Can These Five Rookies Become Impact Players in 2012?........

Can these five rookies play an impact role?

Shea McClellin, Stephen Hill, Bruce Irvin and more. Matt Bowen

April 30, 2012

http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c191...son-smith1.jpgThe Vikings need safety Harrison Smith to make some plays in the deep half.


SS Harrison Smith—Vikings: I talked about the new Vikings’ safety throughout the draft process because of what I saw down in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. The former Notre Dame product has size (6-2, 212), takes solid angles to the ball and has enough range to get off the numbers or play the middle of the field. In Minnesota, he has to get his hands on the football—especially in the deep half. The offseason and training camp will be big for Smith with route recognition, understanding WR splits and getting a feel for the speed of the NFL. Excited to watch him play.


WR Stephen Hill—Jets: The WR will have to put in the work to develop his route running ability. But looking at the Jets, Hill has to be the vertical threat in their playbook. Run the 9 (fade), 8 (post) and press the top of the secondary. Santonio Holmes can win in the intermediate route tree, but if the Jets want to see Mark Sanchez produce (along with Tim Tebow), you need the ability to flip the field and target the vertical concepts.


DE Shea McClellin—Bears: The Boise State DE has to fill a need opposite Julius Peppers in passing situations. Lovie Smith's defense is still a core Cover 2 team on 3rd downs and inside of the 20-yard line. Rush four and drop seven into coverage. However, you won’t see production as a unit unless there is edge pressure from the defensive front. Those multiple breaking routes (think double move at the top of the stem) and inside verticals that put stress on your deep half safeties can be taken care of up front. Force the ball to come out. That’s why Phil Emery drafted a DE with 4.6 speed.


TE Coby Fleener—Colts: Create some matchups in the passing game. Fleener can be the “move guy” in the Colts offense and I’m interested to see him work vs. a SS or LB when he is removed from the core of the formation. Rookie QB Andrew Luck will need a receiver to win in the middle of the field and show up inside of the 10-yard line. I'm looking at the 7 (corner), slant (backside of a 3x1 set), dig and seam. Fleener should be a productive rookie and create some issues for opposing defensive coordinators.


OLB/DE Bruce Irvin—Seahawks: Seattle took some heat for drafting Irvin at No.15, but if he can get off the ball and turn the corner vs. pro offensive tackles, this will be a great move. I don’t care if Irvin is labeled as a “situational rusher." Those are “money downs” in the NFL. And QB pressure sells. The key for the rookie: develop his technique at the point of attack. I know he can run, but the top pass rushers have multiple moves when they get up the field.


Follow me on Twitter: @MattBowen41

I posted this not only because I respect what Matt Bowen has to say but to point something out. Emery went into this draft looking for size, speed and "football players" who could make an impact immediately. Look at this bunch. In effect we actually drafted all five of these guys not just one of them. Not the players specifically but the basic skills of what each had to offer.

1) We took McClellin and for our needs he was a much better choice than Irvin who will at least for the time being be nothing more than a situational pass rusher whereas McC will be a 3 down LDE. But other than that they're similar players as far as speed, size and pass rush ability goes. Of the two we got the better one for us.

2) We didn't take Harrison Smith in the first but we got as close to him as we could in the third when we took Hardin. Hardin is a little bit bigger and a little bit faster but lacks the experience at Safety that Harrison has. Based on his measurables if Hardin had played SS in college and hadn't missed his Senior year with an injury he most likely would not have been around when we picked in three. He would have been gone late in the first or no later than the middle to two. So let's call Hardin a rough equivalent to Smith who needs to learn the Safety position.

3) Stephen Hill would have given up a taller deep threat but that's not really our game. Besides we already have Hester, Thomas, and Knox (if he returns) for that. Our game is the intermediate routes in the middle of the field and along the sidelines 15 yards out where Cutler's gun can make throws few other can. We needed a guy more in the line of Jeffrey who can cover those routes, block and be a real redzone threat and we got him. I'm not saying Hill wouldn't have worked but we got a guy who will be just as good for our purposes.

4) Coby Fleener may have been a better choice for an "F" type TE but we had other needs before him when his number to get picked came up so Emery found another like him who he could use to attack with the same way and probably came away with a much better blocker to boot. We didn't get Fleener but we covered that need that so many here thought we should. Much like the Hardin pick vs Harrison we got Rodriguez in the 4th instead of Fleener in the second. I think that's a decent bargain.

So if Bowen see these 5 all as being potential impact players in 2012 then we got the top guy in one category and the next best in three others. I'd say that was damn good drafting.

Nice post, soul; thank you, as usual, for your generous offerings.

Harrison Smith, believe it or not, was primarily an offensive player first and defensive player second at Knoxville Catholic High School about six years ago. If memory serves me right, he played halfback in a wishbone-like offense for the "Fighting Irish" (yes, I know, another Catholic school uses it, so cliche). He was Mr. Football in the state of Tennessee in 2006, but was probably not the most dynamic player in the Knoxville area, as there was a guy who would go on to play CB at Tennessee who was a 2,500+ yard rusher at Knoxville Fulton High School by the name of Dennis Rogan. Rogan came from the inner city and had lived a rough life - he was married and had children, I do believe, while he was in high school. Rogan went to Tennessee, but after the school fired Phillip Fulmer as its head coach in 2008, he came out a year early and never got drafted. If memory serves me correctly, he got signed to an UDFA deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rogan was misused at Tennessee; he should have been a running back, but Tennessee coaches felt he was too small to play the position in the SEC.

But that gives you an idea of what I know about Harrison Smith. Catholic always used to win district championships there for a few years, including a state championship a couple of years after Smith graduated from there. He was a clean cut kid from a good home life who Tennessee wanted in the worst way possible to come play safety for them, but because of his Catholic roots, Notre Dame had the inside track on him, and that's where he ultimately wound up.

But yeah, on McClellin, you won't hear me dogging him. He may not have been as sexy a pick as, say, Whitney Mercilus or Chandler Jones, but his story is one that we can all feel good about. I really think that he's going to turn into another Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, or Cliff Avril - only he will develop faster than those guys simiply because he's got "The Freak" playing opposite himself in Julius Peppers.