Alontae Taylor and the importance of scouting (2 Viewers)

[Saint Spud]

2nd round pick on CB4????

I just don't understand this at all.

If you read Dan’s write up, I think you’ll understand better.

He will come in as a CB. Then we move him around as needed, because he’s athletic enough and smart enough to do it all.

We’ve had a lot of success doing that in our secondary. No reason to change now.

 

[Saint Taysom]

Trusts him, but not the Saints' staff. Lol

He didn’t draft Cesar Ruiz and Payton Turner in back-to-back 1st rounds!

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

He didn’t draft Cesar Ruiz and Payton Turner in back-to-back 1st rounds!

Did your rest help, Little Man? Or are you still cranky this morning?

 

[football]

The draft is such a gamble for anyone. Teams, and scout don't always get it right. Fans, like ourselves, think we know more and pat ourselves when we are right. I guaranteed some of you guys, including myself, don't know the names or watch these players religiously. These names only came up in our mind when the season was over and draft coverages were coming on through the network. I am always a wait and see type of person and watch training camp closely before making any opinion. For now I am going mostly by the team's coaches and scout on this one. On paper, he seems to have the physical tools. But we must factor in coaching, systems and chemistry in determining a player's success. Look at Richard Sherman and all those players that was drafted by the Seahawks during 2011 and beyond. They were not first rounders. Apparently 31 other teams really messed up. But those players were put in the right situation.

 

[DaveXA]

Ok went back and read the pre draft mock. He never mentioned about the Taylor type of player. Not till after the draft in this thread.

I feel I’m taking away from the post way too much. I enjoy Dan’s posts.

I don't understand why you think it's a big deal. And certainly not enough to call him self serving and just does this for the adoration. I've read his posts for years and never got the sense that he does it for anything other than he wants to share his perspective with us Who Dats. That to me is selfless. He doesn't have to do it. We've asked for and value his opinion.

Like I said earlier, it's petty and unnecessary.

 

[SUGrad03]

I’m hoping he balls out at whatever position he fits. Just please don’t be a repeat of Stanley Baptiste

 

[sainthood]

Maybe part of the Saints logic i Gardner-Johnson is going to need a new contract to be paid like a starter. Maybe slot corner is functionally a starter in the NFL. Maybe the plan is move Gardner-Johnson to starting safety and try to shift Taylor to Gardner's Johnson's spot as he learns the ropes. Many of us may want Honey Badger but at the cap number and age it may not be the best long term solution given the planned cap number Gardner-Johnson is going to demand moving forward.

 

[Super44]

I just wanted to post real quick regarding this pick and offer a little perspective as a lot of people run around with their hair on fire.

In my last article, I made a point of saying that I see mock drafts as kind of pointless because we aren't in the war room (I still am not calling what I did a mock draft ). But when I was considering what I think the Saints should do in round 2, before slotting in Jalen Pitre, I actually went and looked at a few scouting reports to try and ID a CB prospect who was 1) a freak athlete and 2) had S potential. The only one I kind of landed on who I was familiar with was Kyler Gordon, but I don't think he has the football IQ/instincts to make the move.

But I really felt like, if this type of player was there--a versatile CB with all the tools to move to safety (and more athleticism than Pitre and the other S candidates available)--that was the direction the Saints would go. Pitre was the closest fit in terms of fitting that poor man's Honey Badger/CJGJ mold, where he can play on top of the tree, in the box, or in that slot role.

The Saints, however, seem to have found the guy I couldn't in Alontae Taylor. I've only scanned a little bit of film on him and the athleticism and football instincts are ABSOLUTELY there. As a CB, he is a little raw/inconsistent in his technique, but he's over 6 feet, runs a 4.3, has very loose hips (something the other S prospects including Pitre lacked), is very aggressive (both on the ball and in the run game) and plays with instinct!

Dennis Allen (who I will absolutely give the benefit of the doubt on drafting DBs, given his track record these last few years) and his staff seem to have a vision for Taylor, either in that slot role of CJGJ (which would mean moving CJGJ to a more traditional SS role) or as a more traditional safety. Either way, the hsyteria over this pick is a little unwarranted, because when you watch film on this guy you love him. Yes, he may not stack up with some of the other CBs in terms of being ready to hit the field day 1 b/c he gets high is backpedal and stuff like that... but the dude covers the field, plays the run and the ball like an NFL player.

I don't know if he'll be a starter right out the gate, but he'll definitely be hitting the field somewhere. Honestly, I love this pick, and THIS is exactly why scouts get paid. They have a vision for a guy every fan under the sun overlooked (including myself). It is literally their job to do more than the draft pundits and find guys like this.

If drafting Olave and Penning was an A+, I would give this pick a solid A/A-.

He will, without question, along with Dimarco, be ST’s players.

 

[PuddinheadSr]

I think I’m pretty objective here. I don’t care either way. He just said all this after the facts. He wrote different prior to this. Then said only coz he didn’t know any players of Taylor’s perceived profile.
He could easily have wrote, Saints could use this type of player etc.
Didn’t think I would cause this much of a stir. Feelings hurt

I have concerns that you seem to be refusing to acknowledge the OP was making. Prior to the selection he'd laid out a profile, or a combination of characteristics that he felt the Saints would look for in a DB with the athleticism of a CB who could play S. Being a coach, and not a scout, he didn't spend time looking at hours and hours of game footage to identify a target player, and instead used a player he was already familiar with (Kyler Gordon) as an example. In his post-pick post he says that the Saints staff had, doing all of the research that he hadn't done, identified Taylor who much more accurately matched the profile he thought they'd look for.

Not really seeing the "self serving" aspect of the post...nor, frankly, why it seems to bother you so much.

 

[limeyjohn]

I always really appreciate and enjoy Dans posts
There is no doubt he has a lot more football knowledge than most of us here, keep up the good work mate

 

[VPCajun]

Talking about football IQ, I just came across this interview with the New Orleans media. Around the 5 minute mark Alontae is asked about the difference between playing nickel and playing outside. It is a question EVERY DB should know, but not all of them can verbalize/answer as fluently and precisely as he did. The way he answered (talking about leverage, using the sideline outside, and the spatial difference of playing in the slot) shows A TON about this kid's football smarts.



DIRECT LINK

Alontae had me at "they thought that from my IQ and understanding of the game that I could play any part of the backfield".

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKmadmMFsww&t=26s

 

[Cougar 2]

If you read Dan’s write up, I think you’ll understand better.

He will come in as a CB. Then we move him around as needed, because he’s athletic enough and smart enough to do it all.

We’ve had a lot of success doing that in our secondary. No reason to change now.

Yep. He’s definitely gonna come in as a backup CB. No doubt, he needs some work n development here, but he’s got some good tools to work wit.

But like I said, BOTH Dennis Allen AND Kris Richard know a lil “sumn sumn” about DB play!

Wen you look at Taylor’s 6’ 200 lb long armed frame, his physicality, his smarts, instincts, ball skills, n most importantly, his 4.31 speed, da guy has FREE SAFETY written all ova him!

Again, safe to say, BOTH Dennis Allen AND Kris Richard KNOW a lil “sumn sumn” about DB play!

So we’ll see!!!