[GTripp0012]

Before we crap all over Branch, lets remember that we haven't had any combine numbers or concrete game film tendencies that make us think he won't be a great player. His draft stock is being lowered by the opinion of select individuals--certainly an inherently flawed process.

Branch is suffering in many ways from a stereotype that all obese players are lazy. The film probably caught him taking a few plays off, but this isn't surprising, I think all D lineman are prone to taking a play off every now and then. It's a physicially exausting position, and a game is long. I'm not excusing or advising it, but just saying that everybody does it.

I don't think game film can show how often a guy rests in comparision to another, because some guys are better at making it look normal.

So what we have in Alan Branch is a guy who can, at times, physically dominate a game on the interior. What we have in Okoye is a guy who can physically dominate on the interior. Well, the draft process is inherently risky. There's no way to know until you get both of them out on the practice field at the same time who has the better "motor."

When studying film, it doesn't matter WHY a guy gets beat, because chances are that the guy who gets beat more at the college level will also get beat more at the pro level. Poor scouting tries to justify the result as a lack of effort, or an inconsistency, etc...

The Skins are obligated to pick the guy of the two they feel would be a better pick assuming they both pan out. There's no such thing as a "safe pick" on the defensive line, because all the data you collect is either observational or subjective. You have 4 years of film on Okoye compared to only 3 on Branch. That's the difference. Any observations made on Okoye from film are going to be more concrete than observations made on Branch.

Outside of that, it's simply drafting the guy who we think can best help the team.