03-22-2021, 08:20 PM
2021 NFL draft: Brian Baldinger has strong opinions on this year's prospectsEric EdholmMon, March 22, 2021, 6:09 AMBrian Baldinger is one of the best tape-breakdown guys in football. The former NFL offensive lineman turned media star can be seen all over the internet and on your TV, often on NFL Network, dissecting the minutia of the game and almost always providing valuable takeaways and insight on players, strategy and what really matters when it comes to evaluating football.
And this is a great time of year to talk to Baldinger. He’s now had a chance to watch film of many of the prospects in the 2021 NFL draft — “all the top 50 guys, plus a lot more,” he told us by phone recently — and has some interesting opinions on them we wanted to share.
“On top of that, I’ve called personnel people around the league that I know. I’ll say, ‘Give me five guys I can scout today.’”
In turn, we wanted to know who some of those players were and what he thought when he watched them.
Baldiner is an offensive linemen at heart, so we definitely wanted to get his takes on the best blockers available in this year’s draft. But his insight isn’t limited to the big uglies up front — he’s watched every other position extensively as well.
We asked him for his big-picture views on this draft, as well as to provide some thoughts on specific players who — for good or bad reasons — really stood out in his analysis. And we’re breaking it down into two groups: the offensive linemen and, well, everyone else.
First, here are some of Baldinger’s thoughts on the non-OL prospects:
BYU QB Zach Wilson“I remember in 1999, Andy Reid came to Philadelphia, where I live. I got to know him. At that time, six quarterbacks were being juggled as possible first-rounders. So what Andy did was, he put a different quarterback on every day in his office. He’d just have it up on his screen all day, even if he wasn’t working on them every moment.
“He’d look up there and Donovan (McNabb) was up on the screen one day, another quarterback (from that draft class) the next day, and so on. So that’s how I do it with quarterbacks. I just put them up there and watch them.
“And I can’t stop watching Zach Wilson. Whether it’s the arm talent. Whether it’s the head-and-shoulder fakes. Whether it’s the mobility. Whether it’s the flick of the wrist. He absolutely captures your eye. Period."
“Those two running backs at North Carolina, Javonte Williams and Michael Carter ... I want them both. To me, Javonte, he looks like a bigger, stronger Dalvin Cook. His contact balance is ridiculous. Both of them are really good players.
“I want to say Nick Chubb (as a comp for Williams), but either way, he’s so damned good. Maybe not quite as fast. I don’t know that he has the long speed of Nick Chubb. I’ve seen Chubb go 90 yards. I don’t know if Javonte Wiliams can do that; I’m not saying he can’t, but I just don’t know."
“There’s this kid out of Florida — and they’ve got a lot of them — but this Kadarius Toney, like, I don’t know what position he is exactly. But he’s just this playmaker.
“You have to figure out his role. OK, he’s going to run fly sweeps. He’s going to run hitch screens. Maybe some ‘go’ rounds. Like, I don’t know what all he is. But I do know that when the ball is in his hands, he’s about as elusive as anybody in this whole draft.”
“I am biased because I knew his dad. But Patrick Surtain, he just looks so polished. He’s a guy that, first of all, if it’s midnight you never have to worry about where he’s at. He’s just as solid and clean a kid as you can be.
“If you remember his dad, he was one of those guys who would knock your (expletive) in the dirt. And his kid plays like that, too. You’re just going to get a consistency from him, I think. (Caleb) Farley and Jaycee Horn and (Greg) Newsome, there are a lot of these guys out there. I’ve watched them all.”
“If you’re looking for a slot corner, and you have to factor in that slot corners are starters in this world, this Aaron Robinson at UCF … he’s tenacious. He’s nasty. He’s sticky. To me, he looks like he could come in and lock down that position wherever he goes Day 1.
“He’s got all the size to play outside, and I think he can play out there. But at Central Florida he was a slot corner mostly. And that slot position, you’ve got to be physical, you’ve got to be able to handle blockers, you’re down in the run mix.
“But I see all of his ability to tackle, to be physical. It all shows up.”
“You can’t help but think, ‘What is Zaven Collins going to be?’ Is he Levon Kirkland? Is he Jeremiah Trotter? What is he going to be at that size and length? With that and the way that he gets to the ball, he’s an intriguing guy.
“He’s skating at times. I like to see a guy who can just throw a flipper and take care of the offensive guard, you know? But that’s more the way they used to play inside. There’s some of that that doesn’t show up.
“(A league evaluator) told me, ‘Watch this kid Payton Turner from Houston. Six-five and change, 270 (pounds), three-year player, 84-inch wingspan, 36-inch arms — you can see his length show up on tape, too.
“And you watch this guy and say, ‘Geez, could this be Leon Lett?’ I mean, I played against Leon, and you couldn’t get your hands on him; he was just too long.”
“All these guys who opted out, I know they all had their reasons for doing it, and I don’t question that or doubt any of it. But I am of the belief you have to play football to get better at football. That’s my biggest thing.
Philip Rivers played 50 (college) games, and it made a huge difference for him, you know? I’m not sure he (becomes) Philip Rivers if he doesn’t have that experience.
“Parsons, he played the one year (as a starter) and there are times when I watch him and I wonder what he’s doing. He’s not instinctive at all to me. I see the flashes. But like, he’s not Devin White, you know?
“(White) gets there to the ball. He plays all three downs. You can’t take him off the field. Ever. I don’t see any of these (2020 draft linebackers) playing like that.
