Kugbila Game Footage: Is he worth the 4th round pick?

[pantherclaw]

double post

[PantherFeez]

he looks slow, but he's really not. he's just not graceful at all, in fact i used the word lumbering to describe him once because i really didn't know how else to describe it. it ain't pretty, but the big guy gets where he needs to be in a hurry. you watch his games again and you'll see when he's called to trap on the left side, he's there in a hurry and as a run blocker he's quick enough to push through to the second level without holding up the RB much. when he had to deal with blitzers, he got where he needed to be quite quickly as well, which was easy a lot of the time because defenders would stay away from areas he was blocking so he'd have to look for people to hit while making sure there were no delayed blitzes coming his way. the guy was aware and had his head on a swivel...

 

Thanks for the input. Not really sure why other don't understand that this is the kind of talk I was looking for.

 

Yeah, the O-line in general has a lot more questions than someone who hasn't stepped on the field, but this thread isn't about the overall offensive line. It's about looking at the game tape available on KugZilla and whether or not you see the talent this is/isn't there to justify spending a 4th round pick. Not looking to see the future threw a crystal ball or anything, just talking about what is in front of us right now and evaluate from there.

[SCP]

If we had a huge cache of picks like the 49ers, Kugbilla as a 4th might not be that big a reach. But we had 5 picks so each one was critical. Was it a reach based on the game video you posted? Sure. But I think every other pick was gold. Hangartner can play until Kugbilla either gets it or doesn't.

[L-TownCat]

he looks slow, but he's really not. he's just not graceful at all, in fact i used the word lumbering to describe him once because i really didn't know how else to describe it. it ain't pretty, but the big guy gets where he needs to be in a hurry. you watch his games again and you'll see when he's called to trap on the left side, he's there in a hurry and as a run blocker he's quick enough to push through to the second level without holding up the RB much. when he had to deal with blitzers, he got where he needed to be quite quickly as well, which was easy a lot of the time because defenders would stay away from areas he was blocking so he'd have to look for people to hit while making sure there were no delayed blitzes coming his way. the guy was aware and had his head on a swivel.

 

i watched a lot of his games after we drafted him and i've got to tell you, the guy was dominant in every sense of the word, which is exactly what you want to see from a small school guy. he came with the nick saban stamp of approval, apparently.

 

as far as his grades not being high enough to get into an SEC school....not entirely true. it was a low SAT score that did it and considering he was an immigrant from west africa, it's understandable why. but even then he only missed it by 10 points.

 

he could have gone the juco route and transferred later but he visited valdosta st and liked it and decided to stay. can't say i blame the guy, either. he could have transferred to bama or any of the other schools that were recruiting him heavily, but he opted to stay where he was comfortable and try to make a difference there...which isn't a bad trait to have.

 

 

I was gonna type the exact same thing, but, well, I didn't.  Reading it was much easier.  Thanks Rayzor.

[rayzor]

If we had a huge cache of picks like the 49ers, Kugbilla as a 4th might not be that big a reach. But we had 5 picks so each one was critical. Was it a reach based on the game video you posted? Sure. But I think every other pick was gold. Hangartner can play until Kugbilla either gets it or doesn't.

i would rather have gone for patton in the 4th and picked up an RG in FA, but with that said, i don't see him in the fourth really as a reach. i don't know what games got posted, but i watched a lot of them and he seemed as solid as you would want an OG to be. i don't care where he went to school, he's as good as any OG you're going to find mid round.

 

he may not be the most technically sound, but as far as the size/mass, speed, power, and awareness, he has the things that can't really be coached and watching from year one to year two i saw a guy who is very coachable, and you can't really ask for a whole lot more where we got him.

 

i do think, tho, that hangman will probably be the starter at RG week one and maybe even through the half point in the season, but unless hangartner really turned the corner and the OL is really clicking i would be surprised to see him finish the season as the starter. at the very least they are going to be adding more responsibility each week without throwing him in as starter...at least that's what i would do. who knows? they might just throw him in the fire the way they did silatolu and let him earn his lumps.

 

i do think that kugbila will be a quicker and smoother transition to the pro-level than what we saw with silatolu, esp. if there is no changes in the guys on either side like amini had to deal with. this was silatolu's first time as OG. kugbila has been playing RG for a couple years now. he should have a good base to work from.

[Ace_Aladdin]

I have to say people who are judging his skill set right now based on  youtube are wrong.......his skill set from what your watching  to now might have changed and will change by the time the season starts...... so lets have little bit of faith on the kid and when he actually fails then you can jump on him.........."innocent until proven guilty"

[SOJA]

My biggest concern is that he couldn't qualify academically to play in the SEC. That's bad. We are going to have special needs guys at both guard positions.

 

 

 

That is a tad concerning, but if he was an AllPro talent like Clowney - they would have found a way to get  him in. 

