RamBle's Take On Last Year's DrafteesAdd yourself to The HERD's Official Roster (guestbook), if you think you are man enough!
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Grant Wistrom-
He's a damn good "football player". What's for "sure" is this guy will
play the run real well. That's not what you're lead to believe, but I'm telling you he's
very strong, penetrates and moves the OL backwards and has great hands to control the
blocker. They will not run at him. He also has an excellent power inside pass rush move,
splitting the OT and OG. He also has terrific closing speed so when he beats the blocker,
he gets the QB real quick. The issue with him is his outside pass rush, which is not good.
He doesn't know now how to speed rush off the edge and beat an OT, especially a big one. I
don't know if we can teach him. If so, he's a great player. If not he's a damn good, but
not great player. Like a Kevin Carter, who also isn't that great at the tight, quick
outside pass rush.
Robert
Holcombe- My pick, as have many others, as our best pick. Most important
quality is he has GREAT vision. He sees the holes, hits them real quick with a
quick-short-step approach, and is thru the hole. Great feet. Little steps, always. always
moving, and moving in a positive direction. I predict, unlike you might believe, that this
guy will break alot of long runs in the NFL. Forget his 4.53 forty. He has the ingredients
to be thru the hole before the defense can react. Like Emmitt Smith. Huge. And, I don't
think he'll be hurt much. He runs inside with such vision that he makes people miss, or he
minimizes the hit. He doesn't whack into people unnecessarily. He's alot like Issac Bruce
when Bruce goes over the middle. Ike doesn't take shots. And Holcombe is very, very tough.
There was a kick-off in an All-Star game where he was the short man on the return. The
ball went to the deep guy. He returned to about the 30 and then Holcombe apart from the
play layed wood to a defender with real toughness. Leveled him. It was a situation where
he needn't have blocked at all, but he's a tough "football player". He blocks
very good. And, his receiving is as exciting as his running. He has a West-Coast offense
type knack for catching passes in stride, very naturally. So, he's gone before the defense
knows it. Summation---feet, feet, feet; vision, vision, vision. Will be terrific.
Leonard
Little- As reported, fabulous closing speed. Tremendous exposion. A
racehorse physique. And an ability to "make things happen". Fumbles, int's, etc.
So, he's on the surface alot like Lawrence Taylor, which ain't bad. He's a great pass
rusher when blitzing or from "space". He can pass rush great from DE when he
runs by the OT at the snap. That's the key--he plays best in space, when not blocked.
Also, contrary to popular opinion, he covers backs out-of-the-backfield very well on
passing plays. He has weaknesses tho. He has problems playing on the line of scrimmage as
an OLB. He gets locked up with the blocker and has trouble shedding. He also is
ineffective as a DE pass rushing when the OT gets a hold of him. Does nothing. So, when
he's on contact with a blocker, he has trouble. Inside, as an MLB, he's lost reading. I
think he can be a super OLB, if he's used in space mostly. But it'll take a little time to
learn a few things.
Az-zahir
Hakim- Has what I see as Jerry Rice's best quality(and with Rice there are
lots). Hakim, like Rice, catches the ball so naturally with his hands and with such ball
adjustment that he does not slow at all. He catches it fully on the go. So, he blows by
defenders. He has another superb quality. He makes people miss in real tight quarters.
Over the middle, he'll catch a ball, in stride of course, and then juke the safety who is
coming to unload. Hakim does it the way Barry Sanders makes defenders look foolish. Great
body control and football sense. This also will keep him from taking shots over the
middle, same good quality as Issac Bruce. He also has sensational RAC, again like Rice.
Terrific on the quick WR screen.SUMMATION- Love all four. Holcombe and Hakim flawless. Wistrom and Little will be good or excellent. TBD.
Looking at the latter four picks, I'm mixed in my feelings. But with hope.
Roland
Williams- Bust. He's big. He's tall. He's slow. That's what you read. But,
he's not a good blocker. He tries, and tries real hard but he blocks too high and gets
muscled by the defender way too much. He's very awkward, top heavy and stiff too. Syracuse
tight ends aren't receivers. In fact, they hardly go out for passes. So, I don't get the
pick. The one plus I can point out is Roland has an usually good verticle jump. 36 inches
is great for a tight end, especially a big one. I see him as a Howard Cross who can't
block. Bust IMO.