Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller interviewed Josh (and discussed him) on Tom Brady Radio, and I put him back near the top of my 2020 draft wish-list:
Uche is being considered by some teams as a Defensive End, despite his 6'1 and a fraction height, and 245-250 lbs weight.
More often, teams see him as a Linebacker (inside or outside, in any scheme) longer-term, and as a situational passrusher as a rookie.
Josh said that in on his "virtual pro day" he ran "in the 4.5's", but that he plans to re-do that because he can do better.
You can't really trust a player not to fudge a little, but these virtual workouts are coordinated and standardized by the NFL, and the tapes can't lie, even if lasers aren't used to stop the clock.
"In the 4.5's" is a "fudge", so Josh could be talking a 4.59.
Well, that's still faster than the rest of the linebackers not named Simmons, and in general is very fast for any NFL linebacker--let alone passrusher.
Pat Kirwan watched Josh at the Senior Bowl (everybody was impressed by him), and was surprised at how "comfortable" he looked dropping into coverage.
What Pat means is that Josh has loose hips, agility, and balance, and (implicitly) that he's good in zone coverage.
Prior to his senior season at Michigan, Uche wasn't starting, but was in all the sub-packages, mainly as a passrusher, although he also sometimes man covered Tight Ends.
As a Senior, he showed off his ability to play inside and outside linebacker as well as DE as well as Strong Safety (technicality: that's who mans up on Tight Ends).
As a coverage guy, I don't think he's as good as those guys I've mentioned here (yet), but he's bigger/taller than all of them, and just as athletic.
He's also less experienced, and may have a higher cieling.
In fact, you might prefer Uche on a Tight End to the other guys because he can jostle them and isn't giving up as much reach. It's even possible that he could do this as a rookie too (it's physically challenging, but not complicated).
As a passrusher, Kirwan notes that he stunts quite well, but other evaluators say that he needs to get stronger so he can bull-rush, and that he doesn't have good instincts as a passrusher.
I believe this means that he commits early, and fails to read and react to blocks or "flow"; getting ridden outside and stuff.
I can't help but wonder if this has to do with his lack of DE "length"; his arms aren't long enough to keep OTs off him, and he's not tall enough to see around them.
Are the evaluators talking about his snaps at Defensive End? If so, that "lack of insincts" as a passrusher critique could be flawed.
I think lining Josh up at DE anywhere except from a wide-9 set is, well...dumb.
He's a linebacker. Even as a situational passrusher in year one, he'd need to stand up or come from way outside, and is still limited (needs development).
Uche could make it to the 3rd round, or even lower, for all these reasons, but count on Berry looking for high cielings over immediate impact in the middle and lower rounds (it's an analytical ting!)
Speaking of which, Jared Mueller wrote an outstanding article on how the Rams and Texans offer lessons for the 2020 Browns.
Both those teams kicked ass in 2018 and missed by that much. They traded draft picks for high profile veteran players (some prior to 2018), and the Rams made Gurley the highest paid RB in the NFL 2 years before they needed to. (I might have done that myself, but I think Jared's point is that you shouldn't do that with running backs, who play the most brutal position in football).
The Cliffnotes: Stick with the draft, rather than pay big money to veterans. You get these guys under the rookie cap for 4 or sometimes 5 years, during which they get exponentially better.
Does any of this remind you of anything?
Subtle clue: 32 in july. 20 million bucks. At least a 3rd round pick. Initials are T
The Giants drafted DT Dexter Lawrence with our 1st round pick. DT Jeffery Simmons went 19th, and TE Noah Fant went 20th.
OBJ wasn't 100% and Vernon missed most of the season wull wuddya no DUHHH ohmmm...ohhmmmm...
...and Dorsey tried to trade even more draft picks and cap money for Trent Williams too!
And you bash analytics? Stick a fork in yourself you're done!
Ellis L Williams explores the 2020 options at Right Guard, and is impressively thorough and objective, starting with Teller and Forbes, and including some of the "Offensive Tackles" in the 2020 draft.
Fair or not, some of the best guards in the NFL are converted tackles and day 2 or 3 draft picks.
This is why the real professionals aren't wringing their hands over Right Guard.
Drafting a lineman you project at RG higher is a possibility, but he'd have to be exceptional.
Remember, Stefanski will run a wide zone play-action scheme here, and this requires a non-standard skill-set.
Maulers are always welcome, but not mandatory. Slow, ponderous road graders need not apply. Superior athletes rate higher than guys who can stifle a bull-rush or make pancakes.
Most of the NFL will draft maulers comparatively high, while zone-blocking teams will find guys lower (another "market flaw" for analytical guys to exploit).