“With (all of) the opt outs, I’d just want to know what they did last season. What were they doing for those three, four months? Were they in class? In the weight room? Were they living back home? If you’re not playing football and not in that competitive environment, are you getting better at football? I don’t know the answer to that.”
https://sports.yahoo.com/2021-nfl-draft-brian-baldinger-breaks-down-prospects-who-have-caught-his-eye-130949084.html
We spoke at length about this year’s offensive linemen. Here are some of the most interesting tidbits Baldinger dropped in our laps:
And this is a great time of year to talk to Baldinger. He’s now had a chance to watch film of many of the prospects in the 2021 NFL draft — “all the top 50 guys, plus a lot more,” he told us by phone recently — and has some interesting opinions on them we wanted to share.
“On top of that, I’ve called personnel people around the league that I know. I’ll say, ‘Give me five guys I can scout today.’”
In turn, we wanted to know who some of those players were and what he thought when he watched them.
Baldiner is an offensive linemen at heart, so we definitely wanted to get his takes on the best blockers available in this year’s draft. But his insight isn’t limited to the big uglies up front — he’s watched every other position extensively as well.
We asked him for his big-picture views on this draft, as well as to provide some thoughts on specific players who — for good or bad reasons — really stood out in his analysis. And we’re breaking it down into two groups: the offensive linemen and, well, everyone else.
First, here are some of Baldinger’s thoughts on the non-OL prospects:
BYU QB Zach Wilson“I remember in 1999, Andy Reid came to Philadelphia, where I live. I got to know him. At that time, six quarterbacks were being juggled as possible first-rounders. So what Andy did was, he put a different quarterback on every day in his office. He’d just have it up on his screen all day, even if he wasn’t working on them every moment.
“He’d look up there and Donovan (McNabb) was up on the screen one day, another quarterback (from that draft class) the next day, and so on. So that’s how I do it with quarterbacks. I just put them up there and watch them.
“And I can’t stop watching Zach Wilson. Whether it’s the arm talent. Whether it’s the head-and-shoulder fakes. Whether it’s the mobility. Whether it’s the flick of the wrist. He absolutely captures your eye. Period."
“Those two running backs at North Carolina, Javonte Williams and Michael Carter ... I want them both. To me, Javonte, he looks like a bigger, stronger Dalvin Cook. His contact balance is ridiculous. Both of them are really good players.
“I want to say Nick Chubb (as a comp for Williams), but either way, he’s so damned good. Maybe not quite as fast. I don’t know that he has the long speed of Nick Chubb. I’ve seen Chubb go 90 yards. I don’t know if Javonte Wiliams can do that; I’m not saying he can’t, but I just don’t know."
“There’s this kid out of Florida — and they’ve got a lot of them — but this Kadarius Toney, like, I don’t know what position he is exactly. But he’s just this playmaker.
“You have to figure out his role. OK, he’s going to run fly sweeps. He’s going to run hitch screens. Maybe some ‘go’ rounds. Like, I don’t know what all he is. But I do know that when the ball is in his hands, he’s about as elusive as anybody in this whole draft.”
“I am biased because I knew his dad. But Patrick Surtain, he just looks so polished. He’s a guy that, first of all, if it’s midnight you never have to worry about where he’s at. He’s just as solid and clean a kid as you can be.
“If you remember his dad, he was one of those guys who would knock your (expletive) in the dirt. And his kid plays like that, too. You’re just going to get a consistency from him, I think. (Caleb) Farley and Jaycee Horn and (Greg) Newsome, there are a lot of these guys out there. I’ve watched them all.”
“If you’re looking for a slot corner, and you have to factor in that slot corners are starters in this world, this Aaron Robinson at UCF … he’s tenacious. He’s nasty. He’s sticky. To me, he looks like he could come in and lock down that position wherever he goes Day 1.
“He’s got all the size to play outside, and I think he can play out there. But at Central Florida he was a slot corner mostly. And that slot position, you’ve got to be physical, you’ve got to be able to handle blockers, you’re down in the run mix.
“But I see all of his ability to tackle, to be physical. It all shows up.”
“You can’t help but think, ‘What is Zaven Collins going to be?’ Is he Levon Kirkland? Is he Jeremiah Trotter? What is he going to be at that size and length? With that and the way that he gets to the ball, he’s an intriguing guy.
“He’s skating at times. I like to see a guy who can just throw a flipper and take care of the offensive guard, you know? But that’s more the way they used to play inside. There’s some of that that doesn’t show up.
“(A league evaluator) told me, ‘Watch this kid Payton Turner from Houston. Six-five and change, 270 (pounds), three-year player, 84-inch wingspan, 36-inch arms — you can see his length show up on tape, too.
“And you watch this guy and say, ‘Geez, could this be Leon Lett?’ I mean, I played against Leon, and you couldn’t get your hands on him; he was just too long.”
“All these guys who opted out, I know they all had their reasons for doing it, and I don’t question that or doubt any of it. But I am of the belief you have to play football to get better at football. That’s my biggest thing.
Philip Rivers played 50 (college) games, and it made a huge difference for him, you know? I’m not sure he (becomes) Philip Rivers if he doesn’t have that experience.
“Parsons, he played the one year (as a starter) and there are times when I watch him and I wonder what he’s doing. He’s not instinctive at all to me. I see the flashes. But like, he’s not Devin White, you know?
“(White) gets there to the ball. He plays all three downs. You can’t take him off the field. Ever. I don’t see any of these (2020 draft linebackers) playing like that.
“With (all of) the opt outs, I’d just want to know what they did last season. What were they doing for those three, four months? Were they in class? In the weight room? Were they living back home? If you’re not playing football and not in that competitive environment, are you getting better at football? I don’t know the answer to that.”
https://sports.yahoo.com/2021-nfl-draft-brian-baldinger-breaks-down-prospects-who-have-caught-his-eye-130949084.html
We spoke at length about this year’s offensive linemen. Here are some of the most interesting tidbits Baldinger dropped in our laps:
