The Lesser Knowns: Part Two

After watching Twitter and the internet since returning from Mobile, there is already a consensus of peoples’ opinions on the so-called best NFL Draft and fantasy prospects.  Much of their  individual talent is debated over and over. I want to take a few articles to discuss the “lesser known” for the lack of a better term.  These are the players that have talent, but may be play in smaller schools or are just less publicized than a Teddy Bridgewater, Carlos Hyde, Sammy Watkins, etc.  Here are a few more of those players that might be valuable come rookie draft time:

Antonio Andrews, RB W KENT
This running back was one of my huge surprises of the Senior Bowl week.  He was far and away the best pass blocker and had the softest hands of all the participating runners. Andrews has two years of high college production, over 2,000 combined yards and over 300 touches with at least 14 touchdowns each of his last two seasons. As the Sun Belt Conference is not the hotbed of NFL-ready competition, it’s easy to argue that the young back won’t be averaging 5.5 yards per carry as a professional, but he should possess enough talent to carve out a role.

After reviewing his 2013 games against Tennessee and Troy, Andrews is more of a bruiser than a quick-twitch make-you-miss type runner.  He has good size at 5′ 10″ 225 lbs. and knows how to deliver punishment on the defense.  The back has quick feet, uses a strong stiff-arm, always keeps his legs chopping and runs mostly north and south with little wasted motion.  While Andrews won’t run away from you, he reads his blocks well and takes what is available.  The runner does have a little jump-cut that he uses in tight situations, but he is content to lower his shoulder, maintain his balance and knock someone over fighting for extra yardage.  Many defenders made the mistake of trying to tackle him high, but Andrews would simply swat them away. The back works best as an inside runner, but can take it outside when necessary.

In the passing game, he steps up to meet pass rushers, squares his shoulders and maintains balance and leverage to be an effective blocker.  This will create opportunities for him to see the field earlier than many other young runners if he has enough explosiveness.  He is also a prolific receiver out of the backfield who is quite effective on screens and wheel routes.  The more touches in the game Andrews gets, the stronger he becomes.  Once he is in the open field, the back sets up defenders by forcing them to take bad angles.  The upside is there for Andrews to be a decent NFL starter, but much of it will depend on where he goes and how well he transitions to the speed of the NFL versus the Sun Belt.  On the downside, Andrews could end up being the next Cyrus Gray aka the disappointing third string Kansas City runner.

Donte Moncrief, WR OLE MISS
Maybe it’s me, but I was more impressed with his size, 6′ 3″ and 216 lbs., than his actual play.  Using his size, the receiver can get off the line of scrimmage without a hitch, can catch the ball in stride and loosens his hips to avoid tacklers in the open field (he does not look like that running routes). Moncrief catches passes with defenders draped all over him, shows second effort fighting his way into the end zone and has good sideline awareness.  He is a decent down-field blocker in both the running and passing game.

On the other hand, he has quite a few concerns that pile up quickly.  The receiver makes most of his receptions with his body and shows various levels of effort getting to the ball, which gives me great pause.  When Auburn’s Chris Davis covered Moncrief, the receiver struggled to find the ball and adjust to it in the air.  Against lesser corners, he looked better, but with his toughest competition (in the NFL it will only be better), Moncrief was owned.  The receiver made a long touchdown reception against Auburn where he blew past his coverage, but managed to double catch the ball before getting into the end zone.  Moncrief is also a little on the clumsy side with concentration issues as he tries to make ridiculous one-handed catches that he never seems to bring in.  I can’t recall another receiver spending so much time waiting for the ball to arrive and his robotic, stiff body movements were troubling.

Receivers should be more fluid and bendable, not rigid like Moncrief.  Perhaps I should view more than his 2013 games against Auburn, Arkansas, and Georgia Tech, but I was not sold on his talent being more than a WR3 at best in the NFL.

Richard Rodgers, TE CAL
The 6′ 4″ 245 lbs. tight end is more suited for a role as a Joker move tight end than an inline blocker.  He lined up as a slot receiver, on the line and a handful of times as a tailback this past season (total failure as a tailback).  Rodgers was effective cut blocking, but struggled keeping his feet and driving defenders back.  The tight end showed various levels of effort especially while blocking.  I’m not crazy about his stance on the line either as it almost looks like a sprinter’s stance, right before they come out of the blocks waiting to hear the starter’s gun. As a route runner, Rodgers comes across sloppy as he seemed to round off quite a few.  He is scary fast when the quarterback hits him in stride on the open field.  The tight end seems to find a special burst into second gear that makes him hard to track down when he has nothing but space between him and the goal line.

Rodgers has quick feet, uses a spin move at times and can make the first guy miss.  The tight end makes contested catches with safeties or linebackers on top of him, but tends to let the ball into his body instead of making the reception with his hands.  His best routes are the post and quick seven yard hooks.  There were a few times Rodgers looked like his head was on a swivel too much, almost obsessing about when he would get hit.  I think he would flourish in a two tight end system like New England where he would not be a defense’s focus.

For further questions or comments, please contact me on twitter @AndrewMiley