Ok i watched some more game tape

[33]

on Rey Maualuga and I think i was wrong about him not being as good as alot of people thought he was.

On these boards I have said that I wouldnt take him with our 1st round pick I have changed my mind and if the top OT's and Curry are gone i think i would go with him. I dont think he would be great his first year (makeing the transistion from ILB to MLB ) I think he would be a force when he gets a feel for playing MLB.

[Bengals in Toronto]

thank you for seeing what i have seen he will be a beast next to rivers

[moose05]

yea he is big n powerful but james laurnitus i tell you what all that kid does i take on blocks and make plays and can run you down from anywere that is what the bengals need in a mlb and that curry i dont know much about but if we could get him i would wouldnt take 30 seconds to pick or malcom jenkins aint a bad corner to go with J.J two shutdown corners leon hall Nb let fletcher n david jones go unless special teams palyers need or keep on practice squad

[eoxyod]

I feel sorry for you moving to the "We mst drafte Maulaulaualualulualulga" side

[hacker]

We've seen our share of drafting guys "not catching on" like Simpson and Brooks. I would much prefer a guy known for his smarts and athleticism (Curry) than a guy like Rey strictly known for his brute force. I'm still in favor of the OT first, but if the top 3, maybe the top 2 are gone, then I'm all for Curry

[Bengals in Toronto]

we need a MIKE and our defence is set for years to come face it

[eoxyod]

Originally Posted by Bengals in Toronto

we need a MIKE and our defence is set for years to come face it

while Carson dies
Dhani is very good and Brinkley, Spikes, and Ellerbe are better

[Bengals in Toronto]

we need a MIKE and Curry is a SAM

[Whatever]

Originally Posted by Bengals in Toronto

we need a MIKE and our defence is set for years to come face it

Doesn't matter who the MIKE is,if our pass rush is still anemic,we won't be able to get off the field on 3rd and long. Dhani is better than Jeanty,anyways.

[33]

Originally Posted by eoxyod

I feel sorry for you moving to the "We mst drafte Maulaulaualualulualulga" side

I am not saying we must (or should), i am saying that the top OT's and Curry are gone I would think about drafting him.

[Bengals in Toronto]

we have young DTs that have done a good job learning the system so we now have push up the middles now we need a Mike to give us the mad man in the middle and as of right now Maualuga is the top one

[fatphil101]

Originally Posted by Bengals in Toronto

we have young DTs that have done a good job learning the system so we now have push up the middles now we need a Mike to give us the mad man in the middle and as of right now Maualuga is the top one

Ever heard of Curry, Laurinaitis, or Spikes? All ahead of Mauauauauauauuauluga.

[Bengals in Toronto]

but they are not so as long as Maualuga is the top MLB i want him

[twizbuck]

Curry can play MLB.

... excuse me... MIKE.

[TrojanPride]

Maualuga has played MLB in a 4-3 most of the time at SC. They've mixed it up some with some hybrid 3-4 looks but basically he's played 4-3 MLB so not much of a transition there.

And he's better than Lauranitis and Spikes. However, If Curry was there I'd take him first. Not to play MLB, but he'd be a beast of a SLB.

[fatphil101]

Originally Posted by TrojanPride

Maualuga has played MLB in a 4-3 most of the time at SC. They've mixed it up some with some hybrid 3-4 looks but basically he's played 4-3 MLB so not much of a transition there.

And he's better than Lauranitis and Spikes. However, If Curry was there I'd take him first. Not to play MLB, but he'd be a beast of a SLB.

Laurinaitis and Spikes are better than Maualuga, don't get me started on this one again. Although, Spikes is far ahead of both.

[TrojanPride]

Originally Posted by fatphil101

Laurinaitis and Spikes are better than Maualuga, don't get me started on this one again. Although, Spikes is far ahead of both.

I'll go back and forth with you all you want. Maualuga is better than both. We can go in circles forever. At this point all we can do is wait and see how NFL scouts view them on draft day.

[fatphil101]

Originally Posted by TrojanPride

I'll go back and forth with you all you want. Maualuga is better than both. We can go in circles forever. At this point all we can do is wait and see how NFL scouts view them on draft day.

All we can do is wait for four years to see the production comparison and such. Where they are drafted means nothing to me. I don't care that Donnie Avery was the first drafted WR, he wasn't and won't be the best.

[TrojanPride]

Originally Posted by fatphil101

All we can do is wait for four years to see the production comparison and such. Where they are drafted means nothing to me. I don't care that Donnie Avery was the first drafted WR, he wasn't and won't be the best.

Yeah I agree that we need to see production as well, however you've been crowing about the fact that you believe Spikes and Lauranatis are so much better than Maualuga and have pretty much guaranteed that Maualuga would be available around the 40th pick or so. Therefore we do have a short term measuring stick.

I'm not saying that pro scouts always get it right because clearly they don't but sorry if I still trust their opinion a little more than yours

But hey I like the confidence. I probably believe in my scouting opinion more than most draft analysists so I won't hate you if you trust your own.

[MJB]

There is a lot of arguments for all three guys. We all pretty much have the fortunes of being able to see Ohio State, Florida, and USC games because of the time differences and all three of these Mikes are different players. Maualuga is a bruiser, Laurinatis uses his athleticism, and Spikes has the combination of both. I would say Spikes is probably the best fit for our system as a middle linebacker.

