Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,854
- 0
Gutekunst pondered offers to trade both up and down but ultimately didn't want to pass on a top prospect at a crucial position of need, with the defense's second and third corners, Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan, playing on one-year deals in 2021.
In studying Stokes, Gutekunst saw a player who showed steady growth in the SEC, particularly against the highly touted receivers at national powers Alabama and LSU. Those two schools had three receivers taken in the top 10 Thursday night (Ja'Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith), with fellow SEC program Florida producing another receiver chosen in the top 20 (Kadarius Toney).
With that growth came confidence, which is combined with an athletic profile Gutekunst rated a standout combination of speed, strength and explosiveness. Stokes ran a pair of 40-yard dashes in sub-4.3 seconds at Georgia's pro day while displaying a physical game at the line of scrimmage on film.
All those traits make him a candidate to see the field right away as a rookie, though Gutekunst said it'll be up to the coaches to sort out how he fits amongst Alexander, King and Sullivan.
"I do think Eric's a pretty quick study, and I think he'll get in that mix somehow, some way, eventually … hopefully this season," Gutekunst said. "He's kind of a rare-talent athlete, and I think the mental part of our defense, once he masters that, I think he'll be able to contribute."
After choosing three defensive players in the first round of his first two drafts as GM in 2018 and '19, Gutekunst went back to defense in the first round this year to both add to a strong group and plan for the future.
"I think we're at the tipping point of being a dominant, dominant defense," he said.