* RD 3 Bengals Select Nick Vigil, LB / RB *

[SocalBengalEd]

Looks like a special teams stud out of the box.  We'll see how he does at LB.  I'm more concerned about his recognition abilities than his size.  You can make 10 tackles per game, but if you give up 1 or 2 big plays per game....

what he said.     The vvideo ive seen size isn't tthe issue it's recognition

[|kennethmw|]

what he said.     The vvideo ive seen size isn't tthe issue it's recognition

And how much video have you seen?  I'd put the over/under at 15 minutes and I'd take the under.

[oldschooler]

Bengals backers keep Vigil for versatility

Posted 12 hours ago

Dan HoardBengals.comContributorBlog

• A
• A

Last April, despite being named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Utah State linebacker Zach Vigil was not selected in the NFL draft. He eventually signed as a free agent with Miami and played in all 16 games as a rookie.

This year when it was clear that Zach’s younger brother and former college teammate Nick was likely to be selected, their father wanted to throw a party on the second night of the draft.

“I said to hold off until I’m actually drafted and something happens,” said Nick Vigil. “You never know with this whole process. He said, ‘OK.’ But there still ended up being 20 or so people there.”

Nick should have trusted his father’s instincts as the Bengals selected Vigil in the third round with the 87th overall pick.

“I was surprised,” he said. “I hadn’t had much contract with them throughout this whole process. My cell phone actually dropped the call. I saw ‘Cincinnati, Ohio’ and I saw their pick was coming up and I kind of panicked a little bit. Good thing my mom had her phone on her and they ended up calling her. She handed me the phone and it was pure excitement.

“I didn’t think I’d necessarily go that high. It was the third round and we were thinking more of the fourth round. When I got the call it was a good moment for me.”

Vigil was a two-year starter at Utah State, earning first-team All-MWC honors in both seasons. He ranked sixth in the nation in tackles last season and turned heads at the NFL Scouting Combine by posting the fastest times among linebackers in the three cone drill and the 20-yard shuttle.

“Vig is flat-out productive,” Utah State coach Matt Wells told the Salt Lake Tribune. “He is flat-out athletic. He’s got tremendous upside – especially on special teams.”

His versatility was evident with the Aggies as Vigil saw action at every linebacker spot and even played some running back, including a game with 16 carries vs. BYU.

“I don’t know how good I was at running back,” said Vigil. “I’m sure those days are over. In a 3-4 defense in college, I played all four linebacker positions throughout my three years. I was a starter on all of the special teams for a while there as a freshman. So anything I can do to help this team I’m willing to do.”

For starters, he’ll try to follow his older brother’s advice on how to succeed as an NFL rookie.

“He said it’s going to be the hardest year of your life,” said Vigil. “It’s going to be hectic and you’re going to just have to take it all in. Act professional because it’s a job, so treat it like that.”

The Bengals face Zach’s Dolphins in week four on Thursday Night Football, and while Miami has missed the playoffs in each of the last seven seasons, Nick joins a Cincinnati franchise looking to make its sixth straight post-season appearance.

“The culture here is obviously fantastic,” said Vigil. “They’ve won consistently over the past few years. They’ve got a great foundation set by the coaches and ownership. And they’ve got a bunch of core players who’ve been really good for a long time. So I couldn’t have asked for a better place to go.”

Nick was in Cincinnati on Saturday to meet with the team and local reporters, but that didn’t prevent his family and friends from celebrating back in Utah.

“They’re having a big party there today with me,” he said. “My mom said that we were going to have to cancel it and move it to Sunday, but my dad said, ‘No way.’

“They said they were going to have to get a cardboard cutout of me.”

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

And I’m on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dan.hoard.1

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Bengals-backers-keep-Vigil-for-versatility-/8a0872f4-233c-427e-9e5f-277b500e0f8f

[Jason]

With his agility numbers, if he can add 10 pounds of muscle, and the strength that goes with that, he could be pretty good.

Him, Burfict and Dawson could be a solid trio come 2017.

[sois]

With his agility numbers, if he can add 10 pounds of muscle, and the strength that goes with that, he could be pretty good.

Him, Burfict and Dawson could be a solid trio come 2017.

