Stay away from OLB Trevor Reilly, Utah.

[Direckshun]

Just looking at a prospect this morning that is high on everybody's draft boards. Saw him play a couple times and he always looked pretty impressive for the Utes, so I'm trying to figure out where to put him on my big board.

Low. Looooowwwwwww.

I liked Reilly for the same reason everybody else does: he's got great size (6'5", 255 lbs), ridiculous wingspan, is really versatile in a defense, and has fielded consistent production over the past two years.

However, he is getting projected waaaaaaaayyyyy toooooooo high. Right now he gets a 2nd to 3rd round grade on the sites I follow the most, and that is not remotely justified.

His size is good, but he's maxed out. There's no upside. The guy you're getting in your rookie season is the guy you got.

He's not particularly athletic. You'll see that at the Combine. He doesn't seem like he'd be worth shit in coverage.

He's not a playmaker -- he's a play enabler. He's Mike Vrabel when Vrabel played for the Chiefs. And that's not the guy you want out of your rush-backer position.

He just had knee surgery. And, Mormon-alert, he's 26 years old, as these players seemingly always are.



Just throwing that out there. You're welcome.

[jd1020]

I await Saccapoo's analysis.

[Direckshun]

Along with the rest of us.

[Saccopoo]

Well, allow me to retort...

Reilly, from a physical standpoint, is near ideal as a 34 OLB - 6'5", 255 lbs., with long arms and good initial burst.

He's got excellent instincts and understands where the football is and how to attack it. He led the 2013 Utes in Tackles, Tackles for Loss, Sacks, Fumble recoveries, etc. He was easily the best player on one of the top defenses in all of college football in 2013. He's very productive and plays whistle to whistle. The guy is a football player. He is also very adapt at dropping back into space and covering tight ends and the like.

He would have most likely have had even bigger numbers, but the Utes played him all over the field at defensive end, outside linebacker, safety and middle linebacker. (The last game of 2013, he played MLB against Colorado and made 14 tackles and sealed the game with a superb interception.)

He is very smooth and agile and possesses a wide range of pass rushing moves. He is actually quite athletic and has a lot of room to grow on his long frame. He's nowhere close to being "maxed out" from a physical perspective. (He was 6'5", 195 lbs. as a freshman and at 255 now, he's still very lean and long.)

He's quick and has excellent change of direction. Is very adapt at locating the ball and the carrier in traffic and has the knack for separating the ball from the player once he's there. He's also got the speed to play sideline to sideline.

And his knee "surgery" was actually a minor scope to clean out his meniscus area from a former ACL injury he suffered in 2012 - where he played the whole season on the torn ligament and put up team and conference leading statistics. The guy is one tough son of a bitch. He's already running and working out in preparation for the combine/pro day.

And he's got something to play for - he's married with two daughters, and the youngest (one year old) was diagnosed with cancer. (Though I believe that after treatment this past year, she was recently declared "cancer free.")

The Utes team captain is also a former Eagle Scout and Economics major.

Some snippets from various draft sites:

To Reilly’s credit, he does have a tremendous amount of speed and range, so when he has a path to the ball carrier, he can fly all over the field and make plays. Reilly does a good job of judging angles, accelerates well, has good speed and the quickness to adjust and make plays.

Reilly’s athleticism and length make him a uniquely skilled player for playing coverage. He really drops into coverage well and looks extremely natural and fluid.

Trevor Reilly is one of the most unique prospects in this upcoming draft. He has a varied skillset that allows him to be great in space, has tremendous athleticism and speed with good body control.

Reilly's length and athleticism will intrigue scouts operating for 4-3 and 3-4 defenses, alike. He is at his best in the two-point stance, demonstrating the burst to pressure the edge and the long-arms to keep blockers from controlling him. He locates the football quickly and is a passionate defender, showing good overall athleticism and straight-line speed for a man of his size.

"Reilly (6-4 1/2, 244) moved from safety to defensive end for the Utes, but projects as an outside linebacker in the NFL," Brandt writes. "Reilly was Utah's leading tackler in 2012 and also had 4.5 sacks. He is very athletic with good speed, having posted a 40 time of 4.65 seconds." The senior suffered from a prolonged knee injury during his junior year but is finally feeling healthy after undergoing major knee surgery. (Gil Brandt has him as one of his Top 10 seniors in the 2014 draft.)

[BossChief]

Too old.

[Direckshun]

Yeah, I mean this is a guy you're going to have to groom for a year behind Hali and Houston.

By the time he's got his shit figured out next year, he'll be 27. He'll be 30 by the time he hits his peak in technique.

That alone is a huge strike against him.

[AndChiefs]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

And his knee "surgery" was actually a minor scope to clean out his meniscus area from a former ACL injury he suffered in 2012 - where he played the whole season on the torn ligament and put up team and conference leading statistics. The guy is one tough son of a bitch. He's already running and working out in preparation for the combine/pro day.

The senior suffered from a prolonged knee injury during his junior year but is finally feeling healthy after undergoing major knee surgery.

Which one is it?

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Sac baiting

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by AndChiefs

Which one is it?

As I stated, he had surgery prior to the 2013 season to repair a torn ACL suffered in 2012. An injury that he actually played on the entire 2012 season and still led the team in sacks, TFL, etc. He had ACL surgery right after the 2012 season, and showed no effects from it in 2013 by leading the Utes in tackles, TFL, sacks, fumble recoveries, etc.

The surgery that Direckshun mentioned in his OP was simply a scope to go in to check out and potentially clean out any lingering debris/stuff from the 2012 injury.

Sac baiting

Actually, I think it's Direckshun that was baiting. He tried to suggest that Reilly was average athletically and wasn't going to be good dropping back into coverage. However, those are two of his strong suits as he is a former full time safety that continued to play at that position along with DE, OLB and MLB the past two seasons. He excels at pass coverage and is exceptionally athletic.

So either Direckshun was playing devil's advocate and trying to get me to give a positive analysis of Reilly, or he was completely talking out his ass about a guy he actually had no idea about.