2014 NFL Draft Notes: Cody Latimer, David Fales
Cody Latimer speaks at the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
Indiana Hoosiers product Cody Latimer has been one of the fastest risers in the pre-draft process, and the amount of interest he has received is pretty ridiculous. Once projected as a third-round pick, Latimer is now a lock as a second-round pick, and there are rumors that a team like the Philadelphia Eagles or Seattle Seahawks could take a mulligan on his physical tools and pick him up in the first round of the draft.
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According to the Sacramento Bee’s Matt Barrows, the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock stated that he thinks Latimer is a second-round pick who has considerable upside, but he stated that the wideout struggled against press coverage. Latimer does an excellent job of winning on jump balls and boxing out defenders, and there’s no doubt that he has an elite size-speed combination. That said, he isn’t good enough at gaining separation or polished enough to take in the first, so he makes sense as a sure second-round pick. In a way, Latimer reminds me of a poor man’s Mike Evans and a Kelvin Benjamin with better hands.
David Fales is a quarterback prospect I fell in love with while watching tape during the 2013 offseason, and I think he could even be a starting quarterback in the right situation. That said, he doesn’t have good arm strength at all, and that undoes his excellent work under pressure, accuracy, and ability to hit precise timing routes.
Mayock stated that he thinks Fales is a fourth or fifth-round pick who could be a “backup for a decade”, and that’s an evaluation that’s similar to what most people think. I like Fales more than most people, and I think he’s worth a third-round pick. Fales looks like an excellent future backup who could possibly make it as a stopgap starter, and I think he could have a career similar (or better than) to Brian Hoyer’s.