Ealy is not a good pass rusher?

[gettlemanjack]

what do y'all think?

before the draft Mayock downgraded Ealy in his rankings to below DE Stephon Tuitt (who was drafted at #46)

Greg Cosell on Ealy:

"I wouldn't necessarily call him explosive, he'll need work to become a true pass rusher."

Sports Illustrated:

"I wasn’t as in love with Ealy’s tape as were the people who graded him as a can’t miss first-round prospect...In the right scheme, Ealy could be a better-than-average pass rusher, and he has the pure strength to stop the run as a strong-side end."

Rotoworld:

"Ealy lacks explosive edge-rush ability and may be.best suited as a hold-the-point left end... An overdraft does appear likely... Ealy has frequently been mentioned among first-rounders since December, and although his production matches the projection, his overall play might not....We'd let someone else take the risk...Former NFL scout Russ Lande believes Michael Sam "jumped off film" more than Missouri edge player Kony Ealy. "Four games in (and) I do not see the hype for Kony Ealy to be a high draft pick. Michael Sam jumped off film more in games evaluated," Lande tweeted"

[gettlemanjack]

note Ealy was not named 1st or 2nd team All-SEC by the SEC coaches in 2013 (Sam was)

http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEWS/tabid/473/Article/248317/2013-all-sec-football-team-announced.aspx

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Ummm explosive is the one thing he actually is.

His acceleration is really good, if you don't get a hand on him he's going to run right by you.

I'll give the analysts a pass, they watch so much tape that they probably just start to throw sh*t at the wall.

[LinvilleGorge]

4.92 40 is concerning, but he had a 1.72 10 yard split.  To put that in perspective, Robert Quinn had a 1.69, JJ Watt had a 1.71.  Clowney's 10 yard split was a 1.59.  What this says is that Ealy doesn't have elite top end speed, but his initial burst is pretty damn good.  For a DE, initial burst is extremely important while top end spend rarely enters the equation.  If your DE is running 40 yards in a straight line, then either something really good happened or something really bad happened.  Either way, it doesn't come into play very often.

 

What jumps out to me about Ealy is his 3 cone.  He hit a 6.83 in the 3 cone.  To put that in perspective, LeSean McCoy is one of the shiftiest RBs in the NFL and his 3 cone was a 6.82. 

[Cpt slay a ho]

for the sake of the team lets hope he's a beast rusher..............the one pick IMO that must not backfire

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

I'm curious as to what these analyst define explosive as.

I'm not as high on Ealy as some but I like his quick first step and acceleration. If he can add some strength, work on not standing straight up and getting his hands inside, and add a few moves to his arsenal then he'll be good to go.

[LinvilleGorge]

for the sake of the team lets hope he's a beast rusher..............the one pick IMO that must not backfire

 

I agree.  DE is a position of strength currently.  Hell, we may have the best pair of 4-3 DEs in the league right now.  If you're gonna take a guy at that position in this situation, you better not fug it up.

[Carolina Cajun]

My biggest fear with him and KB have nothing to do with physical attributes.  Both he and KB can be dominant if they choose to be and their mind allows.  I say that because those 2 scored a 7 and a 10 respectively on the Wonderlic.  Those are VERY low scores.  By comparison, people were scared of Cam because he scored a 21 which is twice as good as Ealy, and 3 times better than KB.  This is important if they can't grasp the offense and what needs to be done.  Fact of the matter though is, both are extremely physically gifted and as long as they understand the playbook, and are motivated, they can be out of this world.

[LinvilleGorge]

My biggest fear with him and KB have nothing to do with physical attributes.  Both he and KB can be dominant if they choose to be and their mind allows.  I say that because those 2 scored a 7 and a 10 respectively on the Wonderlic.  Those are VERY low scores.  By comparison, people were scared of Cam because he scored a 21 which is twice as good as Ealy, and 3 times better than KB.  This is important if they can't grasp the offense and what needs to be done.  Fact of the matter though is, both are extremely physically gifted and as long as they understand the playbook, and are motivated, they can be out of this world.

 

Fortunately, they don't play positions that require a lot of thought.  Historically, QBs and OL are your smartest players.  I want LBs and safeties to be smart too because they're having to analyze a lot of action.  DE?  Pin your ears back and go.  WR?  Is the CB playing press or off?  Are they running zone or man?  Is the safety dropping or is he trying to squat on my route?  The reads for a WR are relatively simple.  He's not analyzing the full scheme, just the one or two guys on his side and those reads are fairly simple.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Wonderlic scores mean absolutely nothing unless you're a QB and even then they aren't that important because the questions you are being asked aren't your typical memory questions like who was the first president of the United States, from what I hear a lot of them are based on mathematics.

QB's literally have to memorize everything because in their calls they are calling out the routes and the protection, on top of that they have to remember the protection and where the specific routes are going.

Positions like DE, WR, TE, DT, OL, etc... you just have to know your assignment.

[CelticCat]

 I do rate Tuitt higher myself, he ended up being drafted higher so I don't have a problem.

 

Highest 3 cone and 10 split is probably a better reflection of his ability to turn the corner than a straight 40 as already mentioned.

 

He also got more attention than Sam did from offenses.

[LinvilleGorge]

The other thing to consider is football intelligence vs. book smarts. I don't think anyone is going to try to argue that guys like Lawrence Taylor and Randy Moss were candidates for the Noble Prize, but everyone who worked with them during their NFL careers raves about their football intelligence.  Some guys just get it.  Based on what Rivera and Gettleman said, KB certainly seems like one of those guys.  Both Rivera and Gettleman raved about how KB absorbed the info they threw at him and how he performed on the white board breaking down difference plays and scenarios.  That means a helluva lot more than how he performs on some standardized test that has absolutely nothing to do with football.

[fieryprophet]

The Wonderlic is a farce.

[Jimbo]

My concern more than the 40 is his terrible vertical, and that seems to indicate a true lack of explosiveness.  However nothing in the combine really matters to me and his tape is pretty good.