Where would Rousseau have gone had he played? [in college in 2020]

[Brennan Huff]

7 hours ago, HurlyBurly51 said:

“Brennan that’s offensive”😅

I DIDNT WANT THE SALMON, I SAID IT FOUR TIMES

[GunnerBill]

If he put up double digit sacks again he'd have gone top 10 / top 12. 

[Matt_In_NH]

11 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

I don’t even want to look that gift horse in the mouth.  What a steal, and now Basham is starting to make an impact.  Talk about a turnaround with AJ, GROOT, Boogie, Zimmer’s looking solid, and a Oliver is on fire. Not to mention Star is having a quiet, EXCELLENT year.  He’s a big contributor why KC didn’t run well last night.

 

He is GROOT!

I have not noticed AJ much other than the Dolphins game when he was a total beast.  I agree with your sentiment though, its good to see the young guys stepping up.

[MAJBobby]

12 hours ago, whorlnut said:

Let me start off by saying I absolutely love Greg Rousseau. I’m so excited about his potential as he is still learning the position. His length is elite and he was such a classic “bet on traits” pick by Beane. 
 

My question is, where do you all think he would have gone in the draft had he not opted out due to covid?  This is a guy that had 15.5 sacks in his first season playing defense and then decided to opt out his last season. I think top 10 is likely and top 5 isn’t out of the question. Either way, we got a steal at a position of need. 

Top 15 easy.  Top 10 if he would have performed as many were thinking 

[Steve O]

13 hours ago, Warcodered said:

Who are the DEs that got taken ahead of him?

His teammate Jason Phillips was the first DE to go at 18, to the Dolphins. If Rousseau outplayed Phillips in 2020 18 would be the floor. 2 other DE's were taken before our pick, Paye and Turner.

[Little Dog]

14 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

Who know,s he could have had a bad year and dropped.  Wasn't Allen more highly thought of after his 1st year at Wyoming than after his 2nd.  Every year you hear about guys who dropped.

You’re right he could have dropped, but what if he was even better. No body knows lol . But for argument sake I say top ten 

[DrDawkinstein]

Thank you, COVID!

[Little Dog]

2 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Thank you, COVID!

?

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, Little Dog said:

?

 

Rousseau sat out 2020 via COVID rules, allowing him to slip to us. Otherwise he might have put up a big year and gone earlier. Just a silver-lining joke

[Little Dog]

Yeah I got got it afterwards, sorry for my slowness. Lol 

[HansLanda]

Same initial Q could be asked about Spencer Brown as well. His entire conference didn't play and he went in rd 3?!? one of the best teams in the league has two rookies STARTING who did not play a snap last year. That is mind blowing

Edited October 12, 2021 by HansLanda

[atlbillsfan1975]

1 hour ago, HansLanda said:

Same initial Q could be asked about Spencer Brown as well. His entire conference didn't play and he went in rd 3?!? one of the best teams in the league has two rookies STARTING who did not play a snap last year. That is mind blowing

Was just about to mention Brown as well. If he had played and played well, he would have been a top 50 pick. Brown is a freak when you look at his Relative Athletic Score. Only player to score a 10.00. 
Brown playing at a non power 5 school and only a couple years at OT( played TE in 8 man football in Iowa), coupled with being forced not to play 2020 allowed him to slide to the Bills. 

Edited October 12, 2021 by atlbillsfan1975

[US Egg]

My sources say Rousseau would have been picked 2nd round in the 2nd.

[GunnerBill]

10 minutes ago, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Was just about to mention Brown as well. If he had played and played well, he would have been a too 50 pick. Brown is a freak when you look at his Relative Athletic Score. Only player to score a 10.00. 
Brown playing at a non power 5 school and only a couple years at OT( played TE in 8 man football in Iowa), coupled with being forced not to play 2020 allowed him to slide to the Bills. 

 

Yea, Spencer Brown was a guy I only became aware of and watched in the final 3 weeks or so before the draft. He was definitely a guy that jumped off the tape. There was some rawness in his game and the relative lack of football against top competition was a question mark... but his potential popped off the screen. 

