akron4ever Posted January 29, 2016 Report Posted January 29, 2016 Long time lurker, first time poster. I thought my first thread should be about my favorite player in our program, Jamal Marcus. He is an absolute beast, and showed us why Urban Meyer was enamored with his talent and had a hard time keeping him off the field even while playing behind two Top 5 NFL talents (Bosa and Spence). As much as I love Jatavis, I wouldn't be surprised to see Marcus become the better NFL player, and Akron's highest drafted player ever next year. By next season I'm assuming he will be about 250 lb, and is the prototypical NFL 3-4 OLB. It's almost scary to think of what his ceiling could be IMO. I'm sure most of us saw the Pro Football Focus link that had him as the 2nd- best pass rusher of all Non P5 schools, and I'm sure he would have been first easily if he played the Savannah State/Louisiana-Monroe games. Just for some context, going into our bowl game he had a +36.6 grade, while Jatavis had a +36.5. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/12/11/pffs-non-power-5-dream-team-best-players-at-every-position/ I really respect the way he came here after his last game was starting on one of the biggest stages on CFB (Orange Bowl), put in his dues while he sat out for a year, did everything the right way, produced on the field, and is coming back for his senior year. He even played the Oklahoma and Pitt games with a partially torn groin, and refused to let the coaches sit him until it finally was unbearable. He overcame some adversity during the season (as our whole team did) by eliminating his bad offsides penalties, and he didn't get a single penalty the last 5 games. Cheers to our lone returning All-MAC player, our best player in the program, and CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND! 1 Quote
LZIp Posted January 29, 2016 Report Posted January 29, 2016 Thanks for joining and hopefully you continue to contribute. Marcus is an absolute beast and I agree with just about everything you've said. As good of a talent as he is, I do feel like he had some character issues (on the field) for the 1st half of the season, but thought he eliminated those as the season went on. Hopefully it stays that way, because he is expected to be the leader of the D next season. Looking forward to big things from him in 2015. The Fackrell kid from USU was the lone higher graded pass rusher for G5 teams and he will almost certainly go in the 2nd round, potentially late 1st round. Quote
Dr Z Posted January 29, 2016 Report Posted January 29, 2016 Welcome. Love the link provided. I'm a big believer in pff's grading system. I would love to see the entire team's grading. That link is loaded with MAC talent. Image from the Buchtelite: Quote
Blue & Gold Posted January 29, 2016 Report Posted January 29, 2016 Welcome to ZipsNation akron4ever, and great post! I agree that Jamal Marcus is a absolute beast! He has a chance to be MAC Defensive POTY next season. Like you mentioned above, I love Marcus' attitude. Starting for OSU in the Orange Bowl & then coming to Akron - he's still played his heart out & if you look through many of the GoZips.com game day photo albums, whenever you see Marcus, he's always cheering for & encouraging his teammates - just like Tra'Von Chapman, another P5 transfer who's attitude I really appreciate. I can't wait to see what Jamal & Se'von Pittman do on the DL next season! Go Zips! 1 Quote
zipsoutsider Posted January 29, 2016 Report Posted January 29, 2016 Great post! Often overlooked, IMHO. He came up big for us, a lot, last year. Quote
akron4ever Posted May 10, 2016 Author Report Posted May 10, 2016 Looks like Jamal is starting to get the recognition he deserves! One of two defensive "stars" listed for the entire MAC: http://athlonsports.com/college-football/five-mac-football-players-know-2016 Found his highlight tape from this past season on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfphqwzoIt4 3 Quote
Jrship35 Posted May 10, 2016 Report Posted May 10, 2016 If that groin is fully healed ...... watch out ! Definitely could be two consecutive MAC defensive player of the year awards for Akron !! 1 Quote
akron4ever Posted May 10, 2016 Author Report Posted May 10, 2016 15 minutes ago, Jrship35 said: If that groin is fully healed ...... watch out ! Definitely could be two consecutive MAC defensive player of the year awards for Akron !! 110% agree. I believe the coaches have been letting him take practices off this spring for this very reason - smart move by them in my opinion. Quote
akron4ever Posted June 28, 2016 Author Report Posted June 28, 2016 Pro Football Focus just came out with their Top 101 college football player ranking, and our very own Jamal Marcus finds himself at #56. Pretty incredible to say we have a top 50-60 college football player in the entire nation by the best scouting service there is. https://www.profootballfocus.com/college-pff-101-best-players-fournette-mccaffrey-garrett/ 4 Quote
