Post by Funkytown on Mar 31, 2022 8:58:48 GMT -6
PFF: The most underrated players in the 2022 NFL Draft
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Link:
www.pff.com/news/draft-most-underrated-players-2022-nfl-draft
WR CALVIN AUSTIN III, MEMPHIS
Austin is a massive outlier, ironically because of his lack of mass. The Memphis product measured 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds at the combine — numbers that rank in only the second or third percentile.
If you’re going to succeed at the NFL level at that size, you need to have special athleticism, which he has in abundance. His 40-yard dash, 10-yard split, broad jump and short shuttle were all in the 94th percentile or better. At times, he looks to be playing at a different speed than other players.
At the Senior Bowl, against other elite senior prospects, defensive backs had no idea how to combat him during the one-on-one reps at practice. He ate up off-coverage and quickly destroyed players who tried to jam him at the line of scrimmage.
He recorded 1,145 yards this past season for Memphis, lining up outside on 90.5% of his snaps, and there’s no reason he can’t continue to cause NFL defenses problems with his speed and quickness.
Austin is a massive outlier, ironically because of his lack of mass. The Memphis product measured 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds at the combine — numbers that rank in only the second or third percentile.
If you’re going to succeed at the NFL level at that size, you need to have special athleticism, which he has in abundance. His 40-yard dash, 10-yard split, broad jump and short shuttle were all in the 94th percentile or better. At times, he looks to be playing at a different speed than other players.
At the Senior Bowl, against other elite senior prospects, defensive backs had no idea how to combat him during the one-on-one reps at practice. He ate up off-coverage and quickly destroyed players who tried to jam him at the line of scrimmage.
He recorded 1,145 yards this past season for Memphis, lining up outside on 90.5% of his snaps, and there’s no reason he can’t continue to cause NFL defenses problems with his speed and quickness.
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CB ROGER MCCREARY, AUBURN
Cornerback is one position where several teams still stick rigidly to measurable thresholds. Teams won’t touch players who aren’t above a certain height or don't have a certain arm length, and that’s going to thin the marketplace for a player like Roger McCreary.
The former Auburn defender measured 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, but the most concerning number for some teams will be his sub-29-inch arms.
Length at the cornerback position is vital for several reasons, from giving a player the ability to affect the jam at the line of scrimmage to increasing their radius of making plays on the football at the catch point. His arm length puts him in just the fifth percentile and would make him a massive outlier in terms of NFL success.
All of this has gone against him, which is why he is being underrated. Everything in the lead-up to the draft is a data point, but the most important factor should always be tape — and he’s got some really good tape, including against players such as Ja’Marr Chase, who just blowtorched NFL cornerbacks on his way to a dominant rookie season.
McCreary was able to hang with Chase back in 2019 and has become a substantially better player since. This past season, he forced 20 incompletions en route to an 89.9 PFF grade.
He’ll fall in the draft because of his measurables, but that just makes him a bargain for the team that snags him.
T MAX MITCHELL, LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE
This is a very strong class for offensive linemen and offensive tackles in particular. Of course, all the focus will be on the guys at the top, but that means there are some potential steals to be had lower in the draft. And one potential steal is Louisiana Lafayette's Max Mitchell.
Mitchell obviously comes with some level-of-competition concerns, but he earned the single highest PFF grade among the nation's tackles in 2021. He allowed just 13 pressures across 430 pass-blocking snaps playing right tackle, and just one of those pressures came against Texas, where he was pass protecting on 47 snaps and also had to play on the left side.
Mitchell isn’t the best athlete in the world, but his technique is excellent, and his play has been spectacular against a lower level of competition. He’s precisely the kind of offensive lineman who often gets overlooked at draft time but ends up starting games quickly and making an impact, even if his ceiling is limited at the next level.
EDGE NIK BONITTO, OKLAHOMA
Athleticism plays in a big way for edge rushers. Yes, there are successful NFL pass-rushers who don’t have plus traits in terms of speed, quickness and explosiveness, but they are outliers. There is a very strong connection between those traits and NFL success, so looking for athletic players is always a good starting point.
Connecting those traits to proven college production leads to an even stronger correlation to NFL success, which should draw eyes to Oklahoma’s Nik Bonitto. He’s been the most productive pass-rusher in this class on a per-snap basis over the past two seasons and earned a pass-rush grade just behind Aidan Hutchinson in 2021. Bonitto produced 52 pressures on just 263 rushes this past year and was as effective the year before that.
His relative lack of size (248 pounds at the combine) may limit his role at the next level, at least early on, but what he does well is the most valuable aspect of being an NFL edge rusher. His ability to affect the quarterback should make him massively coveted.
QB COLE KELLEY, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
This is not a good quarterback class. There are concerns with each of the “elite” prospects at the top, and it doesn’t get much better as one moves down the rankings.
