Round 1, Pick 15 - New York Giants - Jason Pierre-Paul

Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, South Florida

Ht: 6’ 4 ¾” Wt: 270

EMQB’s analysis on the pick:  The pass rush used to be a strong point for the New York Giants but last season it became their Achilles' heal.  JPP is a freakish type athlete that can have a Javon Kearse type impact on the Giants.  

Pro Football Weekly’s scouting report: Raw junior college transfer who looked like Spiderman coming off the edge with loose hips and a giant wingspan and catapulted up draft boards in his lone season at USF. Won over coaches in the recruiting process by per- forming backflips in pads. Enamored scouts with the 13 consecutively performed backflips caught on camera and is intriguing from a purely athletic standpoint. However, all his hype does not match his performance on the field and he has too many red flags for a wise drafting decision maker to pull the trigger expecting any- thing more than the raw developmental pass rusher that he is. Very unrefined and unproven and could struggle to ever live up to his first- round draft billing. Has first-round athletic traits that likely will fool a team into overdrafting him in the top 15. Has big-time boom-or-bust potential.

NFL projection: Top-20 pick.

GM Jr’s scouting report:  Pierre-Paul is a freak on an athlete and will be a top 25 pick in the 2010 NFL draft.  He is still raw in a couple areas of his game, but he has the potential to be one of the best defensive ends in the NFL.  He has great length, speed, quickness and flexibility.  He has an innate ability to find gaps in the blocking scheme and by using his flexibility and quickness, to penetrate those gaps to make plays.  Extremely explosive first step and when his only job is to pin his ears back and rush the quarterback, he is at his best.  He can dip his shoulder off the ball and barely gives the blocker and space to punch.  Has a great closing burst and works to knock the ball out on contact.  Plays with strong hands as a pass rusher and in the run game.  Needs to improve strength to hold the double team run block, but when he comes off the ball low, he can control the blocker, shed with force and make a tackle on the ball carrier…. Overall, whatever team drafts Pierre-Paul will be getting a rare, explosive athlete with the ability to become a game changing pass rusher, but he is very raw and needs a lot of work so there is some real risk involved in using a high pick on him.  He is a definite 1^st round pick, in our eyes, but he needs to go to a team whose DL coach is extremely good at teaching the fundamentals as JPP needs the most work in this area if he is ever going to become the player he has the talent to be.

Lindy’s Sports scouting report:  Pierre-Paul’s freakish athleticism has become a YouTube attraction, and NFL teams desperate for pass rushers should consider him in the first two rounds.  He has very raw technique and marginal strength, but defensive line coaches will line up for the chance to mold the potential-packed prize. 

Pro Football Weekly 2010 Draft Preview available @ http://www.pfwstore.com/detail.aspx?ID=695

GM Jr. 2010 Draft Guide available @ http://gmjrnfldraft.com/

Lindy’s Sports 2010 Draft Guide available @http://www.lindyssports.com/product.php?cn=332

Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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"I'll Take 'Draft Busts for Millions', Alex."

Draft busts. They are an "albatross" in the NFL. If a team can avoid drafting too many, then they can keep payroll low and win totals high.  If a team drafts too many then........


Pro Football Weekly touched on that very subject today. They questioned the "bust factor" in two highly rated players: Taylor Mays and Jason Pierre-Paul. 


These type of discussions are always raised about draft picks who have certain issues. 


It is difficult to know whether a draft pick will be a successful NFL player or not.

I believe that the teams that draft successfully understand how to use the players they draft. They find players with strengths that fit their system, and then try to minimize the players' faults.

A perfect example was Dwight Freeney. Being only 6' 1", he was viewed as having "bust potential" because taller offensive tackles with long arms could latch on to him. It was believed Freeney wouldn't have the size to get off of their blocks. The Colts drafted him and let him use his strengths, speed and leverage to become one of the top pass rushers in the league.

Busts happen more times than not because teams don't have the foresight to envision that draft pick's future role on the team. They can't go on measurables or hoping that the player will be able to make a drastic change. They have to know what this player is going to bring to the team based on something they have already seen.




Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.everymorningqb.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.everymorningqb.com.