Tatonka
04-30-2006, 12:55 AM
I will be honest here.. I was VERY happy when we took McCargo.. first off.. i was scared we were going justice, which i really didnt want, but more than that.. he was one of maybe 5 guys that i REALLY wanted from this draft and i will tell you why.
i think it was Wednesday of this past week, i was listening to serious radio, and Derrick Morris, who is the left tackle for NC State..was being interviewed by Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan.. they talked about his game and his past first, then they started asking the kid about Mario Williams and Manny Lawson.. they were asking them about their game.. what he thought, ect.. he went on about them and stated how he thought both were very good (went into some more detail obviously) and then made a point to mention McCargo.. he said that if he had to pick one of them, they thought that McCargo was the best lineman out of the entire group. he spoke about how fast he gets off the ball and how well he gets pressure. we went on about him for some time..
after i heard the interview, and then kirwans comments on how good he though McCargo was.. i just felt like he was the perfect fit for this team and this defense.. and i was just hoping we would get him.. i feel like we are luckey we did, and i dont think he would have been there in the 2nd.
by the way.. great article on McCargo...
http://insider.espn.go.com/NFL/insid...len&id=2382383
He isn't the most heralded defensive line prospect at North Carolina State, but tackle John McCargo, often overshadowed by the Wolfpack's heralded end tandem of Mario Williams and Manny Lawson, isn't quite an unknown, either, to NFL scouts.
McCargo's ascent up draft boards continued this week with a strong performance at the school's pro day workouts, and his audition certainly enhanced the chances that North Carolina State will have three defensive linemen selected in the first round next month. Williams, of course, is a sure bet, an edge player and upfield rusher regarded by many scouts as the premier defensive player in the draft. Lawson is also a pass-rush threat, an outside defender with great explosiveness and closing speed who might best project to linebacker in a 3-4 front.
John McCargo was an early-entry after playing three seasons at NC State.But the hard-working McCargo, who has fully recovered from a stress fracture in his left foot that sidelined him for five games in 2005, is definitely on the rise. Several scouts now list him as the third-best prospect at tackle, behind only Haloti Ngata of Oregon and Florida State's Brodrick Bunkley. And unlike those two, McCargo is more a one-gap player, capable of compressing the pocket from the inside.
"My game has always been about quickness," McCargo said shortly after a pro day workout in which he clocked a 4.94 in the 40. "I really didn't start playing football until the ninth grade and didn't get serious about it until around my junior year [in high school]. But I was a good baseball player and a pretty good basketball player, and some of the traits from those sports, like hand-eye coordination, things like that, kind of carried over onto the football field and helped me a lot."
Scouts agree that one of McCargo's strong suits is his effective use of his hands, often an oversight by young defenders. Watch him on tape, though, and McCargo's hand speed, and ability to get into a blocker's body, is nearly as impressive as his first step forward. That said, McCargo, an underclass prospect, still is very quick off the ball and keeps his feet moving nicely, even when engaged with an opponent.
At a shade under 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, McCargo isn't as bulky as some of the other tackle prospects in the 2006 draft class. But several franchises, particularly those seeking a one-gap tackle, have now moved him ahead of players such as Michigan's Gabe Watson, Miami's Orien Harris and Texas' Rodrique Wright. Two general managers asked this week about McCargo had him graded in the lower third of the first round, and acknowledged his stock is rising.
"He's a little different than most of the other [tackles]," one general manager said. "Different in a good sort of way because, if you want the upfield guy and not just the run stuffer, there aren't many tackles like him in this year's draft."
An Academic All-American, and an avid but late-blooming student of the game who is now trying to make up for lost time, McCargo understands that Williams and Lawson, flashier players who merit attention by putting the quarterback on the ground, are going to garner most of the headlines. But he understands, too, that there is a place in the NFL for a guy like himself, a hard-working tackle who has made himself into a player and who will soon reap the rewards.
