Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon takes ATL by storm
Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon celebrates after making a tackle against Bowling Green during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in Columbia, Mo. (Associated Press)
BIRDLAND – Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon made it to town late Wednesday for his visit with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons worked him out last month in Columbia, Mo. and this is more of a meet-and-greet.
He was in New Orleans before making it to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The New Orleans Saints will pick 32nd in the 2010 NFL Draft, which will be held April 22-24.
“Coach (Gregg) Williams and (coach Joe) Vitt said they see me playing the WLB (weakside linebacker) in (their) system,” Weatherspoon tweeted.
He was excited about coming to Atlanta in part because he’d get to see his former Missouri teammate William Moore.
“Heading to the ATL to see my boy Willy Mo25 and them dirty birds!!!,” Spoon tweeted about 6 p.m.
Hartsfield-Jackson caught Weatherspoon’s attention.
“The airport here is pretty busy,” Weatherspoon tweeted.
The busiest in the nation!
He started making his way up the highway.
“(Just) passed the Buckhead exit headed north on 85!!,” Weatherspoon tweeted.
The Falcons have been visiting with and working out some of the nation’s top linebackers.
Weatherspoon has a first-round grade and several mock drafts have him coming to the Falcons with the 19th pick. (In our last mock, Mock 6.0, we had Weatherspoon going to the New York Giants at the 15th pick and Florida center/guard LaShawn Maurkice Pouncey being selected by the Falcons.)
Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham could be selected by the Falcons. (Tony Ding / Associated Press)
However, ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. believes that Weatherspoon will land with the Arizona Cardinals. Kiper was so gracious with the national media during Wednesday’s teleconference. He went nonstop for about two hours straight. Midway through when he was told that there were still about 40 members with questions, he decided to try to shorten up his answers so that everyone could get their questions in. (Thanks Mel!)
“Weatherspoon is a good player,” Kiper said. ” But there is mixed opinions on him. Todd (McShay) and I disagree on Weatherspoon. I’m a little higher on him than Todd is. Weatherspoon I think he can be a 3-4 inside backer in a defense like Arizona is running, taking over for Karlos Dansby or he could be a 4-3 outside linebacker. He could be a strongside linebacker. He could be at the (weakside linebacker). He’s got a lot of versatility. A lot of people project him differently in the NFL.
“The bottom line is that he’s going to be a first round pick. He’s going to go somewhere in that 20 s. . .
You were talking about Atlanta at 19, I don’t think they’ll pick him there. I could see him going as high as 16 to Tennessee, but they’ve done some things in free agency to help their outside linebacker position. I don’t think the Giants will take an outside backer, they are looking more middle. He’s going in the 20s, somewhere in there. That’s why I have him going to Arizona at 26.”
Kiper and Don Banks of SI.com believe the Falcons will take Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham.
I think the Falcons have been locked in on Graham ever since they added cornerback Dunta Robinson in free agency, and he’ll fit somewhere in a front seven that needs to upgrade its pass rush. But the Falcons’ greatest concern may be No. 22 New England, which also covets Graham and has the firepower to go up and get him (to No. 17 San Francisco?) with those three second-round picks.
If the Falcons take Graham, that would be a “first” under general manager Thomas Dimitroff. In his two previous drafts, the Falcons have not selected a player from the mighty Big 10. Not even one Ohio State Buckeye!
Here’s a conference breakdown of Dimitroff’s 19 picks:
- Pac-10 – Tackle Sam Baker (USC), safety Thomas DeCoud (California), linebacker Robert James (Arizona State) and cornerback Wilrey Fontenot (Arizona).
- ACC – Quarterback Matt Ryan (Boston College), guard/tackle Garrett Reynolds (North Carolina), linebacker Spencer Adkins (Miami) and defensive tackle Vance Walker (Georgia Tech).
- SEC – Cornerback Chevis Jackson (LSU), running back Thomas Brown (Georgia), tight end Keith Zinger (LSU), and defensive tackle Peria Jerry (Mississippi).
- Big 12 – Linebacker Curtis Lofton (Oklahoma) and safety William Moore (Missouri).
- Big East – Wide receiver Harry Douglas (Louisville).
- Western Athletic – Cornerback Chris Owens (San Jose State).
- Big Sky – Defensive end Kroy Biermann (Montana).
- Atlantic 10 – Defensive end Lawrence Sidbury (Richmond).
- Southern Conference – Cornerback William Middleton (Furman).
Should the Falcons just turn their card in now and write Weatherspoon’s name on it? Would you be happy if Kiper and Banks are correct and the Falcons select their first Big 10 player under Dimitroff? Or, are you with the smart folks who have them selecting LaShawn Maurkice Pouncey?
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127 comments Add your comment
chris taylor
April 8th, 2010
11:20 pm
Dunta helps with pass rush, its called coverage sacks. With our front 7 getting better with experience except for Peterson/Abe it will get better. Abe will do better this year. Peterson is the weak link in the front 7, and our L DE. The 1st rd pick has to be one of those 2 positions. The only way I can see it being different is if we get into the 2nd for sure. I personally favor Hughes over Spoon. Spoon reminds people too much of Boley as someone pointed out to me. Get Graham in the 1st and move into 2nd for Hughes would be my plan. Definately would love to see another WR with first pick in the third.
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
12:01 am
spoon doesn’t show me anything special in his highlights… i believe in watching the fil on a player rather than how good their personal workouts are… on film brandon graham and sergio kindle made a much better impact than weatherspoon did so i dont see what all the hype is about with him
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
12:04 am
The Falcons draft needs to look like this.. 1st Round-Brandon Graham
3rd Round-Brandon Spikes
3rd Round-Matt Tennant
4th Round-Dezmon Briscoe
5th Round-Brandon James
after that we can use the rest of our picks on depth at different positions
chris taylor
April 9th, 2010
12:10 am
Spikes would seem more of an ILB cause of speed/coverage. Would you have him there or SLB Kelvin?
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
12:14 am
Spikes would fit on the strong side… he’s more athletic than weatherspoon and he has a swagger to his game similar to mike peterson except he is younger of course
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
12:16 am
dezmon briscoe and brandon james would be steals to if they came to us that late
Big Ray
April 9th, 2010
12:32 am
Chris Taylor,
Coverage sacks?
Okay, I’ll roll with that in the case of some games, but not all. Against better QB/WR combinations, if you give them long enough, they hurt you. It’s that simple. And if cornerbacks are forced to cover for too long, eventually a receiver gets open somewhere. Maybe not on first down, but on second down. Maybe on 2nd down, but on 3rd.
But seriously…how much better does it get? Will we go from 28th ranked pass rush to 25th? Tha’s an improvement, but it’s not enough. We need to be either in, or damn close to the top 20 teams in that category.
I think Abe will be better, but how much does he bounce back? Not to that 13-16 sack range, I’ll wager. He may be lucky to get close to 10. Dude is talented, but injury prone at times, and he’s not a young’un anymore. I ain’t looking to put him out to pasture, but I’d rather he not be the very pinnacle and lone shining light at the DE position.
Having said that, I’m in favor of Spoon or Graham, I like Hughes as well. Getting Spoon and Hughes works for me, but we still have to get ourselves a WR and a good center. We need both picks in the third to accomplish that, I don’t know about waiting until the 4th, but we’ll see.
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
12:41 am
What does Spoon do that Brandon Spikes doesn’t do? Spikes makes more game changing plays and is better in coverage… on spoons film he makes tackles after the player already gained 6 or more yards… we can sign a random player in free agency to do that… spikes can take over for peterson.. and coach smith is good enough to coach him up to be a very good outside linebacker.. and if we got dezmon briscoe or riley cooper at receiver ill be satisfied with that.. michael jenkins is just ok at wide receiver.. we need someone that can make plays consistently rather than once every three games.. graham goes hard every play and he’s guaranteed to knock the QB down even if he doesn’t get the sack
chris taylor
April 9th, 2010
12:50 am
Exactly my point Big Ray, Dunta helps some but not enough. Thats my reasoning for Graham. How many sacks do we expect to get with our current DE’s, not enough. How many do we expect to get with LB in the 1st, not much more with BVG coordinating the D. Abe’s contract is up after 2011, who’s gonna take his place? Sidbury? Biermann? I don’t think so. Graham can impact a moderate amount with high potential this year, being well developed by year 2-3 when abe becomes 3rd down guy. We have a couple late round DE’s already, JA’s bust as DE means that need is still there, it didn’t disappear. Get Graham in the first, OLB in the 3rd.
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
12:57 am
I agree with that all im saying is that weatherspoon is all hype and we shouldn’t get mezmorized by his personal workouts for teams… who cares about the workouts?? what did he do when mizzouri played texas and oklahoma state and oklahoma and kansas.. where was he at??? getting beat all over the field by the tight end… brandon spikes moves well and is good in coverage.. graham is a good choice in the first round and spikes is great for us in the 3rd… did you see how many interceptions and pass deflections spikes had?? not to mention how good he played against the run… and dezmon briscoe reminds me of santonio holmnes except taller
chris taylor
April 9th, 2010
1:38 am
I would go with Spikes if he was there in the 3rd, if not then Navaro Bowman. Would like for Hughes to be there but you have to be weary of him and Washington. Two players of decent talent side by side, they elevate each others play & might not be so successful alone. Spikes was a late 1 early 2 till he ran a 5 flat at his pro-day. With good conditioning he will be faster, wasn’t MS a LB coach in Jacksonville?
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
2:20 am
no mike smith was the defensive coordinator in jacksonville.. and who cares what he ran at a pro day… look at what he does during a game
chris taylor
April 9th, 2010
2:32 am
I agree with you on that Kelvin, people pay too much attention to pro-days/visits etc.. Game tape is where it’s at. Dez Bryant didn’t run as well as expected at pro-day yet he hasn’t slid as much as Spikes. I like the guy, Spikes could be a steal for us if he slides to the late 3rd. Only thing i’m thinking of is if we don’t get in the 2nd and take Graham in the 1st, we HAVE to take that LB in the 3rd then almost everybody is agreement on Tennant with the comp. pick. That means we won’t get a WR till the 4th. Maybe we find another Brandon Marshall there, he went in the 4th. I like Carlton Mitchell but don’t think he’ll last till the 4th.
chris taylor
April 9th, 2010
2:36 am
Wish we needed a safety more than anything else. I really like Earl Thomas. He’s going to be the next Darren Sharper.
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
2:44 am
i like carlton mitchell as well and i like the guy from mizzouri danario alexander… the only thing with alexander is he tore his acl twice in college.. i really hope riley cooper or dezmon briscoe slips to the 4th though.. riley cooper was destroying cornerbacks in the sec all year and briscoe played great for kansas.. and as much as i hate to say it we need to get someone to eventually replace norwood but that can be addressed in the later rounds.. as much as we need a pass rush and help in the secondary we need help on the offensive side of the ball to.. there wasn’t any explosive receiver opposite roddy white.. matt ryan will only get better when we put more weapons out there.. the saints had so many different weapons last year it was unfair and we still almost beat them cause our defense played well against them.. if we got brandon graham and maybe traded picks to get in the 2nd for hughes i would be fine but if spikes falls to us im not gonna complain at all with that.. but once again im saying weatherspoon is all hype
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
2:47 am
and thomas decoud was a beast last year at free safety.. he had some lapses at times but he did alot more good than bad.. im still curious to see what william moore does and peria jerry will be a beast if he comes back from the knee injury 100 percent.. harry douglas wont be ready until training camp and i hope he still has that same game speen as his rookie year.. finneran will continue to be a good 3rd down receiver and michael jenkins is nothing more than a above average posession receiver
chris taylor
April 9th, 2010
3:21 am
Not having a 2nd is killin us. I like Dexter McCluster to replace Norwood. I can’t remember where I heard it but someone said that we will try to get into the 2nd rd but for a WR. Not sure on the validity of that though. I like Cooper too, more than Briscoe. It’s a hope & a prayer they are there when we pick.
chris taylor
April 9th, 2010
3:30 am
Little skeptical about Mitchell though, reminds me of Michael Jenkins a bit. Giving him the benefit of the doubt though. As long as we get Graham i’ll be happy, whatever TD decides to do from there i’m confident we’ll do ok.
kelvin davis
April 9th, 2010
3:37 am
if we trade up in the second to get a receiver golden tate or demaryius thomas better be there.. golden tate reminds me of hines ward except alot faster and demaryius thomas is a taller and much faster version of anquan boldin… i dont see any comparisons with him and calvin johnson other than they both went to georgia tech and they are tall.. who cares about that.. people look at the wrong things when trying to analyze players… and yea when we traded our second round pick for tony g last year i knew we would need it alot for the draft this year.. tony hasn’t hurt us at all though so we didnt waste our 2nd round pick for this year.. the patriots have 3 second round picks.. maybe we can package norwood or jenkins and a pick next year for one of their second round picks.. that could work considering the fact thomas dimitroff has good ties with the patriots..
Big Ray
April 9th, 2010
5:00 am
Brandon Spikes?
We have Curtis Lofton (Pro Bowl level MLB). Spikes is an ILB, not an OLB. I’d take Bowman before Spikes. And I wouldn’t talk too much about Spoon. You don’t rack up over 400 tackles in your college career by being in all the wrong places at all the wrong times. Overhyped, I don’t think so…
FDB
April 9th, 2010
8:34 am
Please trade 19 to the Pats for a 2nd round pick, then take Spoon or Pouncey with 22nd.
NFL Draft Update Countdown|13 Days | Football Jabber
April 9th, 2010
9:03 am
[...] Weatherspoon was pumped about his meeting with the [...]
ATL Observer
April 9th, 2010
10:09 am
Weatherspoon or McClain…either sits right by me.
