Matt Kalil Not Worthy Of Top-5
April 24th, 2012
Who has better sources than Pat Kirwan? Joe wouldn’t bet on anyone.
The former Bucs scout, Jets assistant coach and Jets personnel executive now works for NFL.com, CBS Sports and SiriusXM NFLRadio. And Kirwan jumped on the Movin’ The Chains airwaves this afternoon fresh off meeting with a current NFL offensive line coach.
Kirwan said the coach has worked out the top 2012 O-line prospects and pored over film of all of them. Kirwan wouldn’t name his source but said this coach considers Southern Cal tackle Matt Kalil a pick in the No. 15 overall range and that there are no other O-linemen worthy of a first-round or second-round grade.
“Pretty bad,” Kirwan said his source says of this year’s O-line class.
Now let’s say this assessment is accurate. Perhaps the poor overall class makes Kalil that much more attractive as trade bait if the Bucs are ready to pick at No. 5 and Kalil is still there (and the Bucs’ potential other top-5 targets are gone)? Left tackles are always in demand. Or perhaps Kalil’s mid-first-round grade scares the Bucs away from taking him and they look to one Luke Kuechly?
While the Bucs taking Kalil makes great sense if Morris Claiborne is unavailable, that only applies if they’re sure he’s a homerun pick.
April 24th, 2012 at 6:28 pm
That’s one coaches (alleged) opinion. 31 teams can think that but it only takes one team to like a guy. I hate the week or so before the draft. Source this, coach says that, anonymous front office person thinks this.
April 24th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
He ALSO SAID: Offensive Line coaches exaggerate a lot because they don’t want the guys getting drafted to early (for various reasons)
April 24th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Kalil’s stock is starting to slip a bit now. Word now is he has arms that are too short for a left tackle or he’s not a good run blocker. He’s just the best out of an average O-linemen class. Dont you just love draft week?
April 24th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Love all the last-minute craziness. Keep it coming.
April 24th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Kalil has one identifiable flaw – lack of strength – something that proved to be a problem with Gerald. The difference – Kalil is nasty and tough – not soft like Sapp said that Gerald is.
Kalil will be a good player, so will Claiborne. I just cant get over drafting a man corner 5th overall in a typical 4-3 defense. Even if Mo turned out to be close to a Champ Bailey – so what? How many dominant defenses and teams has Champ been a member of? Didnt Wash trade him to get a home run, well-rounded RB threat in Portis.
CB is a position of the least team value at #5.
April 24th, 2012 at 6:57 pm
I love how all of a sudden the past week the consensus #3 draft pick all off season is suddenly not even considered a top ten pick. You got to love the final days up to the draft. I can hardly breathe with all the smoke in the air.
April 24th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Kuechly
April 24th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
Charles Davis of nfl.com just made a interesting pick for us on his mock draft. Yes, I know it is a mock draft but I respect his knowledge and analysis. He has us taking Fletcher Cox at #5. That has never even crossed my mind. A lot of people will say this is stupid but I remember clear as day when Todd Mcshay has us taking JPP at #3 in 2010 in one of his mocks, a lot of people called him crazy, including myself, because we had such a dire need at DT. This is just something else to think about. I just love draft week!
April 24th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Mark Barron, SS, Alabama
April 24th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Kuechly, Doug Martin, best safety available in the 3rd.
April 24th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
I’m tired of hearing martins name in the second round I would rather wait till the third or trade in to the 4 th and pick up Robert turbin this guys is a animal I think he will be a better back than martin in the next level
April 24th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
I have the Bucs drafting Robert Gewurztraminer in the first round.
April 24th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Totally disagree with CB @ 5 let’s fix one side totally first Take an offensive stud & keep the D off the field
April 24th, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Kuechly. Is there reallty a need at corner if Ronde is playing around at safety?
April 24th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Vontaze Burfict…that dude is a fricken maniac ! take a flier on him Dominik !
April 24th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
5 th rd pick ^^^
April 24th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
If Claiborne and Richardson are gone and there’s no decent trade offer, I’m fine by drafting Luke Kuechly or even Barron if the Buccaneers want him more.
April 24th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Hey OKC_Buc,
Do you know of any draft parties open to the public in OKC?? Casino’s, sports bars, etc..
April 24th, 2012 at 8:40 pm
I completely am against any defensive pick at #5. If the defensive unit is as bad as a believed, one pick will do nothing to solve that. But either a stud tackle or RB solidifies what has been done on the O side.
Is the D as bad as we believe? Up front we have two years of high round picks. Was the problem the back 7 or that the head coach/DC was inept? Let’s fix one side at a time
April 24th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
There’s no other person in the draft that will affect both the run and pass defense like Kuechly. Not, Claiborne, not Barron, nobody.
Joe, do you really believe that Claiborne is a potential shutdown CB? Or don’t you think it’s more likely he’ll be more long the lines of Terrance Newman or Quinton Jammer? A guy that is a pretty good CB but nowhere near a shutdown guy? The tape just isn’t there to suggest he’s a guaranteed shutdown guy and the measurables aren’t close to being there.
Luke Kuechly has been called by nearly all with a valid opinion (Mike Mayock in particular) the surest thing in the draft and the guy most likely to make the most Pro Bowls. Why not draft the QB of our defense for the next 10-15 years now?
April 24th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
claibourne = champ bailey
April 24th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
TRADE DOWN GET SOME ADDITIONAL PICKS AND DRAFT HIGHTOWER
If Dont’a Hightower can move outside
“No doubt. He could play inside or outside ‘backer. He can play Mike or Will inside, strong side or weak side — he’s play ‘em both here. He can play outside. He’s been a designated pass rusher on third down for us. He’s also been a stand-up fourth rusher drop, X package when they put all the linebackers in there — he can play any one of those positions. He’s a very smart guy. He’s a signal caller that has really good leadership qualities and understands football extremely well and has a lot of diversity in terms of how you can use him. So…when you got guys that size, that speed and that athletic that do so many things, those guys don’t come around very often.”
