Interesting Hybrid DE/OLB Visiting Jets This Friday.......Thoughts?

[Jets2013]

Rex has made references to standing Coples up and since we are looking (hopefully) at a guy like Jarvis Jones as our pass rushing OLB specialist what about the concept of drafting a versatile player later in draft big enough and strong enough to play 3-4 DE but also fast enough and athletic enough to play OLB?  

 

This guy is scheduled for a visit to Jets this week.  Might be available late in draft.  NFL Network Senior Analysts have now projected him 4th round but have seen other draft gurus saying he could go as late as 6th.  Watch this kid's pro day tape!  Hes a crazy looking athlete!  272 lbs he runs a 4.67 40. with quick feet good hips.  Its hard not to be impressed with the athleticism and agility of this dude.  Watch him do his drills on this tape.  Super fast for a big man and has motor.  

 

Although he strikes me as a 4-3 DE he has been invited in for pre draft visits with Eagles Packers and Saints who are working him out as a 3-4 pass rushing OLB.  Averaged 1.2 sacks a game his senior year and he benched 33 reps with a 37.5 vertical on his pro day!  I like his value and potential upside.  Way better draft value than a guy like Margus Hunt and faster & more agile than Coples.  Both Ryan brothers obviously like him enough to invite him in before draft.  What do you guys think?  Local product grew up in NY a jet fan and won Ivy League Player Of The Year at Princeton. 

 

 

[JoeC36]

I dont know enough about him to formulate an opinion one way or the other. BUT, 1.5 sacks a game in the Ivy League doesn't impress me. Nor does he being a local guy make me want him. 

[#27TheDominator]

He's an interesting prospect, but I'm not sure how he's a better value than Hunt.  If he were a better value he'd be picked higher.  They are both very interesting.  I kind of think of this guy as a poor man's Chris Long for some reason.

[slats]

Haven't seen you in a while Mrs. Catapano. How are you?

[BroadwayJoe12]

He is extremely stiff in the hips, difficult time bending around the edge, isn't fluid in space, but he is a physical specimen, which is why he'll go exactly where he's projected, the later rounds or undrafted.  Would not be upset at all to spend a 6th or 7th rounder on the guy, but anything higher is asking too much. 

 

Also, are you his friend who grew up with him?? Or just someone from his hometown that knows how good of a kid he is? For the record, I could care less how nice his family is; he could be the biggest gang-banging douche on the block so long as he keeps his ass out of trouble or jail and shows up to work on the field.

[Jets2013]

He's an interesting prospect, but I'm not sure how he's a better value than Hunt.  If he were a better value he'd be picked higher.  They are both very interesting.  I kind of think of this guy as a poor man's Chris Long for some reason.

 

Small school label is strike against him and is what drops his value.  But Chuck Smith who trained Osi Unemyoura and Albert Hanesworth and other pro bowl D Lineman trained Catapano before this off season and said he is a 1st round talent who will be a dominant NFL player.  Was called the best DE on his team at East West Shrine Game by East head coach Jerry Glanville.  His trainer pre draft trainer Rich Sadiv (who also trained Chris Long) says Catapano is bigger, stronger and faster than Long.  Small school thing will drop him to 4th round or lower but that could be pretty cool pick up.   Guy could be the steal of the draft if what these guys says holds true.  Not sure he fits in our Defensive scheme however.  But apparently us and other 3-4 teams are interested.

[#27TheDominator]

Kids a real prospect, not a joke. 

 

He is extremely stiff in the hips, difficult time bending around the edge, isn't fluid in space, but he is a physical specimen, which is why he'll go exactly where he's projected, the later rounds or undrafted.  Would not be upset at all to spend a 6th or 7th rounder on the guy, but anything higher is asking too much. 

 

Also, are you his friend who grew up with him?? Or just someone from his hometown that knows how good of a kid he is? For the record, I could care less how nice his family is; he could be the biggest gang-banging douche on the block so long as he keeps his ass out of trouble or jail and shows up to work on the field.

 

Oh, you just like gang-bangs.

[joewilly12]

This kid is the real deal. Hes under the radar.

[Jets2013]

I started a topic about him in febuary on here after seeing a bunch of stuff on him from another draft site and people ripped me apart on here saying he wasnt a real prospect.  But here we are in April and NFL Network Analyst i heard on serius radio said he was a 4th rounder.  We are one of many teams both 3-4 and 4-3 inviting him in.  I think i read 8 team invites pre draft.  Personally i see him more as a prototypical 4-3 DE but I assume there is a reason we are bringing him in.   Only people saying negative things are people who dont know him.  Coaches trainers around him all say he incredibly undervalued.  So who knows.  

