Yes, Memphis really had no idea how to use Poe.

[Direckshun]

Fascinating...

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2012/0...ogle_news_blog

A Guide to NFL Draft Sleepers
April 27, 2012, 2:18 PM

Any seasoned NFL fan knows the deal with the draft by now: Your team makes a selection and management calls the fact that he was available a miracle. “We never thought he’d drop so far,” team executives say.

It’s become such a cliché that it’s a surprise Colts G.M. Ryan Grigson didn’t say it last night when selecting Andrew Luck with perhaps the most telegraphed first overall pick in draft history. But sometimes a player does fall for reasons other teams may come to regret. For those liable to think every player their team drafted was an absolute steal, we put together a handy guide to let you know if you have a sleeper on your hands:

THE OUT-OF-POSITION SLEEPER

If you look at steals in the draft over the past decade, you’ll find a handful of players who simply moved around too much to show NFL talent. Pro Bowl DT Jay Ratliff dabbled at tight end at Auburn, while star receiver Anquan Boldin had a rocky stint as Florida State’s quarterback. Aaron Kampman, a fifth-rounder out of Iowa who has made two Pro Bowls, switched between linebacker and defensive end – and not in the way teams do that regularly in the NFL. Heck, even Pro Bowl selection Cortland Finnegan was overlooked until the seventh round at cornerback at Samford because he was playing free safety the whole time.

So when examining your steal, see if he can play anywhere else on the field. Or just assume he can and you’ll be much happier. Take Michael Robinson, the former Penn State quarterback who didn’t entertain the idea of playing anywhere but running back in the pros. Still, most switcheroo candidates will take people by surprise. Perhaps a player like LSU’s average quarterback, Jordan Jefferson, who at 6 feet 3 ran a decent 4.6-second 40-yard dash and could be a receiving threat with the right development. Or maybe just a bad quarterback.

THE BAD-SCHEME SLEEPER

There are all sorts of stories about run-first high school offenses keeping future star QBs a secret – Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger are the most notable. But it’s rarer in college, where players often go to fit a specific scheme. Still, sometimes a player gets the wrong coach and looks undervalued. One example this year is Dontari Poe, the hulking defensive lineman who raced up draft boards after being ignored during a career at the college-football backwater of Memphis. He had just eight tackles-for-loss last season. On Thursday night, after the Kansas City Chiefs took him 11th overall, Chiefs G.M. Scott Pioli noted that in 49% of his plays, the design of the defensive scheme made it literally impossible for him to record any sort of statistic.

But as we go on in the draft, these players will pop up more and more. In a stunning first-round coincidence, Ryan Tannehill could be considered one of these sleepers, since he was burdened with Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman’s molasses poorly-designed offense. Of course, Tannehill was drafted by the Dolphins last night, where he’ll get a new start with a new … whoops, nevermind, Sherman is the offensive coordinator there after getting fired from his Aggies job.

THE WRONG-SPORT SLEEPER

From Bo Jackson to Brian Jordan, it’s hard to know where to draft a multi-sport athlete, but one thing is clear: They are normally drafted lower than they should be. Last year, the league saw former Miami hoops player Jimmy Graham destroy secondaries. This after another former basketball-star-turned-tight-end, Antonio Gates, has haunted defensive backs for years. The Cowboys used to have a suite at the Final Four for assistants to interview basketball coaches to see which of their players might make the leap. It’s hard to get a read on a player who doesn’t devote himself full time to one sport. (And it doesn’t always work out. For more information, please read up on Drew Henson.)

Whatever the case, this year brings Russell Wilson, the Wisconsin quarterback who was second in the country with 10.3 yards per attempts on his passes. That’s not the only thing to recommend him. He also has a minor-league baseball career that’s taken up most of his summers, so much so that it got him run out of N.C. State’s program. Maybe a team can take a flier on him and he’ll produce if he focuses on football. At the very least, you’re looking at an upgrade on the company softball team.

THE NOT-HIS-FAULT SLEEPER

I’m telling anyone who will listen that Tommy Streeter, Miami’s 6-foot-5 wide receiver, is my big sleeper this year. Streeter is fast, can catch and played for some awful quarterbacks. LSU’s Rueben Randle, who had to deal with his own QB nightmare in Baton Rogue, is another one.

There’s Mohamed Sanu from Rutgers, who didn’t exactly get Johnny Unitas’s passes coming his way. In contrast there are players like Kendall Wright, the Baylor wide receiver who went in the first round to Tennessee and got the benefit of Robert Griffin III throwing to him. There’s always a blurry line there. After all, some great wide receivers, like Michael Irvin, had elite quarterbacks in college. But many (Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, Isaac Bruce, Calvin Johnson) did not. So please disregard the “lack of production” disclaimer on the draft broadcast in these situations.

[CrazyHorse]

Originally Posted by Fairplay

That still leaves 51% of his plays he could have done something.

Don't get me wrong i like the pick. The production numbers still look sad no matter how you twist it. And keep in mind he was playing against lower college level teams primarily.

To be honest, to grade interior D linemen statistically is very misleading. You have to watch the effect they have on each play. Even D end is that way to a lesser degree. That said, it dont mean he's good. It just means grading him by stats is very inacurate. He is responsible in large part to funnel, or steer the play to other players. He could blow up the middle and disprupt a play and it would never show up on a stat sheet. He could push the pocket, or hold the point. None would show up on paper.

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by BossChief

The hypocrisy around the negative sentiment concerning Poe is silly.

It's not hypocrisy. It's a perfectly understandable reaction given our history with DL draft picks, and what seem to be legitimate concerns surrounding Poe.

