Saints Draft Debate: Should they go with LB Queen or LB Murray? (1 Viewer)

Logan Wilson
Michael Pinkney
Shaun Bradley
 
Queen was also behind 3 damn good behemoth defensive lineman and playing next to a guy that will likely go in the 3rd & 4th round in Phillips. Murray was THE GUY. I’ll take either one, but Murray gets my vote over Queen. Which is crazy considering I’m a die hard LSU fan and Queen is also from Louisiana

Even Burreaux said we got to watch out for #9 in the playoff game... Don’t think too many teams game planned against Queen till maybe late in the year like they did every game against Murray
 
Honestly, "IF" Demario, Anzalone and Kiko can stay healthy all year, that's easily one of the better and most athletic LB Corps in the entire league. But that's a humongous if. Between Murray and Queen, I'd go Murray. He wouldnt be thrust into the DQB role w/Demario there and would/could get the opportunity to school up his IQ and pretty much make plays w/his pure athleticism to start his career. But seriously, where's ZACK BAUN in that LB conversation? To me, I'd take him over both Queen and Murray. Baun totally fits our LB type. He's both an EDGE and a more than capable off-ball LB. Put Zack Baun in that Murray vs Queen comparison, and I'm rolling w/Baun at 24.
 
I can’t believe the Saints take a LB @ 24 until the pick is in and announced... I’m leaning towards them selecting Shenault at this point.

If they go LB, whether it’s Murray, Queen, or even Baun... I’ll be all about it, and I’ll convince myself that player is going to be great.

Shenault has injury concerns and didn’t interview well. Walterfootball dropped him to #12 WR today and said he will likely drop to day 2. He could be full of S
 
Murray looks plenty instinctual. He also looks more stout than Queen. If I was looking for a day 1 starter at LB who can control the LOS and be a run stuffing machine, I’d take Murray. The Stephone Anthony comp is pretty poor. Anthony was a bad prospect. He had poor instincts and completely got by on athleticism. I think Rashaan Evans is a really good comp from what I’ve seen.

If you take Queen you have to keep him clean. But I think the Saints front four would allow that. I think Queen offers more as a pass defender and is a little more twitchy. I give him the slight edge because I like his upside slightly more. I think he’s pretty close to Myles Jack.

Both would likely be day one starters alongside Davis.

I'd rather Queen. Murray gives me Stephone Anthony flashbacks. I'm no scout, but every thing I have heard or read about Murray is that he's a great athletic talent, but he has trouble processing the game which makes him slow to react. Queen doesn't have the size, but he is plenty fast and quick enough and I think he's big enough to be good in pass coverage even if he is a little light to be able to effectively shed blockers in run defense. But, I'd rather take the chance of a guy needing to put on 10 pounds of muscle than a guy that has trouble processing the game at the college level.
 
If we reach the draft without signing a FA linebacker, then the odds we draft one go up. It’s a tossup between Murray’s established skills and Queen’s higher “ceiling.”
 
Murray looks plenty instinctual. He also looks more stout than Queen. If I was looking for a day 1 starter at LB who can control the LOS and be a run stuffing machine, I’d take Murray. The Stephone Anthony comp is pretty poor. Anthony was a bad prospect. He had poor instincts and completely got by on athleticism. I think Rashaan Evans is a really good comp from what I’ve seen.

Anthony was far from a bad prospect coming out and I remember him being considered by almost every data source to be the highest ceiling ILB prospect in the class. He was a splash player. Even as a rookie it was apparent that if he could process quicker, he could mold into a pro bowl caliber LB. It’s just not an easy task.

I would say Murray is going to be the better player because he was more productive in college, but from the prototype size/measurables to the strength/weakness traits, Anthony is the cautionary tale for him as a player for sure.

Don’t get me wrong, those athletic traits and what I view as his pros/cons don’t make him a sure-bust in my eyes. Anthony was highly touted because of Alec Ogletree a few years before him being a similar mold that was crushing it. I feel like diagnosing quickly is not an unlearnable trait. Sometimes it clicks and if it does, Murray can be great.
 
There's more WRs in this year's draft...I want to see the following happen:

1st Round: Draft a LB. I'd pick Murray at MLB over Queen....Or take YGM. In a perfect world, we get Simmons or Chaisson.

