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Here's the guys and scouting reports you should listen to:
Browns draft Mingo: http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/medi...ngo-No-6/d867cc16-a7b6-4418-bab8-5478c15f36c1
First Draft (getting to know Mingo): http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-first-draft/0ap2000000160519/First-Draft-Barkevious-Mingo
Mingo conference call with Browns media: http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/medi...ll---425/05ee7c75-2b5b-432c-ae33-a43cbdfa40a9
Greg Cosell
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...ll-evaluating-linebackers-225210536--nfl.html
On LSU endbacker Barkevious Mingo: "He played defensive end predominantly for LSU. Clearly, he's long and athletic. He's got long arms, and he knows how to use them. He's deceptively fast in terms of closing speed. In the NFL, he'll be a 3-4 outside linebacker, or he'll put his hand on the ground in sub packages. He's not a starting defensive end. To me, what he needs to work on is the flexibility part. He's fast and quick and all those things you want. But I thought he was a bit stiff in his movement at times. You didn't see the natural bend-the-edge flexibility. He flashed explosive traits, and the kind of movement you can't coach, and that will get him drafted high."
Matt Waldman
Futures: OLBs Dion Jordan and Barkevious Mingo
By Matt Waldman
Imagine you’re considering two final candidates for a job. Both possess top-drawer talent, which is what you'd expect at this point if their resumes are the remaining two on your desk.
Candidate A is refined, smooth, and versatile. If you needed him to start today, he’d be up to speed and produce with minimal training. If you improved the rest of the surrounding talent in your workplace, Candidate A could become a star.
In contrast, there’s something disconcerting about Candidate B. You see how it could all go wrong if you opt for him – but that’s not what’s nagging you. It’s that his talent leaves you wondering if three years from now you’ll look back on your decision and conclude that you settled for less by taking Candidate A.
What Candidate B lacks in experience is compensated by a singular talent that not only jumps off the page, it grabs you by the neck and squeezes until your eyes bulge from their sockets. Candidate B carries more risk and he may never do everything as well as Candidate A, but he has the potential to do one thing so well that it could elevate the performance of your team's surrounding talent.
Many organizations would take Candidate A and not look back. However, it is not that that clear cut.
A decade ago, I knew several people who worked for one of the top hospitality organizations in the world. This award-winning company’s philosophy on hiring placed a priority on talent over experience.
“Experience often means you spent more time ‘doing it wrong,’” one director told me. “We would rather hire someone with the basic talent for the job, the capacity to learn, and a personality geared to excel. The last two things we can’t teach. So when we spot it, we know we can teach the rest.”
There’s something appealing about this philosophy, but you have to know how to spot these behaviors beyond an interview. I believe the Baltimore Ravens have this perspective. Before NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah worked with the Eagles, he talked about his time with the Ravens in his old podcasts.
I remember him mentioning that one of the qualities Baltimore sought in players was a comfort level with – and penchant for – hitting. If it wasn’t there, they weren’t interested.
I believe the Steelers also have this on their list of fundamentals a player must possess. If these teams discover they were wrong about that player later on, he won’t last long with either team.
But an organization has to have a strong understanding of what they can and cannot teach a player. If they don’t possess this knowledge of what is and isn't teachable – or worse yet, they lack these teaching skills as a staff – then you have what the Oakland Raiders are trying to work past with some of their personnel decisions.
This philosophical quandary underscores the difference of opinion that I bet a few teams may have when considering the talents of outside linebackers Dion Jordan and Barkevious Mingo. Both are exceptional athletes, but despite playing the same position these two are as Robert Frost once wrote, “two roads diverged in the wood.”
The consensus prefers Jordan, who is the more experienced and versatile of the two. The question is whether Mingo -– a player with higher risk-reward potential -– represents to one NFL team what Frost meant as, “the road less traveled by will make all the difference.”
