I have three siblings and all our names start with J. My mother hasn't called me by my name on the first attempt in 45 years. My father usually just defaults to "Oldest."
My takeaway from this feature of Ol' Miss players is to hire the NIL guy at Ol' Miss. He got three NFL prospects to come for a season. The dude is now my highest Ol'Miss prospect on my Big Board.
Will there be a page with links to all of the individual writeups? It would be good to have a single place to look for a player -- or to use on draft day to follow along. :-)
Scott. I believe subscribers have access to previous posts after the current one...on down to "more" which keeps you going. Not sure that's what Mike meant by "Too Deep" but there are a lot of great takes you won't see elsewhere. Mike has his own drummer and an occasional cymbal. Mmm, or is that symbol? Great reads, all.
To give a concrete example: A lot of Pats online commentators are hoping they trade back into the bottom of the 1st round and take Aireontae Ersery. Now, I don't recall seeing Ersery's name in the Too Deep 96. So either I missed it, or Mike feels he is a third-round pick at best. It's a bit of a pain trying to click through multiple articles to see if he is listed -- it would be good to have a page with just the 96 names with links so I could search for someone.
Similarly, on draft day when Jacksonville takes so-and-so, it would be good to be able to easily call up Tanier's profile on him and see how much they overdrafted this year.
There is a search function at the top of the page. putting a player's name in there will bring up any article he has been mentioned in, assuming you and Mike have both spelled his name correctly.
I will be creating a mater list soon! I want it to be available for easy reference, especially by the draft itself.
Ersery is coming late in the 96. He was a guy who I thought would be a first-round value entering the whole process but looks more like just another meh tackle now that I actually really studied him.
I think others are higher or Ersery. And/or, some folks are using the draft boards from the end of last year, where Ersery (a big name entering the season) was listed higher. And/or, Patriots writers have OTs on the brain.
"Paul rushed the quarterback just 69 times but recorded 22 pressures."
This is one of those stats that immediately make you ask why?
Without watching tape, my guess, somewhat supported by Mike's commentary, is that Paul mostly rushed opportunistically when he recognized there was no one available to block him and he could get to the QB before the QB could get the ball to whoever he's supposed to be covering. Which is nice, but probably doesn't translate to much production in the NFL, other than maybe "general good football situation awareness" which is important for LBs.
Another possibility is staff schemed up specific plays to get Paul free runs at the QB. Which pretty much shouldn't ever work in the NFL, there'll almost always be at least someone to pick up the blitz.
But maybe I'm being unfair to Paul and he is able to shed blockers to get to the QB, he just wasn't asked to do so very often, despite being very good at it. Just seems unlikely.
In Paul's case, he was blizing behind Nolen and Pegues, meaning he was unblocked and all hell was already breaking loose. So it was indeed situational blitzing.
Most middle linebackers aren't going to shed blockers when blitzing. It's more about timing and explosiveness, crashing through the line before someone can pick him up, etc. You will see MLBs who blitz but never get home because they are slow off the snap count or in their first 2 or 3 steps. Pooh is likely to be a useful NFL blitzer.
Can someone explain to me this thing about concerns about Route Trees for NFL prospects, having never set foot in the US and only getting interested in the NFL around 2007 (though me and my friends have a tradition of taking Superbowl Monday off work or school going back to 95) this thing about Route Trees is the most confusing to me.
These are elite athletes right? So what is so hard about teaching them to run 10 steps forward and turn left, or 15 steps forward and turn right? Surely you just tell them what to do and they do it, but apparently not because I have been reading this stuff going back to when Washington drafted 3 WRs in the 2009 or 2010 first round all with Route worries and today, just as I did back then I was confused about what is so hard about teaching a guy how to run a certain pattern, its almost like you have all convinced yourself that something is quite obviously simple is in fact hard and psyched a bunch of people into believing they can't do things that they can quite obviously do
Anybody can run 8 yards and cut. Can you do it without slowing down? Can you pick up speed out of the break? Can you do it while fighting off another elite athlete? Can you make the cut razor sharp without tipping off the defender and giving him a chance to break on the ball? If the route calls for a cut at 7.5 yards, are you a technician who'll break at exactly 7.5 or are you the kind of kind who'll take it to 8 yards and throw off the timing of the play? Can you vary your releases off the line, fight through press coverage? Can you give a subtle push off to create space at the top of your break or do you get called for OPI? There's a lot more nuance to it than it appears.
But my understanding is the questions are usually framed as ‘limited route tree’ so I read that as he can do all that stuff for 8 yards and cut left but not 12 yards and cut right or 6 yards and cut back, that’s where I don’t understand why they can’t learn how to do it
Because they're usually talking about guys who've only run simple patterns or who are so athletically gifted they never had to develop nuance at the college level.
I don’t want to get into too long a back and forth about this as it is starting to sound like I’m saying I’m right and lifelong coaches and evaluators are wrong, which would obviously be absurd, I’m just saying it confuses me
So when you say ‘they’ve only run simple patterns’ that’s when I start thinking ‘well how hard can it be to teach them some new ones’ but it gets added to their evaluation as if they’ll never be able to learn how to run any new patterns after they turn 21
I’ve sent way too much time thinking about this same subject-why can’t you teach route running at the pro level. Players are exposed to high level coaching and practically live at the facility 3/4 of the year. I wonder if it just comes down to how open the players are to learning new skills about something that has always come so natural to them. These players have always been successful at every level of football. They believe they are amazing at football, mainly because they have always been amazing at football. The coach is basically trying to teach an expert in their own field. I’m sure that doesn’t go over well with a lot of players
I think you can teach route-running at the NFL level. Many players do improve at it and perfect it. Such improvements are more beneficial when someone already has 4.33-second speed, and there's less to learn if the prospect didn't have a very specific, simplified college system.
I have three siblings and all our names start with J. My mother hasn't called me by my name on the first attempt in 45 years. My father usually just defaults to "Oldest."
My takeaway from this feature of Ol' Miss players is to hire the NIL guy at Ol' Miss. He got three NFL prospects to come for a season. The dude is now my highest Ol'Miss prospect on my Big Board.
Hence the fact that major programs now have General Managers instead of recruiting coordinators. Or, you know, "professors" or something.
Will there be a page with links to all of the individual writeups? It would be good to have a single place to look for a player -- or to use on draft day to follow along. :-)
Scott. I believe subscribers have access to previous posts after the current one...on down to "more" which keeps you going. Not sure that's what Mike meant by "Too Deep" but there are a lot of great takes you won't see elsewhere. Mike has his own drummer and an occasional cymbal. Mmm, or is that symbol? Great reads, all.
I am a subscriber.
To give a concrete example: A lot of Pats online commentators are hoping they trade back into the bottom of the 1st round and take Aireontae Ersery. Now, I don't recall seeing Ersery's name in the Too Deep 96. So either I missed it, or Mike feels he is a third-round pick at best. It's a bit of a pain trying to click through multiple articles to see if he is listed -- it would be good to have a page with just the 96 names with links so I could search for someone.
Similarly, on draft day when Jacksonville takes so-and-so, it would be good to be able to easily call up Tanier's profile on him and see how much they overdrafted this year.
There is a search function at the top of the page. putting a player's name in there will bring up any article he has been mentioned in, assuming you and Mike have both spelled his name correctly.
I will be creating a mater list soon! I want it to be available for easy reference, especially by the draft itself.
Ersery is coming late in the 96. He was a guy who I thought would be a first-round value entering the whole process but looks more like just another meh tackle now that I actually really studied him.
I think others are higher or Ersery. And/or, some folks are using the draft boards from the end of last year, where Ersery (a big name entering the season) was listed higher. And/or, Patriots writers have OTs on the brain.
A mater list would be appropriate for a Catholic.
"Paul rushed the quarterback just 69 times but recorded 22 pressures."
This is one of those stats that immediately make you ask why?
Without watching tape, my guess, somewhat supported by Mike's commentary, is that Paul mostly rushed opportunistically when he recognized there was no one available to block him and he could get to the QB before the QB could get the ball to whoever he's supposed to be covering. Which is nice, but probably doesn't translate to much production in the NFL, other than maybe "general good football situation awareness" which is important for LBs.
