With The 20th Pick The Bucs Select… Aldon Smith
April 19th, 2011
Like Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on the mountaintop, football fans everywhere can now read coffee-slurping, popcorn-shoveling, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving Peter King’s final mock draft.
The NFL writer for Sports Illustrated had the most accurate mock draft last year and while his mock draft is scheduled to come out this week in his magazine, it can also be viewed online with the SI.com vault.
King has the Bucs selecting Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith, though King thinks the team should look elsewhere.
20 BUCCANEERS
WILL PICK
Aldon Smith, DE/OLB, Missouri
SHOULD PICK
Adrian Clayborn, DE, IowaTampa Bay is still saying novenas that Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers will fall because teams are worried about the health of his knee, and it’s not impossible that he’ll still be available here. But these two pass rushers are safer choices. Personnel men I’ve spoken to are very high on Smith, but Clayborn, though he’ll likely be a right end only, looks better suited to be an edge rusher than Smith.
Interesting the nuggets King came up with why Clayborn will be a better rusher than Smith.
At any rate, it will be comforting to see the Bucs get some heat from the edge.
April 19th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Ive been on the Aldon Smith bandwagon for a while. Athletically he seems similar to Gaines Adams, but he actually has some good moves and good hands, is stronger, and has had great production. Hes really young though and was injured last year. He had 5.5 sacks on a broken leg.
April 19th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
The reason King says Clayborn may be a better edge rusher than Smith is because of all the tape from 09 Clayborn has of him being a dominating edge rusher. Whereas the lesser amount of tape that exists on Aldon Smith actually shows that many of his best rushes came when he was rushing from the interior lined up as a defensive tackle. I mean there is this one interior rush he has where he just slaps the offensive guard face first into the turf and rockets straight to the QB. I haven’t seen any of his edge rushes that look quite as shockingly impressive as that. But I just chalk it up as a positive for Smith that he has the potential to be an impact pass rusher from ANYWHERE along the defensive line. Of course right end will be his primary position but this would be a guy the Bucs could use like they used Michael Bennett last year(he could rush from DT to switch things up or fill in there on pass downs due to injury to McCoy or Price). I simply salivate when I think of the damage Aldon Smith and GMC could do when running things like the TEX game that Steve White talks about.
April 19th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Quote from SidelineScouting.com on Aldon Smith:
“Does not appear to have much man-muscle yet…”
Doesn’t really fit in the “ripped” category of player that I think they’ll look at…
April 19th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Does not have man muscle yet… Smith already has a simeon rice- jason pierre paul type build. That quote is a little misleading. There is no question that Smith has strength. He couldn’t have been effective as an interior rusher in college if he was a weakling. It is true that Smith is still very young and has the frame to pack on another 10-15 lbs. but he is already effective at his current size. If he does pack on 15 lbs. without sacrificing any explosiveness…watch out.
April 19th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Of all the DEs in this draft I like Aldon Smith the best, but he came out a year too soon which also makes GMs wonder about his motivation. The Bucs have shown no interest up to this point and probably can’t afford to wait a year. No matter what happens, follow this kid, he is going to be a force in this league in time.
April 19th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
I like Smith. High risk high reward type of player. If he’s motivated and can develop you’ve got a stud whereas Clayborn is a marginal guy regardless (5 years/1 year of production).
If I take 5 half court shots and make one are you going to tell me that you should expect me to make them in a game?
April 19th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Tom, allot of pros disagree with you…That said I like this Smith kid. I think his modivation is clear, get to the pros and make some money. The same reason any college kid would leave school if the right offer was made to them. You can always go back to school after your signing bonus if things do not work out. GMs only care about winning football games.
April 19th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Sapp worked with him (and almost dies) if ya missed it…
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d81f1a58e/Game-Changers-Dareus-and-Smith-hit-the-field
Bucs will be luck if this guy drops to twenty. I prefer Kerrigan but we’ll have to make a move up to get either