Thread: Senior Bowl Report

will be interesting to see what Raji benches at the combine.

How did he go from dominating at practice to doing nothing during the game?

Originally Posted by broncobryce

How did he go from dominating at practice to doing nothing during the game?

Was there a ball carrier in the one on ones he was dominating? If not, theres not penalty for beating your man to either side. But in a live game, you have to guess where the ball carrier is going, if your going to guess, and also your man has help from another lineman. I mean, lets not put this guy out with the trash just yet. The physical characteristics that were dominating the one on ones are still there. None of these guys are finished products. Basically, if theres talent to work with, who is to say what a competent coach can do in preseason and offseason training? But also, it depends on what they expect out of him. If they want him to play 2 gap primarily, its a little hard to judge since he was trying to do a lot of penetrating last night which led to the guessing wrong and being directed out of the play by the interior olinemen. But also, like I said before, if he takes up two blocks that should be a win because it should free up someone else.

If you are dominant on one on ones you should have no problem clogging a hole when double teamed. It sucks taking any project in the first round (Jarvis Moss) but I don't think Raji is much of a project. As a NT he will know his role a lane clogger and should be able to do it.

All defensive linemen, to some extent, are projects. Every single one.

Name the last rookie all-pro defensive lineman.

I can't think of him either.

A few, a very few defensive linemen were outstanding from day one. Most of them are now in the HOF. There are more DL who are in the HOF who needed work to get good enough to be stars.

Everybody can get better from college to the pros. Better coaches, better weight room programs, better film study, no classes or limits on the amount of football work you can put in, etc.

The problem with most defensive linemen is their motor. Most DL can make a great play sometime in a game, but can't keep up the effort to make those kinds of plays all game long.

So when you're looking for a DL, IMO you need to be looking for the guys who have less quit in em than the other guys. If you get a no-quit player with a ton of talent, then maybe you have something.

Raji has some quit in him, but not as much as most of his peers. He has enormous amounts of talent. Peria Jerry has a better motor, IMO, but is a worse fit for a 3-4 and has injury concerns. They're pretty much the only 2 DTs I'd even consider in the first round right now.

Raji's had bad games. He'll have more. But he's a talent worth a first-round selection. The right coach can make all the difference. He reminds me of Haynesworth coming out of college.

Here's what they said about Haynesworth:

Positives: Massive frame and size and a great body. Tremendous athlete for his size. Has a great upside if he will pay the price. Very quick off the ball and explosive when he plays at a good pad level. Can be overpowering and dominating inside. No one man can block him when he is motivated and uses good technique. Played much harder in '01 than he ever had before.

Negatives: Immature and needs to be pushed at times. Can't be relied upon. Is not a hard worker or self-starter. Takes too many downs off. Will get too upright and lean on the offensive linemen when he gets tired at times. Does not play nasty very often.

Summary: The type of player who could make your draft or break your heart. Could be the best defensive tackle in the draft and the best defensive lineman from Tennessee since Reggie White if he stays focused and works hard.

We've seen what happened with Haynesworth.

Raji needs to mature a bit, needs to understand how to play every down and yet to conserve some strength for the end of games. He's been relying on his ridiculous physical gifts for a while, so we don't know if he can accept the coaching changes to his game that will carry him to the upper echelon.

Or if he's gonna be Gerard Warren and only play hard in contract years.

Haynesworth was the #15 pick in his draft. Marcus Stroud went #13 the year before.

That's the company Raji is in, IMO. He has the talent of those guys, and I don't think we'd gripe about adding them at our current draft spot. Maybe he won't take best advantage of it, but I think he will. If we still had our old DL coach here I would despair of ever making Raji more than Marcus Thomas is.

With our new DL coach, I seriously would not mind adding Raji to Thomas up front and seeing what we could make of that pairing.

And considering how much I hate 1st round defensive line picks, that's saying something.

~G

I'm glad he didn't play great during the game. Hopefully it means he will still be there at 12.

