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Another thing I’ve noticed about draft reports: They can be all over the map. I’ve forgotten their names, but I looked at some of the UDFAs online, and a few of them had comments ranging from “below average athleticism” to “freakishly athletic.”
As in, the same guy was described in wildly different ways.
I think that wide range is more frequent for the lesser known players. Another guess. The guys with the relatively consistent grades — Top 100, give or take — seem to provoke a more narrow subjective response.
And complicating matters is the fact that there are a lot of people in the media who get their information the same way I do…from other people. From stuff they read, or think they remember reading, and sometimes that is blended in with their memory of part of a game they saw one Saturday, and so on. I mean…there is a LOT of amateur noise out there around the draft. On TV, on the radio, in print.
So I look for institutions that I think are more reliable – like Ourlads and PFF – and look for the avid film watchers amongst us like Alyo.
But I don’t really spend much effort on it because Fletcher and Littleton were UDFA, and Sean Gilbert was the 3rd overall pick. And so on. So I read some stuff, but I don’t roll up my sleeves and STUDY it because…fuck it.
We are all watching and learning, and developing an early picture, but we don’t know what we really have until the regular season starts.
I didnt see ‘elusiveness’ or tackle-breaking talent. I just saw a shit-load of bad tackling.
Well, no, he’s not quick-jittery elusive. And he doesn’t break tackles as much as set them up to be near misses and then run through them. It’s not just bad tackling. He sets up tacklers to NOT have direct hits, and has the strength (for his size) and balance and sheer competitive determination to play pinball off of them. That’s a real thing, meaning, that in itself is a skill that differs from both elusiveness and tackle breaking.
That’s really who he is, and what he does. It happens over and over. It’s as regular as a clock. You don’t lead all of college football in yards after contact just because of bad tackling. All those presumably bad tacklers played other backs who did not do that to them…after all it was only DH who led the league in yards after contact. “Contact balance” is a real thing, it’s not just words. It names something, a real “have it or you don’t” skill that some backs have more than others. And btw this is a trait Gurley has too, though Gurley is built taller so the effect is different.
i don’t know. he seems to be pretty quick. it’d be nice if there were some short shuttle and 3-cone times to go off.
but my guess is they’d be pretty good numbers.
Yeah. Short area quickness too.
Combine numbers:
He is fast. But not as fast as Trung. The St. Louis Rams timed Canidate at 4.25 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
AgamemnonYou shouldn’t sour on him, you were right in the first place.
just a little. there are running backs without the agility numbers who still succeed. kamara being a great example. kareem hunt is another.
we’ll see. can’t wait to see him in preseason and then obviously the regular season.
he’s got talent, and he’s in a system that’s supposed to fit his skill set. so i’m hopeful.
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