More draft thoughts

I looked at three guys the last couple days. Two of them made me question why the hell they are considering potential first round picks in the first place, and the other, well, confirmed what I really thought about him.

First, Luke Kuechly, LB from Boston College. I've seen him projected as a potential top ten pick. I don't get it. I like him as a football player, and could be a key contributor to a football team, but he's not a top ten pick. He's very smart, and he's fast. But he seems a little small, a little light in the pants, and, what surprised me the most, is that he hits high. There were many plays where he would fly into a gap, filling it perfectly and I'd expect a huge collision to take place, instead, there would be an ordinary arm tackle. He doesn't bend, he doesn't get low and hit and drive guys. He hits them high, he's too small to do that at the NFL level, running backs will run right through him.  He's good in pass coverage and would be a good fit in nickel packages, but I really don't see what all the buzz is about. He struggles at shedding bigger blockers. I saw a Florida State LT drive him from inside the hash all the way out of bounds.

Second, Brock Osweiler, qb, ASU. The two main conferences I watch are the Pac 12 and the SEC. I've seen a lot of Osweiler, so, I was confused when the season ended and I heard the Seahawks were interested in taking him in the second round. He's big and he's athletic for a big guy. But he doesn't have the arm you'd expect, he slings the ball rather than throws it. He has major problems with his accuracy and his mechanics break down under pressure. The offense he was in was a simple one read offense so I don't know how well he moves through his progressions. I think the most telling thing I saw about him was that he had trouble fitting the ball into tight coverage. In the NFL, receivers are rarely wide open, this is not a good trait.

Lastly, I watched David DeCastro, guard from Stanford. He's a monster. He's athletic, and powerful. He consistently follows his assignment, pulls and traps perfectly and with power. The only flaw I saw was he could get bull rushed by bigger defensive tackles in pass blocking. However, if he loses leverage he recovers very quickly and rarely holds. I like him.