Tag Archives: Mike Evans

BROWNS 2014 FIRST ROUND DRAFT DISASTERS

Browns general manager Ray Farmer has made some good decisions this season on acquiring talent, but when it mattered most, the first round of the draft, he dropped the ball big time!

Knowing he had a wide receiver who was going to be suspended for maybe the entire year and in a receiver rich draft, he bypassed highly rated wide outs for a cornerback and a quarterback that will make us all wonder about his grading system when the 2015 NFL draft comes around.

Who would have helped the Browns more this year and in the future, the two players Farmer selected in the first round in Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel, or any one of these four wide receivers Sammy Watkins, Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans or Kelvin Benjamin?

Manziel-Gilbert-Farmer-Pettine Jersey Photo

Justin Gilbert – 29 tackles – 1 interception – 1 td – 8 passes defensed

 

Johnny Manziel – 18-35-175 yards – 0 td passes – 2 interceptions/29 yards rushing – 1 td

 

Sammy Watkins – 62 receptions – 925 yards – 6 td’s

 

Odell Beckham Jr. – 79 receptions – 1,120 yards – 11 td’s

 

Mike Evans – 63 receptions – 997 yards – 11 td’s

 

Kelvin Benjamin – 72 receptions – 999 yards – 9 td’s

 

Plus there is one more game to play which gives all four wide receivers the opportunity to go over 1,000 yards receiving in their rookie year.

Ask yourself, who would have helped the Browns more this year and beyond?

KENNY RODA 2014 NFL MOCK DRAFT 2.0

One of the craziest years in trying to figure out who will do what and who’s going where. If I get six of these right I will be thrilled. So with that said, here’ my final Mock Draft for the 2014 NFL Draft.

1   Houston                      Jadeveon Clowney           DE            South Carolina

2   St. Louis                      Greg Robinson                 OT           Auburn

3   Atlanta                        Khalil Mack                       LB            Buffalo (In a Trade w/Jags)

4   Cleveland                   Sammy Watkins               WR          Clemson

5   Oakland                      Jake Matthews                 OT           Texas A&M

6   Jacksonville                Mike Evans                     WR      Texas A&M (In a Trade w/Atlanta)

7   Tampa Bay                 Johnny Manziel                QB           Texas A&M

8   Minnesota                  Blake Bortles                     QB            UCF

9   Buffalo                        Taylor Lewan                    OT           Michigan

10  Detroit                       Darqueze Dennnard        CB            Michigan State

11  Tennessee                 Justin Gilbert                    CB            Oklahoma State

12  NY Giants                  Zack Martin                       OT           Notre Dame

13  St. Louis                    Calvin Pryor                       SS             Louisville

14  Chicago                     Aaron Donald                      DT            Pitt

15 Pittsburgh                  Odell Beckham Jr.            WR           LSU

16  Dallas                         Ha Ha Clinton-Dix            FS             Alabama

17  Baltimore                  Eric Ebron                          TE            North Carolina

18  NY Jets                       Brandin Cooks                  WR          Oregon State

19  Miami                        Cyrus Kouandjio                OT           Alabama

20  Arizona                      Derek Carr                         QB          Fresno State

21  Green Bay                 Timmy Jernigan                DT          Florida St.

22  Philadelphia              Anthony Barr                    LB            UCLA

23  Kansas City                Marqise Lee                     WR          USC

24  Cincinnati                  Kyle Fuller                         CB           Virginia Tech

25  San Diego                  Jason Verrett                    CB           TCU

26  Cleveland                  Teddy Bridgewater          QB           Louisville

27  New Orleans            Marcus Martin                    C             USC

28  Carolina                    Moses Morgan                   OT           Virginia

29  New England            Stephen Tuitt                    DL           Notre Dame

30  San Francisco           Ryan Shazier                      LB           Ohio State

31  Denver                      Trent Murphy                    LB           Stanford

32  Seattle                       Louis Nix III                        DT          Notre Dame

 

PICKING APART THE NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS

The negatives.  Areas of concern. The warts. Must improve these parts of his game. Aw yes, as teams and media members prepare for the NFL draft we’re always looking for a player’s weakness and how that may affect the decision to draft him if you’re a team, or where to rank him if you’re a media member. So today I figured I’d share with you some of the negatives I’ve heard from talent evaluators that I’ve talked to about some of the top players in this draft.

DE – Jadeveon Clowney – Takes plays off. Injury issues. Plays to stiff and upright. Can be pushed up field. Maturity issues on and off field. Is he discipline enough and can he set the edge?

WR – Sammy Watkins – Only 6 foot. Caught a lot of balls at or behind the line of scrimmage. Occasional concentration issues.  Arrested for drug possession as a sophomore. Needs to stay in shape.

LB – Khalil Mack – Didn’t play against elite talent. Got in a fight with a teammate. Needs to use his arms better.

OT – Greg Robinson – Not a good pass blocker. Needs better balance. Speed rushers gave him problems.

OT – Jake Matthews – Needs to get stronger and add a few pounds. Has trouble at times with the bull or power rush. Run blocking isn’t as good as his pass blocking.

WR – Mike Evans – Has trouble getting off press coverage. Must improve his route running.  Not a guy with that burst of speed at the line or downfield.

