Scouting The Draft, Mardy Gilyard, WR Cincinnati
by David_Wyatt on Feb 12, 2010 7:06 AM EST
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Continuing with the theme of wide receivers today, we come to a player that I hear a lot of fans speak positively about, and it's not surprising. He really has some great talents, and everyone loves a player that can score every time he touches the ball, a little like Leon Washington.
Mardy Gilyard actually had his scholarship revoked for poor academic performance in 2006, it would be easy for him to find another school, one that doesn't put much emphasis on academics and continue his climb to the NFL. Instead he lived with friends and sometimes slept in his car while working to make enough money to re-enroll. Cincinnati were pleased that he did.
He took to becoming a student athlete instead of just an athlete and enjoyed a great career there, he won numerous honours for his work on special teams and offence.
During the Senior Bowl, Gilyard was one of the players that really stuck out in individual drills and work outs. He also went for 103 yards and a TD in the actual game.
"This game sums up everything, because I've been through all the hard work, all the ups and all the downs, the peaks and the valleys," said Gilyard, who eventually won back his scholarship. "I've been through everything. I've been from the brown sticky stuff at the bottom of the barrel to the cream at the top of the coffee."
The hard work is about to get harder for Gilyard.
Career Stats
2005- No receiving stats, 7 kicks returned for 176 yards
2006- (RS)
2007- 12 games played, 36 receptions, 536 yards, 3 TD. 7 PR for 50 yards, 8 KR for 213 yards
2008- 14 games played, 81 receptions, 1276 yards, 11 TD. 36 KR 994 yards, 2 TD's
2009- 13 games played, 87 receptions, 1191 yards, 11 TD's. 36 PR for 202 yards 1 TD. 42 KR 1281 yards, 2 TD's.
Career Awards & Achievement
2008 First Team All Big East
2009 First Team All Big East
2008 Big East Special Teams Player Of The Year
2009 Big East Special Teams Player Of The Year
2009 All American (AFCA-Coaches)
More after the jump
What does Gilyard Do Well?
Gilyard is explosive, he really is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Gets very good acceleration off the snap, and pushes hard off the line. Has very good hands, catches the ball away from the body, and can make adjustments on badly thrown footballs. Very elusive in space, uses his blockers well, waits for the play to develop before bursting through any openings. A reliable kick returner who has shown he can take it to the house. Can get good separation, can often find the soft sports in the zone to exploit. Doesn't hesitate in working over the middle, and can catch in traffic, has good instincts to find the hole.
What does Gilyard need to work on?
Gilyard needs to work on his route running, often struggles to get off the line against press coverage, doesn't use his hands enough to beat the jam, because of this his size/strength are more noticeable compared to someone like Shipley. Weighs in at just over 185lb's. Needs to work on his blocking, is average in college so will probably be poor in the NFL. Doesn't go up and get the ball, but will fight for it coming over the shoulder.
Final Word
Gilyard is most definitely a second round prospect, bottom of the 2nd as well, so if we did miss out on Shipley/Tate then taking Gilyard would be the next best thing. A very dangerous player, very explosive, like his toughness and his returning skills. Does have some durability concerns which worry me for a player who we will likely rely on to go over the middle. Nice player, would be happy to have him in the 2nd, if we can't bag Shipley. Is my 3rd choice for potential wide receiver selections behind Tate and Shipley.
Video Highlights
My Top 5 (In no particular order right now)
Jordan Shipely
Golden Tate
Perrish Cox
Jared Odrick
Brandon Graham
Other GGN Scouting Articles
Scouting The Draft, Arrelious Benn, WR, Illinois
Scouting The Draft, Jordan Shipley, WR, Texas
Scouting The Draft, Ricky Sapp, OLB, Clemson
Scouting The Draft, Chad Jones, S, LSU
Scouting The Draft, Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee
Scouting The Draft, Dominique Franks, CB, Oklahoma
Scouting The Draft, Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State
Scouting The Draft, Perrish Cox, CB, Oklahoma State
Scouting The Draft, Patrick Robinson, CB, Florida State
Scouting The Draft, Donovan Warren, CB,Michigan
Scouting The Draft, Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame
Scouting The Draft, Taylor Mays, S, USC
Scouting The Draft, Brandon Graham, Michigan
Scouting The Draft, Damian Williams
Scouting The Draft, Jared Odrick, DE, Penn State
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David, I love your analyses
But I’m not so sure about drafting WR’s in the first round. Not a big fan of it, especially not at the end of the first round… You’re paying first-round money for a WR that isn’t the absolute top of the class. Unless it’s someone like a Calvin Johnson or Michael Crabtree who is by far and away the elite WR of a class, I’m more for taking a guy, like Gilyard, at the end of the second round.
I would love to see Gilyard and Washington back returning kicks… could you imagine how scared crapless ST coordinators would be seeing that?
Our defense was the strong point this year, and I still think it needs the most help in the draft. I say we draft the best defensive player available with our first-rounder. I’m a big fan of Cox (har har har) and Odrick. I’m just not feeling Tate or Shipley.
We are gonna shock them with 5,000 mega watts of raw ROO POWER.
I’m not usually on the wide receiver bandwagon in the first round either. I actually would prefer to drop down into the 2nd. Say around the 5th pick in the 2nd round, that would give us two second round selections and bag us probably a 4th and 7th round selection. That way we can take Shipley and Cox in the 2nd, and a pass rush prospect in the 4th, a guy who won’t be expected to come in straight away. I think Ellis/Douglas/Pace/Thomas can do a job in 2009 as long as we have a pair of good corners.
So say:
First 2nd rounder- Shipley (his route running, hands, and elusiveness would fit us to a T)
Second 2nd rounder- Cox (Physical, aggressive, cover/run)
Fourth rounder- Corey Peters from Kentucky, nice prospect to give Rex
Fifth Rounder- Freddie Barnes from Bowling green
Sixth Rounder- David Pender from Purdue
Seventh rounder- Darius Marshall from Marshall
That’s something similar to how I would like the draft to go.
Writer/Assistant editor
Eternal optimist
New York Jets
Gang Green Nation
www.ganggreennation.com
can you do an analysis on freddie barnes some point down the road? the man had 155 receptions last season. bowling green or not thats impressive. he must be a hell of a route runner and have flawless hands. i have never seen him play and i know nothing about him besides his stats so why isnt he a top prospect?
Hey Joey. I only saw Freddie play twice last year, and he was extremely impressive to me. At best I have seen him going 3rd round, at worst, have seen him going in the 6th. Need to really look at him properly to try and understand why there is such a variation. From what I saw of him though he runs very crisp routes and has very safe hands, I think the lack of speed could be holding him back, he just isn’t a fast guy, by receiver standards he is actually pretty slow.
Writer/Assistant editor
Eternal optimist
New York Jets
Gang Green Nation
www.ganggreennation.com
I agree with your assessment: Shipley then Tate then Gilyard. The first two are just better receivers. I do love Gil’s return skills though. He’s explosive and gets vertical when he makes his cuts. Most guys fail in the return game bc they always try to use their speed to get around guys, IMO. Gil has already shown a knack for getting up field and past the first wave, and then running to daylight. Its a wonderful skill and will pay dividends in the NFL.
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