Undrafted Free Agents: Or How I Learned To Forget The Draft And Love Rick Spielman
Miked64
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The draft has finally completed and we are all either ecstatic, middle of the road or calling for Rick Spielman’s head and I’ve never been less surprised by the number of knee-jerk reactions from each camp. That being said I’m not here to talk to you about the names that were called but by the absolute HAUL Spielman pulled from the undrafted free agent pool and the list is as follows so far.
Jeff Badet, WR, Oklahoma
Mike Boone, RB, Cincinnati
Garret Dooley, OLB, Wisconsin
Holton Hill, CB, Texas
Tyler Hoppes, TE, Nebraska
Matt Linehan, QB, Idaho
Hercules Mata’afa, DT, Washington State
Tray Matthews, DB, Auburn
Kamryn Pettway, RB, Auburn
Korey Robertson, WR, Southern Miss
Roc Thomas, RB, Jacksonville State
Jake Wieneke, WR, SDSU
I am… STOKED. There are some awesome names in here and if you’ve been following my mock drafts you’ll recognize a couple that I banged the table for us to pick in the later rounds. Now, I’m not going to go through all these guys for you but there are four that really stand out to me and that I’ve been high on for quite awhile. I certainly would not be surprised to see all four of these guys to make the roster going into 2018.
Jake Wieneke
The four year stand out starting receiver for the Jackrabbits was an absolute monster that took no prisoners. Over four years Wieneke put up an incredible 5,157 yards and 59 touchdowns on 288 receptions. Wieneke and his opposite now Eagle, Dallas Goedert, terrorized and had their way with defenses. Standing at a staggering 6’4”, Wieneke is no joke and a match up nightmare in the red zone as he knows how to use that body to gain his position. Put this all together with hands that snag every single thing in reach and it starts getting really hard to not get excited about this kid.
Why did he fall: Wieneke suffered from three things that scouts and everyone should take very seriously: failure at line, can’t break press, and lower competition. Even at the lower level of play he was in it was all to easy to watch him get jammed at the line and become a complete non-factor in the play. His hand fighting will need to improve here. The other critical issue with his start is he has very little explosion off the line, he’s a galloper but it often times takes entirely too long for him to get up to full speed. Receiver coach Darrell Hazell will have to work closely with his start but if they can shore that up he has all the other pieces to become at the very least an end zone nightmare.
Roc Thomas
The former Mr. Football of Alabama found himself in a limited role at Auburn after his sophomore year and decided a change of scenery would do him nice while landing at Jacksonville State. He was eased into the starting role for the Gamecocks but his presence was felt immediately. Thomas would go on to finish his senior year up to the tune of 1065 yard and 13 touchdowns netting him second team All American status. Thomas thrives in the open field and when watching tape it’s hard not to see a lot of Jerick McKinnon in him. Using a variety of running moves Thomas breaks free and avoids tacklers at an alarming rate making him a massive problem every time he’s holding the ball.
Why did he fall: Thomas’s issues are two-fold, much like Wieneke he faced very questionable competition week in and week out. Much more than that, even with the competition he faced he still struggled MASSIVELY running between the tackles. He only really became effective on outside zones, stretches and screens. These problems lead to big time vision questions and then leads to the issue that how effective can he be if he needs to be schemed open to make a difference?
Holton Hill
This is Mike Dorry’s voted “Most Likely to Make The Team” award right here and it’s the 6’ 3” defensive back from Texas. A very intelligent player that definitely does not shy away from laying the wood when needed to while also being a very natural coverage man and this all combined with all the measurables you could want from a guy his size; signing Hill was a no brainer for a priority free agent. Coming off a very strong season of 51 tackles, one forced fumble and two interceptions (both for 6 points each) the former Longhorn was viewed by many (even my mocks) to be as high as a second round pick but it proved that this would not be the case.
Why did he fall: Drug tests. Hill has proven consistently that he can not pass his drug tests. This has lead to many problems, most of all can he be trusted? If he can stay clean this guy will make the roster and I would bet on that.
Hercules Mata’afa
As his twitter bio states, this is one bad Mata’afa. I don’t know if it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy of the name but this guy is an absolute monster of a defensive end that plays with a very seldom seen anger. He hasn’t just been the star of the Washington State defense but he’s the vanguard and no one on that team outshined him defensively. Finishing his career with 21 sacks (10 in his final year) Herc would use his incredible athletic traits to beat lineman that were much larger than him. With a crazy high motor and just an inert desire to hurt people across from him it’s not outlandish to think he would at the very least be a special teams star in the NFL.
Why did he fall: The man is really just too small to play the tackle position he did in college. The guy wins on just outright desire to kill the ball holder but when you start stacking him up against the maulers of the NFL he will get washed away in the middle. His technique is nearly non existent and it’s still a question if he can be quick enough to rush from the outside. The Vikings have made a living with making something from these super raw d-lineman and with Herc’s mentality it’s hard for me to think he won’t pick something up from our gurus. The guy plays harder than any other player I’ve scouted and that kind of motor will land him a spot somewhere, I refuse to believe it won’t.
Let us also not forget that a massive core of our team is undrafted guys such as Thielen, Sendejo, Remmers, Ham, Hill, Easton. I’m excited for the future of these guys.
Follow me on twitter at @MikeDorry1 and let me know your thoughts on our draft!