[SCP]

i would rather have gone for patton in the 4th and picked up an RG in FA, but with that said, i don't see him in the fourth really as a reach. i don't know what games got posted, but i watched a lot of them and he seemed as solid as you would want an OG to be. i don't care where he went to school, he's as good as any OG you're going to find mid round.

he may not be the most technically sound, but as far as the size/mass, speed, power, and awareness, he has the things that can't really be coached and watching from year one to year two i saw a guy who is very coachable, and you can't really ask for a whole lot more where we got him.

i do think, tho, that hangman will probably be the starter at RG week one and maybe even through the half point in the season, but unless hangartner really turned the corner and the OL is really clicking i would be surprised to see him finish the season as the starter. at the very least they are going to be adding more responsibility each week without throwing him in as starter...at least that's what i would do. who knows? they might just throw him in the fire the way they did silatolu and let him earn his lumps.

i do think that kugbila will be a quicker and smoother transition to the pro-level than what we saw with silatolu, esp. if there is no changes in the guys on either side like amini had to deal with. this was silatolu's first time as OG. kugbila has been playing RG for a couple years now. he should have a good base to work from.

Skill wise I'm fine with the pick. Would he have been there in the 5th or 7th though? Who knows. My only issue is sometimes he over extends but that is coachable. Like I said before, he has feet that never stop moving and he plays with a good base. He has "heavy" feet but still seems to get from A to B to C.

[Frizzy350]

there are literally hundreds and hundreds of public analysts and scouts and not a single one gave him a 4th round grade... or even a 5th or 6th round grade. I've yet to see anyone grade him as anything but a 7th round/UDFA. These guys aren't right 100% of the time (obviously) but they tend to be right more often than not and it's very telling when there's such a massive consensus.

 

I've watched his tape and he looks like an UDFA, not impressed at all. I don't trust this Hurney built scouting department in the mid/late rounds either. Maybe he works out, maybe he doesn't, I don't know. The draft is always a gamble but this pick looks like we're taking one of those sucker bets in a casino that no informed gambler ever makes. Odds look much better that it'll end in bust rather than boom.

 

how many of them predicted barkley to fall to the 4th?  or manuel as the first qb off the board? da'rick going undrafted?

 

you need to remember that unless a media member is directly consulting with NFL scouting departments they have no idea how an organization feels about a player, especially a foreigner from a d2 school playing right guard.

 

even if this was a bit of a reach, it wasn't a marty hurney - armanti edwards level reach, and the kid does have huge upside.  along with that, i feel we got extremely good value at every other pick we had in the draft.

[CPF4LIFE]

Also, its not like he will be going up against scrubs in practice to get better. He will be facing some talented D linemen every day to help improve.

[Frizzy350]

I like what I am seeing. It is the play off so opponent should at least not suck (even though they of course is not NFL-level). 

 

In the Winston Salem game I think 98 is actually a good player (Berry Tripp, from NC so someone might know him?). Kugbila is still beating him on almost every play but anytime 98 moves to pure nose and someone else is lined up over Kugbila (short yard/goal line situation) that defender is totally blown out of the play. Tripp also have a lot more success bull rushing the center so he should at least be better when his teamates. 

 

Yes I know, almost always beating a DII player that is better than his teamates is still not really much. But hey, it is May so lets dream a little. 

 

I agree he struggle in pass protection against speed rusher (but both comes of blocks well and blocks well on the second level so he should be able to pull on running plays). 

 

I do not see the problem picking projected late rounder in the 4th. If you think you have discovered someone special why take a risk the just one other team have the same and will grab him in the early 5th? 

 

If you do not agree take a look at this list:

Joe Adams, Frank Alexander, Brandon Hogan, Eric Norwood, Mike Goodson, Tony Fiammetta, Ryne Robinson, Nate Salley, Stefan LeFors, Colin Branch

 

It is not like we usual, read ever, find a starter, or even a contributer, in the 4th...

 

U ever watch Frank play?  Dude could definitely start for a lot of teams.

[rayzor]

Skill wise I'm fine with the pick. Would he have been there in the 5th or 7th though? Who knows. My only issue is sometimes he over extends but that is coachable. Like I said before, he has feet that never stop moving and he plays with a good base. He has "heavy" feet but still seems to get from A to B to C.

 

you mentioning his over-extending reminded me of the thing i thought was the worst/most awkward about his game and that was cut blocking. the guy looked like a whale throwing itself on the beach. he just kind of landed and it wasn't really well disguised, either. the only disruption i saw it bringing was just the half a second it took for the defender to navigate over/around his big body laying on the ground. it didn't really take anyone out, which is probably a good thing because it might have resulted in a death certificate.

 

i do think that is either coachable or easy enough to work around. i just wouldn't have him do it, tbh.

[rayzor]

Also, its not like he will be going up against scrubs in practice to get better. He will be facing some talented D linemen every day to help improve.

totally agreed, tho as i said i think smaller speed rushers will probably be able to juke around him and make him bite on a fake and we really don't have anyone on the team that fits that mold, at least not from what i recall anyway, so that might still be an area that he needs to work on.

 

for the most part, tho, the guys he is going to be facing, esp. within the NFCS, aren't really any better than the guys he's going to be facing in practice. any kinks that should be worked out will have ample opportunity to get worked out.

[RockyTopVol]

I didn't know there really was a Minnesota State.