The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

When you have an opportunity for both, would you take it? I would and his name is Akoye.

I know this guy is a good player and I agree, he would be nice to have. But don't we have a greater need at the DE position? Who knows what will happen with Wynn and Daniels, they both should be cut. Carter and Evans are the only two left. I seem to feel more confident in Griffin, Salave'a, Golston and Montgomery than I do with Wynn, Daniels and Evans.

Also, there is a lot of 'smoke and mirrors' this time of year. They may say they have interest in this guy or that guy, in an effort to distract other teams from their real interests or plans.

But don't we have a greater need at the DE position?

On paper, yes. However, this kid is the kind of talent who will improve everyone, including our current stable of defensive ends. He will dominate the interior line... both in stuffing the run, and in collapsing the pocket. The offense is forced to pay extra attention to a player like that... and, guess who benefits?

Plus I'm not convinced that any of the rookie DE's will be any upgrade from the ones we have. It typically takes three to four years before a rookie DE starts to prove his worth. There are so many DE busts out of the 1st round every year. It is one of the most difficult positions to draft well. DT's seems to bring a higher success rate because it is not a position so dependant on speed. Every year a few DE's flash amazing 40 times and get drafted higher than their football skills deserve. Add to that the book on Okoye is that he's intelligent, has a great work ethic and plays sideline to sideline without taking plays off and it is easy to like his potential.

I wonder why he can't play both DT and DE at his size? At around 300, he's not a massive DT by any stretch, and they talk a lot about his explosiveness. Sounds like he could play both positions to me.

PulpExposure wrote:I wonder why he can't play both DT and DE at his size? At around 300, he's not a massive DT by any stretch, and they talk a lot about his explosiveness. Sounds like he could play both positions to me.

Exactly, you made one of my points.

He's a little over 300 lbs. at 19 years old.

Just imagine how good he would be if he was the same age as everyone else he is playing against. I mean, word is that he dominated at the senior bowl, and everyone else there was like 3 years older than he was.

And for everyone who says,"Well, we need an upgrade now" Pretty much, if we take a DE, all defensive ends take time to develop. Look at Mario Williams and all the other top DE's taken in drafts (besides Julius Peppers). And actually, most of them have not even panned out in the NFL.

And Okoye compared to Alan Branch, sure Branch is a little bigger now, but even so, I would way rather have Okoye than Branch because of one big factor... Work Ethic.

It is said that Branch and Adams take plays off, whereas Okoye is a student of the game (And you can tell since he was accepted to some school called Harvard!) . That right there shows that he is the perfect Joe Gibbs player and a perfect fit for our defense.

I mean, I remember back in 2005 in GW's first year and how EVERYONE on our defense swarmed the ball with enthusiasm. But look at last year, everyone just kind sat around and watched.

Okoye might just be the young spark that could help our defense for years to come (and when I say years I mean it)

Sometimes things are too good to be true. This might be one of those cases. I hope the Redskins don't try to out-think themselves and pick wisely. They need a DE, so pick the best available one when the time comes.

DEs take time to develop but DTs don't. That isn't a valid point at all. Gaines Adams is a more polished pass rusher than Okoye is run stopper. This thread seems a little to caught up on Okoye because Kiper kisses his butt. Unless someone here was a huge Louisville fan that watched him every week all we are doing is talking about what we read about the guy. I watched every game of Branchs career and that whole "took plays off" garbage is bull. The guy was double team consistently and is the reason people around him enjoyed great success. ie) woodley, david harris, leon hall. He consistently collapses the pocket and helps others make plays. It pisses me off when kiper complains about his productions numbers. Sorry making people around you better isn't a stat.

I watched about seven of Louisville's games this year and I can honestly say that he is who I've been hoping to get on the skins since October. That doesn't necessarily mean that I think we should take him at 6. I'm actually torn, but leaning towards saying take him at 6 if we can't trade down. I think if we can't trade down then we need to draft the surest bet at 6 and I'm thinking that is Okoye. I've seen Gaines play a couple games and think he has tremendous up side, but could easily be a bust if he doesn't transformed into a complete DE. I know nothing about Anderson and I don't think Branch offers the style of play the we need. I know that Okoye was a better pass rusher then run defender, so he will only help our pass rush and probably make the DE that much better.

If I were asked who to take between Mario Williams and Okoye, I take Okoye easily. So if Williams is a decent comparison to Gaines or Anderson, then you got my answer. Bottomline, I think you take the safest bet D Lineman at 6 and that's probably Okoye.

HEROHAMO wrote:

PulpExposure wrote:

air_hog wrote:OK, so I've been thinking about Amboi Okoye for a while now and I've thought about this question...

Give me one reason why we shouldn't draft Okoye with the 6th Overall pick.

The kid is YOUNG, SMART, STRONG, HE PLAYS WITH HEART ON EVERYPLAY.

Honestly, I want to see of anyone can give me one reason why we shouldn't draft Okoye 6th overall.

Because he's only started 11 games in his college career, and his college career has produced a grand total of 2.5 sacks, including a whole 0.5 sacks last year when he started 10 games?

