Ole Miss MLB Patrick Willis

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I’ve been rooting hard for the Redskins to trade down to get Ole’ Miss MLB Patrick Willis for awhile now. I know a lot of people know that he is projected to be the first linebacker taken in the draft, somewhere in the middle of the first round. But, I think a lot of people do not know his “story;” one that is very inspirational.

In short, Patrick Willis was abandoned by his mother when he was a small child and left in his father’s care. By age 6, Willis was cooking breakfast for his younger siblings. By age 10, Willis was picking cotton to pay the electric bills. Patrick’s father was an alcoholic who abused Patrick and his siblings until police and social workers removed Patrick and his siblings and placed them in foster care. Last year, Patrick’s brother, Detris, whom Willis helped raise, died in a freak swimming accident.

But, despite the personal tragedies in his life, Willis has gone on to become the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, the Dick Butkus Award winner for the nation’s top college linebacker, a First Team All-SEC player, and a First-Team AP All-American. He’s a hard-hitting Mike linebacker who is a born leader on the field and is a role model off of it. Although he is not blazing fast (4.65 40-time), he has excellent instincts and is very stout against the run and has all of the tools to excel in coverage.

In short, IMHO, Patrick Willis is precisely the kind of player we want. He is versatile, has great instincts, is a vocal leader, likes to play the role of "enforcer" in hitting opponents, is a model citizen and team player, and plays at a position of need. Although help along the D-line is a high priority, I think our best move would be to trade down to grab Willis and use the additional draft pick to draft someone at safety or along the D-line.

Here are some links about the guy.

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefoo...DB_OEM_ID=2600
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings...php?pyid=17257
http://www.footballsfuture.com/2007/...ck_willis.html
http://football.about.com/od/nflplay...rickwillis.htm
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/...r%3fid%3d11281

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I've always been fond of him and any scenario that would end up with us taking him and getting an additional pick is fine by me. This draft, there are a number of players and scenarios I'd be happy with. I just hope we don't take Gaines Adams.

[charlielyons]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

I've always been fond of him and any scenario that would end up with us taking him and getting an additional pick is fine by me. This draft, there are a number of players and scenarios I'd be happy with. I just hope we don't take Gaines Adams.

i totally agree we should not get adams, i prefer anderson personally, but he is around we need to go with the safe pick alan branch if hes still around

[wilsowilso]

I just read a review of the Senior Bowl on SI or ESPN earlier today and Willis was listed as one of the big disappointments. He may fall back a little.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by wilsowilso

I just read a review of the Senior Bowl on SI or ESPN earlier today and Willis was listed as one of the big disappointments. He may fall back a little.

I hadn't heard anything bad about his Senior Bowl practice performances.

Plus, I don't care how well they fare in a few practices, 1 game that is all out of wack, or at the combine. Players seem to plummet or ascend based on silly things (e.g., Wonderlic, 40 time) when scouts should be looking at their performances throughout their college careers.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I hadn't heard anything bad about his Senior Bowl practice performances.

Plus, I don't care how well they fare in a few practices, 1 game that is all out of wack, or at the combine. Players seem to plummet or ascend based on silly things (e.g., Wonderlic, 40 time) when scouts should be looking at their performances throughout their college careers.

Agreed. Scouts with all their experience do really questionable things sometimes. Of course, on the other side of the coin you have Pete Prisco, who makes one draft-eligible player rankings list in March and refuses to adjust it no matter what new information flys his way.

Obviously, the best way to "solve the mystery of the draft" lies somewhere in the middle. I believe there is something to be learned from all the pre draft analysis scouts do, but ultimately when you have 3 sometimes 4 entire seasons of film and statistics on each player, its tough to completely discredit what a guy has done over that much time in actual football situations.

Although I have to say that theres a good deal of experienced scouts out there who probably don't know as much as their teams think they do. Maybe they just never learned what qualities in a college player transfer well to the pros. More accurately, I think a lot of scouts refuse to learn from their mistakes. But for many teams, the draft is still a 50-50 proposition, and to me that ultimately represents poor player evalulation.