Most drafts typically have a few enticing late-round prospects who are easy to fall in love with, even if they are obvious long shots to make an impact at the next level, but this group is short on even those players. The exception I would point to is Southeastern Louisiana's Cole Kelley.
Kelley once played at Arkansas before transferring closer to home. And even at Southeastern Louisiana, he didn’t win the starting job immediately. Over the last two seasons, he earned PFF grades above 90.0 each year and has obvious physical tools of a player who began with much loftier ambitions.
Kelley’s 92.1 PFF grade ranked just behind the 92.2 posted by C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett. He recorded an adjusted completion rate of 82.2% and racked up 28 big-time throws on his way to 43 touchdowns and 10 picks. He also rushed for 16 more scores, averaging 4.5 yards per rush and 2.9 yards after contact per carry.
Kelley is far from an elite prospect, but in a draft low on even good bets at the position, he’s a low-round gamble I would be keen to take.
Cornerback is one position where several teams still stick rigidly to measurable thresholds. Teams won’t touch players who aren’t above a certain height or don't have a certain arm length, and that’s going to thin the marketplace for a player like Roger McCreary.
The former Auburn defender measured 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, but the most concerning number for some teams will be his sub-29-inch arms.
Length at the cornerback position is vital for several reasons, from giving a player the ability to affect the jam at the line of scrimmage to increasing their radius of making plays on the football at the catch point. His arm length puts him in just the fifth percentile and would make him a massive outlier in terms of NFL success.
All of this has gone against him, which is why he is being underrated. Everything in the lead-up to the draft is a data point, but the most important factor should always be tape — and he’s got some really good tape, including against players such as Ja’Marr Chase, who just blowtorched NFL cornerbacks on his way to a dominant rookie season.
McCreary was able to hang with Chase back in 2019 and has become a substantially better player since. This past season, he forced 20 incompletions en route to an 89.9 PFF grade.
He’ll fall in the draft because of his measurables, but that just makes him a bargain for the team that snags him.
T MAX MITCHELL, LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE
This is a very strong class for offensive linemen and offensive tackles in particular. Of course, all the focus will be on the guys at the top, but that means there are some potential steals to be had lower in the draft. And one potential steal is Louisiana Lafayette's Max Mitchell.
Mitchell obviously comes with some level-of-competition concerns, but he earned the single highest PFF grade among the nation's tackles in 2021. He allowed just 13 pressures across 430 pass-blocking snaps playing right tackle, and just one of those pressures came against Texas, where he was pass protecting on 47 snaps and also had to play on the left side.
Mitchell isn’t the best athlete in the world, but his technique is excellent, and his play has been spectacular against a lower level of competition. He’s precisely the kind of offensive lineman who often gets overlooked at draft time but ends up starting games quickly and making an impact, even if his ceiling is limited at the next level.
EDGE NIK BONITTO, OKLAHOMA
Athleticism plays in a big way for edge rushers. Yes, there are successful NFL pass-rushers who don’t have plus traits in terms of speed, quickness and explosiveness, but they are outliers. There is a very strong connection between those traits and NFL success, so looking for athletic players is always a good starting point.
Connecting those traits to proven college production leads to an even stronger correlation to NFL success, which should draw eyes to Oklahoma’s Nik Bonitto. He’s been the most productive pass-rusher in this class on a per-snap basis over the past two seasons and earned a pass-rush grade just behind Aidan Hutchinson in 2021. Bonitto produced 52 pressures on just 263 rushes this past year and was as effective the year before that.
His relative lack of size (248 pounds at the combine) may limit his role at the next level, at least early on, but what he does well is the most valuable aspect of being an NFL edge rusher. His ability to affect the quarterback should make him massively coveted.
QB COLE KELLEY, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
This is not a good quarterback class. There are concerns with each of the “elite” prospects at the top, and it doesn’t get much better as one moves down the rankings.
Most drafts typically have a few enticing late-round prospects who are easy to fall in love with, even if they are obvious long shots to make an impact at the next level, but this group is short on even those players. The exception I would point to is Southeastern Louisiana's Cole Kelley.
Kelley once played at Arkansas before transferring closer to home. And even at Southeastern Louisiana, he didn’t win the starting job immediately. Over the last two seasons, he earned PFF grades above 90.0 each year and has obvious physical tools of a player who began with much loftier ambitions.
Kelley’s 92.1 PFF grade ranked just behind the 92.2 posted by C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett. He recorded an adjusted completion rate of 82.2% and racked up 28 big-time throws on his way to 43 touchdowns and 10 picks. He also rushed for 16 more scores, averaging 4.5 yards per rush and 2.9 yards after contact per carry.
Kelley is far from an elite prospect, but in a draft low on even good bets at the position, he’s a low-round gamble I would be keen to take.
Link:
www.pff.com/news/draft-most-underrated-players-2022-nfl-draft
... and neither is this Chris guy.