(To review: Zone-blocking, 2 Tight Ends, and a fullback save lots of money and draft picks. Tight Ends are undervalued compared to WRs, the best FB in the NFL costs chump-change, and zone-specific Offensive Linemen (who can excel) can be drafted at least one round lower than conventional blockers.
...this is partly why DePodesta wanted Stefanski instead of Kitchens get it? Get it?)
Marty Fenn says that Mack Wilson would be glad to see
As a prospective GM, Mack is a terrific Linebacker; I would personally prefer Young or Burrow at 10th overall.
However, some of the mock drafts have Simmons lasting to 8th overall.
I personally doubt this, but it's possible. 3 QBs could well go in the top 9, and some think it could even be 4!
2 or even 3 Offensive Tackles (and one cornerback) could go in that range too.
While I think the Offensive Tackle part of that is stupid, given this draft class, a lot of foodball guyz don't believe in trading down, and the majority of teams still need elite plug-and-play pass-blockers for their conventional offensive systems.
Also, as Kirwan has taught me, many GMs fixate on one guy, even when other guys are almost as good in their opinions...
...it's stupid, but true.
Anyway, if Simmons is there at 8th overall, I guarantee you that Andrew Berry will (if possible) have a contingency-trade already set up with the Cardinals so he can go nab that freak.
I'll just simplify this and say he uses the 2020 2nd round pick he will have got as part of his OBJ trade, or else the pick he got for Kareem Hunt, or else for Kareem Hunt himself.
The Cards only have 7 mil in cap space right now, and have Kenyon Drake at RB, so forget Hunt (and OBJ), but they do (or at least should) want more draft picks.
CBSSports offers a draft trade value chart based on actual trades which I find realistic.
To move from 10th to 8th would cost...oh...oh wow really!?!
8th is 379.1. 10th is 342.23 (a 26.8 or something difference). The Browns highest 2nd round pick is worth 14 points!?! According to this, they would need to trade away just about all their draft picks to move up 2 slots...
I must be reading this wrong. That's just bullshit! Here on this planet, a middle 2nd round and a 4th round pick (or even a 2021 3rd rounder) could work here.
The Cards need a Left Tackle and DTs, and could still nail down a stud at 10. They're also (bs aside) rebuilding, and (like I mentioned) have cap issues, so 2 starters trump Superman for them.
The Browns get the freak and (oh no oh no) are desperate to fill the glaring need at Left Tackle (along with their desperate need for 6-7 more linebackers and stuff).
Take a pill! Remember the OBJ and Hunt transactions? Remember Josh Jones, Ezra Cleveland and Ben Bartch?
With their highest 2nd round pick, at least Bartch comes to them (*we're assuming that Hunt hasn't been traded for a 1st round pick by the way*).
If not, Berry can trade up...or...
Well everybody kinda dismissed what Berry said about Hubbard, Conklin etc having played Left Tackle as smoke and mirrors hyperbole (*me too*), but...
Hue Jackson ran power/man. This is a play-action zone scheme, and I've been telling you forever that this is a "no Joe Thomas required" scheme.
Even in my most recent post, I pointed out that the 2020 Browns' offensive tackles might not need to play more of PFFs "true pass sets" than Mekhi Becton did in college.
The urgent glaring desperate need for the next Joe Thomas (as if they grow on trees btw) is all coming from us ignorant masses, and Stefanski/Berry might be laughing at us (or at least YOU).
It's ok though: Provided DePoBerry cashes OBJ and Hunt out, they should at least get Rodney Bartchfield in the 2nd round and a stud linebacker (or safetybacker) and big/tall wr and stud nickel back and stuff anyway.
Obviously, you need to hit on these draft picks, and Cleveland, Bartch, Uche etc could crap out, but they all fit here, and the offensive linemen get arguably THE best Offensive Line coach and (irrefutably) THE easiest blocking scheme in football.
But Simmons? I can see Joe Woods if this guy is there at 8th overall, jumping around and screaming for Berry to "go get him".
The desperate, glaring, huge, stupendous, monumental, historically unprecedented need for linebackers is a mass hallucination (aka bullshit), but Simmons is a generational talent.
Simmons is like Luke Kuechly...on steroids. He will screw up every offense he faces. They will all have to figure out where he is, play by play, and try to avoid him.
And the Browns still have longer-term needs at Safetybacker, strong safety, WIL, and yes---even FREE Safety, and this freak can do all that and get sacks!!!
Don't get me wrong here! I'm not in love with Isaiah Simmons. He's not my type. Nor is he God. Only Superman.
I actually like Chase Young more, but that aint happening...anyway if you can nab a freak like this for a reasonable price, you do so.
...but I still doubt that Simmons will be there at 8, which is why (no offense MKC) a trade DOWN is likely.
...obviously. Okbye.
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