QB – Blake Bortles – Played against few elite teams. Lack of pin-point accuracy. Not enough juice on the ball at this time for NFL throws. Doesn’t lead receivers with his throw.  Will try and force the ball. Overall fundlamentals need fine tuning. Footwork needs work.

QB – Johnny Manziel – Too short. Durability will be a factor. Is a system guy. Bad weather could affect him so he needs to play in a dome or in a warm weather city. Wants to escape the pocket too soon. When he stays in the pocket will he be able to see the receivers. Fundamentals are not good. Off the field issues, will they follow him to the NFL? Can he takes snaps from under center and read a defense?

TE – Eric Ebron – A wide receiver playing tight end. Bad blocker. Route running is suspect. Must get stronger in upper and lower body to play tight end in the NFL. Too many drops.

CB – Justin Gilbert – Needs to improve his technique. Relies too much on just his athletic ability. Doesn’t tackle well at all. Plays too far off receivers and not physical enough when at the line of scrimmage.

CB – Darqueze Dennard – His size is a factor at only 5’10 and some change. Has trouble playing zone coverage. Because of his size he grabs a lot and in the NFL he’ll get caught.

QB – Teddy Bridgewater – Has a funny build and his bone frame is a concern. Numerous injuries throughout his career going back to high school. Small hands. Deep ball accuracy is not good. Competition level he played against was suspect. Horrible pro day. To glove or not to glove on his throwing hand?

QB – Derek Carr – Didn’t play against enough elite competition and when he did, he didn’t perform well. Struggles when under pressure and will try and force the ball. Isn’t very mobile and doesn’t make many pass rushers miss. Throws off his back foot at times. A lot of completions were short and quick. Can he play under center?

OT – Taylor Lewan – Needs better knee bend and balance. Gets beat inside. A hot head or a dirty player.  Grabs too much.  Needs to be more powerful to play left tackle at the NFL level. Is he going to have off the field issues like he did at Michiagn?

CHRIS CARTER ON JOHNNY MANZIEL,SAMMY WATKINS AND MORE

Hall of Fame WR Chris Carter shares his thoughts on Sammy Watkins, Johnny Manziel, Mike Evans and more.

 

RODA RATINGS – TOP 32 PLAYERS FOR THE 2014 NFL DRAFT

1- Jadeveon Clowney          DE           South Carolina

2- Jake Mathews                 OT            Texas AM

3- Sammy Watkins              WR          Clemson

4- Greg Robinson                OT            Auburn

5- Mike Evans                      WR           Texas AM

6- Khalil Mack                      LB            Buffalo

7- Darqueze Dennard        CB            Michigan State

8- Justin Gilbert                  CB             Oklahoma State

9- Taylor Lewan                  OT            Michigan

10- Blake Bortles                QB            Central Florida

11- Eric Ebron                     TE             North Carolina

12- Anthony Barr               LB              UCLA

13- Aaron Donald              DT              Pitt

14- Zack Martin                 OG             Notre Dame

15- Johnny Manziel           QB            Texas AM

16- C.J. Mosley                   LB             Alabama

17- Ha Ha Clinton-Dix        FS             Alabama

18- Teddy Bridgewater     QB            Louisville

19- Odell Beckham Jr.       WR           LSU

20- Calvin Pryor                  FS             Louisville

21- Timmy Jernigan           DT            Florida State

22- Jason Verrett               CB             TCU

23- Louis Nix III                   DT            Notre Dame

24- Brandon Cooks            WR           Oregon State

25- Marqise Lee                WR             USC

26- Ryan Shazier                LB              Ohio State

27- Cyrus  Kouandjio        OT              Alabama

28- Stephon Tuitt              DE              Notre Dame

29- Morgan Moses           OT               Virginia

30- Deone Bucannon        SS              Washington State

31- Xavier Su’a-Filo           OG             UCLA

32- Allen Robinson           WR             Penn State

RODA RATINGS – 2014 NFL DRAFT – “SKILL POSITIONS”

QUARTERBACKS

Blake Bortles – UCF – 6’5 – 232
Teddy Bridgewater – Louisville – 6’2 – 214
Johnny Manziel – Texas A&M – 5’11 – 207
A.J. McCarron – Alabama – 6’3 – 220
Derek Carr – Fresno St. – 6’2 – 214

RUNNING BACKS

Carlos Hyde – Ohio St. – 6’0 – 230
Tre Mason – Auburn – 5’8 ½ – 207
Bishop Sankey – Washington – 5’9 ½ – 209
Ka’Deem Carey – Arizona – 5’9 – 207
De’Anthony Thomas – Oregon – 5’8 ½ – 174

WIDE RECEIVERS

Sammy Watkins – Clemson – 6’0 – 211
Mike Evans – Texas A&M – 6’4 ½ – 231
Brandin Cooks – Oregon St. – 5’9 ½ – 196
Marquis Lee – USC – 6’0 – 195
Odell Beckham – LSU – 6’0 – 193
Kelvin Benjamin – FSU – 6’5 – 234
Allen Robinson – Penn St. – 6’3 – 210
Davonte Adams – Fresno St. – 6’1 -212

TIGHT ENDS

Eric Ebron – North Carolina – 6’4 -250
Troy Niklas – Notre Dame – 6’6 ½ – 270
Jace Amaro – Texas Tech – 6’5 -265