"Scary Interest" in USC S/LB Su'a Cravens

[vorbis]

hmmm "scary interest" sounds to me like first round consideration.

as someone who doesn't follow college football, I watched a few youtubes of highlights and game tape and I can see that there are some definite tools.

I definitely agree with people that say his 40 time in Indy isn't that big of a deal. there were several instances where he used speed to make tackles down the field that saved touchdowns. also pretty instinctive, and his playing attitude is an asset. covering in the slot, rushing the passer against Ronnie Stanley, shooting gaps for TFL's, good pass-rushing off the edge, anticipation on out routes for INT's.

he's definitely got tools to be a really good safety if he can clean up some technique and maybe get a bit more core strength.

[Bartin]

7 minutes ago, carolina-chuck2 said:

Bet you my money. 

These players grew up playing multiple positions. You ever played middle school or HS ball? Yea you played at least 2 positions.

Yea, Shaq is the same player that played RB in his final season at Washington. SURPRISE! 

Troy Brown played CB for NE one season and was intercepting passes. 

 

I'm not saying Shaq is moving position. We're here talking about Cravens. And Combine fans like yourself wanna bring up speed. Cravens will more than likely be drafted to play SS by a team. You're not fooling anyone on here by bringing up Cravens' speed. 

Have you even watched Cravens play? He played a hybrid position in college which is for all intents and purposes is a SAM LB. Never lining up more than 5 yards from the LoS and most of the time was right on the LoS. I haven't watched any of him as a freshman and he may have played some traditional safety then but he has really been a SLB only for the last two years in the 8 games I watched.

As for whether a team will draft him at SS, that very well may happen. That doesn't mean it's a good idea. The Bucs drafted Mark Barron to play SS.

[CarolinaNCSU]

Plenty of free agency still to go, but with only Coleman (one year left), Boston (unproven), and Marlowe (barely active UDFA) on the roster...DG very well may be targeting a safety early. DG isn't scared to grab a "2nd round" type guy in the 1st if his grade is different as we saw last year. If Cravens is that high on our board, I'm all for it. 

[ctrcat]

4 minutes ago, CarolinaNCSU said:

Plenty of free agency still to go, but with only Coleman (one year left), Boston (unproven), and Marlowe (barely active UDFA) on the roster...DG very well may be targeting a safety early. DG isn't scared to grab a "2nd round" type guy in the 1st if his grade is different as we saw last year. If Cravens is that high on our board, I'm all for it. 

There have been multiple mocks having him go before our first round pick.  He would not be a reach.

[LinvilleGorge]

I'm sure the Panthers really like him.  Hell we drafted Shaq in the forst and Cravens is a very, very similar prospect to Shaq.  The problem is that I'm not sure we need another Shaq.  Not in the first two rounds anyway.  3rd?  Okay, I could be onboard with that.  I just don't think Cravens will last until the 3rd.

[Cpt slay a ho]

Roman Harper sucked, anybody back there can't be worst unless it's nakumura 

[juliosantos]

Sua is another troy polomolu

[LinvilleGorge]

10 minutes ago, juliosantos said:

Sua is another troy polomolu

No.  While workouts aren't everything, Polamalu ran a 4.33 compared to Cravens' 4.65.  Their speed and range are completely incomparable.

 

If you're playing Cravens at SS, you're hoping he can be a Kam Chancellor type thumper/enforcer guy who will be an asset against the run and a bit of a liability against the pass.  The problem with that type of player is that it's exactly what the NFL is basically trying to outlaw.

[CWORS]

I wonder if DG is looking to place speedy LB's around Luke so the team can stay in a normal package instead of a nickel package. With this guy and Shaq around Luke we could do that. He has speed for a LB and he would be matched up against a TE most likely. 

[LinvilleGorge]

6 minutes ago, CWORS said:

I wonder if DG is looking to place speedy LB's around Luke so the team can stay in a normal package instead of a nickel package. With this guy and Shaq around Luke we could do that. He has speed for a LB and he would be matched up against a TE most likely. 

That was what he and Rivera said after we drafted Shaq.  They said it would allow us to stay true to our base 4-3  D more often.  We still primarily ran nickel.  Maybe Shaq just wasnt quite ready, I don't know.  But it definitely didn't play out on the field like they talked after the draft.

[CWORS]

2 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

That was what he and Rivera said after we drafted Shaq.  They said it would allow us to stay true to our base 4-3  D more often.  We still primarily ran nickel.  Maybe Shaq just wasnt quite ready, I don't know.  But it definitely didn't play out on the field like they talked after the draft.

You might be right but they may not have had enough of the right personnel to do what they said they wanted. They may need 2 players like TD to run a base defense as Ron and DG are envisioning.

[Bartin]

33 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

No.  While workouts aren't everything, Polamalu ran a 4.33 compared to Cravens' 4.65.  Their speed and range are completely incomparable.

 

If you're playing Cravens at SS, you're hoping he can be a Kam Chancellor type thumper/enforcer guy who will be an asset against the run and a bit of a liability against the pass.  The problem with that type of player is that it's exactly what the NFL is basically trying to outlaw.

They are both polynesian and played at USC therefore same player!

[Navy_football]

4 hours ago, Cam El said:

Agility Tests

Campus: 4.65 in the 40-yard dash (against the wind) … 4.58 40-yard dash (wind-aided) … 370-pound bench press … 385-pound squat … 300-pound power clean … 33.5-inch vertical jump … 33 -inch arm length … 9 -inch hands … Right-handed … 26/35 Wonderlic score. Combine: Bench-pressed 225 pounds 19 times. … Did not participate in agility tests because of a left hamstring pull.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/historical/412243

 

370 bench and only a 385 squat. Looks like someone went missing on leg days. 

[Daddy_Uncle]

We need to take this guy. We have a major need to boost the back end of our defense. Our line is awesome,  our linebackers are all world, just need some beef on the backside. In today's NFL versatility is huge. This guy is a play maker that be used in many ways. Today's NFLdefenses are turning to verstile hybrid players like him and Shaq. I don't see it being possible to get him in the second but if we did it would  be an absolute steal. Could see us taking him at the end of the 1st like we did with Shaq