Pro prospects?

[BobSaccamanno]

Much has been made of Allen providing an uptick in recruiting.  One area in which we might see a big improvement is the number of pro players that are on our roster right now.  No, we won’t be Clemson, Ohio State or Alabama where it’s an upset if any of their 22 starters doesn’t end up in the pros.  But, our athleticism has improved to the point we should have more and more fun on draft day.  

Who do you see as pro prospects?  Here are my thoughts:

Tier one, highly likely 

Michael Penix. He’s very smooth as a freshman and has a full Arsenal in his skill set. 

Matthew Bedford.  He looks like he’s got an NFL left tackle profile. Those guys are highly coveted. 

Peyton Hendershot.  You see tight ends in the league and I think he compares favorably to many.    

Sampson James. Love the electricity and power. 

Tiawan Mullen  this kid carries himself great and he’s an athlete with good confidence and athleticism.

Tier two. Really good shot 

Whop Philyor.  The kid is electric and very versatile.  

Cam Jones.  This kid is a heat seeking missile and he plays with a nastiness and edge.  His combo of power, speed, and intensity bodes well for him. 

Coy Cronk   It might be at center or even guard, but i think he’s on an NFL roster   Good size and athleticism and an insane amount of experience.    

Caleb Jones. He’s improved a ton which speaks well for the young man. His size and frame are ridiculous.  I think NFL teams will give him a long look.  

Bryant Fitzgerald. This kid is a football player. Really wraps up well which is critical for a safety. Makes good reads.  He’s still developing too. 

Stevie Scott.  Too much production to ignore.  

Tier three: will get a long look so don’t rule them out  

Micah McFadden.  Love this kid.  He’s out there making plays   Underestimate hi to your peril.  

Marcelino Ball.  Kind of a tweener but if he runs ok he could be a strong safety or otherwise weak side LB if he gets bigger and stronger.  

Jerome Johnson.  He moves well for an interior D tackle and he always makes plays.  He has a ton of experience which will help his grade.  

James Head.  We will see how he develops, and he’s got time, but his pass rush potential can get him to the next level if he keeps developing.  

Simon Stepaniak.  Our line has been beleaguered but this kid is experienced and insanely strong.  Love his frame and strength at guard.  He’s got some nastiness too.

James Miller.  I like this kid every time he plays.  He may get a look as a two down run stuffing inside linebacker.  

Jack Tuttle.  Good prospect coming in.  We will see how he develops but the raw tools are there.

Logan Justus . He’s been lights out but there are only 32 jobs for kickers.

A bit early to talk about some freshmen, but guys like Beau Robbins and Cameron Williams may very well be on this list someday.  

There are others who may garner good attention like CB Raheem Layne who is about as physical of a corner as I can remember at IU.  CB Andre Brown has played a lot of high level football.  Juan Harris is a massive DT and if he ever controlled his weight, NFL teams may be intrigued with his ability to plug the run.  

[btownqb]

Whop gotta be tier 1. 

[Leathernecks]

I like that we have a few guys who could potentially be high round picks. Penix could work his way into the first round. Mullen could be a look down guy that could turn heads. Bedford was a guy big schools were fighting us for at the end, and he looks to have a ton of potential. Hendershot could become one of the best TEs in the country.

5th round draft picks are nice and all, but I'd love to start having a few guys go in the first 2 rounds. Those are the guys who can be game changers for our program.

[Zlinedavid]

NFL scouts never stop looking for QBs, and we've got a head turner. That will pay dividends to the rest of the team, who will have more eyes drawn to them by association.

Ball should be in that tier 2 group, if the proctologist can help him unstick his head.

[Steubenhoosier]

There may only be 32 kicking jobs available in the NFL, but from what I've seen thus far this year, there are some very mediocre kickers. If Justus continues performing the way he has, he will have a real shot at one of those jobs.

[jblaz13]

On 10/2/2019 at 1:25 AM, BobSaccamanno said:

 

A bit early to talk about some freshmen, but guys like Beau Robbins and Cameron Williams may very well be on this list someday.  

There are others who may garner good attention like CB Raheem Layne who is about as physical of a corner as I can remember at IU.  CB Andre Brown has played a lot of high level football.  Juan Harris is a massive DT and if he ever controlled his weight, NFL teams may be intrigued with his ability to plug the run.  

I know it is way too early , but David Ellis is a bad man.  

