Great pick Gandalf!! Undoubtedly the Best DE left on the Board!
with the 54th pick of the ROD Draft the New Orleans Saints select
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Jordan Willis, edge defender, Kansas State
A deep class of edge rushers adds another strong name to the list as Willis has had a dominant season for Kansas State. He’s beat up on opposing right tackles, rushing off the left side on 96.8 percent of his rushes, but the production is difficult to ignore. Willis uses strong hands and a variety of moves to rank fifth overall as a pass-rusher at 89.5 while posting the top grade against the run at an identical 89.5. Willis didn’t come completely out of nowhere as he had a strong 2015 season, but he’s taken his game to a new level and even in a deep class, Willis will garner more notice.
OVERVIEW
Long-time Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder called Willis "the epitome" of Kansas State football. That's high praise from a Hall of Fame coach who has led the program all but three years since 1989. Willis earned that praise with his play on the field and attitude off of it. He was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and also garnered third-team Associated Press All-American honors, as he made 52 tackles and led his team with 17.5 tackles for loss and topped the conference with 11.5 sacks. Big 12 coaches and media inexplicably left Willis off their all-conference teams in 2015, even though he started every game and made 15.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, while forcing four fumbles (tied for ninth nationally). Willis started each game for the Wildcats as a sophomore, as well (25 stops, 6.5 for loss, four sacks). The Kansas City Star All-Metro pick as a high school senior played in nine games (his one tackle was a sack) his first year in Manhattan.
STRENGHTS
Good eyes vs. zone read; sees mesh point clearly. Quick responder once he diagnoses the action. Excellent change of direction ability to stay in the hunt. Finishes tackles, rarely allowing runners to escape grasp. Pursuit will not stop until the whistle blows. Proficient with hands. Hands are strong and control the action. Well-schooled with excellent stack-and-shed ability. Good strength in base and plays with adequate contact balance. Stays clean setting edge while spying into backfield. Uses blockers' forward lean against them, sends them tumbling forward. Arm over is a pet move that gives him early wins. Track-stance pass rusher who comes out of the blocks with decent burst to the edge. Hard worker. Productive in sacks and forced fumbles over final two seasons at KSU.
WEAKNESSES
Straight-liner mover. Very deliberate as a pass rusher. Shows rush moves early and rarely deviates from original track. One-speed rusher lacking dynamic qualities to turn corner for tight loops. Could get flattened in the rush arc due to hip tightness. Timing of hands need work as he tends to shoot prematurely, opening himself up to counter moves. Rarely makes tackles redirect inside with sharp counters. Tackles often come at angles. Might need to move to outside linebacker on next level.
BOTTOM LINE
Productive three-year starter who plays with desired motor from whistle to whistle. Willis is a stack-and-shed edge defender with good play strength and quality hand work at the point of attack. He will need more creativity to be an effective NFL pass rusher, but he should be able to earn a roster spot and work his way up the pecking order in either a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme.
Great pick, perfect fit!! I said last night he wouldn't last much longer!!With the 55th pick in the ROD Mock Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select Pat Mahomes II, QB, Texas Tech.
The Chiefs take a stab at a long term answer at QB with a guy who will probably do best to sit and watch Alex Smith play for a year while he adjusts to an NFL offense.
Nice sound pick, although, tbh, I have a few CB's I might have picked before him!
Good morning Alan, everybody plays the game with their own agenda. Some people are competitive and want to have a better draft than others. Some people want to control their team with a wider scope and trade players for players and sign free agents and some like me, use the mock drafts as a tool to research the college players to get to know them better before the real draft comes. To each their own. It doesn't really matter to me what others do. I think @JackDRams is a player who prides himself on having the best draft ans my intention was to tell him to not let the trades bother him. I guess I could have worded it a little different, but TO ME, all the trades don't really fit my purpose, but I don't have a problem that other people do their own thing.First of all, I believe that you're wrong that it doesn't happen during real drafts because it does. Not to the extent that we've done it here but as @DaveFan'51 mentioned, we don't have an off-season here. Real team GMs get that done, for the most part, before the draft takes place. They trade 4th round picks for former 1st round LBs like the Rams did. They trade whole drafts for one RB. Not like real life?Ridiculous statement when you consider the big picture. IMO. Not that you said that but you know what I mean.
I could say a lot more but I'm not that invested in the future of this mock and my opinion is really irrelevant anyway. Good luck finding posters who want to adhere to the strict rules you guys are throwing around as possibilities to take care of nonexistent problems that have almost no impact on the rest of the GMs. We have/had exactly 32 posters who wanted to participate and one who reluctantly agreed to be a backup. Subtract just two of those and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
What I see in these trades is a group of GMs who have really bought into making their teams better whether it's solely through the draft or through player trades. The passion some of our guys show for teams that were given to them randomly is amazing to me. :shocking: In a good way. Makes me proud to have been a member here. The trade, mentioned in this thread already, that only involved one actual pick (#196) is a prime example. I see a tremendous amount of passion and diligence not craziness. Who here is even qualified to make judgments about a trade between two teams that they haven't researched and who are both in agreement that the trade is a good one? I'd say no one. We have a few posters who could do that but that would be a daunting task that no one is willing to do. The only alternative is to ban player trades completely and then where is the "realism" people are talking about when you consider that we only have 1 month to do what real GMs have all year to accomplish?
Turns out I ignored my own statement about not commenting further.
Another Highly rated CB Bites the Dust!! Great pick By Houston, Their "D" gets tougher!!
I don't think you bothered anybody with timing Alan. I would just be making that pick now if you hadn't so it was better than it would have been. Thanks again for helping out.Sorry I was a little late with that pick for Ramhusker. I was having a nooner which no longer has the same meaning for me as it did before. Now it's just means my nap.
I don't know Ramhusker, we have some antsy GMs here. I think somebody put something in with the water at the ROD cafeteria.
