Ezekiel 'Ziggy' Ansah | Page 2 | Barking Hard

Ezekiel 'Ziggy' Ansah

JPP comparisons don't make sense to me because Ansah is much more raw. Ziggy didn't even know of football until a few years ago and has only started a single season ever. He shot himself from special teamer to one of the best ends in the country in only a year - and it was his first and only year as a starting DE. I see that as such a great learning curve. JPP at least successfully played for a number of years before being drafted.

I just can't say he'd need to have all the answers by now being as raw as he is. That's wayy too much to ask from a guy and it's far too early for it to be a "If he doesn't have it by now he never will" type deal. He have a DC with the attacking mentality to get the best out of him and given his bowl performance it's exciting knowing he can dominate some of the best in the country even though he's still raw. It hasn't changed my mind, I still think he can be a very smart pick.
 
the guy's got tons of potential, and it's fun to fantasize about it, but his floor is no higher than that of vernon gholston. i don't see the browns taking that kind of risk at #6, even if he was worth the risk, no way he starts as a rookie, and the browns can't afford the luxury of a top 10 draft pick riding the bench as a rookie. the 49ers did it drafting aldon at #7 in 2011, and starting him at OLB in 2012, but they were already pretty well stocked everywhere else. the browns have too many needs to draft a guy in the top 6 who won't make an immediate impact.

seeing that the browns have no second round pick, if he's there in the 3rd, *maybe* it's worth looking at him there. getting him before that via trade begs the question: why wouldn't that team take him themselves?

finally, it takes a certain amount of savvy & football smarts to be a successful football player. reminds me of a scouting report on chaun thompson: high motor, but seldom knew where he was going.
 
the guy's got tons of potential, and it's fun to fantasize about it, but his floor is no higher than that of vernon gholston. i don't see the browns taking that kind of risk at #6, even if he was worth the risk, no way he starts as a rookie, and the browns can't afford the luxury of a top 10 draft pick riding the bench as a rookie. the 49ers did it drafting aldon at #7 in 2011, and starting him at OLB in 2012, but they were already pretty well stocked everywhere else. the browns have too many needs to draft a guy in the top 6 who won't make an immediate impact.

seeing that the browns have no second round pick, if he's there in the 3rd, *maybe* it's worth looking at him there. getting him before that via trade begs the question: why wouldn't that team take him themselves?

finally, it takes a certain amount of savvy & football smarts to be a successful football player. reminds me of a scouting report on chaun thompson: high motor, but seldom knew where he was going.

Is it that much more safe to draft someone like Mingo? He was surrounded by first round talent at impact positions yet was horribly inconsistent and spent some games being completely dominated when he was early tipped to be the best pass rusher in the class. It seems a little odd when someone who didn't meet expectations by a long way is lower risk than someone who not only did but surpassed them tenfold to skyrocket up draft boards.

I think someone like Ziggy is PERFECT for the Browns. He could play 4-3 end, 3-4 end or rush linebacker which is what we want in the hybrid look. He'll be under Ray Horton who coaches the kind of football that suits Ziggy and his development. The question is only going to be how far he can push himself, and from all accounts the guy has a wonderful work ethic which hopefully will lift his game for the combine. High upside guy coming to somewhere that seems to be the right fit for him improves the chances amazingly.

Aldon is a great example. Sure it's a risk but it doesn't end up being a risk if you get someone like Aldon. That's the problem with the risk pick, we're the only team who won't take the risk, but we're the first to envy those who do and it pays off. Aldon had the same floor as Ziggy at one stage as well.

I will also point out, with all due respect, that there is no chance Ziggy will fall to the 3rd round let alone only be a "Maybe" pick at that spot. He is a top 15 pick to everyone at this stage and it doesn't seem likely he'll fall from the 1st round. I am not sure where you got that from.
 
Browns scare forces Ravens to pay hell out of Flacco so we can get Kruger to go with Wallace and Keenan Allen. Probably a guard to round out haul like Vasquez. Draft becomes about safety, TE, and QB?
 
Sacks have nothing to do with it for that comparison, please don't twist that. The pick being a risk does, and he only had one year of tape just like Ansah. Go read scouting reports if you've already forgotten but there was questions if he could have another year that productive. That's why a guy who did that in college, and has now racked up 33 sacks in two years at NFL level, wasn't good enough to go below 7th overall. It's because he was a risk pick. In that way they stand side by side perfectly. Both only started a year and both had people wondering what more experience would have done for them.