That said, it's a crucial position and you have to keep swinging until you hit on one. I put this pick on Romeo... seems like his pick to me. I hope it works out for him (us).

[BossChief]

Ok I cant find the whole interview I was looking for, but I did find an article with some exerts from it.

This is why we passed on a guy like Cody, but chose to draft a guy like Poe so highly:

Chiefs GM Scott Pioli Compares Vince Wilfork and Terrence*Cody
by Joel Thorman on Jan 27, 2010 12:00 PM CST in 2010 Kansas City Chiefs Draft

Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli talked with Josh Looney of KCChiefs.com about one of the most talked about players in Senior Bowl: Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody.

Cody's name has been brought up frequently the past few days at the Senior
Bowl but it hasn't always been a good thing. He came in tipping the scales at 370 pounds, which places him as the largest player in attendance. *A lot of folks have expressed some concern over his size.



"He's an enormous presence*physically," Pioli told Looney. "The thing with a player like that is you know how he can work in a small space but what you want to see *is his lateral mobility and how much ground he can cover from that spot. Because obviously you want someone in that spot who can hunker down.

"They also have to have the ability to work within the tackles to make some plays and have some degree of range."

Cody's name pops up around the Chiefs for a couple of reasons. First, nose tackle is a perceived need on the team with 31 year old Ron Edwards manning the position last season and little depth behind him. Second, Pioli was part of drafting Vince Wilfork with the New England Patriots.

"I think the difference is, Vince, personally, [I think] was a little more explosive coming out," he said. "The body types, and the movements...the one thing I saw about Vince was he had more lateral range. Body types like that, the easy thing to do is say he looks like him, but Vince had very long arms for a guy his*height, which is important for a guy on the inside of the defensive line."

Terrance Cody is projected to go in the late first to early second round of the draft but concerns over his weight could hurt his draft stock in the coming months.

It's been reported that he played in the National Championship game about fifteen pounds lighter than what he is now so you gotta wonder about a guy that has trouble getting in shape for arguably the biggest job interview of his life to date.

[Blick]

That's pretty much what I thought about him.

A lot of plays he was playing DE on a 3 man line against spread offenses. I mean, yeah, you're not going to make a lot of plays when teams are throwing quick passes all over the field and you're one of 3 guys rushing on 5...

Then, you have a guy like Chapman for Alabama, who is playing 3-4 nose surrounded by beasts on what is pretty much a minor league NFL team, playing against SEC offenses that run the ball a lot.

So, of course, a guy like Chapman is going to make more plays playing against those SEC offenses surrounded by those other players. Teams were running at him all the time.

Memphis was ****ing atrocious and Poe was by far their best player. How often do you think teams ran his direction?

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

It's not hypocrisy. It's a perfectly understandable reaction given our history with DL draft picks, and what seem to be legitimate concerns surrounding Poe.

That said, it's a crucial position and you have to keep swinging until you hit on one. I put this pick on Romeo... seems like his pick to me. I hope it works out for him (us).

You could tell Romeo genuinely loves and trusts the kid.

Poe wasn't a guy I wanted to draft, but I said over and over that I could get behind the pick if it's made because of the Romeo factor.

Knowing that we could have moved back and chose not to so we could take the kid adds some more excitement.

If it weren't for Romeo, I'd hate the pick.

[Psyko Tek]

Originally Posted by sportsshrink

Here you go !! Poe with his 4.98 350lbs will be our own "Fridge" when we need to punch it in at the goal line. But we need to come up with our own "Chiefs nickname" for him if he gets the ball.

well with our offense he better be able to punch it in from the 50

[the Talking Can]

and i hate to be a dick, but oh well

Chiefs G.M. Scott Pioli noted that in 49% of his plays, the design of the defensive scheme made it literally impossible for him to record any sort of statistic.

that percentage is meaningless without something to compare it too

what were the percentage of plays 'making it impossible to record a statistic' for all DL in college?

for all we know, poe's number is actually less than the average...which would make his performance even worse

best to just accept he did nothing in college, which is true, and pray he somehow learns to dominate in the NFL

[KChiefer]

Originally Posted by sportsshrink

Here you go !! Poe with his 4.98 350lbs will be our own "Fridge" when we need to punch it in at the goal line. But we need to come up with our own "Chiefs nickname" for him if he gets the ball.

Poe' boy

[TimeForWasp]

How about calling the zone inside the 5 yard line the PoeZone.

[Fairplay]

Originally Posted by sportsshrink

Here you go !! Poe with his 4.98 350lbs will be our own "Fridge" when we need to punch it in at the goal line. But we need to come up with our own "Chiefs nickname" for him if he gets the ball.

Poe-kymon

[Fairplay]

Originally Posted by sportsshrink

Here you go !! Poe with his 4.98 350lbs will be our own "Fridge" when we need to punch it in at the goal line. But we need to come up with our own "Chiefs nickname" for him if he gets the ball.

Lil' poe peep

[Fairplay]

Originally Posted by sportsshrink

Here you go !! Poe with his 4.98 350lbs will be our own "Fridge" when we need to punch it in at the goal line. But we need to come up with our own "Chiefs nickname" for him if he gets the ball.

poe poe poe your boat

[Fairplay]

Originally Posted by ChiefsNow

How about calling the zone inside the 5 yard line the PoeZone.

Interesting.........

[Fairplay]

Originally Posted by sportsshrink

Here you go !! Poe with his 4.98 350lbs will be our own "Fridge" when we need to punch it in at the goal line. But we need to come up with our own "Chiefs nickname" for him if he gets the ball.

Poe-sitivly amazing

[KChiefer]

POE PWNS!!!