The NFL 2nd round signing conundrum; Ferguson is SIGNED!

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dieterbrock

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Well you know the old saying. If at first you don’t succeed, quit trying.
I liken the TE position to that of the RB position, the Rams keep drafting an RB every year and while they have hit with Williams, they continue the process. TE has been the same way, Everett, Jacob Harris, Hopkins and of course the alleged trade up in both '24 & '25 drafts. Havent necessarily hit yet, but have had a solid fixture in place with Higbee. Cant help but be enthused about Ferguson, McVay knows what he likes and if this guy is it, Im sold
 

Noregar

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They thought Hopkins was that guy and we all know how that worked out
As a 4th round I don't think they ever thought Hopkins was the guy. In fact it became clear early on that he was probably not the guy.
Hopkins was athletic and he had the NFL pedigree with his father being in the pros. He was a fourth round roll of the dice who played out his rookie contact. He was never spectacular and there never was any buzz about him.

I would even guess that he would not have been drafted by them if they were using their current North Star (High character, high effort guys who love football) draft guidance.
 

dieterbrock

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As a 4th round I don't think they ever thought Hopkins was the guy.
When they drafted him they absolutely thought they had something special. Talked about designing special packages etc. Kid had all the physical tools, I suppose just didnt have the drive. Out of the league, not even on a PS
 

Allen2McVay

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There is no way to summarize Bryce Hopkins as anything other than a disappointment.

13 career Regular Season receptions in four years just ain't good enough for even an ... OK.

However, every time I re-watch the Super Bowl win over the Bengals, I think ... "Thank goodness for Hopkins"
... four receptions, three of them on the Rams' two 2nd half scoring drives
... two of them on the game-winning TD-drive
 

kurtfaulk

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There is no way to summarize Bryce Hopkins as anything other than a disappointment.

13 career Regular Season receptions in four years just ain't good enough for even an ... OK.

However, every time I re-watch the Super Bowl win over the Bengals, I think ... "Thank goodness for Hopkins"
... four receptions, three of them on the Rams' two 2nd half scoring drives
... two of them on the game-winning TD-drive

And with that, his play in the last qtr of the superbowl was more than worth a 4th round pick. Don't forget the block that allowed Kupp to find a crease to convert a 4th and 1.

Same as the 3rd round cb, can't remember his name, that made that great play to peel away from his man and get in the way of the wr Burrow was going to throw to for an easy first down on the last play of the superbowl. That split second hesitation allowed AD to swallow up Burrow to win the game.

.
 

WestCoastRam

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There is no way to summarize Bryce Hopkins as anything other than a disappointment.

13 career Regular Season receptions in four years just ain't good enough for even an ... OK.

However, every time I re-watch the Super Bowl win over the Bengals, I think ... "Thank goodness for Hopkins"
... four receptions, three of them on the Rams' two 2nd half scoring drives
... two of them on the game-winning TD-drive
the world needs ditch diggers too, Danny
 

Merlin

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I liken the TE position to that of the RB position, the Rams keep drafting an RB every year and while they have hit with Williams, they continue the process. TE has been the same way, Everett, Jacob Harris, Hopkins and of course the alleged trade up in both '24 & '25 drafts. Havent necessarily hit yet, but have had a solid fixture in place with Higbee. Cant help but be enthused about Ferguson, McVay knows what he likes and if this guy is it, Im sold
Yeah I think Fergy is the best talent we've drafted at TE since Higs. It's a tough position as we all know. Takes a couple years to fully come up to speed usually. And of course he may bust who knows.

But it just feels good to see one of these guys who has the full package of talent end up in horns. We've seen so many TEs go off in our faces during all those no-first-round-pick years. And I didn't want one of the speedy, narrow in the hips, souped up WRs who cosplay as a TE. Fuck those types. I wanted a lunchpail carrying MFer.
 

RamBradford85

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I know what you mean.
His highlights make him look like a pretty good receiving tight end but nothing really blew me away.
Konata Mumpfield's last game was more impressive. :)

(The opinions in this post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Rams scouting staff.) :)
Tbh I didn’t see nothing special … doesn’t break tackles
 

RamBradford85

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Rams using him as a slot weapon, not as an inline blocker, eliminates a couple of his biggest weaknesses. He's probably looking at around a third of the slot snaps, or thereabouts, with room to grow or shrink depending on how he plays.

Primary push in camp will be making sure he knows the scheme and improving his route running.
I think he plays as much as Everett did his rookie year
 

RamDino

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All this talk about Brycen Hopkins.. what about Davis Allen? I thought the kid was going to have a breakout year. Sometimes it takes tight ends 2 years to blossom but apparently McVay didn't think it was going to happen.
 

