Drew Boylhart on Julio Jones and Jacquizz Rodgers

[Rai]

Julio Jones WR Alabama

TALENT BOARD Round 1

STRENGTHS

Julio is a powerful wide receiver who has very good hands along with strong after the catch skills. He runs great routes and reads and reacts well to defenses who try to take his assignment away. Julio has excellent leg strength and will knife his way through a defense like a butcher filleting a steak. He is a good blocker and gives effort on every play. He plays injured and shows leadership skills through his play on the field. Julio reminds me a lot of Eric Moulds (former WR Buffalo Bills). He will give your special teams a shot in the arm because of his sturdiness, strength and speed. Julio has the consistency in his overall game as well as athletic ability to become a #1 wide receiver for the team that drafts him.

CONCERNS

Some people are going to suggest that Julio does not have good hands or that he drops passes. I'm going to tell you this kid plays with injuries that others would not play with for fear it might drop them in the draft. The kid played this season with a broken bone in his hand during a game! He had surgery on his hand and still never missed a game all season long. Julio needs to learn how to change gears and set up a defender to get deep, but all of this will come with time and Julio looks like he has the football intelligence and work ethic to accomplish this.

BOTTOM LINE

All I can tell you is that if you are looking for a #1 wide receiver in this draft, then go down to the schoolyard because I believe that's where you will find Julio playing football with his friends or basketball with his buddies and just having a load of fun. Julio, in this day of football players blaming everything on their fathers, is a breath of fresh air. In this day and age when the excuse for bad behavior and making bad decisions is, "Everyone is doing it, so it must be all right", Julio is once again a breath of fresh air. You can't keep this kid out of the line up. He gets better every time I see him play and I have no doubt that he will continue. He runs great routes, and every time you need a play to move the chains or score, this kid steps up. He is an excellent blocker and plays special teams like a man with his crotch on fire. When you go to tackle Julio, you had better do it right or he will gain the yards needed to impact for his team. Julio is a junior, but in my opinion, there is not much more for him to learn on the football field in college. In addition, with all the injuries that he has had this year and still played, I would suspect he will come out early. Like I said, he reminds me a lot of Eric Moulds who had a pretty good career with the Buffalo Bills a few years back. Julio could play for just about any team, cold weather or warm. He has the hands and the mental toughness to succeed in any style of offense and do whatever is required of him to help his offense and team succeed. I call him Julio (The Butcher) Jones because he will cut right into the meat of your defense and fillet it like a steak you grill in the parking lot before the game.

The BS Detector

Drew Boylhart Dec/10

Jacquizz Rodgers RB Oregon St

TALENT BOARD Round 2

STRENGTHS

There is an unusual toughness to this kid's running style that makes him the running back that he is. He plays bigger than his size because of his technical skills and intelligence. He has good speed, but mostly is a change-of-gear type of running back that knows how to follow his blockers. He is not the type of back that is going to make something out of nothing until he breaks the line of scrimmage. He shows excellent hands to catch the ball and although I did not see him blocking very much, I have no doubt that he can do it. In the open field, Jacquizz does not go down easy and yet he knows how to protect himself from taking hits that might put a small back out of the game. He was a durable running back for his college team and although he looks to be more of a specialty back for the next level, his technical skills and intelligence tell me that in a spread offense at the next level, he could become the main back. He reminds me a lot of Curtis Martin (former RB, Patriots and Jets). Not as big as Curtis, but Jacquizz has the same type of talent and runs with the same gliding gate that is hard to tackle because he can burst with strength at the point of attack.

CONCERNS

Jacquizz is vertically challenged and although this is an issue, for a running back it can be a gift. Jacquizz is smart enough to hide behind the big bodies to make his yardage through the tackles and on sweeps. He doesn't show much vision in the hole when breaking the line of scrimmage, but he follows his blockers so well and changes gears he compensates for this part of his game. He is not lightning bug quick and needs good blocking to impact. This, along with his small stature, could drop him on a lot of teams' boards.

BOTTOM LINE

Jacquizz is a quality running back in a small body, but my gut tells me this kid can impact more than most think he will. I know most people are going to suggest that he is a Darren Sproles type of player, which I believe is incorrect. This kid just has feature running back skills in a small body. That makes him, in my mind, a running back that may have to share duties with another running back, but this kid is not a change-up back. He is just a good running back. He doesn't get hurt, he has excellent skills along with solid athletic talent. He can block (I think) and can catch the ball with ease. He is tough and runs with strong strides. He is hard to bring down, he fights for yardage, he's strong enough to run through the tackles and, in the open field, he can break tackles. Would I draft him with the thought that he is going to carry my offense? No...but I would draft him with the thought that I just added a very talented running back to my team and his ability to start is not out of the question. Downgrade him all you want because he is only 5' 6". Then, be smart and draft him. You will not be sorry. Look for Jacquizz on Rob's board. My guess is he will land somewhere in the 3rd or 4th rounds. He looks on the field to be a quality kid with a lot of intelligence and running back skills that could help a team in a very big way. By the way, Curtis Martin was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1995 draft and downgraded for basically the same reasons most teams will downgrade Jacquizz.

The BS Detector

Drew Boylhart April/11

[Bullitt]

Dear Coach Mularky,

When Jacquizz is in the game, can you please call screens or send him out on short routes instead of running him up the middle every play.

Thanks.

Your Pal,

Bullitt

[FalconState]

I really like both of these guys and i like his take on both of them

[AtlantaFanatic]

Its going to be bad year to be a saint, panther, or buc fan.

[Rai]

They traded the farm for a wide receiver that has a history of breaking bones. Julio Jones (WR Alabama) has excellent talent, no doubt. I rated him higher than AJ Green (WR Georgia) based on talent, but trading up and giving up as many draft picks as they did to move up and draft a franchise WR is just a little more than I can handle. The Falcons are not one player away from being a Super Bowl team. They are a defense away. After all of that, they reached in the third round and drafted a two down linebacker. They got good value with the 5th pick in Jacquizz Rodgers (RB Oregon St) and Andrew Jackson (OT Fresno St) should be a good player. Adding it all up, I have to say that, in spite of giving away the farm for a wide receiver, they did get good talent & value in almost every round.

Drew's draft review. Rest of NFC South is in the following link.

http://huddlereport.com/huddlenotes/?p=563

Edited May 6, 2011 by Rai

[Psychic Gibbon]

Drew's draft review. Rest of NFC South is in the following link.

http://huddlereport.com/huddlenotes/?p=563

Yet another example of an expert only looking at the playoff game to judge the defense. You'd think the Falcons had a bottom five defense by the way they talk about it.

[Banned]

Its going to be bad year to be a saint, panther, or buc fan.

Or any of the other 28 teams in the NFL.