I dont see him in round one. He has RD1 talent, but everything else is a red flag. 1 year of tape, 23yo and UM struggled to stop the run. Maybe if he kills it at the combine he could sneak into the first, but I dont see it
I agree with this. Most teams won't consider him in the first round. There is simply too much risk with an overaged guy with off field concerns and who has done it for only one season. That's the proper way to look at it if you are assigning value within market conditions.
Obviously it only takes one team to disagree and pull the trigger early. But I'm not sure players like Willis realize they can't merely turn it on for one year and move to the top of the list. I don't think his agency grasps that type of thing, from some of the comments I've seen posted here. Those agencies should always try to line up guys who have been elite throughout.
I assume that #32 pick is to the Patriots. If so, Willis is going to really have to impress Bill Belichick during the interview process. Belichick doesn't draft jerks any more.
The Patriots are the best team in the NFL at finding value off the scrap heap, but for Bill Belichick, choosing those players is actually quite easy.
www.businessinsider.com
"But according to Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, Belichick explained this key roster philosophy to him, and it's actually quite simple.
"I'm always amazed how he takes the non-stars and makes them stars," Meyer said while introducing Belichick at an Ohio State football clinic in April (
via landof10.com). "He takes these players that you haven't really heard much about and all of a sudden they're making great plays in the biggest games of the year.
"I started asking him about it and he made this point to me, and I shared this with our team. He said: 'At this point in my career, I want to coach guys I like. I want to coach guys I want to be around and that's it, and I'm not going to coach anybody else.'"