I just watched his hudl once again looking for something different than I usually do. I focused on two things. His speed #1 and he doesn't look fast! At 6-7 however I thought he was a l-ong strider and he was. Short choppy steps first 5 yards. About 3 1/2 strides to cover that first 5 yards. Then he cuts another stride in the next grouping of 5 which means while he doesn't look fast he is covering ground in a hurry! #2 Wanted to see his hands to see how well he secured the ball. Two one handed catches and the second one looked like he grabbed a softball out of the air. So, it looks like he probably has quite large hands. Excellent! Not all guys at his height do. Then the best part, he uses those hands to catch, not his arms and body!!! That is important! Balls rebound faster of plastic shoulder pads than the do off of skin and muscle! Lastly, whether this was because of a good QB or a bad QB not sure, a major portion of his highlights the ball was very high when it got to him. He may not have a 36" verticle, but he has LONG arms and can get off the ground smoothly to high point the ball.
Now for something I didn't see the first time I watched which likely means I shut it down before I got to them. A) Blocking! He is not a bull! He uses his hands and holds off and turns defenders. That is good enough for a TE, IMO! B) Defense! He played a stand up DE and between his ability to use his hands better than the kid against him he had little trouble getting by him. Then, those long stride makes him a great closer on QBs. It is just my thought here, but I think he could play DE at this level and might be really good at it. That crossed my mind because DE is a short postion for us.
Now, having said all that, I was watching a highlight video! Against HS kids, many of which will never put on the pads again after they get our of HS! However, I was impressed with his ground covering and his hand placement/use! Both really effective against what I saw and is the type of ability that can translate to college with getting use to higher speed players, bigger players, stronger players and just more talented players than he likely has ever faced!
I hoped he would choose us when his name first came up, mostly due to his size, and I am now a lot more impressed with him than I was before! IMO, I think we may have found another potential gem.
Now for something I didn't see the first time I watched which likely means I shut it down before I got to them. A) Blocking! He is not a bull! He uses his hands and holds off and turns defenders. That is good enough for a TE, IMO! B) Defense! He played a stand up DE and between his ability to use his hands better than the kid against him he had little trouble getting by him. Then, those long stride makes him a great closer on QBs. It is just my thought here, but I think he could play DE at this level and might be really good at it. That crossed my mind because DE is a short postion for us.
Now, having said all that, I was watching a highlight video! Against HS kids, many of which will never put on the pads again after they get our of HS! However, I was impressed with his ground covering and his hand placement/use! Both really effective against what I saw and is the type of ability that can translate to college with getting use to higher speed players, bigger players, stronger players and just more talented players than he likely has ever faced!
I hoped he would choose us when his name first came up, mostly due to his size, and I am now a lot more impressed with him than I was before! IMO, I think we may have found another potential gem.
