Posts tagged Matt Waldman

Under the Radar: ECU RB Reggie Bullock

December 29, 2012 0 Comments read Players, Running Back

Do you know this guy? Then perhaps you should learn about ECU RB Reggie Bullock. Photo by Beth Hart. — Do you know this guy? Then perhaps you should learn about ECU RB Reggie Bullock (Photo by Beth Hart).

Las Vegas native Reggie Bullock was good enough as a high school running back for Alabama, LSU, Florida, Florida State, and Oregon to court him. Academics forced Bullock to opt for Arizona Western, where he earned consecutive 1000-yard seasons, earning the 2010 National JUCO Player of The Year Award. Why is Bullock not on most lists as a viable NFL prospect? Read on.

There are a few numbers that explain why Reggie Bullock is under the radar for the 2013 NFL Draft. One of them is 815-10, the number of rushing yards and touchdowns that the East Carolina transfer has during his final two years of college football. The other pair of numbers is 5’9″ and 178 – a height and weight that few NFL running backs have.

Noel Devine anyone?

I want to say “don’t go there,” but it’s not that simple. Bullock is a different kind of back than the West Virginia runner. Yet, it was size concerns that prompted the Senior Bowl coaching staff to exclude Devine from pass protection drills. Bullock’s physical dimensions will also get called into question, especially after he gutted-out a deep thigh bruise during a 2011 contest against Navy that cost him the rest of the season and, due to the freakish nature of the injury, also could have cost him his leg. By the time Bullock was healthy enough to play, the Pirates were content to roll with Vintavious Cooper, a 1000-yard back in his own right.

Bullock won’t be on the radar of many NFL teams because of his dimensions, but a spread-friendly organization would be smart to do its research because unlike Devine, Bullock can pass protect. Unlike Devine, Bullock looks like a true 178 and not the sub-170 Devine was at the Senior Bowl weigh-ins two years ago. And unlike Devine, Bullock is a more refined down hill runner. Danny Woodhead, Dexter McCluster, LaMichael James, Darren Sproles, and LaRod Stephens-Howling are better points of comparison along the spectrum of small, versatile backs.

I think if Bullock earns enough of a chance to demonstrate some of the things in an NFL camp that I’ve seen him do against Louisiana-Lafayette in this year’s New Orleans Bowl, he could surprise. The odds are slimmer for undrafted free agents, which I expect Bullock to be in May, but the right team at the right time could make all the difference. Two skills that Bullock has that could make that difference is his downhill mentality as a runner and his pass protection skills.

Bullock Between the Tackles

Bullock had 17 carries for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns against ULL because he provided the Pirates a spark and the team opted to ride him in this bowl game. One of these plays was a 1st-and-10 run of 13 yards from a 3×1-receiver, 11 personnel shotgun set with 6:05 in the third quarter. The right guard and center double-team the defensive tackle to the inside and the left guard and left tackle double-team the defensive end to open a hole between the two defenders.

Bullock hits the hole with authority. While it’s not as small of a crease as it appears from this angle, the senior running back repeatedly demonstrates skill with pressing lanes and cutting back through smaller openings than backs with a penchant to take runs to the corner store. Bullock’s running indicates to me that he understands why decisive running with good technique is even more important for a back with his size limitations.

Bullock bursts through the crease with authority and beats the edge defender through the hole for a quick six yards. This is expected of a player with Bullock’s physical skills. What’s unexpected is his balance and downhill mentality in the later stages of the run where many smaller backs try to get too cute. Instead, the ECU runner lowers his shoulder into the oncoming safety, bounces off the hit, slows his gait to avoid a head-on collision with the second safety coming from the right, and spins inside the defender with excellent balance for the score. Here’s the frame-by-frame.

Bullock may never turn into a special player, but this is a special run. The ECU runner had his legs cut at the four and he still manages to contort his body into position to reach the end zone despite only having one foot touch the ground after that contact with the second safety and reaching the end zone. Burst, balance, pad level, decisiveness, and agility are valuable traits for one back to have in the NFL. Louisiana-Lafayette may never be mistaken for an NFL team, but this was an NFL-caliber play.

Pass Protection

I want to focus on his pass protection, because as a 5-9, 178-pound back he’ll need to show that he can do some of this if he wants a shot as a third down, spread runner in the NFL.

