A Sea Of Red

Since it came up in the thread on MB, who do you think has the best chance of getting drafted from Liberty next year?

Seniors:
Matt Bevins
Aaron Brown
Mike Brown
Asa Chapman
Larry Claiborne
Irwin Coleman
Mike Connolly
Ervin Garner
BJ Hayes
Jeffrey Henderson
Mike Larsson
AB Latif
Kajuan Lee
Julian Pondexter
Brandon Robinson
Tommy Shaver
Chris Summers
Mark Tomlin
Toney White

At this point I think Summers may be the only one that has a shot. Most place have him ranked at about #20-#27 in the class. For reference, I believe, 28 WRs were taken in this draft. His height will certainly help him out.

Someone may take a flyer on Brown, it'll be interesting to see.

What are your thoughts on Asa Chapman?

Dont sell Matt Bevins short...I know you dont see a ton of kickers/punters taken but he has proven to be one of the best kickers in the nation his first three years and I think he would be at least worth bringing into camp.

Chapman is still really raw, he could get some looks from 3-4 squads as a NT mainly b/c of his size. He can maybe sneak into the draft but he needs to put on tape that he can take up multiple blockers, especially against teams with good offensive lines. The NCSU game could be pretty big for him, he can get some good things on tape it will help him A LOT.

Regarding Bevins, I almost mentioned him before. When I look at tape or when I read up on a lot of guys I rarely focus on kickers, haha. Most places have him ranked at about 15th to 20th in the class rankings, but that could be completely meaningless this far out. I bet he can shoot up some boards, but its just so hard for kickers to get drafted.

The UFL team in Virginia Beach will certainly become more of an option for a lot of Flames also.

i would place money on someone taking Asa. With the shifts to the 3-4 in the NFL teams will take chances on those guys.

I don't know about that Jenkins... A LOT of true Nose Tackles were taken this year for the 3-4 teams and even a guy like Ian Williams from Notre Dame was not drafted and I would say he is a lot better prospect then Chapman, at this point. There aren't as many NT prospects next year, but like I said Asa has to get on tape showing he can take up multiple blockers and collapse the pocket to get NFL teams to notice him, and it has to be against some quality opponents. He also needs to hope to get into some of the lower tier All Star Games.

If you want a fairly recent comparison then I would look at Kenrick Ellis from Hampton who just got drafted to the Jets. Ellis is 6'5, 350 lbs, I watched a little tape on him from his ASG and is stored online. Wish I knew how to share but here is a YouTube video of him in his ASG:

[youtube][/youtube]

Is the replay from the Spring game online anywhere? I'd be interested to zero in on Chapman on that game.

BuryYourDuke wrote:Move over BJ, we have a new film expert on the board...

You're back

Not a film expert by any means, just went to the combine this past year and learned a lot. I read a lot more then I watch any "film".

So I've been called a troll and mocked as film "expert" today, thanks BuryYourDukes I feel really welcome.

How so? I'm just as much a Flame as anyone else, you can't ask questions or have a discussion or respond to a message? Instead you just resort to insult someone?

I'm a grad student at Liberty. I have season tickets, I have tickets for the NCSU game. My sister is a student-athlete at Liberty.

Please show me how I've disparaged the program, just merely voiced my opinion. If that isn't welcome here and we can't amicably discuss football then I don't want to be here. Everyone else has been very welcoming here and full of good discussion. I've learned a lot about the current team and the history of the program, for some reason though you have been the lone exception and rude to me on more then one occasion, and publicly to boot. I don't appreciate it at all.

Do you have trouble reading or something? I'm not saying that the players aren't good enough to get drafted. I'm just saying at this point that they still have some work cut out for them this year. Are you that big of a homer that you can't admit that? WE HAVE THE BEST QB, WR, and kicker in FCS, I'm not saying they aren't good enough just giving my opinion on where they are right now on most people's draft boards.

Like I said, I'm new to Liberty football and just started going to school here in January, so I've only commented on things I know about, this place has been great as a passive learning tool for learning about the program. I worked in the CAA offices, as an intern, for FOUR years while I was working on my undergrad, I helped get football off the ground and still play golf and talk to the highest up members in the conference (who are also family friends), can I not voice my opinion or relay information?

If you have a problem with me then send me a personal message or it looks like you live in Richmond too, I'd love to get together and chat or something. But don't publicly disparage me b/c I had an opinion on where players are going to go, is your psyche that weak? Sorry guys Browns, Chapman, and Summers are all 1st Rounders, will probably go 1, 2, 3 in the draft actually. Is that what you want to hear?