[hotcoles87]

Big, strong, fast, smart, productive, and I'll go out on a limb and assume he's hard working and takes to coaching well since he's a Princeton guy.  What's not to like about a kid like this?  No chance in hell he goes undrafted.  If we had a chance at him in the 5th, I would absolutely pull the trigger.

[T0mShane]

I've got a funny story about Mike Catapano. I was in this bar near Franklin Park once, just hanging out watching a Mets game. Of course, they were losing, but then again they always lost. This was last year. August. It was a rough time; a bad time, and I was in this bar (Kelly's? Kiley's?), and the bartender girl was missing a bicuspid, which I liked because any barmaid missing a tooth is gonna fill your glass quickly, with no bullsh*t. Hot bartenders--pretty girls--they never fill your glass on time, figuring that getting to stare at their t!ts is reward enough. But I like a full glass of beer, ya see. But, like I said, it was a tough time besides and the Mets were losing and the bartender, with her gap-toothed smile, was filling my glass a lot that day. It wasn't all bad. Jon Neise was pitching and he didn't give a f^ck. and it was Bryce Harper (that goddamn cocky kid from the Nationals...he was 19! Are you kidding me?), anyway, Harper hit a homer and the door opened and this giant son of a bitch walked on in and sits right next to me. Twenty empty seats in this place and he has to sit next to me? Some people ain't got no couth. F#ck it, I said. Just watch the game, I said. This plan--the watching the game plan-- lasted another minute before this giant leans over and asks me if I have any weed. I laughed and told him no. If he wasn't so huge, I'da told him to go f#ck himself, but I thought better of it. The bar's name was O'Keefe's. I remember it now because the bartender's name was Sally. (It's funny what you remember). Anyway, Sally filled my glass again, then she looks at the giant and says "Hi, Mike," but she does it scared, like she's talking to a dog that bit her once. The giant--Mike--said back to her, one word, he said "Jäger," and slapped a five-spot on the bartop. Sally doesn't argue and she gives him the shot and he downs it and she fills it again from the bottle in her left hand (all good barmaids are lefties), and Mike downs it again, and they go one more time like this before Sally turns and walks to the ladies room in the back of this empty dive, the bottle still in her hand. "She's a bitch," he tells me, unprovoked. I don't answer. Lover's quarrel, I figure. Stay out of lover's quarrels. Then he asks me, "You ever had your heart broken?" He was sincere in the asking, like he really wanted to know, so I answered him: "Sure," I said. "Who hasn't?" And he starts crying. This big palooka, next to me, crying. "Sally break your heart?" I ask. I don't really care at all, and I wasn't sincere, but this guy was ruining my drinking. Jayson Werth hit a homer off of that piece of garbage Jon Rausch, goddamn 6 foot 10 inch bastard. "Sally? No. F#ck Sally. It was...somebody else. Somebody..." It quickly became apparent that Giant Mike was talking about a man, otherwise he would have said "some bitch," or "some c#nt," but instead he said, "somebody." Now, I got no problem with the gays. Gays are alright with me because everyone's alright with me as long as they don't f#ck up my drinking and as long as they don't give up any more f#cking homers to god damn prick Nats players. I heard a toilet flush and a door open and Sally came back over and filled my glass and I was glad for it because Big Mike was crying still and Sally gave him a glass of water, which he drank quickly before bouncing the glass off the bar and onto the floor. Sally yelled at him for it. David Wright hit a sac fly for all the good that it did. Mike yelled back at Sally and my glass was empty so I said to Mike that he should go home and lie down and forget all about this...somebody...before he did something stupid. And then he punched me clean across the cheek and knocked me across the room and onto my back. What a great, great punch. It's how I always imagined Jake Barnes got whacked in the first paragraph of The Sun Also Rises, but he cracked my incisor into four little pieces and I laughed. What was that guy's name? Cohen? I looked up at Sally who came to rescue me and I laughed again, this time at myself, for comparing her (in my head) to Brett Ashley. Cohn. Robert Cohn who was a boxing champ from...Princeton. Ain't life funny. Sally picked me up and I swung back onto my barstool and Big Mike was still standing there and his eyes were red from all the crying he did earlier. Me and Sally together couldn't stop him from doing anything he wanted to do, so we just watched him for a quiet minute until he sat back down next to me. I waved at Sally, calming her down, and she nodded and put glasses of water in front of us both. He was crying again, quietly. "I'm so alone, he said." I drank my water. "I'm sorry I punched you," he said. I told him it was alright, and that I been punched a lot in my time. He laughed. Then he asked me if I had any pills and I said no. And then he asked me if I could hold him, and I said no. My teeth hurt. The game ended, 7-2 Nats and David Wright was doing his fake glum post-game routine. "I'm Mike Catapano and I'm gonna be in the NFL, you know," he said. I told him that was grand. And he leaned in one more time and asked me if I wanted my d%ck sucked by an NFL player, and I said, "no." And then he got up and left and Sally smiled at me and I could see her missing tooth.

[dbatesman]

I've got a funny story about Mike Catapano. I was in this bar near Franklin Park once, just hanging out watching a Mets game. Of course, they were losing, but then again they always lost. This was last year. August. It was a rough time; a bad time, and I was in this bar (Kelly's? Kiley's?), and the bartender girl was missing a bicuspid, which I liked because any barmaid missing a tooth is gonna fill your glass quickly, with no bullsh*t. Hot bartenders--pretty girls--they never fill your glass on time, figuring that getting to stare at their t!ts is reward enough. But I like a full glass of beer, ya see. But, like I said, it was a tough time besides and the Mets were losing and the bartender, with her gap-toothed smile, was filling my glass a lot that day. It wasn't all bad. Jon Neise was pitching and he didn't give a f^ck. it was after Bryce Harper (that goddamn cocky kid from the Nationals...he was 19! Are you kidding me?), anyway, Harper hit a homer and the door opened and this giant son of a bitch walked and sits next to me. Twenty empty seats in this place and he has to sit next to me? Some people ain't got no couth. F#ck it, I said. Just watch the game, I said. This plan--the watching the game plan-- lasted another minute before the giant leans over and asks me if I have any weed. I laughed and told him no. If he wasn't so huge, I'da told him to go f#ck himself, but I thought better of it. The bar's name was O'Keefe's. I remember it now because the bartender's name was Sally. (It's funny what you remember). Anyway, Sally filled my glass again, then she looks at the giant and says "Hi, Mike," but she does it scared, like she's talking to a dog that bit her once. The giant--Mike--said back to her, one word, he said "Jäger," and slapped a five-spot on the bartop. Sally doesn't argue and she gives him the shot and he downs it and she fills it again from the bottle in her left hand (all good barmaids are lefties), and Mike downs it again, and they go one more time like this before Sally turns and walks to the ladies room in the back of this empty dive with the bottle still in her hand. "She's a bitch," he tells me, unprovoked. I don't answer. Lover's quarrel, I figure. Stay out of lover's quarrels. Then he asks me, "You ever had your heart broken?" He was sincere in the asking, like he really wanted to know, so I answered him: "Sure," I said. "Who hasn't?" And he starts crying. This big palooka, next to me, crying. "Sally break your heart?" I ask. I don't really care at all, and I wasn't sincere, but this guy was ruining my drinking. Jayson Werth hit a homer off if that piece of garbage Jon Rausch, goddamn 6 foot 10 inch bastard. "Sally? No. F#ck Sally. It was...somebody else. Somebody..." It quickly became apparent that Giant Mike was talking about a man, otherwise he would have said "some bitch," or "some c#nt," but instead he said, "somebody." Now, I got no problem with the gays. Gays are alright with me because everyone's alright with me as long as they don't f#ck up my drinking and as long as they don't give up any more f#cking homers to god damn prick Nats players. I heard a toilet flush and a door open and Sally came back over and filled my glass and I was glad for it because Big Mike was crying still and Sally gave him a glass of water, which he drank quickly before bouncing the glass off the bar and onto the floor. Sally yelled at him for it. David Wright hit a sac fly for all the good that it did. Mike yelled back at Sally and my glass was empty so I said to Mike that he should go home and lie down and forget all about this...somebody...before he did something stupid. And then he punched me clean across the cheek and knocked me across the room and onto my back. What a great, great punch. It's how I always imagined Jake Barnes got whacked in the first paragraph of The Sun Also Rises, but he cracked my incisor into four little pieces and I laughed. What was that guy's name? Cohen? I looked up at Sally who came to rescue me and I laughed again, this time at myself, for comparing her (in my head) to Brett Ashley. Cohn. Robert Cohn who was a boxing champ from...Princeton. Ain't life funny. Sally picked me up and I swung back onto my barstool and Big Mike was still standing there and his eyes were red from all the crying he did earlier. Me and Sally together couldn't stop him from doing anything he wanted to do, so we just watched him for a quiet minute until he sat back down next to me. I waved at Sally, calming her down, and she nodded and put glasses of water in front of us both. He was crying again, quietly. "I'm so alone, he said." I drank my water. "I'm sorry I punched you," he said. I told him it was alright, and that I been punched a lot in my time. He laughed. Then he asked me if I had any pills and I said no. And then he asked me if I could hold him, and I said no. My teeth hurt. The game ended, 7-2 Nats and David Wright was doing his fake glum post-game routine. "I'm Mike Catalpano and I'm gonna be in the NFL, you know," he said. I told him that was grand. And he leaned in one more time and asked me if I wanted my d%ck sucked by an NFL player, and I said, "no." And then he got up and left and Sally smiled at me and I could see her missing tooth.

