Whitney Mercilus

[CardiacCats]

Very interesting pass rusher prospect, I'm hearing comparisons to JPP. I know DE isn't our biggest need but he still certainly could be in the mix to take at 9.

[HeatCheck]

Needs to bulk up a bit. And might be too situational.

[CardiacCats]

Needs to bulk up a bit. And might be too situational.

Not really, check out all the defensive end prospects and there are plenty 265 guys and some a little lower. His 4.65 speed makes up for being a few pounds underweight.

[Dex]

Aldon Smith & JPP. Watching the game yesterday made me realize how much we need a pass rush.

[Yaboychris28]

LOL. He is NOT the next jpp

[HeatCheck]

LOL. He is NOT the next jpp

Couldn't agree more.

[CardiacCats]

Just for poo and giggles, let's take a look at JPP's scouting profile out of USF:

http://walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2010jpierrepaul.php

6'6", 265

Strengths:

Prototypical size with room to bulk

Ridiculously quick first step

Has great speed and athleticism

Terrific flexibility and balance

Underrated power

Plays at a very high level when motivated

Nice agility and lateral movement

Equips a variety of pass rush moves

Strong hands

Anticipates snap count well

Great counter moves

Seems comfortable in coverage

Can stand up and rush

Adept at batting down passes

Vines for arms

Very, very high upside

Scheme versatile (4-3 DE or 3-4 OLB)

Weaknesses:

Seems disinterested against the run

A little too finesse - needs to be more aggressive

Doesn't willingly engage double teams

Hands are a work in progress

Slow to disengage

Could play with a lower pad level

Very raw and inexperienced

Could get a little stronger

Occasionally disappears in games

WHITNEY MERCILUS

6'4" 265.... exact same weight as JPP out of college, all JPPP had to do was throw on an extra 10 lbs

Strengths:

Raw speed to turn the edge

Agility to sink his hips/shoulder

Strength

Repertoire of moves

Active hands

Has the strength to anchor and hold his ground vs. the run

Always looking to force fumbles

Quick get off

Shedding blocks when pass rushing

Ability to bull rush heavy tackles and guards

Extremely athletic

Weaknesses:

One-year wonder

Lacks complete body of work in college

Quality of tackles he faced

these profiles were from walter football, a tremendous site...don't look at that and saw lol walter football

Mercilus senior stats: 57 tackles, 16 sacks, 9 FF

JPP senior stats: 45 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 2 FF

JPP had many more QUESTIONS coming out of USF, look at all the weaknesses Walter tabbed him with and look how few he has on Mercilus. The only difference is JPP is two inches taller than Mercilus, but he is still 6'4"...CJ is only 6'2".....6'4" is great size for a DE, he can get his paws up and knock passes down. Just saying JPP had questions of being a little too underweight in college and look how he turned out, not to mention, Mercilus was way better against better competition. This is stuff that can't be denied. They seem to be the SAME guy almost. I mean so far, Walter has only found 3 weaknesses against Mercilus...one was "quality of tackles he faced" when he played in the BIG 10!!!!!

[Mother Grabber]

LOL. He is NOT the next jpp

Why not?

[JawnyBlaze]

He'd be in the mix with our SECOND pick of the draft, whether that's still in the first after a trade down with Cincinnati or NE or in the 2nd round, but definitely not with our #8/9. Just because he's a similar mold to JPP doesn't mean he's going to produce like JPP. JPP was a big risk when the Giants took him that high, he just happened to pan out. Mercilus is just as big of a risk and we're not in position to take that big of a risk with our first pick.

[CardiacCats]

Yeah, I'm ready to see how they respond to my last post, probably something with like "Walter Football is terrible"

[CardiacCats]

He'd be in the mix with our SECOND pick of the draft, whether that's still in the first after a trade down with Cincinnati or NE or in the 2nd round, but definitely not with our #8/9. Just because he's a similar mold to JPP doesn't mean he's going to produce like JPP. JPP was a big risk when the Giants took him that high, he just happened to pan out. Mercilus is just as big of a risk and we're not in position to take that big of a risk with our first pick.

He's already projected to go 12-20, a good combine/pro day and top-10 would not be a big risk for him at all. I think he's the best pass rusher in the draft. Much more consistent than Couples.

[kdrh5]

Kinda think if he played at a SEC school people on this forum wouldn't nitpick and under sell him as much.

Don't think he's a top ten pick, but would be a quality pick if we traded down.

[JawnyBlaze]

Yeah, I'm ready to see how they respond to my last post, probably something with like "Walter Football is terrible"

walterfootball is as good a source as most, in my opinion.

He's already projected to go 12-20, a good combine/pro day and top-10 would not be a big risk for him at all. I think he's the best pass rusher in the draft. Much more consistent than Couples.

Most projections I've seen is in the bottom of the 1st or early 2nd. The risks are his size (not TOO small, but a little undersized) and only 1 year of production. Those are very real risks. Not everyone can "just add 10 lbs" and still move as fast. Like I said, I'd be ok with getting him, he could be good. But not with our 1st pick, I'd much rather have Brockers or someone who's less of a risk in my opinion.

For comparison, NFP (Wes Bunting is a pretty well respected draft analyst, more so than Walter) doesn't even have him in the top 30. They have him as the 6th rated DE. http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/scouting_department.html ESPN Insider doesn't have him in the top 32, they have him as the 5th rated DE. http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft

[HeatCheck]

I am not sure you can just compare him and JPP and say "hey, Mercilus is getting overlooked, so did JPP." Mercilus is not even the athletic freak JPP is. Mercilus needs to improve on defending the run, I wouldn't want to draft someone with our first pick ay 8/9 who seems like a situational player. Wouldn't mind selecting him later like JawyBlaze said. But I still value Ingram over him just because he is more well rounded.