NICK SABAN
Luke ‘The Overrated White Guy” Kuechly. He reminds me of every white overrated Penn State LB except he went to BC.
You go into dark alleys with Hightower and you come out alive. I don’t get that feeling with Luke.
Sorry Luke . Youre good I just like Hightower better.
Just for the record I am a white guy so this is not racially motivated.
April 24th, 2012 at 9:38 pm
According to Laconfora teams are inquiring about the 5th pick to take Cox or brockers…sounds good as long add we get enough in return!
April 24th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
I can just imagine kuechly’s agent laughing while working feverishly at his computer passing along this poop. it seems everyone in this draft has a flaw except keuchly,imagine that, but thursday will tell the real story and barrett will have the last laugh,mr. agent
April 24th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
The scouts all have an agenda even kirwan has old friends that want him to spread for their agenda.all this info its fun but you can’t believe any thing!
April 24th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Kuechly is Urlacher.
April 24th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
if Kuechly is Urlacher.
Then just like da bear he is way overrated. An oversized safety that play mlb.
Just saying
April 24th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Wasn’t B.C. one of the worst defenses in the ACC… is kuechly is such as awesome linebacker why wasn’t the defense better? I mean think ppl this guy is overrated top 5 pick be serious
April 24th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Really? This is how that information is being interpreted?
This O-line coach apparently has high-standards, which is completely understandable, but should be perceived as so.
What we SHOULD be taking away from this is how much Kalil separates himself from the rest of the class with this (apparently selective) position coach. He’s considering Kalil a top 15 pick while he thinks the rest of the class is 2 rounds away. This was often considered a deep O-line class throughout the draft process so this really should be viewed as more support for Kalil, as opposed to negativity towards draft stock.
April 25th, 2012 at 12:23 am
Kuechly is Ruud Jr. Great against the pass, soft against the run. A tackling machine only after making contact down field. Hell no to Kuechly. If no Claib orne or Richardson, trade down.
April 25th, 2012 at 12:51 am
It’s all speculation, people thought Ryan leaf would be good, for crying out loud people there is rarely a cant miss pick. Stop thinking about what the bucs should do and just watch thursday then you can start whining and pouting because they didn’t take who you wanted.
April 25th, 2012 at 6:39 am
Take Keuchly! The funny thing is none of you have watched the tape to evaluate this players but give definitive scouting reports. Haha
April 25th, 2012 at 8:08 am
I said long ago the Bucs won’t take Kalil no matter what, I stand by that.
April 25th, 2012 at 8:23 am
Been on here a long time taking this all in. Khalil would not be a bad pick…. queue up all the Penn supporters and then ask yourselves what do we have at Tackle behind Penn?…. not anybody that is going to keep Josh off the dirt. That’s the reality.
All that being said I can’t see us taking him even if he does fall because the perception is that Kuechly is now the better prospect.
I don’t care who it is at 5 because we are going to get a real good looking football player and it will be a Schiano type guy for certain. I just hope its a DB/LB or LB/DB in the first 2 rounds because TRich is not going to be there and it gives us the best chance to win quicker. period.
Grab a backup RB on the cheap down the board and bring in a veteran to compete at camp. The rest of the picks should be defense players probably a bunch of LB’s and maybe a big TE mixed in there./my2cents
April 25th, 2012 at 8:31 am
Watch tape on kuechly. Great zone coverage LB.
April 25th, 2012 at 8:36 am
I have watched his tape entirely too many times. He would be great in the traditional Tampa-2. He is like a perfect anti Jimmy Graham. He gets lost in the box at times and isn’t great at shedding blocks but he should have help patrolling the box and won’t be called to blitz often you would suspect.
If we take Kuechly we have to pounce on a safety or corner in round #2 but I think there will be quality there.
April 25th, 2012 at 8:48 am
Hey RodfromOKC,
I don’t actually. I tried looking them up but haven’t found one. I’m just going to watch it from home.
April 25th, 2012 at 8:51 am
kuechly is not that good for number 5
April 25th, 2012 at 9:05 am
Marques, I like Hightower too. No question about what he has done against the BEST competition in the College Ranks. Nick Saban is producing pro-ready players all day long. He is running a beast factory at Alabama these days. I like BIG linebackers that can hit and shed blocks.
April 25th, 2012 at 9:07 am
I might be crazy but I agree with McShay and think the Bucs will take Kuechly at #5 if a) Claibourne and Richardson are gone, b) if they cannot trade down a few spots. I just have to think someone would want to trade to five and take Kalil but if they dont, I just cant see us taking Kalil or Blackmon. Is there another player we are not thinking about outside, Claibourne, Richardson, Kalil, Kuechly or Blackmon?
April 25th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
So this is a weak OLine class?? There is only a stud LT in Kalil. A great OG in Decastro and a Center in Konz who will dominate for years as well?? Thats who I would have in the 1st round and they are all great players. Kirwan is trying to help out a friend, I mean “coach”, with this report. This makes 0 sense to me. There has been 0 reports of Kalil struggling until yesterday and now several people are on this bandwagon. If they have watched all the tape and done the workouts for the past 3 months or so. Why would it come out 2 days before the draft?? Can we say some coach in the teens is infatuated with Kalil but doesn’t want to trade up for him???? I think SO!!!!!!!
I think its funny that the Jets pick 16 and the “source” says he wouldn’t pick the guy in the top 15. Any coinindence….