Still, scouts in general are improving. The last time a 1st round QB busted was Kyle Boller in 2003. Granted the jury is still out on the 2005 and 2006 guys, but theres no reason to believe any of those QBs can't be the starter on their own team for the next few seasons at least and do a solid job (Theres the Leftwich situation, but he's not a bad QB as much as Jacksonville just has no idea that Garrard isn't really that good). QB's, in theroy, should be the position that busts the least as scouts have more college tape on them then any other position, and it appears the trend is moving that way.

[SmootSmack]

Anderson would be my guy too.

[dmek25]

what a great story. it just proves that there are 2 roads. the high one, where you go and get what you want, you work for it. and the low one. laying around, making excuses, and blaming everyone but your self. i hope this kid succeeds, even if its with another team

[Big C]

i wanted him at first but after reading some scouting reports on him i dont know if he is good enough in coverage for our scheme, where our MLB has to cover quite often. he seems more of a jerimiah trotter type player, a run stopper...we know how that worked out. i may be wrong about his style but from what ive read it seems he may be similar

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Big C

i wanted him at first but after reading some scouting reports on him i dont know if he is good enough in coverage for our scheme, where our MLB has to cover quite often. he seems more of a jerimiah trotter type player, a run stopper...we know how that worked out. i may be wrong about his style but from what ive read it seems he may be similar

He's not a Jeremiah Trotter clone at all as Willis can cover, just not as well as he can stuff the run. He's got the ability to cover though, he just needs some "coaching up."

[Big C]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

He's not a Jeremiah Trotter clone at all as Willis can cover, just not as well as he can stuff the run. He's got the ability to cover though, he just needs some "coaching up."

as long as he can cover he would be a good pick to me

[Pocket$ $traight]

Originally Posted by Big C

i wanted him at first but after reading some scouting reports on him i dont know if he is good enough in coverage for our scheme, where our MLB has to cover quite often. he seems more of a jerimiah trotter type player, a run stopper...we know how that worked out. i may be wrong about his style but from what ive read it seems he may be similar

Of course you want an LB who can cover but they need a tackler. They need a guy in the middle who will eat up ball carriers and short receivers all day long. I will take a guy who can fight through a block and either make the play or stall it until the Grim Reaper comes along and makes his weekly appearance on jacked up.

Let the OLBs and secondary cover. If I get 120-130 tackles out of the guy in the middle I don't care if he can cover a lick.

The problem with taking a rookie MLB is whether he can run G-dub's offense. They can't take a guy anywhere in the first round who is going to sit like Rocky did. I think that Rocky pick was the worst pick they have had in years not because Rocky is a bad player but because they didn't put him on the field until week 16. If you can't find playing time for top 5 pick in the second round, you have no business trading up to get them.

[Big C]

trotter got tons of tackles but sucked for us. we would be fine at mlb if marshall had some protection, in that case we'd get a new DT. really either way IMO we either need to upgrade the MLB or the DT, not both necessarily

[Pocket$ $traight]

Originally Posted by Big C

trotter got tons of tackles but sucked for us. we would be fine at mlb if marshall had some protection, in that case we'd get a new DT. really either way IMO we either need to upgrade the MLB or the DT, not both necessarily

I don't think Marshall is big enough to take the pounding that the MLB has to deal with.

Strengthening the middle of your line is always a good move and it seems that they need to move Marshall outside. They have to at least bring a starting quality MLB to compete for the spot.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Grim21Reaper

I don't think Marshall is big enough to take the pounding that the MLB has to deal with.

Strengthening the middle of your line is always a good move and it seems that they need to move Marshall outside. They have to at least bring a starting quality MLB to compete for the spot.

Yeah, I've been saying for awhile that Marshall needs to be moved back outside. Undersized MLBs can be effective. Antonio Pierce and Jonathon Vilma are prime examples. I don't think Marshall is physical enough to take on the interior lineman that scrape to the MLB. He and Rocky can compete for Holdman's vacated spot on the weakside, where Lemar excelled in place of Lavar back in 2004.

The linebacker play has to be shored up, and I think Patrick Willis could be a very fitting solution. But I think that Alan Branch could do more for this team than Willis and another player could and if hes there at 6, thats where we have to go. MLB can be fixed, at least temporarily, through free agency provided we get the right guy.