Bullock’s first assignment came on 1st and 10 with 14:12 in the half from a 2×1 receiver, 11 personnel shotgun set. He chips the defensive end with his inside shoulder. Considering the size differential between the two players, this is a good hit – and it’s not the only one.

Here’s a 2nd-and-seven from 20 personnel and 1×2 receivers. He’s the lead back in this offset pistol set with 10:12 in the half and he works to the edge of the pocket to take on the blitzing linebacker with good form.

Bullock does a nice job of getting between the defensive end and quarterback early in the play so he can square his body for the impending collision. He then takes a step forward to generate additional space so he lessens the chance of getting knocked into the quarterback.

The only mistake Bullock makes here is to lower his head in the act of delivering a punch to the defender as seen below.

Despite the technique flaw, Bullock gets his hands into the defender, delivers a punch, and turns the defender outside the pocket to funnel him away from the quarterback.

The delivery of the hit is especially good explosion and he follows up the contact with a second punch as the quarterback releases the ball. Telegraphing the hit with the lowered head needs to be corrected immediately or an NFL edge rusher eats Bullock’s lunch. Still, there are good things to work with here.

What I like most of all is the effort and smarts on the fly. Here’s a 2nd-and-10 play with 1:01 in the half that underscores this point. Bullock is the back in 10 personnel. This is a shotgun set with receivers 2×2 where he’s flanking the quarterback over right tackle. ULL blitzes two linebackers off the same side, but layers them in succession to confuse and overload the blocking scheme.

Bullock manages to make two blocks on this play, keep the play alive, and give the quarterback time to make perfect throw on the move to his wide receiver running a deep cross 40 yards down field that should have resutled in a touchdown. After the snap, Bullock crosses the formation to pick up the outside linebacker rushing off left tackle.

Bullock gets square as soon as he crosses the quarterback’s path. This is important because now he has more control to move laterally and use his hands while refining his angle to the pass rusher.

On this block, Bullock’s head is up as he delivers a two-handed punch with his body square to the defender despite needing to refine his body position. The downside of Bullock’s game is that he’s rarely going to have success anchoring against a defender bigger than a cornerback blitzing off the edge. However, the technique is good and it does afford the quarterback time to either release the ball or take evasive action. Hidden behind the offensive line is the second linebacker working around the corner as the first linebacker is knocking Bullock into the pocket.

The quarterback realizes it’s time to bug-out and the left tackle does a good job of helping Bullock with the outside linebacker. Meanwhile the inside linebacker rounds the corner and has a nice angle to the quarterback. Bullock has the presence of mind to see this developing and works outside to address the blitzer. It’s usually enough for a college team to expect a running back to successfully cross the formation and pick up one blitzer. It’s even better if that runner understands to work with the inside rush before working outside if the defense tries to overload that side with multiple blitzers. Bullock not only has to deal with the overload, but a layered look that could have been a disaster.

The linebacker has the advantage on Bullock due to his angle outside, but I like the running back’s hustle to work outside and deliver a push that forces the rusher wide of the quarterback.

There isn’t a day that goes when I’m studying the game where the “game of inches” truism isn’t reinforced with a play like this one. Bullock lays out for the chance to hit the linebacker bearing down on the quarterback and it’s this effort that makes the difference between a sack and what should have been a touchdown pass.

The result of this effort is the quarterback earning room to work to the right flat and throw the ball 40 yards down field to his receiver on a deep cross that hits his teammate in stride.

This play in pass protection and his 13-yard touchdown run demonstrate the Bullock knows he has to give every inch of effort to make something positive happen. He may never be a fantasy football owner’s idea of a dream pick, but on the right team and in the right scheme I think he could be far more valuable to an NFL team than the fact he’s not on the collective radar of most draftniks.

For more analysis of skill players like the post below, download the 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio available April 1. Prepayment will be available in February. Better yet, if you’re a fantasy owner the 56-page Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2013 RSP at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 apiece.

The RSP Writers Project: You Vote

December 26, 2012 0 Comments read RSP Writers Project

The RSP Writers Poll, AKA - which team with Darrelle Revis stood out to you. Photo by Marianne O'Leary. — The RSP Writers Poll, AKA – which team with Darrelle Revis stood out to you. Photo by Marianne O’Leary.

