Before I retire to watch the draft, I think there is time for one more parting shot.
Let’s start off with a tip of the cap before the shot across the bow.
There is a draft website named “The Draft Network.” It’s very popular and you might have seen it. You can’t type draft into Google without finding them. They have a collection of writers, and to their credit, they put out a ton of content. They get on the radio, they say yes to everything and they are currently pumping ads for Orange Vanilla Coke. It is an awful product by the way. My significant other tried it, and then I got to try it when she wouldn’t finish it. It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect. I digress. The sheer volume of their work is commendable. They are busy bodies, hustling their tails off. Congratulations to them for understanding that the market is available for the taking and positioning themselves well. I applaud the effort, it’s all very commendable.
Now, I’m going to ask you guys to gather closely because it’s time for an intervention. You have an addiction you need to break and today is the day. It’s got to end now, it’s very destructive and I can’t watch you do this to yourselves again without saying something.
See, in 2018, the 6th rated prospect on The Draft Network’s big board was Connor Williams. He was a draftnik crush target due to his beautiful technique. The problem is that he wasn’t strong enough or athletic enough to hold up at tackle. He slid to the 2nd round because NFL teams saw that. He went to Dallas and he sucked because he wasn’t strong enough to play guard either.
You would think missing on a player would open your eyes to certain issues. You’d think, that someone would be “once bitten twice shy,” or have an ego check into a“fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” reaction. Not these boys. They are persistent. They have an addiction. They got a fever, and the only prescription is more technique lingo.
Their board is up, and chiming in at #10 overall. Jonah Williams. Here we go again.
I get it guys. “He has a great cadence to his kick step. He gains great depth. He hits his anchor points. His punch placement is terrific. He can mirror the edge.” You got a hard on for technique. You got the lingo down and want to show it off. It’s all very professional sounding. Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen for him either and that’s why we need to have this intervention.
It is nearly a carbon copy situation and yet the very next year you are doing it again.
What group of people would highly rank a Jonah Williams miss the following year after a Connor Williams miss. I’ve thought about this long and hard and there’s one group of people, and they’re the only group of people that could do this. That’s people with Alzheimer’s. People who can spend all offseason pouring over film and falling in love with a prospect who is terrible. Then close the book on 2018, start writing the book on 2019, only to reconvene and go, “Gentlemen, do my eyes deceive me or is that another athletically limited, weak LT prospect with great technique. I say we put him in the top 10 because he will surely succeed.”
A little Lewis Black for you folks to lighten the mood. The infatuation with Jonah Williams is downright absurd. His technique is fantastic. It is why he has been able to stifle kids who don’t have any. The technique lets him overcome his deficiencies in college but look what happened when he saw Ferrell who has good technique and is an NFL DE. He ended up on his butt didn’t he? Ferrell reached into his chest and made him look mediocre. Ferrell isn’t the only one though. Jonah had a lot of success but in film review I spotted something that no one seems to be talking about. Clemson and Georgia spotted it too. Jonah Williams is cheating his set to save his length. He is tight setting next to the Guard to bait DE’s to try to beat him up the field. He is making the outside gap look inviting and the inside gap look tight.Then he races his perfect kick step back to fend them off at the pass. He’s doing that to protect his inside shoulder because not only are his arms not long enough, but they are not strong enough to stop a DE who crosses his face. Georgia started up field and cut back inside him. They tried it on him consistently and it showed good results. Ferrell did it to him as well and with his length he was able to completely discard Jonah more than once. He has a hole in his blocking ability. It got exposed in college. What do you think is going to happen if they try him at LT in the NFL? He is going to handle poor DEs, and anyone Ferrell and up is going to give him a ride.
If you want to draft an average grading LT in the top 10 be my guest. Frankly, I like left tackles who can pass block first and foremost. He’ll bump up his grade on his combo-blocks, after all he is a double team ace.
So off to guard we go?
That’s not any better. He doesn’t move DE’s very well in solo blocks, he’s not going to move DTs. Frankly, I like guards who can get a push in the run game first and foremost. Jonah would be a pass pro plus guard, assuming that the DT’s weren’t long enough to reach and control him. Even at guard, he should be drafted well behind Lindstrom. That’s not top 10.
He’s a center. If he can snap the ball that is. Even at center he would be drafted behind Bradbury and Mccoy. That’s not top 10.
I have Jonah outside my top 32. 33-52 are on the same tier and I don’t see Jonah slotting in before 40th.
Admittedly, you guys have made progress. Connor Williams was selected too early when Dallas claimed him at 50. You had him 6th. Now you have Jonah 10th despite the fact that Jonah is better than Connor. You’ve ranked him 4 spots lower despite him being the better of the two. That means that if we have a prospect like this every single year, well by the year 2027 you’ll be ranking him properly.
I eagerly await that day.