Originally Posted by SmilinAssasSin27

more attention should be paid to the practices than the vanilla, no real schemes allowed game. JMHO

Yep, that's why the scouts and GM's get outta town before the game. They've seen what they needed to see.

Originally Posted by G_Money

All defensive linemen, to some extent, are projects. Every single one.

Name the last rookie all-pro defensive lineman.

I can't think of him either.

A few, a very few defensive linemen were outstanding from day one. Most of them are now in the HOF. There are more DL who are in the HOF who needed work to get good enough to be stars.

Everybody can get better from college to the pros. Better coaches, better weight room programs, better film study, no classes or limits on the amount of football work you can put in, etc.

The problem with most defensive linemen is their motor. Most DL can make a great play sometime in a game, but can't keep up the effort to make those kinds of plays all game long.

So when you're looking for a DL, IMO you need to be looking for the guys who have less quit in em than the other guys. If you get a no-quit player with a ton of talent, then maybe you have something.

Raji has some quit in him, but not as much as most of his peers. He has enormous amounts of talent. Peria Jerry has a better motor, IMO, but is a worse fit for a 3-4 and has injury concerns. They're pretty much the only 2 DTs I'd even consider in the first round right now.

Raji's had bad games. He'll have more. But he's a talent worth a first-round selection. The right coach can make all the difference. He reminds me of Haynesworth coming out of college.

Here's what they said about Haynesworth:


We've seen what happened with Haynesworth.

Raji needs to mature a bit, needs to understand how to play every down and yet to conserve some strength for the end of games. He's been relying on his ridiculous physical gifts for a while, so we don't know if he can accept the coaching changes to his game that will carry him to the upper echelon.

Or if he's gonna be Gerard Warren and only play hard in contract years.

Haynesworth was the #15 pick in his draft. Marcus Stroud went #13 the year before.

That's the company Raji is in, IMO. He has the talent of those guys, and I don't think we'd gripe about adding them at our current draft spot. Maybe he won't take best advantage of it, but I think he will. If we still had our old DL coach here I would despair of ever making Raji more than Marcus Thomas is.

With our new DL coach, I seriously would not mind adding Raji to Thomas up front and seeing what we could make of that pairing.

And considering how much I hate 1st round defensive line picks, that's saying something.

~G

I aggree, and often compare AH and BJ. BJ IMHO is better all around then Glen Doresy. I am not hip to our new DL coach.

I really hope we dont run the two gap 3-4. i would rather run the 1 gap i think it is easier to find lineman that can play in the scheme. its rare to find NT and lineman that can play the scheme. New England i dont know how they did it but props.

Originally Posted by Northman

Maybe, although you never know how someone is going to be after just one game or in a game that ultimately has no real meaning. It wasnt like they were playing for a Championship or anything so its hard to say where the players motivation is throughout it.

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

That's the way I feel, it make me shy away from idea of drafting Raji or Brace for that matter.

As if Millions of dollars isn't motivation enough.. These guys should want to show their dominance, if they can't motivate themselves for a game like this, it should raise some serious concerns..

Originally Posted by fcspikeit

As if Millions of dollars isn't motivation enough.. These guys should want to show their dominance, if they can't motivate themselves for a game like this, it should raise some serious concerns..

Actually, thats what the combine is for. The Senior Bowl is just a chance for them to go out and have fun as seniors. Although scouts do show up to look at them i dont think the players take it too seriously until the combine. And thats if your slated to fall after the first round. If Brace and B.J bomb the Combine than i can see growing more concerned but im not overly worried about this game.

BJ was playing a 4/3 DT, we want him as a 3/4 NT. It's apples and oranges. For what he was asked to do at the SB he did well IMO. The feedback on him from the SB indicates he would be even better as a 3/4 NT. This guy is the best NT in the draft and is still a top 10 caliber pick.

I was thinking this year that it might be nice to have each side run a different defense. One runs a 3-4, and the other a 4-3 just to give those people who want it a chance to show what they can do when they project to be an OLB in a 3-4 but they've always played DE in a 4-3.