Bangkapi Ajarn
April 9th, 2010
11:20 am
After getting into my first mock process, and looking at what I could find (including who the Falcons are looking at when possible), I decided to compare the consensus best C, Pouncy (first round pick?), with a C that the Falcons interviewed earlier, Eric Cook(6th round to free agent).
I thought this was interesting, and a reflection (in my amateurish opinion) on the power of well funded, well connected athletic department PR machines such as Florida to mold our perceptions of their players. While Pouncey may (or may not) have a better college pedigree at Florida and possibly can start sooner, at a higher level I don’t see the gap between him and Cook as being all that great from what I found.
I would be interested in anyone’s opinion, if you think I am wrong based on the following I gleaned from the web, primarily the CBS/Sportsine site.
Maurkice Pouncey, Height: 6-5 | Weight: 304 | College: Florida (to be interviewed by Falcons, draft projection – 1st round)
Eric Cook, C/G/T 6’5”, 315, NM – already interviewed with falcons (draft projection 6-FA)
Pass Blocking
Pouncey – Adept at the shotgun snap. Good quickness and accuracy in firing the snap back and catching the defensive tackle. Stout at the point of attack. Quick, accurate hand placement and impressive strength to handle the bull rush. Big and strong enough to handle the nose guard one on one. Good lateral agility and balance to handle quicker defensive tackles. Keeps his head on a swivel and looks to help his teammates.
Cook – Athletic and flexible for his size. Able to move his feet inside against quick tackles, and also to roll out with quarterback in moving pocket. Shows some nastiness and plays through the whistle when mauling inside. Good pop when trying to push his defender away from quick screen. Accurate shotgun snap, getting his head up to see and hit his man. When doubling a tackle, keeps head on a swivel to stay aware of twists and late blitzers
Run Blocking
Pouncey – Rare combination of size, leverage and power as a drive blocker. Stays low and gets under the pads of his opponent to move him off the line of scrimmage. Very good combination blocker; capable of helping out the guard initially on the double-team and releasing to get to the second level. Good quickness, balance for the trap block. Plays with some nastiness. Looks to pancake his opponent when he feels he’s off-balance. Good effort to sustain. Finishes the block.
Cook – Quick enough to snap and get his hands on his man’s jersey to turn him, take him down the line or just wall him off. Knows the angle he needs to take on the MIKE to keep him from the play.
Initial Quickness
Pouncey – One of his best traits. Capable of making the accurate snap and still get his hands up quickly to catch the defensive tackle without losing much ground. Explosiveness as a trap blocker is impressive.
Cook – Generally gets off the snap well whether quarterback is under center or in shotgun formation.
Downfield
Pouncey – Good, not great speed to get to the second level. Good balance and agility to hit the moving target. Hustles downfield and looks for someone to hit.
Cook – Downfield: A bit slow to get his weight moving forward, but does manage to reach and negate linebackers, even after blocking down. Sustains by latching on and keeping his feet active, but may have trouble adjusting to quicker NFL defenders. Hustles to get 20-25 yards downfield on screen passes or reverses.
Intangibles
Pouncey – Intelligent. Made all the line calls for Gators. Showed his toughness by starting in the 2009-10 Sugar Bowl only hours after receiving four bags of IV fluids and being treated for kidney stones. Underwent a CT scan that showed no obstruction in his kidneys and was cleared to play. Identical twin, Mike, plays right guard for the Gators and elected to return for his senior season.
Cook – Intelligent player who makes line calls. Coaches and teammates call him a leader by words and example on the field, in the weight room and in the locker room.
One of the premier offensive linemen in the Mountain West Conference and leader of the Lobos’ outstanding offensive line group, dubbed The Hitmen … 2009 All-America and Rimington Trophy (best center) candidate … … made all the line calls and blitz adjustments for the offense after Porterie was lost … an excellent athlete who can play any position on the line … manned the starting left tackle spot in 2007 and was extremely valuable as the top backup at every position up front. Brother Plays for Minnesota, blocks for Peterson.
Tweets that mention Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon takes ATL by storm | Atlanta Falcons -- Topsy.com
April 11th, 2010
10:29 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Eric Blumberg. Eric Blumberg said: Good info from ATL on @SeanWSpoon12. http://tinyurl.com/ybbpgwn They are stalking his tweets. [...]
Atlanta Falcons Talk » Blog Archive » 2010 Atlanta Falcons Mock Draft: Tag Team Title Belt Edition
April 21st, 2010
1:00 am
[...] know of a team that’s very interested in Sean Weatherspoon — and so are this team’s fans. We know their coach likes to go all in — and so [...]
Reddog810
April 23rd, 2010
12:41 pm
As a Mizzou fan all I can say is Spoon is a game changer.
Best linebacker at Missouri since Andy Russell,