Another possibility is staff schemed up specific plays to get Paul free runs at the QB. Which pretty much shouldn't ever work in the NFL, there'll almost always be at least someone to pick up the blitz.
But maybe I'm being unfair to Paul and he is able to shed blockers to get to the QB, he just wasn't asked to do so very often, despite being very good at it. Just seems unlikely.
In Paul's case, he was blizing behind Nolen and Pegues, meaning he was unblocked and all hell was already breaking loose. So it was indeed situational blitzing.
Most middle linebackers aren't going to shed blockers when blitzing. It's more about timing and explosiveness, crashing through the line before someone can pick him up, etc. You will see MLBs who blitz but never get home because they are slow off the snap count or in their first 2 or 3 steps. Pooh is likely to be a useful NFL blitzer.
Can someone explain to me this thing about concerns about Route Trees for NFL prospects, having never set foot in the US and only getting interested in the NFL around 2007 (though me and my friends have a tradition of taking Superbowl Monday off work or school going back to 95) this thing about Route Trees is the most confusing to me.
These are elite athletes right? So what is so hard about teaching them to run 10 steps forward and turn left, or 15 steps forward and turn right? Surely you just tell them what to do and they do it, but apparently not because I have been reading this stuff going back to when Washington drafted 3 WRs in the 2009 or 2010 first round all with Route worries and today, just as I did back then I was confused about what is so hard about teaching a guy how to run a certain pattern, its almost like you have all convinced yourself that something is quite obviously simple is in fact hard and psyched a bunch of people into believing they can't do things that they can quite obviously do
Anybody can run 8 yards and cut. Can you do it without slowing down? Can you pick up speed out of the break? Can you do it while fighting off another elite athlete? Can you make the cut razor sharp without tipping off the defender and giving him a chance to break on the ball? If the route calls for a cut at 7.5 yards, are you a technician who'll break at exactly 7.5 or are you the kind of kind who'll take it to 8 yards and throw off the timing of the play? Can you vary your releases off the line, fight through press coverage? Can you give a subtle push off to create space at the top of your break or do you get called for OPI? There's a lot more nuance to it than it appears.
This is a great answer!
But my understanding is the questions are usually framed as ‘limited route tree’ so I read that as he can do all that stuff for 8 yards and cut left but not 12 yards and cut right or 6 yards and cut back, that’s where I don’t understand why they can’t learn how to do it
Because they're usually talking about guys who've only run simple patterns or who are so athletically gifted they never had to develop nuance at the college level.
I don’t want to get into too long a back and forth about this as it is starting to sound like I’m saying I’m right and lifelong coaches and evaluators are wrong, which would obviously be absurd, I’m just saying it confuses me
So when you say ‘they’ve only run simple patterns’ that’s when I start thinking ‘well how hard can it be to teach them some new ones’ but it gets added to their evaluation as if they’ll never be able to learn how to run any new patterns after they turn 21
It's about mental flexibility and maturity. The things that many of our elected officials struggle with.
I’ve sent way too much time thinking about this same subject-why can’t you teach route running at the pro level. Players are exposed to high level coaching and practically live at the facility 3/4 of the year. I wonder if it just comes down to how open the players are to learning new skills about something that has always come so natural to them. These players have always been successful at every level of football. They believe they are amazing at football, mainly because they have always been amazing at football. The coach is basically trying to teach an expert in their own field. I’m sure that doesn’t go over well with a lot of players
I think you can teach route-running at the NFL level. Many players do improve at it and perfect it. Such improvements are more beneficial when someone already has 4.33-second speed, and there's less to learn if the prospect didn't have a very specific, simplified college system.
Myself, this strikes me as another 'loose hips' thing. Just easier to spot in cornerbacks.
Is there any drill that indicates 'loose hips'?
Loose hips means the ability to switch where you're facing quickly, as in receiver you're covering suddenly changed direction.
There are combine drills like the three cone drill that attempt to measure these abilities.
Thank you, Donald!
Sounds to me like this does explain route tree natural ability, then.