kaimaru wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 3:48 pm
Grahamburn wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 3:11 pm
He did call both of them early on. Draft forum.
Before his first pass in college though?
A lot of those posts (if not all) were on buczone. Which does not exist anymore. I was able to grab a screenshot of one post about Daniels very early in his career. As a true freshman. That was posted here at some point.
I don’t claim to be right about every player all the time. i’m pretty bad at evaluating wide receivers, interior lineman, corners. There is a high degree of technique relevant to those positions and I lack the familiarity to evaluate those.
My general philosophy: Production is king. But, does the manner in which a guy produces actually translate to the NFL?
E.g.
- arm strength is an amplifier. we have a lot of data showing us that elite arm strength is not a requirement to be good at QB. It helps. But you need other things.
What did I see with Jayden Daniels that made it apparent to me? His extremely good pocket sense. The most athletic player on the field. And, to top it off, he had an elite deep ball. Both ball placement and trajectory.
Why did this equal Heisman potential? The threat of his legs constantly stresses the defense.his elite deep ball stretches the defense vertically. But, they can’t cheat too much on that, because he’ll kill them with his legs. And he was on time, on target enough in scripted stuff that the offense would stay on schedule and get easy yardage when permitted. Clocked these traits during the spring practices in Tempe, Arizona. Why was I following the team at that time? Because I was extremely interested in how the Herm Edwards experiment would go. Pure happenstance.
whether or not the above translates to the NFL is a totally different thing. I have been cooler on Daniels as a NFL prospect than a Heisman candidate. Why? Well what translates to the NFL? He was good enough in the short to intermediate in college. But I don’t think he was elite there. he was prone to being scattershot on easy stuff. But then he can make up for it on third and 12 by rushing for a first down. You can’t give away a handful of throws in the NFL. His type of mobility is different to me from Lamar Jackson. He is very fast in a straight line. He has a little stutterstep that he does to get guys to miss. But I don’t see the overall body flexion, wiggle, and ability to contort himself like Lamar Jackson. I’m prepared to be totally wrong on that. There’s a lot more stuff we could talk about about QBs. But the general theme is, if the game does not look like it’s moving slow for a quarterback, mentally, you’re probably going to have trouble. Because rhythm plays and scripted series only work in optimal conditions. And football is not optimal all the time.
Brock Bowers? I turned on the film and I watched him dominating in every facet of the game against elite competition. I watched him get the ball on a jet sweep and run past a defensive back. I watched him mogg some linebackers in the run game. I saw him split out wide, and set up in the seam, and run good routes. He also played with physicality once he got the ball. He played like a big receiver with a frame to put on more weight. That to me is a winning combination. After the game, I noticed that he was in the throes of male pattern baldness, despite being 19 years old. Which means he either has very naturally high levels of DHT - which has been proven to assist in muscle recruitment - or he’s on some good ass steroids. The NFL barely tests for anything, so either way this works for me. dominating at a young age is one of the telltale traits of a special talent. In other sports, outside of football, Hall of Famer’s tend to peak younger, but age slower. Think Alex Rodriguez, having his best season in his early 20s, and then hitting 650 HRs. Not gonna comment on longevity, it is an impact sport.
Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.