11.5 sacks for a guy playing all his life is great - 4.5 sacks for a guy who plays his first football ever against college level opposition is great. They both did great things at different stages of their development. Ziggy is at the beginng, Aldon was at the end.
 
Aldon didn't start playing until his junior year of high school. Undoubtedly he was unfinished product coming out of Mizzou, especially after playing on a bad leg as a sophomore, but he'd shown significantly more pass rush potential than Ansah.
 
Good job on the tape mate.

Ofcourse what we see there is better than Ansah. Again, I am not trying to say Ansah is as good as the best pass rusher in the NFL, and a guy who is on track to be a first ballot hall of famer if he keeps this production up. Simply that he was a risk because he hadn't played a few years. Just the one like Ansah.

Watching this doesn't really change that. I don't see the monster that he is today in these clips, but I do see a guy with crazy upside. I'll not check it out either, but I am guessing that's a career day. What Aldon has done in his short career is amazing. It's nothing against what he did in this game and his college career, but everything towards his continued development, and that is where I hope Ansah can go as well.

After watching that, I see shades of him in Ansah. Aldon chasing down the mobile QB is uncanny. Having the awareness to be ready to smack down the pass. Chasing down the completed pass downfield. The high motor. The way he plays when he is well blocked. It's very Ansah-ish. The area where Aldon kicks the shit out of Ansah is what you mentioned - The different ways in which he can get back there. Ansah doesn't have those moves in his arsenal, but the caveat of my love for him, is I think he doesn't have those moves YET. I think he can develop them.

It's an odd one for me. I understand how badshit crazy it is to compare 1) how raw Ansah is compared to how raw Aldon was and 2) How good Aldon is compared to how good Ansah is. In my eyes they are similar prospects at very different stages. However, junior year of highschool is about 3 years before this was taped, right? (Sorry, we do completely different grades here and I am not sure how it runs or varies in the US) So I wonder how good Ansah could have been if he'd started as a junior in high school and then played on. Ansah didn't get starting reps at DE until last offseason and only started that one single year but did some really impressive things.

As for all the moves, we don't see them in first year starters. Not only to learn them but to be confident enough to use them in matches takes longer. Especially when Ziggy didn't need them to be productive. He could have been more productive, but his development to be good did not require that kind of coaching.

I haven't watched Aldon's college tape in a long time, but from that one I didn't see him doubled the way Ziggy was in every tape he has. Again, not Aldon's fault, but where could Ziggy have gone with more solo blocking?

This is what I like to see. A rookie who I can say "Okay, not as good as the best, but he has his moments and a tonne of room to grow as a player. So do we have the team to develop that growth?" and my answer to all of the above is yes.

I doubt Ziggy will ever be Aldon Smith. I doubt anyone will be Aldon Smith for a very, very long time just as it's been a very, very long time (If ever) since anyone has done what Aldon has done. But you don't stop taking players just because they won't be. I think he could be very, very good and evolve in to the kind of disruptive player I want to see on the roster.

If Ziggy had shown the moves we're talking about he'd be far too good for us to draft at our spot. But if we can teach him those moves then it's a mighty blessing that he didn't have it all to begin with.
 
Daniel Jeremiah did some tweets about Ansah's Senior Bowl tape getting some 3-4 teams pretty excited. He was actually better in the clear where he could see and attack.

I think Dion Jordan is the has-it-all pick for the Browns (has played the position, freaky upside), but Jarvis Jones, Mingo, and Ziggy are in the conversation.

Oh, and Geno Smith.
 
Bumping my own thread because Ziggy KILLED it at the senior bowl and now the combine. Doesn't get much better.

He ran a 4.62 40 at 6'5" - 271 pounds. Impressed in linebacker workouts including coverage. Watching some of it now and he is drawing mad hype. Take him for fuck sakes, Lombardi!
 
Good on you, BDU, because he was the story of the Combine after being the story of the Senior Bowl. He's raw but he's risin'. Right now, I'd say Dion Jordan and Ziggy have to be at the top of the Browns board. Jarvis Jones pending their sense on his medical.
 
Top Bottom