KEEP READING (GREAT BREAKDOWN)
Rob Rang
Strengths: Possesses a lean, athletic build with plenty of room for additional muscle mass. Has an explosive first step and the combination of flexibility and closing speed to exponentially add to his sack numbers in the more pass-happy NFL than he had while at LSU. Alert defender who will get his long arms into passing lanes when unable to get to the quarterback. More physical than his frame looks. Fights through blockers at the line of scrimmage to make plays in the running game and anchors surprisingly well given his lean lower half. Possesses as much upside as any prospect in the 2013 draft.
Weaknesses: Looks more like a small forward than an NFL defensive end and could be asked to make the transition to outside linebacker, a position he's never played. While possessing explosive straight-line speed, has very long legs, which make him less fluid when changing directions than ideal. Relies upon his burst upfield to beat pass blockers and simply hasn't developed the counter moves to complement his speed in three seasons of action, leading to some concerns that he won't.
Compares To: Bruce Irvin, DE, Seattle Seahawks -- Mingo is longer than Irvin and therefore possesses more athletic upside. Like Irvin, who led all rookies with eight sacks in 2012, Mingo's speed should result in eye-popping numbers immediately. He doesn't have an effective counter yet, however, and is a liability against the run, at this time.
Tony Pauline
Bio: All-Conference selection the past two seasons starting 10 games as a junior in 2012 and four games the prior year. Totals last season included 38 tackles/8.5 tackles for loss/4.5 sacks after 46/15/8 as a sophomore in 2011.
Positive: Explosive, game-changing front seven player with the ability to line up at several positions. Displays outstanding movement skills, shows tremendous edge speed, and flashes power. Effectively uses his hands to protect himself, rarely knocked off his feet, and plays with good knee bend. Forceful, quick moving in every direction, and overruns blocks to make plays behind the line of scrimmage. Can bend off the edge, has a burst of speed, and shows ability in pursuit. Easily changes direction or immediately alters his angle of attack, losing little momentum. To his credit does not bite on ball fakes and stays with assignments. Covers a lot of area. Effective chasing the action in pursuit or making plays in space.
Negative: Handled by strong run-blocking lineman when he comes out of a three-point stance. At times slow locating the ball. Will over pursue plays and takes himself from the action on occasion. Didn E(TM)t seem to play with a sense of urgency in 2012.
Analysis: Mingo is a forceful defender with the ability to alter the momentum of games and disrupt the action. He offers potential as a 3-4 outside linebacker as well as a situational pass-rushing defensive end. Mingo comes with Pro Bowl ability if he consistently plays at a high level.
Alen Dumonjic
All Bark, No Bite?
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
LSU’s defensive end and linebacker Barkevious Mingo is one of the scariest prospects in the 2013 NFL draft.
Beyond his unorthodox first name, he has a set of physical tools that are hard to find. He is 6’4, 240 pounds and runs like the wind. He has good enough change of direction (COD) skills and motor to go along with jaw-dropping power in his misleading thin and lengthy body.
Conversely, at times, you worry if those physical tools will ever be hampered by a lack of self-control and rawness. He often leaves his assigned rush lane, opting to peel off on a running back into the flats despite the team having flat defenders in their Cover 2 play-call. He’ll completely stop rushing the passer if he doesn’t beat the blocker around the corner, instead settling for throwing his hands up (way too much) in hopes of redirecting the pass. And he plays with dangerously high pad-level, which explains his lack of pass rush production this season.
Despite the above concerns, he’s going to be a favorite of many personnel men, especially those who will look at him and see the same potential they saw in Aldon Smith. Smith and Mingo are built slightly differently, with the former being thicker, but they share one significant characteristic in common: violent hands.
When a pass blocker kickslides out to his side, his first thought isn’t about the speed of the edge rusher, it’s his power. Offensive tackles have to be most concerned about their ability to anchor because that’s what sets up the footwork, giving them a firm base at their feet and consequently, strong balance in the upper body.
But when a pass rusher has violent hands, or what some call “pop”, it doesn’t always matter how the blocker has organized his feet. Base or no base, the blocker is going backwards because of the sheer power in the pass rusher’s hands. Against Texas A&M earlier this season, Mingo showed this on numerous occasions, most notably against stud right tackle Jake Matthews.
CONTINUE READING (ANOTHER GREAT PIC-BY-PIC BREAKDOWN)
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