Yeah right, this guy will never be on the field unless every other LB dies

[SocalBengalEd]

His highlight videos might be the most unimpressive I've ever seen.   

[Steve4192]

Yeah right, this guy will never be on the field unless every other LB dies

I bet he gets on the field more than Paul Dawson.

[Steve4192]

His highlight videos might be the most unimpressive I've ever seen.   

Why am I not surprised the Paul Dawson fan club hates the Vigil pick.  They're worried about their boy dropping even further down the depth chart.

 

Vigil > Dawson

[SocalBengalEd]

This has nothing to do with Dawson.   Dawson had one of the impressive game tape Mayock has seen in years.   Per Mayock.   The video of Vigil was just unimpressive.    Show me a clip that gets you pumped up about the pick.  

[Steve4192]

The Bengals seemed pretty impressed by his film, and I am sure they watched 100 times more film on both guys than you and me and Mayock combined.

[LostInDaJungle]

 

Whenever I compare dudes, I always go cross race.

Virgil is like a poor man's Wesley Snipes.

[happyrid]

This video looks pretty good. Does a little bit of everything with a couple sacks, some nice plays in coverage and a couple good stuffs of the running back:

[happyrid]

This has nothing to do with Dawson.   Dawson had one of the impressive game tape Mayock has seen in years.   Per Mayock.   The video of Vigil was just unimpressive.    Show me a clip that gets you pumped up about the pick.  

I like the play he makes at the 5:37 mark of the video posted above vs. Boise. Reads the play quickly, gets past the guy trying to pick him and then delivers a nice hit on the receiver. 

The play at 11:15 is pretty nice too. You can see some of that 4.00 short shuttle quickness. Goes right around the guard and then able to quickly change direction after the fake by the QB. 

Aside from Dansby (who is in his mid-30s), we don't really have anybody at LB with the potential to be a real playmaker in coverage. Vigil might have a chance to play that type of role. He should be an instant upgrade on Lamur (though Dansby is as well and should get first crack at that job). 

[sois]

I bet he gets on the field more than Paul Dawson.

who is that

[sois]

The Bengals seemed pretty impressed by his film, and I am sure they watched 100 times more film on both guys than you and me and Mayock combined.

cause the Bengals never miss on draft picks :eyeroll:

[Steve4192]

 

cause the Bengals never miss on draft picks :eyeroll:

Every team misses on draft picks, but the Bengals do a better job than most.

[sois]

Every team misses on draft picks, but the Bengals do a better job than most.

that doesn't mean we can't talk shit

[happyrid]

Could end up being somewhat similar to Shawn Williams in terms of how his role grows gradually. Instant starter on special teams, but probably doesn't get a ton of snaps on D with Dansby, Rey, Maualuga, Burfict, etc. all ahead of him (and maybe Dawson). But Maualuga in already 29 and Vinny turns 29 soon. Dansby might be in his final year. 

If Vigil progresses well, he could end up coming into his prime years just as Vinny and Rey M. are slowing down and ready to step into a starting role in year 3 or so. 

[Le Tigre]

 

Yeah right, this guy will never be on the field unless every other LB dies

lol. Nice.

[alleycat]

This video looks pretty good. Does a little bit of everything with a couple sacks, some nice plays in coverage and a couple good stuffs of the running back:

Dawson wishes he had the change of direction or pass defense savvy of Vigil. 90% of the posters on this board will look at this Boise tape and have no clue that they are watching one of the better LB draft picks here in a decade.  He'll be a starter by next year easy, a guy who makes everyone forget about Rey M in a flash, and yet legions will still hate on him because they think that's what they are supposed to do - even long after Darron Lee proves to be the also ran his tape shows him to be. You can't teach the instincts or physical talent this guy has, just like you can't teach people to understand what an NFL 4-3 linebacker is supposed to do. 

 

[|schotzee|]

that doesn't mean we can't talk shit

Yes it does.

[LostInDaJungle]

I like the play he makes at the 5:37 mark of the video posted above vs. Boise. Reads the play quickly, gets past the guy trying to pick him and then delivers a nice hit on the receiver. 

The play at 11:15 is pretty nice too. You can see some of that 4.00 short shuttle quickness. Goes right around the guard and then able to quickly change direction after the fake by the QB. 