Elmgrovegnome

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Man, I just hope this kid can be a standout TE at this level. His Oregon stuff didn’t do anything for me.

I agree with you. I watched a few Ducks games and he didn’t stand out. I thought he looked slow and not very physical. I watched Tyler Warren all season, so maybe it skewed my point of view. I didn’t bash the pick though. I figure wait and see how it goes. But I’m skeptical based on what I’ve seen in college. I think sometimes McVay has a way of talking himself into thinking he sees greatness with some of these offensive players.
The negatives on Ferguson- name me one tight end that does not look a little slow and ambling in their running style. I see routes the Pfizer boy runs and I think heck I’m faster and more twitchy than him! (Especially after coffee. I’m very twitchy after coffee)

Let’s just see if he gets it in the League. Some guys do, and some guys don’t.
Mike Gesicki doesn’t look slow. . Another who had surprising speed was Jared Cook (4.49). What could have been.

I don’t think Jonnu Smith looks slow and Vernon Davis was a freak who ran a 4.40.

Ferguson’s 4.69 doesn’t seem that fast in comparison.

PSU has recruited TE well and they have a young guy named Luke Reynolds that looks fast and agile. He will be in the NFL in a few years.
 

JonRam99

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He's not played 1 NFL snap yet.
What I saw was a guy who was smooooth at getting open, transitioning from in-line blocker to receiving threat almost imperceptibly. And he's got catchers mitts for hands. He's good at a lot of things.
I just think that we've had the TE talent, we just haven't made this position a focus as of yet. Cook, Everett, they sure were fast but had the worst timing for bad drops. You won't get looks when your hands are like blocks. Everett turned into a jet sweep / TE screen guy.
Higgs is really our best overall TE, but is long in the tooth - so I'm thinking McVay saw his replacement in Ferg. When he caught his first TD last season & looked like he was gonna pull up lame, I panicked for a split sec. We NEED Higgs, and if he's not available, we've got to have a guy who's close to what he brings to the field.
 

PARAM

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I agree with you. I watched a few Ducks games and he didn’t stand out. I thought he looked slow and not very physical. I watched Tyler Warren all season, so maybe it skewed my point of view.

Ferguson’s 4.69 doesn’t seem that fast.
I saw Warren's time as 4.68 (DraftBuzz). Is that correct?

I'm a PSU fan too and watching Warren, I didn't think he was fast. Just got open a lot and caught everything.
 

Corbin

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Corbin

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I agree with you. I watched a few Ducks games and he didn’t stand out. I thought he looked slow and not very physical. I watched Tyler Warren all season, so maybe it skewed my point of view. I didn’t bash the pick though. I figure wait and see how it goes. But I’m skeptical based on what I’ve seen in college. I think sometimes McVay has a way of talking himself into thinking he sees greatness with some of these offensive players.

Mike Gesicki doesn’t look slow. . Another who had surprising speed was Jared Cook (4.49). What could have been.

I don’t think Jonnu Smith looks slow and Vernon Davis was a freak who ran a 4.40.

Ferguson’s 4.69 doesn’t seem that fast in comparison.

PSU has recruited TE well and they have a young guy named Luke Reynolds that looks fast and agile. He will be in the NFL in a few years.

I saw Warren's time as 4.68 (DraftBuzz). Is that correct?

I'm a PSU fan too and watching Warren, I didn't think he was fast. Just got open a lot and caught everything.


Someone's got to stop you Nitty Lions from multiplying around here

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dieterbrock

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Oregon runs a spread and doesnt focus on pass catching TE, Fergusuon's stats jump out compared to the current and previous TE. Warren plays in an offense which is predicated on utilizing the TE. Case in point, in the Orange bowl vs ND, Penn State didnt throw a single pass to a WR. Not putting Ferg in Warren's class, just elaborating on how its easier to see his plays due to the system
 

Merlin

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Mike Gesicki doesn’t look slow. . Another who had surprising speed was Jared Cook (4.49). What could have been.

I don’t think Jonnu Smith looks slow and Vernon Davis was a freak who ran a 4.40.

Ferguson’s 4.69 doesn’t seem that fast in comparison.

PSU has recruited TE well and they have a young guy named Luke Reynolds that looks fast and agile. He will be in the NFL in a few years.
Mentioned this prior but it seems to me like those freak types who go higher typically bust, or at the very least have a higher than normal bust rate. I haven't taken the time to look them up or anything, so going off memory here, but Davis is the last freak type who translated that I can recall. May have been another one, however for that one or two I miss the rest seem to bust.

I suppose we can include Kittle as a freak type. But it's something I find quite interesting. In fact I'd look it up but I have about six hours of yard work that has to get done today so hope I survive in this high heat/humidity. :laugh3: