Meet your new OLB - Tanner McEvoy, Wisconsin

Well this years draft is a bad year for LB's, so we Seahawks draftniks need to turn over every stone to find one. Wisconsin athlete Tanner McEvoy is a player to consider. burgers_59 mentioned him in his mock draft and someone else on here brought up McEvoy's name during this past college football season.

Tanner McEvoy is 6-6 231 lbs, he played QB, WR, and FS at Wisconsin. He was a running QB, but was never really a starter as a QB. McEvoy played some WR, but only had 10 career receptions. It was FS where he was most effective. His career stats as a FS are 74 tackles, 3 TFL's, 7 Int's, 10 PBU's, and 1 sack. McEvoy is fast for his size, he looks like a 4.55 40-yard kind of speed and he looks fairly fluid in his movements.

With his size and attributes, I am really intrigued to see what he could do as a OLB for us. He would need to put on about 10 lbs to play LB, but he has the frame to where that should not be a problem. He has the experience of covering WR, so he should be able to cover TE's. I like the fact that he was recently a QB so I would imagine that would give him a bit of an advantage as a defensive player.


The clip below is his highlights of his career at Wisconsin, on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball...

[youtube]C4ojKBcmAWQ[/youtube]

[youtube]4G4At6DqMvc[/youtube]

I like Tanner because of one reason this is a guy who was willing to change his position to w/e would get him on the field and in fact play multiple positions during the year. I'm not exactly sure how that will translate at an NFL level but he is an interesting pick in the 6th or 7th.

That is surprisingly productive for not only switching positions but also switching offense to defense. I like it.

Can he play O-Line as well?

Hell we should draft him just for Chancellor insurance. There's no guarantee he's not going to be a pain in the ass again.

A 6'6", 230 pound athlete. He runs between 4.7 and 5.7. Instead of OLB, what about SS? He has good instincts and ball skills on his video. He obviously wouldn't have the intimidation factor like Kam but he looks like he could be pretty effective with those physical traits. He'd provide quite a bit of versatility if we drafted him.

Doesn't look like there is any reason to bulk him up and lose that playmaking ability. Looks like a great athlete.

I'm a Badgers fan & would love it if the Hawks took a flier on Tanner. Nice find OP!

BBlades89":28f07z73 said:

I'm a Badgers fan & would love it if the Hawks took a flier on Tanner. Nice find OP!

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As long as they don't take one on Stave I'll be happy

randomation":mvi359o9 said:

BBlades89":mvi359o9 said:

I'm a Badgers fan & would love it if the Hawks took a flier on Tanner. Nice find OP!

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As long as they don't take one on Stave I'll be happy

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haha, I completely agree!

Yeah... I'm really really liking this kid. He's all over the place. Getting a real Polamalu vibe off him. One of those guys that might not fit into any category specifically, but he can just make plays, regardless of how you use him or where you put him. I think you have to take a shot on a guy that can produce at QB, WR, safety, nickel and LB for a program like Wisconsin. That's just an amazing football player. Some people are born to play and this is one of them.

Interesting player. For sure he's likely to be a high SPARQ athlete and likely on Jn'Ps radar. They love players like this who have versatility. Nice find.

At present he's listed as a TE @ a few draft sites even though he's played mostly as a S in college along with QB, & WR. Perhaps he's truly a sleeper b/c he's really more an 'athlete' than a player with a position. I wonder if he's got them rep as a thumper b/c if so that might indicate he could switch to being an OLB. Maybe the Badgers fans could comment.

jammerhawk":2ge8qcpo said:

Interesting player. For sure he's likely to be a high SPARQ athlete and likely on Jn'Ps radar. They love players like this who have versatility. Nice find.

At present he's listed as a TE @ a few draft sites even though he's played mostly as a S in college along with QB, & WR. Perhaps he's truly a sleeper b/c he's really more an 'athlete' than a player with a position. I wonder if he's got them rep as a thumper b/c if so that might indicate he could switch to being an OLB. Maybe the Badgers fans could comment.

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He is an amazing athlete he just wasn't a great qb and we didn't have the setup in place for a spread system. He had a bunch of picks as an FS after having never played it and along with Caputo played a huge role in one of the top Ds in the country. Honestly he could slot in pretty much anywhere I kind of like the idea of him as OLB/Kam Insurance. He isn't a bone rattling hitter but he is fast and has good cover skills and pretty darn good hands. If he had played at FS all 4 years I think he could have been a 3rd round pick or higher. He is a natural athlete and picks up concepts incredibly quickly in one game he had a sack, a pick and ran for a score. It's possible he could end up being a huge steal if he can live up to his athletic potential and actually play one position rather than getting constantly moved around

randomation":1zgfmj5l said:

jammerhawk":1zgfmj5l said:

Interesting player. For sure he's likely to be a high SPARQ athlete and likely on Jn'Ps radar. They love players like this who have versatility. Nice find.

