Taylor: 53-man roster projection: Ronald Jones returns, eight rookies earn spots

[TwistedChief]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

I guess. I've been watching the NFL for about 40 years, so I've seen plenty of 1st and 2nd rounders not make it across the league.

"Not making it" implies nothing about whether they fail to make the roster in their first season.

I'm not sure there's a single first round pick in this century who was cut in their first preseason.

Last I could find was Dimitris Underwood with the Vikings in 1999 and the guy had mental health issues.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by TwistedChief

"Not making it" implies nothing about whether they fail to make the roster in their first season.

I'm not sure there's a single first round pick in this century who was cut in their first preseason.

Last I could find was Dimitris Underwood with the Vikings in 1999 and the guy had mental health issues.

Oh hell, I couldn't remember one off-hand that got cut before the end of preseason. I meant never started/maybe benched by mid-season, that sort of thing. Or even earlier. Seen lots of high picks just shit the bed basically from Day 1. Lot of guys that probably should've never been picked in the first three rounds, much less the first.

But getting back to the point, there was plenty of talk about Skyy not being tall enough, fast enough, didn't play for a big school, etc. from the get-go. Ditto McDuffie for many of the same reasons. For myself, I saw a lot of a young Tyrann Mathieu in McDuffie. Especially how smooth his hips are.

And a lot of crap about how Karlaftis wasn't going to translate to the NFL, whether it was about his lack of 'bendiness,' lack of speed, and if I remember correctly there was some talk about how he wasn't going to be able to make it because his arms were too short. Which, if I remember correctly, he's about an inch short of the NFL average, which is to say, who frikking cares?

Sure, he didn't get a lot of big numbers in college, and yeah, he's not the fastest or bendiest guy, but mentally he played at a pretty high level, and his core strength is off the charts. probably a lot of that is due to his time in water-polo, and why he can keep coming at full speed for as long as he can. Regardless, he has both a ton of lower body strength and stamina that should give him an edge throughout his career. A lot of people are going to underestimate him this season, because they just aren't going to understand how strong he is through his back/abs and lower body.