Archive for the ‘The Tape Never Lies’ Category

There’s only a few days left of critiquing draft prospects before they go off to another city, where they’ll play in another scheme and for a new team. Team fit is such an important aspect of drafting a player because it is frequently the deciding factor in how successful he is. If he’s playing in the wrong locker room, position, or scheme, then there’s a good chance the player will fail to develop. It’s why when there are conundrums like what position Florida safety Matt Elam will play in the pros, it’s important to ask all of the questions that come to mind.

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Louisiana State University is one of the oddest football schools in the nation. They’re coached by Les Miles, who is odd himself. He’s a pizza-eating head coach who talks to the TV and claps with only the palms of his hands like a toddler who is looking for a round of applause. There’s also his aggressive coaching style and disastrous mismanagement of the play clock, which somehow makes Andy Reid look good. And then there’s how he and his staff utilize and develop their players, which makes little-to-no sense.

Players such as 241-pound edge-rusher Barkevious Mingo, a projected first-round selection, have spent time at defensive tackle for whatever reason. Safety Eric Reid, another potential first rounder, has played as a single-high safety deep when he’s best fit inside the first down marker. Reid has the size (6’1″, 213 pounds) and physicality that teams look for at the position, but he’s the equivalent of Les Miles in a uniform, which makes it tough to trust him in deep coverage.

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Nick Saban appears to be on the verge of a football dynasty with the University of Alabama. He’s not only winning championships, but he’s also churning out multiple high-end prospects each year. This year, there are five potential first-round selections coming out of Alabama: cornerback Dee Milliner, offensive tackle D.J. Fluker, nose tackle Jesse Williams, guard Chance Warmack, and running back Eddie Lacy. While all of them show great promise and talent that’s worthy of selecting, there’s one that doesn’t quite fit in the picture: Lacy.

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One of the questions that frequently pops in my head as I’m watching film is, “what kind of player would this athlete be if he played a different position?” I can’t help but ask it because I’ve seen so many players over years of watching football (which admittedly hasn’t been too long) struggle at a position. They may have struggled because they didn’t have the necessary talent to consistently perform the tasks required of them, or the tasks were simply far-fetched for the talent. Then I’m left asking another question: Why is this guy playing that position?

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There’s not a worse word in scouting circles than “potential”. It’s basically defined as something that could happen or, more specifically, something that someone could become. It sounds great in theory, but what if a player can’t become something far greater?

Take Texas A&M’s Luke Joeckel. He’s projected by most to be the No. 1 overall selection in this month’s draft, but some don’t consider him the top offensive tackle. I certainly don’t; he’s second to Central Michigan’s Eric Fisher. That’s partly because he’s not as athletic as Fisher is, and also because he doesn’t have the upside or potential that Fisher has.

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He was once considered the best player in the draft and the best offensive guard since Steve Hutchinson. Now there’s doubt as to whether Chance Warmack is either of those.

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The last time critics watched Cal’s Keenan Allen run routes and catch a football was more than five months ago, on Oct. 27. There’s reason to be skeptical of what kind of shape he’s in and what the receiver’s health is looking like, but there’s also reason to be optimistic if you’re a general manager on draft day.

Injured players tend to fall on selection day, and Allen could if he doesn’t work out well on April 9. Sometimes that works out for the best. Paraag Marathe, the San Francisco 49ers’ chief operating officer, once said at an MIT Sloan Conference that one of the best things to happened to his team was Michael Crabtree injuring his foot and slipping to No. 10 in the 2010 draft. Granted, if anyone else besides Al Davis was picking for the Oakland Raiders at No. 7, Crabtree might have been a star receiver in Oakland.

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