Tag: Michael Renner

Ravens’ secondary ranked as top unit in NFL by Pro Football Focus

The Ravens’ secondary was ranked highly by Pro Football Focus

The Baltimore Ravens dealt with a plethora of injuries in 2021 that hurt the team’s chances of making a postseason appearance. They lost players like J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards and Marcus Peters before the season started, as well as Marlon Humphrey, Lamar Jackson and more during the year.

Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus detailed his 2022 NFL secondary rankings, and he put Baltimore’s unit at No. 1 despite being one of the worst units in the league last year. Renner credited four of the five starters in the secondary with having top-10 grades at their positions, and that’s without factoring in rookie safety Kyle Hamilton.

“There are a lot of complete secondaries around the NFL, making the Tier 1 rankings a toss-up in a number of ways. The Ravens simultaneously have some of the most question marks heading into 2022 from a health perspective while also possessing the highest-end elite potential. Four of their five starters have earned top-10 grades at their respective positions at some point over the past four seasons. And this list doesn’t even include rookie first-rounder Kyle Hamilton, who will undoubtedly factor in heavily.”

Baltimore has plenty of talent in the secondary that includes cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters and Kyle Fuller, as well as Hamilton, Chuck Clark and Marcus Williams at safety.. If the group can stay healthy in 2022, it may be one many opposing quarterbacks will fear to play week in and week out.

Anton Harrison No. 6 among PFF’s best offensive tackle prospects for the 2023 NFL draft

Anton Harrison made a jump in 2022 to a full-fledged starter along the offensive line and now looks to be one of the best OT prospects for the 2023 NFL Draft.

This time a year ago, the makeup of the offensive line was very much in question. They had options, but it was unsettled heading into the summer. Anton Harrison’s emergence as the starting left tackle for Oklahoma was a bright spot in the 2021 season.

Heading into his junior season, he’ll be relied upon again as an integral part of the Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive line. Among the starters on the line, Harrison received the highest grade from Pro Football Focus for the 2021 season.

With his stock rising, NFL draft analysts are taking note, and believe Harrison has the potential to be a top 50 pick in the 2023 NFL draft and some even project him into the first round. Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus released his top 10 offensive tackles prospects for the 2023 NFL draft and Anton Harrison came in at No. 6.

While only a rising junior, Harrison already has over 1,000 snaps to his name at left tackle for the Sooners. He’s a smooth moving 6-foot-5, 309-pound offensive tackle who can mirror pass-rushers as well as anyone in the class. While that’s a good starting point, Harrison would get manhandled physically on an NFL field if asked to suit up tomorrow, as he needs to add considerable muscle to his frame before he can be considered a top prospect. He may even opt to return for his senior season to do so. – Renner, PFF

Harrison’s athleticism is his best trait as he does a great job in space and as Renner notes, moves well. With room to add to his frame and an offseason working with Jerry Schmidt, Harrison may have already added the muscle and strength that Renner’s looking for.

Another season at left tackle for Harrison will vault him into first-round discussion next spring. Experience matters and as the Big 12’s gotten more defensive over the last couple of seasons, the quality of competition on tape will help cement him as one of the top offensive line prospects in college football.

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One former Notre Dame star makes Pro Football Focus’ All-Era team

The Colts are kicking the tires of moving him out a spot to tackle, either way, Nelson is sure to continue his dominance that he’s shown so far in his career.

Although Pro Football Focus has been giving grades for college players for only 7 years, the site decided to take a look back at this past “era” and come up with the best prospects within that time frame. Just one former Notre Dame player made the list, and it shouldn’t surprise you it was guard Quenton Nelson.

The star offensive lineman was an absolute mauler for the Irish, and that has continued during his career with the Indianapolis Colts.

 

Michael Renner was very complimentary of Nelson, because “guard is definitely a position where, more often than not, the best prospects aren’t the ones who played there in college. Three of the four here were college left tackles. Nelson was obvious.”

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A sack allowed each year is a pretty damn good average for an offensive lineman, and we all knew this was coming. “He (Nelson) has run- and pass-blocking grades over 90.0 in his final season in 2017,” said Renner.

With all this success that Nelson has had, he’s not done. The Colts are kicking the tires over moving him out a spot to tackle. Either way, Nelson is sure to continue the dominance he has shown so far in his career.

PFF has one Irish star in their latest NFL Mock Draft

The data drive experts at Pro Football Focus has one Notre Dame Football player in their latest NFL Mock Draft.

Pro Football Focus has plenty of statistical analysis behind their basis for making selections and rankings players. They once against used their large amount of data to predict the first round selections of the NFL Draft. Michael Renner named one member from Brian Kelly’s squad to go off the board on the first day, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

Renner has JOK just making the end of the first, as he projects that the talented linebacker will be selected 29thoverall by the Green Bay Packers. Due to his versatility and the Packers scheme, Renner thinks this is a great fit for both sides. “The Packers often only employ one linebacker, which means he’s got to be able to cover a good deal of ground in the run game. That’s Owusu-Koramoah’s specialty. The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder flies around the field with reckless abandon and has looked like a different player over the second half of last season and into 2020.”

Through two games, JOK leads the Irish in tackles with 10 and is tied for second on the team with a sack. His numbers won’t rival last years, due to less games played, but the impact is still there. Owusu-Koramoah’s development has been amazing and something Brian Kelly and his coaching staff can take a ton of credit for. Enjoy JOK this season, we’ll be seeing him in the NFL next year.