simple, let us just use this figure for the time being.


- On draft day, accounting for the compensatory picks, up to 256 will be selected (keep in mind I am using the total number of selections from 2018 for reference as compensatory picks have not been announced yet).


- Of those 256, only 12.5% of those prospects are warranted a first round selection by the NFL Draft Advisory Board. Of those 32, only 20 will be will given a top 20 selection by the same board. While being one of 32 to be given such a high grade is nice, here is a more gruesome way of putting this process into context:



**** Up to the 256 approximate prospects that will hear their name during the NFL Draft, only 7.8% of them will hear their name within the first 20 picks. ****



In short?! It is unthinkably, colossaly difficult to be a top 20 pick; regardless of circumstances. Those players are usually the cream of the crop in their class; some even capable of having transcending effects within their position. They MUST be what we call "Day One Impact Players".

 

he's more of Michigan's slower version of peppers. I just meant with the players in front of him they kept him clean to run free a lot. I have seen a lot of this kid living in big 10 country. Not sold on him at 20.

 

His soph year Bush had 94 tackles but only 35 were solo stops. Last year he dropped to the 70's. Exposed against better teams. Just not sure he's the answer we are looking for, and not at 20.

 

I would love to see Edwards run a 4.7 or below at the combine. Connelly a sub 4.7 too. Great instincts with these two. The numbers on these guys reflect that. They make plays consistently. Solo stops and for Edwards speed makes a lot of plays in the pass defense game. Just two good linebackers. Would help a team tremendously. We need that help.