[coachv]

haven't seen a single run showing the "electricity" of sampson james. hendershot? no way. penix? too early to say but he's not even close to fields at ohio st. bedford, one game-too early. ball has done nothing this year, a big disappointment so far. mullen looks the part but he will have to get a lot bigger. he looks about 160 lbs now. the jones' maybe. steve scott has no chance. in fact, i think he had better prospects as a linebacker. cronk might get a shot.

[btownqb]

2 hours ago, coachv said:

haven't seen a single run showing the "electricity" of sampson james. hendershot? no way. penix? too early to say but he's not even close to fields at ohio st. bedford, one game-too early. ball has done nothing this year, a big disappointment so far. mullen looks the part but he will have to get a lot bigger. he looks about 160 lbs now. the jones' maybe. steve scott has no chance. in fact, i think he had better prospects as a linebacker. cronk might get a shot.

Lol this is a pretty misinformed post. 

[BobSaccamanno]

On 10/4/2019 at 11:21 AM, coachv said:

haven't seen a single run showing the "electricity" of sampson james. hendershot? no way. penix? too early to say but he's not even close to fields at ohio st. bedford, one game-too early. ball has done nothing this year, a big disappointment so far. mullen looks the part but he will have to get a lot bigger. he looks about 160 lbs now. the jones' maybe. steve scott has no chance. in fact, i think he had better prospects as a linebacker. cronk might get a shot.

I could go through these one by one, but suffice it to say I think you have taken a very harsh view across the board.  I gave guys the benefit of the doubt probably, but I am viewing this from a "prospect" standpoint.  Not all prospects pan out.  

I called Jason Spriggs as a potential high draft pick when he was a 265 lb TE coming out of high school.  However, he has hardly flourished as a pro.  I haven't followed him enough to know why, but I always liked his measurables and athleticism and obviously so did the pros as he was a top 50 draft pick.  That's just a way of saying I am looking at their profile as a whole and trying to project how they might stack up.

Where you say "no way" on Hendershot, I see a big time athlete with a good size/speed combo.  I mean he could compare pretty well to a guy like Jack Doyle.  Does that mean he will be that good?  No guarantee but I still see the potential.  I don't see anything standing in his way at all.  Sampson James hasn't played enough yet.  But he's a big man with alot to work with in terms of athleticism.  He was highly, highly recruited for a reason.  He could have played anyway.  No guarantee but I like him as a prospect.

Justin Fields is impressive, no doubt.  But that shouldn't take anything away from Penix.  In fact, from what I saw, Penix throws with better timing, touch, anticipation, and accuracy.  Fields is a big time athlete with great raw tools.  They may both be first round picks.  The 20 straight completions against a good MSU defense on the road as a freshman coming off an injury with minimal practice reps going in tells you alot.

I made the post to emphasize our high end talent level.  It's as strong as we've seen in decades.

[coachv]

4 hours ago, BobSaccamanno said:

I could go through these one by one, but suffice it to say I think you have taken a very harsh view across the board.  I gave guys the benefit of the doubt probably, but I am viewing this from a "prospect" standpoint.  Not all prospects pan out.  

I called Jason Spriggs as a potential high draft pick when he was a 265 lb TE coming out of high school.  However, he has hardly flourished as a pro.  I haven't followed him enough to know why, but I always liked his measurables and athleticism and obviously so did the pros as he was a top 50 draft pick.  That's just a way of saying I am looking at their profile as a whole and trying to project how they might stack up.

Where you say "no way" on Hendershot, I see a big time athlete with a good size/speed combo.  I mean he could compare pretty well to a guy like Jack Doyle.  Does that mean he will be that good?  No guarantee but I still see the potential.  I don't see anything standing in his way at all.  Sampson James hasn't played enough yet.  But he's a big man with alot to work with in terms of athleticism.  He was highly, highly recruited for a reason.  He could have played anyway.  No guarantee but I like him as a prospect.

Justin Fields is impressive, no doubt.  But that shouldn't take anything away from Penix.  In fact, from what I saw, Penix throws with better timing, touch, anticipation, and accuracy.  Fields is a big time athlete with great raw tools.  They may both be first round picks.  The 20 straight completions against a good MSU defense on the road as a freshman coming off an injury with minimal practice reps going in tells you alot.

I made the post to emphasize our high end talent level.  It's as strong as we've seen in decades.

i agree with all that. penix could be our all-time best qb. i love pendershot too, but so hard for tight ends to make an nfl roster. being a loyal packers fan, i had a front row seat to witness the failings of spriggs. i know about his measureables and all that but he was woefully overmatched on an nfl gridiron. in fact, bob saccamano has all of spriggs' old jerseys and is selling them for $50 in brooklyn-east flatbush