With the regular season coming to an end and it sounds like a good time to take a look back at the RSP Writers Project. If you’re not familiar with the project, I had the pleasure of hosting a group of football writers, former NFL players, and former NFL scouts whose job was to build a team with a salary cap and explain their personnel choices, schemes, and coaching staff. Now it’s your turn to share your thoughts about each team with one season in the books. We’ll begin with the offensive units.

Here is the main menu for the project and all the teams.

Today, take a look at the offenses of each team. From the standpoint of personnel and scheme, I’d like to know who you thought which team was the best in the following areas:

Top-performing offense this year.
Most promising offense long-term.
Tough-luck team with good talent, but didn’t work out in 2012.

You can also add commentary about your choices at the end of each question.

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Flashes: RB Benny Cunningham, MTSU

December 24, 2012 0 Comments read Players, Running Back

MTSU RB Benny Cunningham has some major obstacles to earn a tryout with an NFL team this summer. If healthy and able to demonstrate the short-area quickness he flashed against Georgia Tech this fall, he could be a good fit behind Alfred Morris in the Redskins backfield. Photo by Keith Allison.

This installment of Flashes profiles the play of Middle Tennessee State University runner Benny Cunningham. The senior, who was on the Doak Walker Award Watch List this summer, had a 217-yard, 5-touchdown afternoon against Georgia Tech in September. By November, he was out for the season with a torn patella tendon. what quality did he flash against the Yellow Jackets that makes Cunningham worth monitoring as a street free agent? Keep reading . . .

Cunningham is a 5-10, 210-pound, power runner who reminds me of a mix between Stephen Davis and Fred Lane. Not as big as Davis, but not as shifty as Lane. Power and pad level are the best aspects of Cunningham’s game as a runner. He attacks defenders and knows how to win the battle for extra yards. This touchdown run against Louisiana-Monroe where he bulls over the middle linebacker at the six yard line and then bulldozes a second defender the remaining five yards is a great example.

Cunningham tore his patella tendon during his senior year, but was still named a second-team All-Sun Belt runner. He has the physical dimensions one would want to see from a running back, and his 21-carry, 217-yard, 5-touchdown performance against Georgia Tech in late September kept him on the NFL radar before his season-ending injury.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Rw5n3iXTLS0]

This injury will likely make Cunningham a street free agent looking for a tryout. Fortunately, Middle Tennessee State likes Cunningham enough that they moved its Pro Day to as late a date as possible to give its runner more time to heal before a workout.

When I watched Cunningham in this Georgia Tech game, I wanted to see evidence of short-area quickness against a bigger-name team. The Yellow Jackets would likely get penetration at the line of scrimmage that could model some of the situations he’d see against professionals. Although I didn’t see great lateral agility from Cunningham in this game, there was one play in particular where Cunningham flashed it.

The situation was a 1st-and-15 with 10:33 in the third quarter from a 2×2 receiver, pistol set.

This play is a zone run to the left, but the Tech defensive tackle and backside end get strong penetration to the backfield in addition to penetration from the left side of the offensive line to force Cunningham to change direction in the backfield.

Cunningham feels the penetration coming across the face of his backside linemen and begins his cutback with a plant of his outside leg. This first cut will get him to the edge.

Cunningham runs with his eyes on this play. You can see him looking to the backside defenders as he begins his initial cutback.

Most college runners are good enough to make one good cut and get down hill. That’s just a basic staple of running the football. However, it’s that second cut to transition from a bounce outside back to a down hill run that will be important for Cunningham to execute at the professional level. If he can’t, he’s going to see enough attempts for three- and four-yard losses that keep him from ever seeing an NFL lineup.

Cunningham eludes the defensive end with his first cut, but not has to make a lateral cut in succession with that first move if he wants to get down field on the linebacker in great position to cut off the flat.

This is the kind of direction change that runners can refine from doing drills with rope ladders and cones. It doesn’t mean every runner can get quick enough to execute moves on top of moves in the NFL, but when a player demonstrates he can do so in a game it signals that he has good feet without thinking about it. This second cut above is one of those instances. It gets Cunningham in a position where he’s now heading down hill on the outside linebacker.

The OLB heads straight into Cunningham's wheel house. — The OLB makes a beeline into Cunningham’s wheel house.

Once Cunningham gets his pads square, he does what he does best: get low, drive those muscular thighs forward and attack the defender who was in position to catch a ride on the BC Econoline rather than hit MTSU’s power back.

Two yards later, Cunningham is dragging the OLB across the line of scrimmage and picking up momentum.

Cunningham gains four yards on this play-landing at the tip of this arrow after dragging his opponent five yards after initial contact. It’s not the flashiest run of the day. It’s not the most meaningful, either. But to someone looking for NFL-caliber skills, this play models some of the things Cunningham will have to do if he wants any chance of success at the next level.

It’s worth noting that this 2×2 pistol was the primary running formation that MSTU used to feature Cunningham. Sometimes the receivers were split, other times they were stacked. The pistol look and Cunningham’s dimensions remind me somewhat Alfred Morris and the Redskins running game. If Cunningham can return to complete health and do more than just “flash” lateral agility and short-area quickness, he could be a nice backup for Morris.

2012 RSP Sample: QB Skill Breakdown Sample

December 23, 2012 0 Comments read RSP Publication

Check out my QB Skill Breakdown sample from the 2012 RSP. Photo by Seth Youngblood.

Whenever I provide samples of the RSP, they are links to individual reports of players. These reports are raw, play-by-play notes located in the back of the book. My readers appreciate these, but most of them get the publication for the front-of-the-book material.

One of these reports is the Skill Breadowns that I perform by position. I use the play-by-play notes and checklist scores to create the report you’ll see below. This report ranks each quarterback according to the skill sets I grade with the play-by-play checklists. The report is a tier-based analysis and helps me arrive at my overall rankings for the position.

What you’ll notice is how well Russell Wilson performed across the board in this analysis. A big reason why when Football Outsiders decided to stick an asterisk to his name when he scored off the charts in its Lewin Career Forecast that I thought it worthwhile to break him down as my first column for them.

This link will give you access: Skill Breakdown Section from 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio.

To see the 2012 RSP or past issues (2006-2011) you can purchase the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publications here. The 2013 RSP will be available for download at the same link on April 1, 2013. Remember, 10 percent of each sale is donated to Darkness to Light to help train communities on the prevention of sexual abuse.

Reads Listens Views 12/21/2012

December 21, 2012 0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

One of the books I'm reading. I just finished "The Reader," and "Eye-Tracking the News." About to start "Don't Make Me Think." — One of the books I’m reading. I just finished “The Reader,” and “Eye-Tracking the News.” About to start “Don’t Make Me Think.”

My weekly list of links, tunes, and reads (football and otherwise), in addition to a thank you for supporting this blog and the annual Rookie Scouting Portfolio Publication. This includes a new ‘No-Huddle Series’ piece, Some serious saxophone playing, a good mock draft from Russ Lande, a piece from Sports on Earth, and Omer Avital. Check it.

Listens – Best Stop-Time Solo Ever

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Sonny Rollins, Kennedy Honors Recipient

Thank You

Things at the RSP are about to ramp up. I am already ahead of schedule with my game study and I hope that my holiday break will get me in position to have attained 75-80 percent of my player goal for the 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio. This means I’ll continue to provide in-depth, play-by-play analysis and essays about prospects on the blog – including Senior Bowl coverage both here and at the New York Times Fifth Down.

If you haven’t read the 2012 RSP, you ought to check it out. The pre-draft and post-draft publications are a package set and the feedback this year was tremendous. I will be doing the same with the 2013 publication, making the pre-draft available for download (as always) on April 1 and the post-draft publication available one week after the NFL Draft. The option to prepay – as you’ve requested – will be available the same time as last year – more on that in January.

This promotion of my work ahead comes with a thank you to those of you who read and support the blog as well as my publication. I have fantastic readers. I wish I could spend more time corresponding with those of you who take the time to send me quality stuff on a regular basis. It is something I value even if I can’t always respond in kind with equal time and effort.

Football Reads

No-Huddle Series: WR Darius Johnson, SMU – The No-Huddle Series that brought you the likes of Bryce Brown, LaVon Brazill, and Bobby Rainey is back. Check out Johnson, a receiver June Jones says might be the best he’s ever coached. Considering the alumni from his programs, that’s carries some weight.
Sports on Earth: The Black Book – A fun, clever piece from Shaun Powell on how Robert Griffin stands up to an outdated book written by Dumb Ass.
Speculating in a Minefield: Race and Quarterbacking – A more sincere take on the topic.
Russ Lande’s NFP Mock Draft 2.0 – If you’re into the machinations of the process as much as the players, then here you go. I agree with the idea of Alec Ogletree to Baltimore and Dee Milliner to Detroit.

Non-Football Reads

20 Gentle Quotations from Mister Rogers:“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say, ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” Spoken in 1994, quoted in his obituary in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Is Wal-Mart Destroying America? Facts about Wal-Mart that will absolutely shock you: My wife has worked with them not so long as go as a global sourcing manage for a multinational corporation. She’s been sharing these points with me at every turn. Now they’re all written in one spot.
13, “Top-100” Book Lists Combined – Awesome list.
The Best Reporting on Guns in America – From a variety of angles.

Views

Lyle Lovett Tiny Desk Concert

Omer Avital In Concert

What is Integrated Technique?

December 19, 2012 0 Comments read Players

Brandon Lloyd embodies the term “integrated skill sets,” see below. Photo by Jeffery Beall.

In the world of draftniks, the word ‘intangibles’ is often a catchall term that explains a smart player without NFL skill sets. Sometimes those using the term make the mistake to include players who possess what I call an integrated skill set. Find out what that means and why it’s the difference between a good prospect and a good NFL player

I dislike the term ‘intangibles.’ NFL Films analyst and producer Greg Cosell often says that when he hears someone describe a player as either ‘a winner’ or possessing great intangibles his first reaction is that it’s probably a sign that he can’t play. It’s practically a sound byte of his between February and August.

I understand his inclination to make this conclusion, because if no physical skill or positional craft come to mind as the first things you’d say about a player then it’s a potential red flag. It’s like a man or woman describing a potential date for a friend as having a great personality but omitting any description of looks. Just like dating, we want to be physically impressed by football players.

There are players with good, if not great, physical skills but what really separates them from the pack is their ability to make unusual or consistently timely plays. Sometimes these plays are a matter of awareness of what’s happening on the field that few can assimilate into action this fast. Other examples involve more physical skill that happens at such a high rate of speed and fluidity of movement that the act appears instinctive.

I don’t believe it’s instinctive. I believe it’s learned behavior. Perhaps intuitive, but even so, I believe intuition comes from experience enough situations to react quickly and in control – especially as an athlete.

Brandon Lloyd is one of the most intuitive pass catchers in the history of the game. His physical dimensions are average at best for an NFL receiver and his speed is below average. But when it comes to his spatial awareness of the ball, his body, his opponent’s body, and the field of play, he’s straight out of the Matrix Trilogy.

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The first catch on this highlight video is still one of the most amazing feats I have ever seen on a football field. If you haven’t had your quota of sick catches for the day here are more. You’re welcome.

Despite this caliber of talent being easy to spot in receivers, it’s not limited to the position. It’s not limited to football. Knicks point guard Jason Kidd has always had it. It’s why at 39 he’s still playing at a high level.

What these players have in common is a keen awareness and control of one’s body in relationship to his environment. Some might define this as an aspect of on-field awareness or football intelligence. It also qualifies to some degree as uncanny athleticism.

To define this awareness further, I see players like Northern Illinois wide receiver Martel Moore (who you can read about in this Saturday’s Futures at Football Outsiders) exhibit skills that are difficult to teach a player at a stage of development as advanced as someone playing college football: catching the football with a wide radius from one’s body and accurately tracking its arrival from a difficult angle all while gauging the position and distance of an opponent or boundary. This caliber of skill is really an integration of several individual traits like balance, timing, athleticism, and hand-eye coordination. Several prospects are lauded every year for possessing one or more of these individual traits, but they often cannot put them together on the football field when it counts.

Perhaps the best way to describe what I’m talking about is to say that Moore, and players like him, often exhibit what I’m now going to say is an integrated skill set–or Integrated Technique, another way to define the “IT Factor”.

Robert Meachem is a player who has struggled to integrate his skill sets despite having physical talent that is Pro Bowl-caliber. Photo by Vamostigres.

Brandon Lloyd has integrated skill sets. Robert Meachem has a bunch of physical skills that don’t integrate well on the football field and it’s why he routinely struggles. David Wilson and Bryce Brown have some amazing amounts of integrated skill sets, but ball security was so disconnected with the rest of their games that they have required an adjustment period despite flashing a ton of talent. Colin Kaepernick’s arm, physical strength, and speed, intelligence at the line of scrimmage, and accuracy on timing throws are becoming integrated skill sets. However, ball placement according to the location of the receiver in relation to coverage is not yet integrated into his game. If it were, Randy Moss and Vernon Davis would have each scored twice against the Patriots.

As this 2013 draft evaluation season unfolds and you read my description of a player possessing integrated skill sets, think back to this explanation. It may not mean that the player is ready to start in the NFL, but the description will indicate that his physical skills, his mental processing of his techniques, and his awareness the environment around him are integrated at a level that he’s more often ‘playing’ rather than ‘thinking.’ His processor speed is high and that’s the difference between talented NFL prospects and productive NFL players.

The 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio will be available for pre-order in March. The 2012 RSP is available for download and past issues (2006-2011) are available for $9.95. Ten percent of all sales are donated to Darkness to Light to help train communities to understand and prevent the dynamics of sexual abuse.

Futures: WR Marquess Wilson

December 15, 2012 0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver

Futures: WR Marquess Wilson

by Matt Waldman

This week’s Futures is about more than Marquess Wilson. It’s about the dynamics of power within college football programs and the risks that come with questioning their authority. For most of us outside the situation, it’s about being willing to reserve judgment about a player’s decisions when we may never know the truth behind them. Most of all, this week’s column addresses the mindset that I think a scout or personnel director should utilize when evaluating a football player who left his college team on bad terms.

Tall, wiry, and athletic, Wilson had a chance to go in the top half of the 2013 NFL Draft. Some analysts dinged the former Washington State receiver because they speculated that he’s too thin. If there were a physical template that scouts and draftniks used to determine the body type of a first-round talent at the position, Wilson’s 6-foot-3, 188-pound frame isn’t an exact match.

I’m not concerned if Wilson is lighter than prototypes like Andre Johnson, Demaryius Thomas, or Vincent Jackson. Robert Meachemhas all the physical characteristics a football team wants from a wide receiver, but I’ve never liked his game. Meachem makes the act of catching a ball look like it requires a doctorate in quantum mechanics. And forget about routes –- I’ve seen out-of-town drivers who lost their GPS connection look less confused with their surroundings.

The way I see it, once a player meets the physical baselines to perform in the league, the rest of it is little more than a potential bonus. I say “potential” because these skills have to be harnessed into technique. Otherwise, you have a great athlete who cannot play fast, strong, or smart because he’s thinking rather than reacting.

This is why I am more concerned with positional skills. Knowledge, precision, and technical skill determine whether speed, strength, and agility will be used productively. A 5-foot-11, 188-pound receiver with great technical skill will play stronger, faster, and smarter than a 6-foot-2, 215-pound prospect without it. In other words, put Meachem’s game side-by-side with Marvin Harrison’s and it’s no contest.

Wilson demonstrates enough physical skill to develop into an NFL starter. He’s effective at shielding defenders with his body. He catches the football with his hands. Wilson has the height to win on the perimeter and in the red zone, yet the slippery power and arsenal of moves to avoid direct hits as a ball carrier through the shallow zones of a defense. The Cougars loved to feature his combination of skill sets on fades, smoke screens, slants, and vertical routes with double moves.

Wilson can set up a route in single-coverage and he flashes some promise working against the jam, but he has a ways to go. He has to develop better technique with his hands and shoulders to defeat press coverage while still moving down field. Otherwise, his tendency to lean away from contact slows his release from the line of scrimmage and it can ruin the timing of his routes.

Wilson is not a prospect with rare ability. However, he has enough NFL characteristics in his game that, with enough development, he could become an asset in a starting lineup. Several draft analysts believed he was one of the top-five receiving prospects at the beginning of the season. Until last month, I believed Wilson had a chance to be a second- or third-round pick.

I’m giving you the executive summary on Wilson’s game because the more fascinating question about the former Washington State receiver is the fallout from his imbroglio with head coach Mike Leach. There are dynamics of this story that parallel past incidents where a player and football program didn’t see eye-to-eye and NFL teams made a mistake to trust the program.

Sometimes the consequences for the player are deserved. Read the rest at Football Outsiders