At present he's listed as a TE @ a few draft sites even though he's played mostly as a S in college along with QB, & WR. Perhaps he's truly a sleeper b/c he's really more an 'athlete' than a player with a position. I wonder if he's got them rep as a thumper b/c if so that might indicate he could switch to being an OLB. Maybe the Badgers fans could comment.

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He is an amazing athlete he just wasn't a great qb and we didn't have the setup in place for a spread system. He had a bunch of picks as an FS after having never played it and along with Caputo played a huge role in one of the top Ds in the country. Honestly he could slot in pretty much anywhere I kind of like the idea of him as OLB/Kam Insurance. He isn't a bone rattling hitter but he is fast and has good cover skills and pretty darn good hands. If he had played at FS all 4 years I think he could have been a 3rd round pick or higher. He is a natural athlete and picks up concepts incredibly quickly in one game he had a sack, a pick and ran for a score. It's possible he could end up being a huge steal if he can live up to his athletic potential and actually play one position rather than getting constantly moved around

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I watch McEvoy and I can see how a lot of teams would peg him as an athlete without any real role, therefore labeling him an amazing athlete, but I see an amazing football player. Amazing athletes get used situationally at different spots on a team based on situational circumstances. They're gimmick players that are used to create mismatches. Amazing football players get put in as starters at different spots on a team like Wisconsin based on where the team is weakest and needs them the most. I've never ever seen any player come out of a big program like Wisconsin that played QB, WR and Defense. His vision and feel for the game is off the charts. I see him being a lengthier more athletic version of Polamalu, a one of a kind player that's going to be a huge playmaker in the NFL.

If we weren't so pressed to address our lines, I'd shock the world and take him round 1. Their just isn't any other player in the draft like him. Versatility, football IQ, athleticism. He's the complete package. When PC and JS talk about looking for unique players that can completely change the way people think about the game and what you look for in a player, I think they're talking about Tanner McEvoy. I kind of write him off because of his hybrid size at a lean 6'6". He's a guy you have a really hard time projecting to a position, but I think he's a guy that can step in almost anywhere and redefine the position. He just has an absolutely incredible feel for the game and he has the athleticism to make teams pay if they're not accounting for him. Shock the world and take him in the 1st. I, honestly, wouldn't be upset. If their's a real dark horse pick in this draft, McEvoy is it.

ANother article on him

http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2015/11 ... oy-rutgers

I say draft him and play him all over the defense. Put him out like a safety, then have him rush the passer. I bet this is the type of guy Rex Ryan would love to have.

ivotuk":2e5huimm said:

ANother article on him

http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2015/11 ... oy-rutgers

I say draft him and play him all over the defense. Put him out like a safety, then have him rush the passer. I bet this is the type of guy Rex Ryan would love to have.

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The only thing I notice with McEvoy that I don't like is lack of physicality and his tackling ability. If he did a better job at working through the trash to make tackles and showed better form when he tackled; I'd like him a lot more. He has a habit of running around blockers, instead of working through blocks and that leads to him taking some bad angles at times. He also doesn't do a good job of squaring up with a wide base and staying low to put his shoulder in the bread basket and wrap up on the tackle. Stays narrow and dives into his tackles, instead of breaking down. Still one of my favorite prospects due to his unique size, athleticism and versatility, but his level of physicality on defense is a bit of a concern for me. Still... Love the ball skills he has and the feel for the game he has on offense and defense. Just needs to play with better physicality on defense, but in all fairness... He hasn't been playing defense long, so the problems I see with him on defense are likely correctable problems that he just hasn't really had a chance to work on.

Wisconsin's pro day is today btw not sure if it will broadcast anywhere but should get some measurements at least.

Wisconsin Pro Day Results:

40-yard dash
Alex Erickson: 4.54 seconds

Darius Hillary: 4.58

Tyler Marz: 5.41

Derek Watt: 4.76

Austin Traylor: 4.87

http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/coll ... 7e06b.html

Vert - 33.5

Broad - 9-9

Bench - 16 (225)

60 yd shuttle - 11.22

Three-cone drill - 6.84

Pro Agility - 4.25

No 40 as of yet, now the important thing pretty much all these numbers are on par with or better than Caputo who is 5 inches shorter

http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/coll ... 7e06b.html

KONZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!