Larry Warford, OG, Kentucky
 

In what appears to be an elite OG class [Warmack, Jones, Cooper] where does Warford fit into the picture?

What is his value?

Who does he compare to in the NFL?

He's going to get underdrafted because he plays on a team that isn't very good nor get's a ton of recognition in football.

My view? He's a road-graiter. Can be a dominate run blocker, similar to the mold of Carl Nicks, in my opinion.

I see a ton of OGs like Warmack, Jones and Coope carrying solid 1st round grades.

But I wonder if this group is not so deep that the talent continues in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

Kentucky has been on TV so little I know almost nothing about this guy but he is in everyone's rankings.

Just because you play on a sucky team doesn't mean that you won't get drafted high. Look at Jay Cutler. Vanderbilt was horrible when he played there. Yet, he was still a 1st round draft pick.

But the positional value of a QB is a lot higher than OG.

I'm interested to see how he does in pre-draft activities.

Jay Cutler was a QB. Warford is a G. Come on bro.

DRC played cornerback at a Division II school in Tennessee, and he was a 1st round draft pick.

There was a thread on him a month ago so I made a point to watch and I have to say he was pretty impressive. Seems like he would be a great fit for the Eagles of like 3 years ago. I wouldn't say he is on Nicks' level when it comes to athleticism but he looks like a decent mid round option.

Some team is going to be lucky to have a mountain that can move like Warford. If he has good leverage, he would be an unstoppable force. A lot depends on attitude too. Will he be a Carl Nicks or a Deuce Lutui. One of the most underrated things about OL is killer instinct. I'm in Purdue country, and I remember defensive lineman all saying that Matt Light could kick their behind, and hearing about how he would dominate people in practice. You have to have some GRRR up front.

The more I watch of this the more I am impressed with how he moves.

He does end up on the ground when he is being overly aggressive.

Bad example. But in general if a player is worthy of a 1st round pick it doesn't matter how bad or how little tv coverage his team gets. Memphis is a worse team and was pretty much never on tv and Dontari Poe went 11th last year, mostly due to a good combine but still. Same for luke Kuechly on a bad Boston college team, or Mercilus and AJ Jenkins on Illinois

Better example. Mike Iupati is a guard, played at Idaho, and went in the first round.

I don't care how bad at football Kentucky is, they play in the SEC, they're less off the beaten path than Idaho.

I don't think Warford is in Iupati's class, but it's not like talent evaluators would fail to notice if he were.

Warford is having a really nice Senior Bowl and Mayock was talking him up a lot today.

What do you think the high end for Warford will be?

Do you think as an OG he gets picked before Fluker?

The Bears under the new regime will probably go with the New Orleans method of having huge interior OLmen that can protect the middle of the pocket.

Is Warford a potential player for the Bears?

I'd love Warford on the Bears. I think he'd be a perfect LG. I agree with the NO model with Kromer being the OC and OL coach coming from the Saints. I still contend they'll do whatever they can to sign a FA LT, and putting a big, good rookie next to that vet would be a nice start.

My guess is he'd be there at 50 for the Bears, but I can see him going anywhere from 45-65. I don't think he'll go before Fluker, who I think is a 1st rounder.

I would take Warford ahead of Fluker, but I don't think he will go before Fluker. I give Warford an outside shot at the first round.

(And before we say "no way 2 OGs go in first round", recall who got picked at #24 and #27 last year.)

What makes you like him more than Fluker as an OG?

Take the sure thing over the position switch. A lot of college OTs have great bodies/skillsets for playing inside but don't have the right mentality to play in a phone booth (or it takes them a while to figure it out.)

With Warford I have a guy who I'm confident is going to be a great guard, as his punch, set, and anchor is already great and his short area footwork is excellent. If he's a scheme fit, there's nothing to teach and he hits the ground running. Fluker's probably going to get a shot outside first, then there'll be some adjustment to playing inside.

I'm happy to take college tackles and move them to guard in the NFL, but I'm hesitant to do it in the first round.

I just re-watched Warford dominate Shariff Floyd and Sheldon Richardson. They did not know what to do with his power.

Warford is a lot better than Barrett Jones.

I thought this guy might be something but it was entirely based on height, weight, and that his last name is Warford.

My only problem with Warford is that his feet and movement skills aren't that good IMO. He is as strong and powerful as anybody in this draft class. When he gets his hands on you, it's over. But he won't fit into a ZBS scheme at all.

He is a very good talent at what he does. He has been right up there the entire time, so him doing well at the Senior Bowl shouldn't shock anybody. I've never once thought of him as falling out of the 2nd round.

Warford or Brian Winters?

looked good to me on NFL Network today in practice

I don't know how much of a negative this really is. Almost every player has schemes and systems he will fit better than others. To teams that run those systems then "can't do everything" is hardly a negative.

That is to say, just because you're not a good fit for the ZBS doesn't mean you won't go high, as there are all sorts of man-blocking teams who pick throughout the draft order.