Aside from Dansby (who is in his mid-30s), we don't really have anybody at LB with the potential to be a real playmaker in coverage. Vigil might have a chance to play that type of role. He should be an instant upgrade on Lamur (though Dansby is as well and should get first crack at that job). 

The guy isn't terrible... 3rd round or not, he was slated to be one of 255 players selected from thousands.

By the same token, there's nothing in his highlights that jumps out at you. He's not particularly quick, not particularly fast, and he's a solid if unspectacular tackler.  Bad angles to the sideline, sloppy feet. Any criticism of his athleticism is going to be met with the "He also played RB" retort, but he wasn't very good at it. I don't really see him using his agility to blow by guys, nor his strength to push them around. It seems he sees the field well, but he's about to step to another level, with guys who see the field well and are tremendous athletes.

The Bengals got a ton of praise for sticking to their board, but this was a reach IMHO. Maybe he was just the guy they liked best out of that middle cut of LB's. That's fine in it's pwn way. Many people wanted Billings (who DOES wow with his tape) and at the end of the day which one of them went in which round is irrelevant. I hate it much less considering the value we got out of the next two rounds.

We'll see what he grows into, but I'm just not thrilled with the pick.

[PatternMaster]

I think this pick was a favor to Haslett, the new LB coach who wants to upgrade the talent at the position. Just from watching this guy he reminds me a lot of LaVonte David from Tampa Bay, a smaller guy that can play sideline to sideline.

I like the pick, but I like the rat-tail even better. Dude looks like he should have a pet Falcon and he wears leather vest no with no shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. 

[happyrid]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but it's worth keeping in mind that the Bengals staff knew his brother well. 

New DB coach Kevin Coyle was the D. Coordinator in Miami and signed Nick's older brother Zach as an UDFA last year. Zach made the roster, was good on special teams and earned a good amount of snaps on defense (I believe he played the 4th most snaps of any of their LBs last year) as a rookie. By all accounts, Nick is a much better prospect and has better measurables than the older brother. 

So the Bengals had a pretty good idea how his brother's skills translated to the NFL in a similar scheme to what we run. I think that made this evaluation an easier one for them and I suspect Coyle had major input (along with Tobin, Haslett, Marvin and others). 

[happyrid]

The guy isn't terrible... 3rd round or not, he was slated to be one of 255 players selected from thousands.
By the same token, there's nothing in his highlights that jumps out at you. He's not particularly quick, not particularly fast, and he's a solid if unspectacular tackler.  Bad angles to the sideline, sloppy feet. Any criticism of his athleticism is going to be met with the "He also played RB" retort, but he wasn't very good at it. I don't really see him using his agility to blow by guys, nor his strength to push them around. It seems he sees the field well, but he's about to step to another level, with guys who see the field well and are tremendous athletes.
The Bengals got a ton of praise for sticking to their board, but this was a reach IMHO. Maybe he was just the guy they liked best out of that middle cut of LB's. That's fine in it's pwn way. Many people wanted Billings (who DOES wow with his tape) and at the end of the day which one of them went in which round is irrelevant. I hate it much less considering the value we got out of the next two rounds.

We'll see what he grows into, but I'm just not thrilled with the pick.

Everyone is free to their opinion and who knows what will end up being correct, but I think criticizing his athleticism is a bit of a stretch. And it's not because he played RB. His quickness should be pretty obvious based upon his combine numbers:

-His 3-cone of 6.73 was the best at the combine by a LB. In fact, it blew away the field with the 2nd best time coming in at 6.98. Being .25 faster than the next best at the position is pretty impressive. It would have been the 4th-fastest WR time. Just a bit behind Braxton Miller who ran a 6.65.

-His short-shuttle of 4.00 was also the best at the combine amongst LBers. In fact, I think it's the best time by any LB in the past 8 or 9 years. It's even more impressive when you compare it to other positions. He was quicker than any WR at the combine. Braxton Miller had the best WR time at 4.07. 

Edit to Add: I went back to look at Luke Kuechly's combine because that was the guy Haslett and Guenther compared him to. Kuechly was faster in the 40 (4.58 vs. 4.71). Kuechly's 3-cone of 6.92 and short-shuttle of 4.12 were amongst the best in his draft class, but still came up well short of Vigil's numbers.