Who will get drafted in the 2012 draft.

[cyhiphopp]

I know this won't go over well here but I kind of chuckle when people say LJ shut down Blackmon. Blackmon ended with 10 catches, 99 yards, and 1 TD. That's 22 fantasy points folks

Compared that to the amount of times Weeden tried to throw it to him. Also, look at his receptions in the second half when OSU was pressing to maintain their lead and at the end when they were trying to regain their lead.

Blackmon had a good first half with a few big plays including the one big 27 yard touchdown. BTW, that touchdown catch was defended about as well as possible, and it took a spectacular catch by Blackmon and perfect pass by Weeden to complete.

Now let’s look at the second half, when the lead was in jeopardy and ultimately when it was tied up at 24-24

3rd quarter started 17-7
1st drive - OSU drives down the field without throwing to Blackmon and scores to make it 24-7
2nd drive - ISU scores to make it 24-14
3rd drive - Onside kick - Barnett fumbles, recovered at OSU 4
4th drive - OSU fumbles it back - No plays to Blackmon
5th drive - ISU Field goal - 24-17
6th drive - 1 pass to Blackmon for 7 yards, then incomplete to Blackmon - Punt
7th Drive - ISU Punt

End of 3rd - Blackmon has 1 catch for 7 yards and one incompletion

4th quarter starts at 24-17
1st drive - 3 yard pass to Blackmon, then next pass is intended for Blackmon, tipped at the line and intercepted by LJ
2nd drive - ISU punt
3rd drive - 28 yard completion to Blackmon - 4 yard completion to Blackmon - Punt
4th drive - ISU drives 89 yards to tie it up at 24-24
5th drive - Incomplete to Blackmon - PUNT
6th drive - Barnett intercepted, OSU takes over at 29 yard line
7th drive - no plays to Blackmon - Missed 37 yrd field goal
8th drive - ISU runs out clock

End of 4th - Blackmon has 35 yds receiving, one incompletion, and one BIG play where the pass intended for him was picked

1st OT
ISU scores
OSU Scores without completing a pass to Blackmon

2nd OT
Pass intended for Blackmon was tipped and picked on first play
ISU scores
Pandemonium
Sweet Caroline




In the second half and 2OTs, Blackmon was completely contained. He had ONE big catch. Every other completion was short and LJ immediately tackled him, limiting his YAC. Weeden still tried to force it to him causing two big INTs.


If you really watch the game and just pay attention to Blackmon, he was very limited by LJ. He had a few big catches, and that’s it. Weeden was forced to go to secondary receivers for all his yards. Many of Blackmon’s receptions were short and he was immediately tackled because he was covered perfectly.



There is a reason why multiple draft gurus immediately took notice of LJ after that game. OSU needed Blackmon the most in that game. They did everything they could to get him the ball and got very little out of it. LJ manned up and really did his job. This was one of the first games where a QB really tried to go at the receiver LJ was on so it was really obvious how well he was covering.

You have to look at more than the final stats to realize how well LJ covered Blackmon. Blackmon will be a top 5 pick and his team had to go away from him to get most of their yards and points.

Look at the bowl game too. Sanu is being touted as a first round WR as well and he was limited to 6 catches for 62 yards. LJ was on him much of the day as well.


LJ has GREAT cover skills and is very physical. We just didn't see it much this year because teams would go to their secondary receivers rather than force it towards LJ. If we look back we will probably find that many of the teams we faced this year had their #1 WR have an off night because of LJ.

 

[BCClone]

Good cover skills? You haven't watched him play a game have you? Average measurables? Have you been at practice with a stop watch? Based on your 29 whopping posts, I am going to ask why you think you know enough about the ISU team to comment here?

He will get to detemine measurable at the combine. If he runs in the 4.4s, which I think he is capable of, he is a first day pick. He has more than "good" cover skills. he never really had a bad cover game all year.

After the season I saw LJ as a 3-4 round guy and could move up a round if he has a good senior game and combines. I'm assuming when you say first day you are talking about the old way. Now first day is just the first round,iirc. The old way of 3 on the first I would say he is a very strong candidate depending on his evals from now on.

I see LJ as an Al Harris style guy. Physical, aggressive, brings it every play. The only chink in him is I don't know what speed he has. He did a great job of keeping things in front of him and supporting the run at the same time. We didn't have a pass rush so this makes that even more impressive.

 

[Cybyassociation]

I've been pretty rough on LJ in the past. The 3 seasons before this, he was a perfect target to get burned on about every play. He bit on a lot of plays before they developed and it was very costly. This year, however, he made HUGE improvements. I was very happy with how LJ played this year. I think he really dedicated himself in the offseason to becoming a better football player. He's a very focused and driven individual so I think he will be able to do great things at the next level as long as he puts his mind to it.