"It never bothered me that people talked so much about Mario and Manny because, I mean, those guys are incredible players," McCargo said. "Playing out on the edge, making big plays in space, you're naturally going to be drawn to those guys. But I was doing some good things, too, inside, and I think the scouts who have done their homework understand that."
i think it was Wednesday of this past week, i was listening to serious radio, and Derrick Morris, who is the left tackle for NC State..was being interviewed by Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan.. they talked about his game and his past first, then they started asking the kid about Mario Williams and Manny Lawson.. they were asking them about their game.. what he thought, ect.. he went on about them and stated how he thought both were very good (went into some more detail obviously) and then made a point to mention McCargo.. he said that if he had to pick one of them, they thought that McCargo was the best lineman out of the entire group. he spoke about how fast he gets off the ball and how well he gets pressure. we went on about him for some time..
after i heard the interview, and then kirwans comments on how good he though McCargo was.. i just felt like he was the perfect fit for this team and this defense.. and i was just hoping we would get him.. i feel like we are luckey we did, and i dont think he would have been there in the 2nd.
by the way.. great article on McCargo...
http://insider.espn.go.com/NFL/insid...len&id=2382383
He isn't the most heralded defensive line prospect at North Carolina State, but tackle John McCargo, often overshadowed by the Wolfpack's heralded end tandem of Mario Williams and Manny Lawson, isn't quite an unknown, either, to NFL scouts.
McCargo's ascent up draft boards continued this week with a strong performance at the school's pro day workouts, and his audition certainly enhanced the chances that North Carolina State will have three defensive linemen selected in the first round next month. Williams, of course, is a sure bet, an edge player and upfield rusher regarded by many scouts as the premier defensive player in the draft. Lawson is also a pass-rush threat, an outside defender with great explosiveness and closing speed who might best project to linebacker in a 3-4 front.
John McCargo was an early-entry after playing three seasons at NC State.But the hard-working McCargo, who has fully recovered from a stress fracture in his left foot that sidelined him for five games in 2005, is definitely on the rise. Several scouts now list him as the third-best prospect at tackle, behind only Haloti Ngata of Oregon and Florida State's Brodrick Bunkley. And unlike those two, McCargo is more a one-gap player, capable of compressing the pocket from the inside.
"My game has always been about quickness," McCargo said shortly after a pro day workout in which he clocked a 4.94 in the 40. "I really didn't start playing football until the ninth grade and didn't get serious about it until around my junior year [in high school]. But I was a good baseball player and a pretty good basketball player, and some of the traits from those sports, like hand-eye coordination, things like that, kind of carried over onto the football field and helped me a lot."
Scouts agree that one of McCargo's strong suits is his effective use of his hands, often an oversight by young defenders. Watch him on tape, though, and McCargo's hand speed, and ability to get into a blocker's body, is nearly as impressive as his first step forward. That said, McCargo, an underclass prospect, still is very quick off the ball and keeps his feet moving nicely, even when engaged with an opponent.
At a shade under 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, McCargo isn't as bulky as some of the other tackle prospects in the 2006 draft class. But several franchises, particularly those seeking a one-gap tackle, have now moved him ahead of players such as Michigan's Gabe Watson, Miami's Orien Harris and Texas' Rodrique Wright. Two general managers asked this week about McCargo had him graded in the lower third of the first round, and acknowledged his stock is rising.
"He's a little different than most of the other [tackles]," one general manager said. "Different in a good sort of way because, if you want the upfield guy and not just the run stuffer, there aren't many tackles like him in this year's draft."
An Academic All-American, and an avid but late-blooming student of the game who is now trying to make up for lost time, McCargo understands that Williams and Lawson, flashier players who merit attention by putting the quarterback on the ground, are going to garner most of the headlines. But he understands, too, that there is a place in the NFL for a guy like himself, a hard-working tackle who has made himself into a player and who will soon reap the rewards.
"It never bothered me that people talked so much about Mario and Manny because, I mean, those guys are incredible players," McCargo said. "Playing out on the edge, making big plays in space, you're naturally going to be drawn to those guys. But I was doing some good things, too, inside, and I think the scouts who have done their homework understand that."