Maualuga is best fit for a 3-4, he's not overly athletic and isn't really a rangy player. At USC he hasn't had to do that because there have been great players around him at every level(Keith Rivers, Taylor Mays, Brian Cushing, Terrell Thomas, Clay Matthews, Fili Moala, Lawrence Wilson, Sedrick Ellis, Kyle Moore, and Kevin Ellison are all NFL-caliber players), so when he wasn't blitzing, a lot of his coverage zones were covered by the ultra-athletic Taylor Mays, or picked up by Brian Cushing(who started his career as a SS), Keith Rivers(who has shown great athleticism and a knack for the game as a professional), and Clay Matthews(a kid who's pedigree speaks for himself, and is also an athletic player). There is no doubt that Maualuga hits hard, and can shed blocks, but he sometimes runs himself out of plays, and doesn't have the coverage skills you look for in a Mike trying to cover a Tailback out of the backfield, a TightEnd of the edge, or the deep middle of a cover 2.

James Laurinatis plays in a primarily run first conference and has been able to mass up a large number of tackles as a result. There is no denying that the kid is a great athlete. He is at the top of the interception leaders at Ohio State every year. He has a knack for getting to tipped-balls. The one thing James Laurinatis does struggle with is getting off the blocks. He has great instincts, but against elite competition he seems to get engulfed. A top 15-20 prospect shouldn't have that happen to him. Probably would have benefitted from coming out last year(could have very well been a Bengal if he did). I think Laurinatis will be a very successful professional, but he is probably best suited as a SAM at the next level.

Brandon Spikes is almost the perfect go-between for these two players. IF he declares he probably will be rated the third MLB on most boards, pre-combine and pro-day. If he posts some of the numbers that most of us think he's capable of putting up, he could very well leapfrog Laurinatis and maybe even Maualuga(who probably won't have that great of a combine as the numbers will show, unless he drops from his reported 260). Spikes plays tenacious at Mike and that is best exemplified against Alabama. He really stepped up his game in the latter half, and proved his worth against one of the most successful power running teams in the Nation. He also hasn't had a great D around him. With the exception of Jermaine Cunningham, Carlos Dunlap, and obviously himself, I really don't see anyone else on this defense worthy of a pick before the 4th round out of their starters.

All that aside, I think Michael Oher should be our number one priority going into this draft. I feel he is the Best overall tackle, Compare him against Carlos Dunlap to Andre Smith vs Carlos Dunlap. In the Ole Miss game Oher pretty much had great position on him almost every play, he squared him up nicely. I specifically watched Andre Smith for most of that game and Dunlap had him on a lot of plays but was not able to capitalize. Dunlap is 6'8 290 pounds, Oher 6'5 322, and Smith just under 6'4 340. Smith, with his leverage, and size should have done the best, specifically in the run game against Dunlap and a lot of the time I saw Dunlap gain the advantage on Smith. Smith's hips weren't under him and Dunlap wasn't going anywhere, the problem was that Carlos lined up so far outside he took himself out of the play. In pass protection, and this is the case with both players, Dunlap gained a step on them around the edge but Jevan Snead and John Parker Wilson did a great job of stepping up in the pocket. The fact that we need offensive line help, mixed with Dhani Jones being a pretty good player for us, allows us to take a look at the O-line for now. I think in the second or third round we could land Brian Cushing or Marcus Freeman, both could play SAM, a position we definitely need upgraded over Rashad Jeanty, or possibly whoever comes out third in the battle of Rey/Spikes/Laurinatis, Darry Beckwith, or Dannell Ellerbe, who have very good potential when it comes to the next level. In 2010 we could see another decent crop of Mikes...Spikes, Ryan Reynolds, and Rolando McClain.

[TrojanPride]

Originally Posted by MJB

Maualuga is best fit for a 3-4, he's not overly athletic and isn't really a rangy player. At USC he hasn't had to do that because there have been great players around him at every level(Keith Rivers, Taylor Mays, Brian Cushing, Terrell Thomas, Clay Matthews, Fili Moala, Lawrence Wilson, Sedrick Ellis, Kyle Moore, and Kevin Ellison are all NFL-caliber players), so when he wasn't blitzing, a lot of his coverage zones were covered by the ultra-athletic Taylor Mays, or picked up by Brian Cushing(who started his career as a SS), Keith Rivers(who has shown great athleticism and a knack for the game as a professional), and Clay Matthews(a kid who's pedigree speaks for himself, and is also an athletic player). There is no doubt that Maualuga hits hard, and can shed blocks, but he sometimes runs himself out of plays, and doesn't have the coverage skills you look for in a Mike trying to cover a Tailback out of the backfield, a TightEnd of the edge, or the deep middle of a cover 2.

I disagree with your analysis here. It was the same argument last year about Rivers - he benefitted by playing next to great players like Maualuga, Ellis ect.

I don't mean to be a snob but like I've said before I've seen every SC game for the last 10 years or so.

The playmaker NFL elite top 10 worthy defensive players have been #1 Sedrick Ellis #2 Ray Maualuga #3 Keith Rivers #4 Taylor Mays (physically a top 10 player)

Kevin Ellison while probably not 1st round material has been a dominant force in the secondary.

Taylor Mays has top ten talent but has done far less with it than many other players mentioned here (partially because of scheme but still)

Clay Matthews did absolutely nothing before this year and Brian Cushing (btw Cushing might have played as a strong SS for like one game as a backup during his freshman year) has spent a good chunk of his career sidelined with injuries - both good players but have done far less for SC than Maualuga.

Fili Moala and Lawrence Jackson are good players but benefitted by playing with Ellis who was dominant. Jackson probably went a little high last year.

Rivers was a good player but sorry out of the LB positioning group, Cushing, Rivers, Matthews and Williams were benefitting more from playing next to Maualuga than the other way around.