Ras I Dowling

[Condor Bastadon]

On a silly note....it would be cool to have the names Aqib Talib, Ras I Dowling, and Cody Grimm all in the secondary. Best group of names of any group on any team in the NFL.

[JDouble]

Patrick Peterson? Prince Amukamara? Nah....I'll take Ras I Dowling.

This thread is for Biggs to pull up in a year or two when Ras I Dowling is going to the probowl. If I had to pick one guy out of this draft that I was most confident would be a probowler in the NFL...it would either be Ryan Kerrigan or Ras I Dowling.

Dang brother, that's pretty steep.  Pat Peterson might be the best player in the entire draft, much less at CB.

After the combine, a lot of draftniks are agreeing.

I still love Dowling and hope we draft him.....but I'd have to say the Peterson is the best player in this entire draft. The guy really is a freak. So yeah...I can look at the facts and change my mind:)

[Ft Myers Buc Fan]

If the Bucs are truly going to rely primarily just on the draft to build this team, I dont think they can take a chance on a guy that has been injury prone in the first 5 rounds.  Dowling is a great talent but is worthless if he cant stay healthy....

[The White Tiger]

You guys that say CB isn't a need kill me.

First off, you should have learned from Gruden/Allen that drafting for need gets you nowhere fast. You take the best player available period. You don't pass on a playmaker because playmakers are always a need.

Secondly, Biggers looks promising but hasn't proven anything yet. Lewis didn't do anything special as a rookie. Both guys have potential and hopefully evolve into great corners for us, but they are currently far from probowlers. You can't say we are set at a position because our starters have "potential" If we had another guy like Talib...then you could ssy we are set at CB. Ras I Dowling could very well another Talib type guy. Can you imagine having two of the best young corners locking down the edges?

And finally, if Ras I Dowling entered this draft as a Free Safety he'd probably be the the #1 or #2 guy. Free safety is a huge whole for us, so even though FS has much less value than CB...he could play that role for us. If he did, I think within 2 or 3 years he'd be a top 5 safety in the league.

I know everyone wants LBs, and DEs, and offensive linemen....I do to, but when you start drafting guys to fill holes instead of the best player on your board, you end up like the Lions. Ras is a very smart pick IF he makes it to #20 in the second round.

Like Dungy said: "you should grab a DB every year", and like Gruden said: "You should grab an O-lineman every year".

Gotta agree with Jdub on this issue, and on this guy. He screams leadership, character, discipline, attention-to-detail and playing within the system. He would be a PERFECT fit at FS, partime/nickle corner. 6'1, 200 lbs and a combine 4.46 40- what's not to like - especially if you can get the young man in the 2nd or 3rd?

His strengths can be leveraged by a team playing zone coverage - which also minimizes the weaknesses of his game: NFLCombine overview/analysis.

Load me up (although, I'd been personally lobbying for Chimdi Chekwa...that was more of an Ohio State thing)!

[Lombardi_Stacks]

Patrick Peterson? Prince Amukamara? Nah....I'll take Ras I Dowling.

This thread is for Biggs to pull up in a year or two when Ras I Dowling is going to the probowl. If I had to pick one guy out of this draft that I was most confident would be a probowler in the NFL...it would either be Ryan Kerrigan or Ras I Dowling.

Dang brother, that's pretty steep.  Pat Peterson might be the best player in the entire draft, much less at CB.

After the combine, a lot of draftniks are agreeing.

+1, Petersons the best, he's the real thing.

[MUSCLE_HAMSTER]

If we end up drafting him, I'll be far from upset. I'll be pretty excited.

But, in the back of my mind I'm going to be scared that he'll turn into Bob Sanders

[Biggs3535]

So yeah...I can look at the facts and change my mind:)

I know, and I've seen you do it in the past with Ruud, Harvey Unga, Kareem Huggins, etc..  Not enough people on this forum have that ability.

[dbucfan]

I am missing something - if Ras I Dowling is all that - how does he make it to the second round 20th pick...

[JDouble]

I am missing something - if Ras I Dowling is all that - how does he make it to the second round 20th pick...

Well the main reason is the injuries this season. Lasy year he was projected to be a top 15 pick, but he chose to go back for his senior year. It ended up being a bad decision financially, but he is a high character guy that chose his team and education over a guaranteed payday.

Another reason is because he is a system CB. He is not a great man coverage CB like a Patrick Peterson. He is very instinctual and great in zone, but that only makes him great for a heavy zone scheme like the Tampa Two. This doesn't lower his value for us, but it does lower his value for many teams. 

Personally I think he is like Barber. He's great in zone, baits QBs into making the throw and then makes a play on the ball, ridiculously good against the run for a CB, and he's high character. I think his upside is even greater than Barber though because he has height, long arms, greater speed, and a bigger frame. I'm not saying he is or will be better than Barber. He needs about 15 years to earn that claim, but I think he is a Barber type player with more potential.

But Barber went went 6th in the 3rd round mainly because he was a zone CB as well. I think he still ended up being a pretty valuable pick up. 

[The White Tiger]

So yeah...I can look at the facts and change my mind:)

I know, and I've seen you do it in the past with Ruud, Harvey Unga, Kareem Huggins, etc..  Not enough people on this forum have that ability.

That^^^ [wipes coffee off monitor] was completely uncalled for...but savored nonetheless!

Well played, biggs (besides, "Boom...WINNER!" is so overdone).

I am missing something - if Ras I Dowling is all that - how does he make it to the second round 20th pick...

I think he's one of those "effort"/character guys. He would fit in as a zone-safety in a zone-cover system, like we mostly run - we could better utilize his speed, sure tackling, and impact hitting - therefore would place more value on him than a man-cover system would. We just don't need a tremendous talent at FS in this system.

Since about 50% of the NFL has converted to a 3-4/man-cover system - he won't be as highly valued. Plus, there are usually more options for zone-types, more talent at the position = less value.

His character tends to make him  more attractive to a team like the Bucs - while it's not a pressing need, he's the type we like.

However, I feel that if the Bucs have him on the radar, we don't have him ranked as a 2nd round talent - I think we'd have him as a 3rd or 4th round talent.

[JDouble]

So yeah...I can look at the facts and change my mind:)

I know, and I've seen you do it in the past with Ruud, Harvey Unga, Kareem Huggins, etc..  Not enough people on this forum have that ability.

That^^^ [wipes coffee off monitor] was completely uncalled for...but savored nonetheless!

Well played, biggs (besides, "Boom...WINNER!" is so overdone).

I must have missed something. I thought Biggs paid me a compliment because I have no ego and can admit when I'm wrong and change my opinion.....but apparently he was making fun of me and it was a burn worth spitting coffee on your computer?

[The White Tiger]

Yes, or it could be that I misinterpreted it - depends on which of us has known Biggs longest - or whether you wanted to take offense or not.

I give you credit for uncovering the guy - I had not heard of him until your thread.

[Captain Hindsight]

Anyone paying attention to last years draft knew of Ras-I Dowling before he elected to return to school. He was a sure fire 1st rounder.

[Biggs3535]

Yes, or it could be that I misinterpreted it - depends on which of us has known Biggs longest - or whether you wanted to take offense or not.

WT, it was a compliment - but I could see the confusion.

[The White Tiger]

Anyone paying attention to last years draft knew of Ras-I Dowling before he elected to return to school. He was a sure fire 1st rounder.

Hmmm...I must have SUHmthing else on my mind last year...