We found this draft tidbit regarding Ohio State linebacker Anthony Schlegel from a Jet fan we know that attended the draft yesterday: "At the draft a few Jets fans joined together to yell "Mort" to get ESPN's Chris Mortensen's attention after the Schlegel pick. My brother yells 'What you think about Schlegel?' Mortensen responds with a thumbs up and "He's a football player" and shakes his head yes with approval....Meanwhile, Mel Kiper didn't approve, all he did was shake his head and give a thumbs down. DD.com Comment: Where has the outspoken Mel gone? In years gone by, Mel would tear into teams for picks he didn't like. After the Schlegel pick, Kiper said he was a bit of a reach, but seemed pretty positive regarding the linebackers talent level. Schlegel went higher than we expected, we projected him in round 5 or 6...like that matters, right? But after giving that pick some thought, we recalled how much we liked USC's Lofa Tatupu in 2005, yet listened to the "insiders" who claimed Tatupu was a total Day 1 waste because he ran consecutive 4.85 40's at the Combine at 5' 11". Tatupu wound up as a Pro Bowler in his rookie year and we looked like fools, tearing into Tatupu over his 40 times. Not saying Schlegel will make the Pro Bowl or start next season, but maybe there is more to a player/linebacker than 40 times alone, right? Schlegel may have something like 4. 7 or 4.8 speed, but as Chris Mortensen pointed out he's a "player" and has always exceeded expectations and brought his A-Game every week. We've never seen Schlegel embarrass himself on the field and he plays faster than he's timed.
Schlegal fits the mold of a tough, hard nosed smart football player the new regime is looking for. Wheteher he can make plays in the NFL is the gamble the FO made. Kiper has mellowed in recent years. He also was never known for ripping picks in the 3rd round. His criticism was mostly done on first round selections.
Here's what people on here do not understand. I'd say a 1/3 of the "lock must picks" turn into busts, and 1/3 of the "reaches" turn into overachievers...
assuming thats true, doesn't that mean that 2/3 of the must picks turn out good and 2/3 of the reaches are busts? Is that an argument to reach?
He finished 2nd on the team in tackles. That has to mean something, considering the STUDS he was playing alongside. I'm glad we got a guy like that, he looks tough. Anyone who hunts wild boars with a knife must be a bad ass.
as more info comes out about schlegel. the better the pick sounds. but your never gonna sell me on eric smith that was just a bad pick.
We'll have to see. I think Schlegel might be a player, but a player limited to the 3-4. Which won't be too bad if we play a lot of 3-4, so.... who knows. Benefit of the doubt, for now.
The stat is 67% of ALL 1st riunders flunk out since the inception of the NFL way back when. As a example Rice was a 3rd rounder Toon a 1st rounder & looking back look who we could have had. Hey Brady was a 6 right? Montana I think also was a 3. So talent is available if you have the R & D dept to find it. From some of our recent picks you can say our R & D heads were in the sand rather then thinking outside the box.
At LB, you are always better off drafting instinctive productive players rather than athletes that lack instinct. Think Chris Speilman, from OSU. He was all world in college, but was slow and a little undersized. He should have been a first round pick but went into the 2nd round. Then he ended up being a Pro-Bowl player. If Schlegel is a player, then the pick was a good one.
Schlegel picks is very acceptable. i agree we need more tough guys on defense that like to take on and shed blockers. last year our lbs where way to finess. if they were blocked they where done.
Brian Cox loved Schlegel that is why the Jets picked him. ON Eric Smith he led the team in Tackles with 101 while the next guy was 65. IM saying they are great but atleast these are not head scratchers.
I'm not that against the Schlegel pick, but i still dont understand the Eric Smith pick when both Ko Simpson & Darnell Bing were still available.
