SC, we're overdue for a Gamecokk report...

[Box_O_Rocks]

Speaking of Gamecokk, did that um, er 'extension' operation allow you to stand at the toilet afterwards?

Jared Cook, TE - can we trust a Spurrier receiver?
Emanuel Cook, S - details please.
Jamon Meredith, OT - seems like a good project...
Jasper Brinkley, ILB - not high on my list, but at least a late round option.
Captain Munnerlyn, CB - did he go soft?
Kenny McKinley, WR - good Senior Bowl, but the Spurrier receiver question applies here too...

[Box_O_Rocks]

:dbanana:1) I dont think the Spurrier receiver question applies to Cook and McKinley as much as it used to because the Gamecocks passing attack just wasnt all that formidible. Neither of these two guys had their stats inflated by "the system". If anything they had their stats deflated by the crappy QB play in their time here.

Thats not to say i think they will be cant miss studs in the NFL, but i think J Cook especially has the size and tools (6'5" 250 lbs runs a sub 4.6 40, very good hands) to be a very good pass catching TE in the League. McKinley, OTOH probably has the talent to be a very good complimetary WR in the right situation, but i dont think he has the size to be a #1 WR. BUT, he is pretty durable, and productive in college (#1 all time leading receptions and yards in Gamecocks history over some guys named Sterling Sharpe and Robert Brooks) and he is completely unafraid to go over the middle. I could actually see him being sort of a Hines Ward type player, in the right situation.

2) F*ck Emanuel Cook. Hard hitter, strong tackler. But he stopped going to classes at some point during the season, after he decided to go into the draft this year, and got ruled academically ineligible for the Bowl game. Sounds like a guy who is committed to the TEAM first, no?

3) I dont know that much about Meredith, but the Gamecocks OL absolutely reeked this year (although they actually improved from last season) so it was hard to tell just how good Meredith was. The fact that he is even regarded as highly as he is coupled with his linemates sucking so badly probably peaks volumes about his actual talent though.

4) Oh Captain, my Captain. Im on the fence about Captain Munnerlyn. At first glance i want to say he is ready for the NFL. He is fast, and agressive, and seems to have that "it" that great CB's have. But more and more im starting to think he is more like Ko Simpson, a guy who was headed to the NFL and listened to some people who convinced him to go pro before he was ready and ended up a 5th round selection and i guess is starting for Buffalo, but probably could have really upgraded his draft position by coming back another year. And i think Munnerlyn is going to fall into that catagory.

5) And last but not least, Jasper "The Beast" Brinkley. Man has a guys stock ever fallen so far so fast? A borderline first round talent last year, barely even makes alot of 7 round mock drafts i see now.

I was actually going to PM you about Brinkley at some point. Brinkley was not the "all over the field tackling machine" he was in his Jr season. Some things i read seemed to indicate he had lost half a step, due to his knee injury. I know in my own past, after knee surgey to repair my torn ACL it took me a year or so afterwards to trust the knee again. If Brinkley is having trust issues, he could be a late round steal for some team. If his kneee really isnt healed properly, he might just be another in a long line of could have beens.

But this is my question: Assuming the knee is physically sound, Brinkley is 6'2" and about 270 lbs, and reportedly pretty lean at this weight. Even if he has lost half a step, would he make a good candidate to be a 3-4 ILB? I see him mostly listed as an OLB and it just seems to me that he would make a great run stuffing ILB. No one questions his tackling ability, and he will lay a lick on you if he gets you in his sights. How would he compare to a guy like Ted Johnson? Or Levon Kirkland? I was a way casual fan back then and mostly what i remember about both these guys was that they were both big runstuffing LBers, guys that would punish RBs if they ran in the middle of the field. Could a guy like Brinkley be taught to play ILB in a system like the Patriots? If he were on the board in the 6th or 7th round, could you see the Patriots taking a flyer on him?

[Box_O_Rocks]

Assuming the knee is physically sound, Brinkley is 6'2" and about 270 lbs, and reportedly pretty lean at this weight. Even if he has lost half a step, would he make a good candidate to be a 3-4 ILB? I see him mostly listed as an OLB and it just seems to me that he would make a great run stuffing ILB. No one questions his tackling ability, and he will lay a lick on you if he gets you in his sights. How would he compare to a guy like Ted Johnson? Or Levon Kirkland? I was a way casual fan back then and mostly what i remember about both these guys was that they were both big runstuffing LBers, guys that would punish RBs if they ran in the middle of the field. Could a guy like Brinkley be taught to play ILB in a system like the Patriots? If he were on the board in the 6th or 7th round, could you see the Patriots taking a flyer on him?Jasper is an option in the 6th and 7th rounds, though I have other lads whom I'm more interested in seeing. Jasper never struck me as much of a downhill player. I thought his brother Casper was a better fit inside for NE, his time at DE made him better at stacking and shedding OL and less likely to avoid engaging the little devils when their trying to hide the RB. I think Jasper has the tools to be a two-down run stuffer in the Ted Johnson mode, though I believe someone with more mobility to cover the short zones is needed.