[The Dean]

5 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

No, not at all.

 

Here's an article from before the 2017 season by Zierlein listing Allen as the #2 QB prospect for after that season after Darnold.

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/sam-darnold-josh-allen-lead-top-cfb-qbs-to-watch-in-2017-0ap3000000819400

 

Here's an October 2017 article where Kiper and McShay both say he's a top 15 guy despite his step backwards that he was suffering at this point.

 

https://draftwire.usatoday.com/2017/10/13/mel-kiper-todd-mcshay-still-think-josh-allen-is-a-top-15-prospect/

 

Here's one from August 25th, before the 2017 season, listing Allen as the 9th best CFB player:

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/top-150-college-football-players-for-2017-nos-1-10-0ap3000000808316

 

Here's an article pointing out a Schefty quote:  "Allen's anonymity ended almost immediately after the final selection of the 2017 NFL draft was made on April 29, when ESPN reporter Adam Schefter said: "There was one personnel director who told me this week that you can put in the books, Josh Allen will be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft next year." The quote's near the top of the article. Also says he almost turned pro that year, he actually told his agent he would but that he decided it just didn't feel right after all.

 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20117075/wyoming-cowboys-josh-allen-goes-unknown-no-1-pick-nfl-draft-buzz

 

 

 

"Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, a rising junior, is on his way from OVERLOOKED FARM BOY TO THE TOP PICK of the 2018 NFL draft" (May 15th, 2017)

 

"But everyone is taking notice of Allen now. On Jan. 9, agents beat a path past the rows of cotton and cantaloupes on the family's 2,000-acre farm to sit in the Allens' living room. When Clemson beat Alabama for the national title, Josh watched the game with six representatives from mega-agency CAA. Though college players aren't allowed to sign with agents, they are allowed to take informational meetings. LaVonne served them pizza as the CAA reps broke down everything their company might do for Allen should he decide to turn pro. That night he decided his lone season as the starter at Wyoming was preparation enough. After one year at Reedley he had transferred to Wyoming, where in 2016 he threw for 3,203 yards with 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, leading the Cowboys to the top of the Mountain Division in the Mountain West. He called some of his receivers and told them he'd break the news to Cowboys coach Craig Bohl in the morning. "As soon as I made that decision, anxiety started running through my body," Allen says. "I didn't sleep one ounce, one bit, one hour, one second that night."

 

https://vault.si.com/vault/2017/05/15/no-one-no-1

 

 

 

He really did impress scouts at the Senior Bowl, though, I remember that. He'd cleaned up his mechanics a bit in his sessions with Jordan Palmer, and it showed. But people were absolutely already watching. His poorer year in 2017 may actually have made him a better player but a lower pick. No way to say that for sure, but it's certainly possible.

 

I think it was Mayock who said he'd never seen a guy help himself more in the pre-draft process than Allen did. A lot of that was Josh's personality, smarts and determination, but a lot was also his work with Palmer. If he'd done that the year before, who knows?

 

 

 

I didn't say he was unknown, or undraftable, before Senior Bowl week. My recollection is, that's when the major hype began. When he was shooting up the list of multiple draftniks and teams. At least that was my recollection, I could be wrong. But I didn't see too many people calling him a top 10 draft pick before then.

 

If you look at the Mark Schlabach article, for example, it's about Allen's possibilities for the 2018 draft. The year  he actually came out. Yes, it is before the Senior Bown week, but it isn't about his ranking as a prospect the year previous to that. Which was the main point. I don't believe he would have gone higher if he had come out a year earlier.

[The Frankish Reich]

This is turning into a fantastic draft year for Beane. Rousseau is already a major contributor. Spencer Brown - a 5th round small program guy - cracked the starting lineup in the first month. Basham is older, obviously more limited than Rousseau, but was ready to fill a rotational role. It's rare to find 3 immediate contributors in the draft for a team that was already in the conference championship game, hence one without many glaring weaknesses.

[msw2112]

6 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

No, not at all.

 

Here's an article from before the 2017 season by Zierlein listing Allen as the #2 QB prospect for after that season after Darnold.

