Jumbo Package: A-Day News Hangover Edition

Projected Alabama offensive depth chart after spring practice | AL.com

The biggest question with the receivers is how Gehrig Deiter [sic] impacts the group when his transfer from Bowling Green concludes. The highlights of his 1,033-yard season say he's got the speed and athleticism to be another Richard Mullaney. Assuming a three-receiver package, it's a question of who would drop down with Calvin Ridley, ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster back.

This is going to be one of those recurring ideas that gets really annoying, and I'm going to spend a lot my time on here arguing against it all offseason: Gehrig Dieter and Richard Mullaney both grad transfer receivers that are white. The similarities end there.

While Mullaney was a prototypical slot receiver that excelled at working across the middle and splitting zones, Dieter is an outside receiver that specializes in using his size to battle press coverage and make contested catches down the sidelines. That said, Dieter is absolutely good enough to find the field this year, even with Foster, Ridley, and Stewart all entrenched in the starting roles.

Alabama QB Jake Coker 'might not even watch' NFL Draft | AL.com

The 6-foot-5, 236-pound quarterback's chances of being drafted are hard to decipher. There are some that believe he could be taken in the later rounds of the NFL Draft, while others project him to sign somewhere as an undrafted free agent. NFL scouts seem to like his build and arm strength, but he was a bit inconsistent and was only a one-year college starter.  Coker passed for 3,110 yards, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions last year for the Crimson Tide.

It's been hard to get a read on just how the NFL views Coker. He has a lot of the physical tools to be a tantalizing prospect, but his decision-making has always been erratic and a half-tick slow. But he's big, has surprising mobility/pocket escapability, and a big arm. He definitely has impressive accuracy sometimes too, but, like his decision-making, it isn't consistent whatsoever.

Baltimore's own Cyrus Jones seeks respect nearing the NFL draft - Baltimore Sun

"I always feel like I'm getting overlooked and not getting the respect," Jones said in a phone interview from Buffalo Niagara International airport last week after he completed a pre-draft visit with the Bills. "There are plenty of coaches saying that if I was an inch or two taller, I'd be a first-round pick. It hasn't affected me to this point, but it is what it is. I know what type of player that I am and what I can do. If you ask me, I'm the best corner in the draft. That's just how I carry myself."

Cyrus has always been a hyper-competitive player with a huge chip on his shoulder. He took his awful 2013 debut  season and used it as motivation to become a lockdown corner in just one offseason. He did the same with his early problems with fumbling punt returns to become a dynamic return man this year. He has the attitude and the football skills, but you have to wonder if his combination of a lack of stature and barely average athleticism will prevent him from being successful in the pros, where the receivers will be even bigger and faster.

Inside the Film Room With... Jarran Reed | The MMQB with Peter King

They grew up in modest means. I ask him what it feels like to have that sort of background and know that, a few months from now, he’ll be a millionaire. What goes through your mind when you wake up in the morning these days? "It just makes me that much more responsible," Reed says. "People are really counting on you now. You can’t mess up because just as quick as you got here, it can be taken away even faster. So to me, it’s not really about the money or how much I’m going to get. Now, you’ve got to produce."

A cool article where Andy Benoit sits down with Jarran Reed to break down quite a few plays from the Georgia game. It is a couple of weeks old, but it has a lot of good gifs, and definitely worth the read.

Inside the Film Room With… Reggie Ragland | The MMQB with Peter King

Most of us have been jealous of Reggie Ragland at some point in our lives. Or, more accurately, jealous of Ragland’s ilk. He’s an alpha without trying to be. He has the blend of politeness and firmness of one not easily intimidated. You can tell his BS detector is acute. And he’s an athlete. A big-time athlete. He started receiving letters of recruitment in sixth grade—for basketball.

In the same series as the article with Reed above, now Reggie Ragland gets a shot. I think this article ended up being even more interesting than Reed's. Ragland seems to be a very insightful and engaging guy with quite a few good quotes. He also mentions that rising sophomore defensive tackle, Daron Payne, has a six-pack. That's a 315-pound man with abs. That should not even be possible.