Holy sh*t. Yes yes yes.

[SenorGato]

T0m just Jordan'd. So this really happened?

[Il Mostro]

Tom is getting positively Bukowski-esque.

[Greenseed4]

My girlfriend knows Sally.

[#27TheDominator]

Least believable story ever.  T0m turn down getting his d%ck sucked by a 270 pound man? 

[SenorGato]

Here's the part  that annoyed me in that post:

 

The bar's name was O'Keefe's. I remember it now because the bartender's name was Sally. (It's funny what you remember)

 

Cliche a$$hole

[hotcoles87]

Please call into the NFL Network and tell that story word for word. Better yet, make the player Bjorn Werner, and change the bar to the Hoffbrau House. 

 

Missing bicuspid- hysterical!

[bitonti]

there's not enough rep in the forum for that post 

 

at the risk of being "that guy" to try to veer this post back to football, Catapano is not any kind of linebacker. He actually fits better with the Giants. Both them and Jets can both bring him in "for free" because he's local and doesn't count against the 30 visits. maybe a late day 3 draft pick, maybe undrafted. 

[jorge o8]

ok if he is good check out Cornelius Washignton. from Georgia  he ran a 4.53, vertical 39 and benched 36 and a broad od 10.8 this guy is a real hybrid a 4th, if lucky a 5th

[SayNoToDMC]

Somebody just moved way up my draft board

[BroadwayJoe12]

Oh, you just like gang-bangs.

[BurnleyJet]

Looks like T0m as found one of the NFL four gays before he's even Drafted.

[stoicsentry]

WTF? This dude looks craaaaaazy... looks built like a pro-wrestler but also fast as hell. How did he only average 1.5 sacks/game for a team like Princeton?

[Jets2013]

there's not enough rep in the forum for that post 

 

at the risk of being "that guy" to try to veer this post back to football, Catapano is not any kind of linebacker. He actually fits better with the Giants. Both them and Jets can both bring him in "for free" because he's local and doesn't count against the 30 visits. maybe a late day 3 draft pick, maybe undrafted. 

 

I agree that he is a better fit for the Giants 100%.  Giants could use a back up/replacement for an aging Tuck who  isn't what he once was.   I posed the question because it is very interesting that many 3-4 teams are looking at him as an OLB.   Saints, Eagles and Packers are all 3-4.  Better than standing up Coples.  Who knows what Rex has in mind.  He is a master of disguises and his brother's team gave Catapano an official invite, he isnt local there.  But seems more like a 4-3 DE to me.  And I also agree he goes on day 3.  UDFA?   nah, no way.  Even NFLDraftScout who had him at 28th the last few months now bumped him up to #17.  Too much upside to not take a chance on him on day 3

[Sperm Edwards]

We should totally take him #9 overall.  Maybe even give up our 2nd rounder to trade up a couple of slots to make sure no one steals him from us.

[Jets2013]

WTF? This dude looks craaaaaazy... looks built like a pro-wrestler but also fast as hell. How did he only average 1.5 sacks/game for a team like Princeton?

 

He is an insane athlete, this much is for certain!  Over a sack a game is impressive on any level.  Jarad Allen had similar numbers in his senior college season and slipped to the end of the 4th round.  Small School guys just dont get drafted high...too much risk due to lack of game film against top tier competition.  If Catapano was SEC and had similar #s he is top 15 pick.  No GM will risk their job taking him very high in case he doesnt work out, but as a day 3 sleeper this kid is a no brainer.  Just not sure about in a 3-4 D

[Jets2013]

We should totally take him #9 overall.  Maybe even give up our 2nd rounder to trade up a couple of slots to make sure no one steals him from us.

 

oh ya.  great idea.      

[Sperm Edwards]

He is an insane athlete, this much is for certain!  

 

Tim Tebow is also a great athlete.

[Jets2013]

Tim Tebow is also a great athlete.

 

okay.....true.  An athlete who if was given a shot may have saved us the humiliation of the butt fumble and gotten us more than 6 wins.  Something to be said for great athletes.  Just saying 

[#27TheDominator]

More than 6 wins = Savior!