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/sam-darnold-josh-allen-lead-top-cfb-qbs-to-watch-in-2017-0ap3000000819400

 

Here's an October 2017 article where Kiper and McShay both say he's a top 15 guy despite his step backwards that he was suffering at this point.

 

https://draftwire.usatoday.com/2017/10/13/mel-kiper-todd-mcshay-still-think-josh-allen-is-a-top-15-prospect/

 

Here's one from August 25th, before the 2017 season, listing Allen as the 9th best CFB player:

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/top-150-college-football-players-for-2017-nos-1-10-0ap3000000808316

 

Here's an article pointing out a Schefty quote:  "Allen's anonymity ended almost immediately after the final selection of the 2017 NFL draft was made on April 29, when ESPN reporter Adam Schefter said: "There was one personnel director who told me this week that you can put in the books, Josh Allen will be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft next year." The quote's near the top of the article. Also says he almost turned pro that year, he actually told his agent he would but that he decided it just didn't feel right after all.

 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20117075/wyoming-cowboys-josh-allen-goes-unknown-no-1-pick-nfl-draft-buzz

 

 

 

"Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, a rising junior, is on his way from OVERLOOKED FARM BOY TO THE TOP PICK of the 2018 NFL draft" (May 15th, 2017)

 

"But everyone is taking notice of Allen now. On Jan. 9, agents beat a path past the rows of cotton and cantaloupes on the family's 2,000-acre farm to sit in the Allens' living room. When Clemson beat Alabama for the national title, Josh watched the game with six representatives from mega-agency CAA. Though college players aren't allowed to sign with agents, they are allowed to take informational meetings. LaVonne served them pizza as the CAA reps broke down everything their company might do for Allen should he decide to turn pro. That night he decided his lone season as the starter at Wyoming was preparation enough. After one year at Reedley he had transferred to Wyoming, where in 2016 he threw for 3,203 yards with 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, leading the Cowboys to the top of the Mountain Division in the Mountain West. He called some of his receivers and told them he'd break the news to Cowboys coach Craig Bohl in the morning. "As soon as I made that decision, anxiety started running through my body," Allen says. "I didn't sleep one ounce, one bit, one hour, one second that night."

 

https://vault.si.com/vault/2017/05/15/no-one-no-1

 

 

 

He really did impress scouts at the Senior Bowl, though, I remember that. He'd cleaned up his mechanics a bit in his sessions with Jordan Palmer, and it showed. But people were absolutely already watching. His poorer year in 2017 may actually have made him a better player but a lower pick. No way to say that for sure, but it's certainly possible.

 

I think it was Mayock who said he'd never seen a guy help himself more in the pre-draft process than Allen did. A lot of that was Josh's personality, smarts and determination, but a lot was also his work with Palmer. If he'd done that the year before, who knows?

 

 

I subscribe to Sports Illustrated and I recall a feature article about Allen a year or two before he declared for the draft.  He may have even been on the cover.  Had I known that he would be a Bill and an MVP-caliber player, I would have saved that issue.  Same goes for all of my hockey, football, and baseball cards that got lost over the years....

[FilthyBeast]

I mentioned this in another thread but he probably would have been a top 10 draft pick this year if not for the Covid opt out, maybe even in top 5 assuming he would have had a similar season like 2019.

 

Stupid luck that we landed this guy and have him on a rookie contract because something tells me he will be very hard (i.e. expensive) to keep down the road.

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea, Spencer Brown was a guy I only became aware of and watched in the final 3 weeks or so before the draft. He was definitely a guy that jumped off the tape. There was some rawness in his game and the relative lack of football against top competition was a question mark... but his potential popped off the screen. 

 

 

Not that they didn't do a decent job with him at Northern Iowa.......they have a first round LT prospect in Trevor Penning this season.........but I think the season spent with Joe Staley was time better spent than having played the covid season.     The technique was night and day different.    

[DCofNC]

Assuming he had a similar season to his last, I’d say he could have snuck into the top 8, but he would have needed to show better at the combine.  That’s really what killed him.  Production alone probably would have gotten him into the top 15.  
 

I’m happy he made it to us, he’s been really good.