Michael Oher Impressions

[Raider Nation]

I saw Limee reference this in another thread and forget to pass it along.

I talked to a couple of buddies who live in Mississippi. Luckily, they've never heard of a dude named Crow and when I said he's the dude in South Miss with an internet connection wired to his outhouse they said that narrowed it down to about 85% of the population. No help I guess.

One of these dudes is a grad student at Ole Miss and the other is a prof down Southern Miss. Both follow football closely and both are big Ole Miss guys. Their book on Oher is the dude's pretty physically imposing. He has occasional lapses on concentration and doesn't play his A-game from snap to snap. They were quick to point out that he's no slacker, just seems to get caught up in the flow of the game a little too much and needs a reminder to dictate the action. Better run blocker than pass blocker, although he does have pretty good feet. Their impression is he'd be a good LT in the NFL after 3 years or so, but could step in and be an upper-tier RT right away.

One dude said he's a top-15 pick, the other said he'd take him in front of E. Monroe because if you play him at RT you know exactly what you're getting. Less upside than Monroe or Smith, however. I guess the dude comes from a ROUGH personal background. Bad childhood, bounced around a little from house to house. Not sure if it's a foster care deal or if he stayed with family, but he was real close to being in the wrong crowd and credits football with giving him the focus to turn his life around. Sounds like a good story, but there's some concern that he's a little mentally fragile given all the shit he went through as a youth.

[007]

Nice info.

I've seen him quite a bit, read the articles about 'The blind side' although I never read the book about him. Sleeping in a gym, and not being able to read at 12 years old etc. No clothes that fit him had to get hand-me-downs from Redskins OL through charity. Really a great story of triumph through adversity. I think he's the type of guy who won't get caught doing a line of coke with 3 hookers in Mexico. He came from the gutter and is still fighting.

The main thing that comes up with him in all the scouting reports is the mental lapses. Everyone knows he's a great run blocker, he can get to the second level and crush LB's he can slide and mirror pass rushers and has the agility to succeed at LT. Its just that he always seems to have games where he doesnt put it together for the full 60 minutes...

I think he's fallen to #4 in most peoples rankings of the OT's, but I think he could be a very good player and a good value pick from 10-20 or so...

[Langlier]

if we moved down for say a pick in the 15 range and a 2nd then moved up to take Mack(or stay put and take Unger) and Him along with picking up Pace....

a front of Pace - Gallery - Mack - Coop/McQuistan/Henderson - Oher would be quite good.

[hawaiianboy]

I like Oher... all he is missing is consistency, which is an issue with a lot of guys that can make it look so easy as Oher can... I mean easy much in the way Big Linc used to make things look easy...

I've said it before, while Andre Smith is the best run blocker, and the Virginia kid the best pass blocker, Oher, IMO, is the best combination of pass and run blocking as an OT in this draft... I don't think he makes it out of the top 10 personally...

[BigTron]

I find it strange he has never read the book written about him. People defend that by saying that he lived it and doesnt have to read it, but I would read a book written about me regardless. At the very least to see what kind of job the author did, or to make sure its an accurate work.

[Limee]

Thanks for the report. Concentration and/or consistency can be a funny thing, some gain it as they mature and some never do. He may benefit from it becoming his job and dedicating himself to perfecting his craft full time.

[BrickTop]

From watching him at the combine, he's footwork looked sloppy and he didn't kick out that well.
He'll go in the first, but I wouldn't pick him #7 that's too high.

The more i'm thinking about things, the more I believe Oakland will draft #1 either receiver or go defense.

There's better value on the OL in the 2nd at the top where Oakland's picking.

[BigTron]

Jason Smith fits in the ZBS really well, but he should be gone when we pick. I also trust Monroe is a pass blocker but I think he will be gone by our selection too. I would rather have Maclin, Crabtree, Orakpo or Raji then A.Smith/Oher.

[paranoidmoonduck]

The thing with Michael Oher is that he's displayed the same problems from year to year without a whole lot of improvement. He's a great athlete who has good strength and uses his hands well, but his footwork is way more inconsistent than you want to see and he seems to find proper leverage only occasionally.

The fact that sometimes he's great and the rest of the time you can pick out exactly why he isn't great points to his substantial potential, but his 2008 season was below that of J. Smith, A. Smith, and Monroe. Add in the fact that he is, at best, on par with those guys athletically, if not a bit below, and you got a guy who's almost certainly the #4 tackle in this draft. Granted, he might wind up being the 3rd tackle selected, but that's only because Andre Smith has categorically shot himself in the foot at every opportunity.

[007]

Holy shit, PMD is here...

Boy knows his draft prospects. Glad to see you.

[massraider]

Holy shit, PMD is here...

Boy knows his draft prospects. Glad to see you.

Agreed. Make yourself comfortable, Duck.

[Raider Outlaw]

Imo, he'll be better than Monroe. I haven't seen much of Jason Smith, but I've seen the other three tackles at the top of this draft extensively.

Jason Smith and Monroe are more athletic, but I think Oher will be one of those players who everybody will scratch their collective heads in 5 years and wonder why they took their bust prospect instead of him.

Also, he's always seemed a better pass protector than run blocker to me, so it's interesting that your friends see it the other way around.

The confusion that Oher shows on the field your friends tell you about concerns a learning disability he has.

Therefore, I'd like the Raiders to look over his ability to grasp a pro scheme under these circumstances before taking him in the draft.


I saw Limee reference this in another thread and forget to pass it along.

I talked to a couple of buddies who live in Mississippi. Luckily, they've never heard of a dude named Crow and when I said he's the dude in South Miss with an internet connection wired to his outhouse they said that narrowed it down to about 85% of the population. No help I guess.

One of these dudes is a grad student at Ole Miss and the other is a prof down Southern Miss. Both follow football closely and both are big Ole Miss guys. Their book on Oher is the dude's pretty physically imposing. He has occasional lapses on concentration and doesn't play his A-game from snap to snap. They were quick to point out that he's no slacker, just seems to get caught up in the flow of the game a little too much and needs a reminder to dictate the action. Better run blocker than pass blocker, although he does have pretty good feet. Their impression is he'd be a good LT in the NFL after 3 years or so, but could step in and be an upper-tier RT right away.

One dude said he's a top-15 pick, the other said he'd take him in front of E. Monroe because if you play him at RT you know exactly what you're getting. Less upside than Monroe or Smith, however. I guess the dude comes from a ROUGH personal background. Bad childhood, bounced around a little from house to house. Not sure if it's a foster care deal or if he stayed with family, but he was real close to being in the wrong crowd and credits football with giving him the focus to turn his life around. Sounds like a good story, but there's some concern that he's a little mentally fragile given all the shit he went through as a youth.