Draft Buzz from Tony Pauline

[KB21]

http://draftanalyst.com/da-draft-buzz-december-19th

Tony says Martinas Rankin is a top 75 draft prospect if he decides to enter the draft.

[msstate7]

That would be a huge loss

[Dawgfan61]

If he is projecting that high now he could easily get in the first round next year. Thats millions different. It would be much smarter to stay and try to get 1st round money.

[Chip]

If he is projecting that high now he could easily get in the first round next year. Thats millions different. It would be much smarter to stay and try to get 1st round money.

Yep.

[RougeDawg]

Someone Que Bear and Benni to come in and speak to this young man.

[Jack Lambert]

What is that late second or early third?

[WSOPdawg]

Dang, I know our OL improved at the end of the season, but I keep getting flashbacks of Rankin and his statue pose where the DL just ran around him straight to the QB during a game.

But I also agree that he improved greatly from the 1st half of the season to the 2nd half, to the point that if that improvement continued over the next 2 years I can see the argument for him being draft-worthy (but in the top 2 rounds???). That would definitely be good for us if that proved true.

[KB21]

What is that late second or early third?

Third round.

[maroonmania]

Heck, we are having trouble keeping draft eligible JRs that don't even get a draft grade back showing they will be drafted. Not sure how you keep one that might go 2nd-4th round. Of course I don't even have a clue who Tony Pauline is so not sure that his projections would have any comparison to what the NFL would give.

[smootness]

Dang, I know our OL improved at the end of the season, but I keep getting flashbacks of Rankin and his statue pose where the DL just ran around him straight to the QB during a game.

But I also agree that he improved greatly from the 1st half of the season to the 2nd half, to the point that if that improvement continued over the next 2 years I can see the argument for him being draft-worthy (but in the top 2 rounds???). That would definitely be good for us if that proved true.

Honestly, probably just a result of fans focusing more on one specific play or a couple mistakes than the overall grand scheme, which is natural. Rankin was really, really good this year.

[WSOPdawg]

Honestly, probably just a result of fans focusing more on one specific play or a couple mistakes than the overall grand scheme, which is natural. Rankin was really, really good this year.

Thats kind of what I was thinking as well. A single bad play can get magnified and scrutinized 100x while many good plays go un-noticed.

[RougeDawg]

Honestly, probably just a result of fans focusing more on one specific play or a couple mistakes than the overall grand scheme, which is natural. Rankin was really, really good this year.

It was very bad against LSU and Auburn. Suspect against Bama and Ark. Early on in the season he didn't even touch a defender on some plays but he wasn't the only one completely whiffing(front row field level view from gridiron). To his defense the entire OL looked dazed and confused the first 5-7 games.

[smootness]

It was very bad against LSU and Auburn. Suspect against Bama and Ark. Early on in the season he didn't even touch a defender on some plays but he wasn't the only one completely whiffing(front row field level view from gridiron). To his defense the entire OL looked dazed and confused the first 5-7 games.

How was he bad against LSU and Auburn? How many sacks did they rack up on him?

[ShotgunDawg]

Rankin may be a good talent, but he isn't ready. Needs another year to refine his technique or he could get buried at the pro level.

LT isn't the same as RB as far as the risks of getting injured. I doubt Rankin will even contemplate going pro

[BB30]

The kid has a ton of upside. That will get you looked at all day every day. When you are that big and athletic someone will take a chance on you. He will stick around and improve that stock. A lot of guys get drafted solely off projection and fortunately for Rankin there are not a ton of guys with his size and athleticism whether he had a good year or not he was always going to be a prospect.

[maroonmania]

The kid has a ton of upside. That will get you looked at all day every day. When you are that big and athletic someone will take a chance on you. He will stick around and improve that stock. A lot of guys get drafted solely off projection and fortunately for Rankin there are not a ton of guys with his size and athleticism whether he had a good year or not he was always going to be a prospect.

Well one positive is that I don't believe Rankin would have been willing to redshirt out of JUCO if he was impatient to get to the NFL.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Good pub. He will now be talked about going into next year as a potential top OL draft pick. We need that type of pub & talk.

[WSOPdawg]

It was very bad against LSU and Auburn. Suspect against Bama and Ark. Early on in the season he didn't even touch a defender on some plays but he wasn't the only one completely whiffing(front row field level view from gridiron). To his defense the entire OL looked dazed and confused the first 5-7 games.

Auburn, ehhh, I ahhhh, we can't even talk about that game simply because the ENTIRE team decided not to come out for the 1st half. I've already scratched that one from memory. Nobody, and I mean nobody, looked good in that game!

[RougeDawg]

How was he bad against LSU and Auburn? How many sacks did they rack up on him?

Does it count against him when he wasn't making contact with any defender on numerous plays? And why does a sack only indicate bad/no blocking? It wasn't just him but there were countless plays early in the season where we'd have 2-3 olineman just standing around looking for someone to block. Go back and watch. I've never seen anything like it. Never seen so many OL blocking air at the same time, multiple plays a game.

[WSOPdawg]

Does it count against him when he wasn't making contact with any defender on numerous plays? And why does a sack only indicate bad/no blocking? It wasn't just him but there were countless plays early in the season where we'd have 2-3 olineman just standing around looking for someone to block. Go back and watch. I've never seen anything like it. Never seen so many OL blocking air at the same time, multiple plays a game.

I think a lot of that may have been related to the team being "split" at the time (i.e., Damien vs Fitz) and the players not realizing how Nick would eventually develop into a "leave-your-guts-on-the-field" type of player. They eventually bought into him being the QB to replace Dak and started playing up to his on-field example.

[RiverCityDawg]

Does it count against him when he wasn't making contact with any defender on numerous plays? And why does a sack only indicate bad/no blocking? It wasn't just him but there were countless plays early in the season where we'd have 2-3 olineman just standing around looking for someone to block. Go back and watch. I've never seen anything like it. Never seen so many OL blocking air at the same time, multiple plays a game.

The biggest part of that was Auburn figuring out the snap count, which the auburn players admitted to after the game. It was pretty clear during the game that that's what was happening. When there are multiple guys in the backfield before the O Linemen gets out of their stance, it's no mystery. There's never been an offensive lineman exist that could block Lawson or any decent edge rusher if they are anticipating (or know) the snap count. That's not part of the OL evaluation.

[msbulldog]

The biggest part of that was Auburn figuring out the snap count, which the auburn players admitted to after the game. It was pretty clear during the game that that's what was happening. When there are multiple guys in the backfield before the O Linemen gets out of their stance, it's no mystery. There's never been an offensive lineman exist that could block Lawson or any decent edge rusher if they are anticipating (or know) the snap count. That's not part of the OL evaluation.

How it the hell did they know our snap count?

[Percho]

head phones? again?

[Todd4State]

How it the hell did they know our snap count?

My educated guess is that Fitz was doing the same thing over and over again and they obviously picked up on it. Or our center was doing the same thing over and over again.

[FISHDAWG]

Good pub. He will now be talked about going into next year as a potential top OL draft pick. We need that type of pub & talk.

I appreciate the clarity you bring to the table

[RougeDawg]

head phones? again?

This is the most likely scenario.