K92 Posted June 28, 2016 Report Posted June 28, 2016 12 hours ago, akron4ever said: Pro Football Focus just came out with their Top 101 college football player ranking, and our very own Jamal Marcus finds himself at #56. Pretty incredible to say we have a top 50-60 college football player in the entire nation by the best scouting service there is. https://www.profootballfocus.com/college-pff-101-best-players-fournette-mccaffrey-garrett/ Looks like Corey Davis is the only MAC player rated ahead of JM34. Pretty impressive. 1 Quote
akron4ever Posted July 9, 2016 Author Report Posted July 9, 2016 Looks like the preseason accolades continue to roll in for Jamal Marcus. Bronco Nagurski watch list (top defensive player in the country): http://www.gozips.com/sports/fball/2016-17/releases/20160708g35ro8 Hopefully he can back it up this season. It's a different beast once people start expecting greatness, and he will have to be a leader this season as well. If I had to guess who the three captians will be, I'd go with Marcus, Woodson, and Scott. Quote
akron4ever Posted August 26, 2016 Author Report Posted August 26, 2016 (edited) Marcus just got named by PFF as the #1 EDGE player in a non-Power 5 conference in the country. Interestingly enough you will see 2 other MAC players listed in the top 4: https://www.profootballfocus.com/college-football-greg-ward-jr-leads-pffs-preseason-all-group-of-5-team/ It would have been intersting to see where he would have stacked up nationally if he was able to pad his stats against Sav St and ULM last season. Edited August 26, 2016 by akron4ever Quote
MDZip Posted August 26, 2016 Report Posted August 26, 2016 10 minutes ago, akron4ever said: Marcus just got named by PFF as the #1 EDGE player in a non-Power 5 conference in the country. Interestingly enough you will see 2 other MAC players listed in the top 4: https://www.profootballfocus.com/college-football-greg-ward-jr-leads-pffs-preseason-all-group-of-5-team/ And DeAndre Scott was named as one of their first team CBs. 2 Quote
akron4ever Posted August 26, 2016 Author Report Posted August 26, 2016 44 minutes ago, MDZip said: And DeAndre Scott was named as one of their first team CBs. Right, don't know how I forgot to include that. I've said this on here before, but Scott is criminally underrated. Fortunately we have PFF, which doesn't look at surface stats and politics are not in play in their rankings. I truly believe we had a Top 15 defense in the country last year. 1 Quote
UAZippers Posted October 4, 2016 Report Posted October 4, 2016 George Thomas just posted on Twitter that Marcus is done for the season. I'm on my phone or I would directly post the tweet. Quote
Dr Z Posted October 4, 2016 Report Posted October 4, 2016 12 minutes ago, UAZippers said: George Thomas just posted on Twitter that Marcus is done for the season. I'm on my phone or I would directly post the tweet. Akron4ever broke the news on zipsnation.org last Thursday. 4 Quote
Balsy Posted October 5, 2016 Report Posted October 5, 2016 (edited) 18 hours ago, Dr Z said: Akron4ever broke the news on zipsnation.org last Thursday. Evidence as to why ZN.O > Akron Beacon Journal Zips coverage. Edited October 5, 2016 by Balsy 3 Quote
Balsy Posted May 16, 2017 Report Posted May 16, 2017 Jamal Marcus #68. Courtesy of THE CLEVELAND BROWNS.COM. Quote
Balsy Posted May 16, 2017 Report Posted May 16, 2017 5 minutes ago, LZIp said: Get that hammy healthy, Jamal. I think he makes the roster. Quote
LZIp Posted May 16, 2017 Report Posted May 16, 2017 17 minutes ago, Balsy said: I think he makes the roster. It will be close. Assuming he is DE, you've got Ogbah, Garrett, Nassib as locks. Tyrone Holmes (2015 FCS sack leader who spent last year on the roster) is a guy he will have to beat out and another is Nate Orchard (2nd round pick in 2015, out all last year with injury). Orchard played I believe DE at Utah, but OLB in the 3-4. It is unclear exactly where he will be as he is listed on the roster as LB, but my guess is probably DE. Quote
kreed5120 Posted May 16, 2017 Report Posted May 16, 2017 I say he makes practice squad and gets called up at some point during the season due to injury. Quote
Dr Z Posted May 16, 2017 Report Posted May 16, 2017 8 minutes ago, LZIp said: Assuming he is DE, you've got Ogbah, Garrett, Nassib as locks. Tyrone Holmes (2015 FCS sack leader who spent last year on the roster) is a guy he will have to beat out and another is Nate Orchard (2nd round pick in 2015, out all last year with injury). IMO, I wouldn't assume much with the change of scheme. He may find a niche with so many different personnel packages Williams likes. I wish him health and luck. Does anybody ever remember Jamal dropping in coverage with the Zips? I haven't watched a Browns preseason game since they fired Bernie, but I might record the first one to see how/if Jamal is used. 1 Quote
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