He's got a lot of potential, but he doesn't have a productive body of work to judge him on. Kind of like Mike Mamula was...

Since when do Defensive tackles get massive amounts of sacks? We are talking about the way this kid can disrupt the run. The best Defensive tackles in the league rarely get sacks. A productive Defensive tackles first priority is to stuff the run and occupy blockers to free up our defensive ends or linebackers on a blitz.

Anybody we draft we are taking a chance.

The upside of drafting a 19 year old is that he has room to grow and could be lineing up for the Skins for years to come.

Ok point taken. All I am saying is that who out of this years prospects is more ready than Okoye? Okoye showed in the combine that he is physically superior than most every player in the draft except maybe Calvin Johnson.

Branch had a horrible showing. Gaines adams had a good showing. Jamal A. I have heard nothing about him at the combine. Who is more ready than Okoye out of the bunch that we are looking to draft? You make a good point of him being 19 but the upside is that he is only 19 and can grow within our orginazation.

His upside is hard to pass on, while branch may be better THIS year, if there was any way to move down and acquire a pick and get Okoye that would be money

HEROHAMO wrote:OK, Ok point taken. All I am saying is that who out of this years prospects is more ready than Okoye? Okoye showed in the combine that he is physically superior than most every player in the draft except maybe Calvin Johnson.

Branch had a horrible showing. Gaines adams had a good showing. Jamal A. I have heard nothing about him at the combine.

Because he didn't work out at the combine...

Who is more ready than Okoye out of the bunch that we are looking to draft? You make a good point of him being 19 but the upside is that he is only 19 and can grow within our orginazation.

Yeah, he CAN grow and has a lot of upside. There is also the chance that he won't contribute a damn thing next year since he needs to learn to play with the big boys (ie not just dominate in a lesser conference like the Big East).

Personally, I think if we can trade down and get him, I'd do it. But he's not worth it at 6. You go with the guys who have dominated major college talent at 6, and that's Branch, Anderson or Gaines, imho.

Lower, and you go for Okoye.

PulpExposure wrote:

HEROHAMO wrote:OK, Ok point taken. All I am saying is that who out of this years prospects is more ready than Okoye? Okoye showed in the combine that he is physically superior than most every player in the draft except maybe Calvin Johnson.

Branch had a horrible showing. Gaines adams had a good showing. Jamal A. I have heard nothing about him at the combine.

Because he didn't work out at the combine...

Who is more ready than Okoye out of the bunch that we are looking to draft? You make a good point of him being 19 but the upside is that he is only 19 and can grow within our orginazation.

Yeah, he CAN grow and has a lot of upside. There is also the chance that he won't contribute a damn thing next year since he needs to learn to play with the big boys (ie not just dominate in a lesser conference like the Big East).

Personally, I think if we can trade down and get him, I'd do it. But he's not worth it at 6. You go with the guys who have dominated major college talent at 6, and that's Branch, Anderson or Gaines, imho.

Lower, and you go for Okoye.

Gaines didnt dominate anything. HE got a bunch of garbage time sacks. Branch had a decent career.

The bottom line is that any one of these guys the Skins would be taking a chance.

The fact that Okoye is 19 proves that he has the work ethic and character to succeed.

A pretty doubtful scenario, but I would love to see Cleveland pass on Adrian Peterson. If so, it is not likely that Tampa or Arizona would draft him. Buffalo would be desperate to move from 12 to 6. We would gain more picks than we could get from the Texans for Quinn and Okoye or Branch would be bthere at 12. Beautiful yet unlikely.

fleetus wrote:A pretty doubtful scenario, but I would love to see Cleveland pass on Adrian Peterson. If so, it is not likely that Tampa or Arizona would draft him. Buffalo would be desperate to move from 12 to 6. We would gain more picks than we could get from the Texans for Quinn and Okoye or Branch would be bthere at 12. Beautiful yet unlikely.

I hope for a scenerio like that to play out as well that would be sweet. You never know it could happen.

DTs on the move…

There is a bit of a buzz around the NFL that there is some movement going on in the 2007 draft DT class. In particular, Michigan DT Alan Branch appears to be slipping on draft boards around the league. The 324-pound junior’s number at the combine were actually pretty good as he ran a very respectable 40 time of 5.07 and had 33 reps pressing 225 pounds. Branch, though, reportedly didn’t come across very well in the interview process; Gil Brandt also reports in his pro day update at NFL.com that some scouts thought Branch looked out of shape at Friday’s on-campus workout in Ann Arbor. That combined with the fact that there have been concerns that Branch has a sometimes inconsistent motor on the field has teams with top 10 picks taking a second look at Branch and for now it appears that Louisville’s Amobi Okoye may have replaced Branch as the #1 DT on most draft boards around the NFL. At the same time, it appears that Tennessee DT Justin Harrell may be making a move up into the latter part of this year’s opening round. And that’s probably where Harrell would have been today had he not been forced to miss the second half of the season with a torn biceps muscle. Harrell didn’t hurt his status, though when he played in the Florida game despite the injury; the 6-4, 300-pound Harrell, who ran his 40 in Indianapolis in a solid 5.04.