Jack Sanborn

[AZ54]

I think this discussion on Sanborn merits a new thread as we observe him over the next few games.  His stats were rather eye opening against Detroit. 

12 tackles, 9 solo.    2 sacks,  and we all know he had a legit INT the NFL called back.  

When we signed him as a UDFA I was certainly happy to have him on board.   Anyone here would have been very happy to see that stat line from Roquan.  We did see that against Houston and NE but there were some bad games in between.  To be fair for Sanborn this is also just one game but it did get me thinking if I had missed something about him.  Swift put up a video about Sanborn and showed his RAS.   Nobody gets too excited about a 4.73 forty time and it's no doubt part of what led him to go undrafted.  Look at his 10yd split of 1.65s.  That's not bad, it's not elite either but there's some quickness there. (Roquan 1.58s, Briggs 1.66s) 

Then you look at the bottom right corner with the shuttle and 3-cone are both listed as elite.   Roquan never ran those tests nor did Briggs.  I'll have to trust the RAS data set for LBs.  We know WRs with 3-cone times under 7s are typically better at getting separation.   Short area quickness is what makes Sanborn flash on the field.  He didn't get those times from the combine so I'll assume it's a pro day result which can sometimes be generous.  Even backed off a tenth those are good agility times. 

I originally pegged Sanborn as a SLB in this scheme, at least in the old Hillenmeyer role.  That was mostly just get into this gap on run downs and this area in zone coverage.  He appears to be more athletic than that and can handle a bigger role.  In fact his game speed appears faster than his timed speed.    

A couple other comparisons: 

Kwiatkoski who had almost identical forty times and splits (4.73s, 1.62s) but ran a 7.16s 3-cone

Darius Leonard:  4.7 forty,  1.69s 10yd split.    3-cone 7.37s at pro day    his broad jump were both elite indicating better explosion than the times.  

Is it possible we have our starting WLB of the future in Sanborn?   

 

 

[BearFan PHX]

I've got to admit, I've been thinking about Hillenmeyer and Kwitkowsi when I look at this Rudy who went undrafted. I was confident that he was too slow, and that offenses would just run a drag route receiver on him if he was in man. Maybe they still will.

But he undeniably flashed on the field in this scheme, and his heart and Rudy scores are off the chart. The short area quickness explains some of it. Him being a playmaker explains more. If he reads his keys 0.1s faster then average, then it's like he ran a tick faster in his 40.

This guy went undrafted. Wow. Let's see. He will be fun to root for.

And this, however short or long lived it is, is another feather in Poles' cap. These projects are starting to come out of the woodwork.

[Stinger226]

It's always nice when a UDFA plays well. He is the type that will play himself into a job. We need some cheap contracts to mix with the high salary players. That's the only way to make a roster work. Had a good as game as the 20 mil wanna be Roquan had all year.

[adam]

Sanborn should've been a late 4th to 6th rounder. How he went undrafted is beyond me. A sneaky great find for Poles.

Poles added to each position group: DE (Robinson), LB (Sanborn), CB (Gordon), and S (Brisker) and can do it again with DT and CB being the focus this upcoming draft.