Stephone Anthony Class

Whether you were excited about him as the pick or not, if you are a Saints fan you hoped for him. So far, all indications look very bad- at the best. In the middle of draft season I think we can all get better perspective by revisiting scouting reports on him.

nfl.com

DRAFT PROJECTION Round 2

"Between the two Clemson linebackers (Vic Beasley and Stephone Anthony), they really put on a show (at the combine). Beasley is going high."

WEAKNESSES Below average take-on skills. Plays with poor leverage when taking on blocks. Needs to improve hand usage and utilize better arm extension to keep blockers off him. Has tendency to side-step blocks and open run lanes. Can be mismatched by running backs down the field in passing game. Slow to process and recover against play-action. There are times he gets downhill without diagnosing first, creating bad angles to the ball against outside runs.

BOTTOM LINE Anthony showed off his athleticism this post season and now the question becomes whether he can play fast all the time as a pro. He tries to get downhill and make plays, but more often it feels like he's guessing rather than instinctive. If he can play with more control and play to his traits, he'll be a starting linebacker in the league.

cbs sports

STRENGTHS: Carries an ideal frame for an inside 'backer, with thickness through the middle and broad shoulders, and he exhibits the explosive downhill first step and feisty demeanor to be a strong contributor in the box. He diagnoses early and does a good job of putting himself in position to make plays between the tackles against the run, and will hold his own when asked to drop back in short zone and cover the middle against the pass. As a tackler, he does a good job of extending and wrapping up below the waist to finish plays, and he prides himself on laying the occasional wallop without sacrificing technique.
WEAKNESSES: Highly aggressive and will attack gaps, leaving cutback lanes for savvy runners to exploit. Just average lateral agility and sideline-to-sideline range, and he seems to take shallow angles against the run when the play goes to the outside. Too often relies on his burst to the ball and must show better pop on contact to disengage from blockers. He's stiff in the hips when asked to flip and redirect, so he'll waste some motion and take some time to get up to speed after making an adjustment, and thus far he hasn't shown "plus" coverage when asked to man up, flip and run with a tight end. Suspended for the first half of the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl due to a disputable targeting penalty against South Carolina.

OVERVIEW
...While Anthony's production, compact frame and aggression are impressive, he could be viewed as a bit of a 'tweener at the next level. Anthony does not possess ideal speed to beat backs to the sideline or the agility preferred in coverage, traits required of middle linebackers in a standard 4-3 alignment. Complicating his projection as a 3-4 inside linebacker is the fact that Anthony currently struggles to disengage from blockers, relying more on his burst to beat them initially or defensive linemen to keep him clean.

rotoworld

Clemson ILB Stephone Anthony is "athletic enough to be a three-down 'mike'", but "there's a little stiffness to him," an anonymous NFL scout told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"He's a willing hitter," a second scout said. "He doesn't quite show up with all the flashy play-making you would think for somebody who worked out and looked as good as he did. The physicality part is not a weakness." The MSJ noted that some scouts they spoke to said Anthony can play all three downs, while others disagreed. "Change of direction was a little bit of an issue," a third scout said. "But he's strong and can knock you back. He can run through gaps. I liked him. I didn't love him." Thu, Apr 30, 2015

Headline: Another Combine Star Bites The Dust? The selection was clearly a stretch at #31. They were betting they could develop his playing instincts with his superior athleticism. Hasn't happened. The weaknesses were clearly warned so that part of the scouting I can live with. The part that bothers me is the valuation. Glancing back at a few mocks I see him at #45, 61, 52, etc. Too much stretch. In the Payton era I think they more often have stretched rather than selecting a consensus valued player even when considering needs. Then they certainly have had a fair share of complete WTF picks.

Here's hoping for a Barnett/Lattimore with Harris/White/Melifonwu and not a QB/WR/RB with guys projected as 3rd Rdrs.