As I explained yesterday, Vision is often poorly defined as an abstract, catchall intangible that is vital to the success of a ball carrier. Vision should be something we actively try to define and despite its intuitive characteristics I believe there are major components of the skill set that running backs learn as late as years into their pro careers. Reggie Bush, C.J. Spiller, LeSean McCoy, and Jamaal Charles are recent backs that had to improve some aspect of their vision to complete that transition from promising prospect to effective performer.

One of the runners in the 2012 class with the skills to potentially make that transition from college star to NFL starter is Virginia Tech’s David Wilson. This four-part series on Wilson comes from analysis of a single game from Wilson for the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio available here on April 1, 2012. I’m going to group the analysis of Wilson’s runs into four categories:

• Raw Skill in Action – Part I of series
• Low lights – Part II (this post)
• Flashes of Refined Play – Part III (tomorrow’s post)
• Good Plays, but Alternatives Available – Part IV (Thursday’s post)

After studying two games and over 50 touches from the 2011 season, I believe Wilson is one of those players that my evaluation checklist will deliver a lower grade than the analysis seen in my evaluation profile. What I love about the RSP evaluation process is that when this happens, I generally know that I have a player with immense upside but clear deficiencies that might take time for him to address. Continue reading →