Everyone else here seems to be capable of having adult conversations and asking questions of one another, you seem to be the outlier.

To everyone else on this thread I'm sorry for the rant and "hijacking" it, but frankly everyone has been so nice and informative here but BuryYourDukes has been a straight up jerk to me from the beginning. My dad and I just got season tickets for football for the first time this year and are very excited to be coming up on the weekends. Go Flames!

This stuff is exactly why I usually stay out of the Football thread.

I think Summers is the only one with a legit shot. He'll get a sniff somewhere in the 5-7th.

Asa, Bevins and depending on what kind of season Brown has will get an undrafted FA look, in my opinion. The rise of the Pierre Garcon's of the world have given some new life to FCS WR's.

Don't forget Marques Colston too (Out of Hofstra, may their fball program RIP). Sadly only three none FBS WRs were taken this year (two from DII, and one from Garcon's alma mater DIII Mount Union). Summers is at a huge advantage though b/c he's a big target and the top rated WR in FCS. I think if he can run a low 4.5 then he'll be in really good shape.

TDDance234 wrote:I think Summers is the only one with a legit shot. He'll get a sniff somewhere in the 5-7th.

Asa, Bevins and depending on what kind of season Brown has will get an undrafted FA look, in my opinion. The rise of the Pierre Garcon's of the world have given some new life to FCS WR's.

troll

Mike Brown, if he has a Payton Award kind of season (I mean throwing for 3,000 rushing for 1,000, catch for 500 kind of numbers), that's going to open a lot of eyes from scouts. He certainly could be an Antwaan Randle El type for an offense, good receiving option, and throw in a pass option play to take advantage of his arm.

Matt Bevins has the disadvantage that...well...he's a kicker. You do not see a lot of kickers/punters getting drafted at all, much less the first two days. How many Lou Groza Award (top collegiate kicker) winners are still in the NFL? I can count three...Sebastian Janikowski, Graham Gano and Mike Nugent.

Summers with another big year where he proves to be almost unstoppable could get an invite to the combine and a good showing there could sneak him into day 2 on some boards. He'd have to have one of the greatest seasons in college football history (I-A/FBS I-AA/OR FCS) to get into the first night

BJWilliams wrote: (I mean throwing for 3,000 rushing for 1,000, catch for 500 kind of numbers)

Is he Superman? Last year he had 2956 passing, 854 rushing, and 20 catching. That was with no run game and him getting very beat up in the season. It's already been said that he's going to play more wide receiver next year. Is he supposed to throw it to himself, run a route, catch it, and then go for 30 yards every play?

Thats my point Jon...he would have to put up some huge numbers to get a look on a lot of boards...with him playing WR more this year, if he can put up some good numbers he could get an invite to the combine as well as a WR.

No, Beej, that wasn't your point. You were saying he would have to do that to be in contention for the Payton. All he has to do to be in contention for that is have a season like last year and lead us to the playoffs.

SuperJon wrote:No, Beej, that wasn't your point. You were saying he would have to do that to be in contention for the Payton. All he has to do to be in contention for that is have a season like last year and lead us to the playoffs.

I believe that if he does both of those things, he will get some looks. To me it is much more likely that he goes as a UFA and makes a huge impact for whomever gets him.

I don't think comparing Brown to Randle El is the best comparison. I would look more at Brad Smith b/c of size and the way they play. Randle El is smaller and a little more shifty.

If Brown could show that he could return kicks then that would certainly be a benefit. He obviously won't do it during the season b/c of injury risk, but I would expect if he has a season similar to what we have come to expect then he'll get a East-West Shrine Bowl invite and those practices will be CRUCIAL. He would get reps at QB, WR, and maybe could show some KR skills if he's comfortable.

I believe Nate Kaeding was a Groza winner too, could be wrong.

Brown was our top punt returner his sophomore year.

Did he ever return kicks? Kick returning and punt returning are two very different things in the NFL. I don't think Brown could be a punt returner, but he could certainly be a kick returner.

yes.

as for Chapman, I think he gets drafted for the fact there's not a lot of 6'5 380+ athletic Defensive Tackles out there. If teams didn't already see it at pro day they will see after this season. It's been said he's unblockable at times to0. He does his job really well, taking up double teams leaving one on one with the ends/linebackers.

For Brown, I think it depends on deep playoff run, and a combination of bowl games at the end and pro/combine.

In the end I think Chapman and Summers get drafted, barring injury of course.