2nd Round: Saints trade back up for one of those stud WRs in the 2nd round with Miami: Aiyuk, Shenault, Jefferson, Higgins, Claypool, Mims
 
Whoever they pick I will have my dislikes and pray I eat crow if they go with LB just think we are all on LB because of the FA signings ..... Linebackers this year seem a little weak to me other than Simmons since he can kinda go LB/S I am expecting WR after the signings unless Payton is high on QB that drops
 
Anthony was far from a bad prospect coming out and I remember him being considered by almost every data source to be the highest ceiling ILB prospect in the class. He was a splash player. Even as a rookie it was apparent that if he could process quicker, he could mold into a pro bowl caliber LB. It’s just not an easy task.

I would say Murray is going to be the better player because he was more productive in college, but from the prototype size/measurables to the strength/weakness traits, Anthony is the cautionary tale for him as a player for sure.

Don’t get me wrong, those athletic traits and what I view as his pros/cons don’t make him a sure-bust in my eyes. Anthony was highly touted because of Alec Ogletree a few years before him being a similar mold that was crushing it. I feel like diagnosing quickly is not an unlearnable trait. Sometimes it clicks and if it does, Murray can be great.
Another comp that might be more fitting for Murray and kind of how I think he will start his career is Jarrad Davis who went to the Lions in the 2017 Draft.

3 year starter team leader on Defense who stepped in as a starter as a True Freshman at Florida, He had the same strengths of having athletic gifts and was praised for his higher character, but the same weaknesses coming out of over-running plays being over aggressive and having some issues processing plays.

Davis went 21st overall and although he has had flashes of displaying his athleticism, his play has been largely considered underwhelming as he never developed the down to down consistency of reading formations and blocking schemes, and remained inconsistent in getting off blocks.

I really see a lot of the same in Murray.
 
Don’t want either. Only linebacker that should go in the first round is Simmons. Years ago I said the same thing when we drafted Anthony that it was a major reach and none of the linebackers were 1st round material. I like many others wanted Kendricks in the 2nd and we passed on him twice. Would prefer taking someone like Willie Gay in the 3rd. Linebacker like running back is a devalued position now.
 
Anthony was far from a bad prospect coming out and I remember him being considered by almost every data source to be the highest ceiling ILB prospect in the class. He was a splash player. Even as a rookie it was apparent that if he could process quicker, he could mold into a pro bowl caliber LB. It’s just not an easy task.

I would say Murray is going to be the better player because he was more productive in college, but from the prototype size/measurables to the strength/weakness traits, Anthony is the cautionary tale for him as a player for sure.

Don’t get me wrong, those athletic traits and what I view as his pros/cons don’t make him a sure-bust in my eyes. Anthony was highly touted because of Alec Ogletree a few years before him being a similar mold that was crushing it. I feel like diagnosing quickly is not an unlearnable trait. Sometimes it clicks and if it does, Murray can be great.

Murray has been an established prospect for years. Going into last season, Murray was the LB #1, even ahead of Simmons who was thought of more as a SS prospect. Queen wasn’t even on the radar as a first round pick. If anyone fits the profile of Stephone Anthony...a guy who rose quickly very late in the process (especially after the combine) it’s actually Queen. With that said Queen is a better prospect than Anthony. I don’t think that anyone saw us taking Stephone Anthony in the draft. Kendricks was seen as the much better, established prospect. I think the Saints front office was one of the few people in the planet who had Anthony as a first round prospect. He was essentially Martez Wilson all over again. When will the Saints learn that looking good in a pair of shorts might be really important for many positions but at the LB it’s all for nothing unless the player has intelligence and instincts.
 
The questions with Queen are can he get off blocks in the NFL? And can he tackle better?

The question with Murray is how well will he handle reading NFL defenses? If you go back and watch the playoff game vs. LSU you can see the pro style offense gave him problems, LSU did however go away from Murray a lot.

The real question is what are the Patriots gonna do at #23. Murray looks like a LB they usually pick in the 1st round. But Love could be available and no one thinks Bill will seriously hand the keys to Stidham.
 

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