KB, a member here keeps asking this great question, and I keep trying to find the answers, I only started this thread because I would like to open it up to some folks who understand metrics and stats, because I know for myself, usually college production is correlated with pro production, I have my own theories for his lack of numbers, but I'm still curious to figure out why the numbers say what they say.. Off the bat, I will list a few reasons that may of kept production down 1) Oregons offense and the fact that most teams had to throw the football to catch up..I don't have the stats on how much he dropped in coverage, but from watching his games, it was a lot. 2) this player has only been playing defense for three years..basketball player, and receiver..made the change at the division one level, and got real good real fast, relatively speaking.. 3) quote from Dion..." They eventually stopped running to my side..which made the Oregons coaches adjust, which resulted in dropping him in coverage, a lot. 4) The dude got a full ride to oregano, as a receiver..as much as we may not want to talk about it, this player is raw and ready to mold..I'm ok with that, because we have good coaches and a Kracken..lol I understand the concerns for lack of production, I'm curious myself, would love some input to see if this is just an anomaly for this unique football player..??? When I watch him play, I see a lot of plays that he affects with his unique abilities that won't show up..especially rushed throws, incompletions, disrupted timing, double teams..I think he might be the anomaly to the theory lack of production in college equals lack in the pros. Why did he change positions three years ago??..Because chip Kelly is a brilliant coach..and they developed a role for a unique athlete and, because "he enjoyed hitting people" says Jordan...that shows up on film btw. Back to why was the production lacking?, well, I know from watching his reps, that he was used an inordinate amount of time dropping into coverage, And from his unique athleticism and his talents, he prevented and caused a lot of things to happen which resulted in a stat I do care about..Turnvers, Oregon lead division one football in turnovers, that's a pretty important stat, this kid is going to protect the seam in the pass game, rush the passer on the next play, and push off a slot receiver into our zone on the next, in his words, his ability to "not allow vertical penetration was the reason why they led the nation in turnovers...Good luck passing down the seam with a kid who is 6'6, can flip his hips, has great hops, coverage skills, and can run fast..lol.. A play that I can't get out of my head, he's out in the perimeter covering the corner, Qb rolls out throws a quick out to another receiver, he takes on the block from his receiver, throws him to the side, and lunges 6 feet in one motion to stick the tackle..He has this signature burst to make a tackle, seen him read the zone option, protect contain, and lunge himself in one motion into the flat to make the tfl..he's ridiculous...another, watched him on a corner blitz, time the snap, and finish the Qb. I'm not worried about the pass rusher aspect, Padre has been touching on it, it's the way he runs, his biomechanics, there is a special lean and posture where he produces his power, and I've see him do all the pass rush moves..there's a play where he comes off the edge, just mma's this dudes hands violently, lowers his trajectory and gets around the corner, he rushes the Qb's designed throw resulting in a pick 6...he's got a real nice spin move, can rip and dip his body, wake is gonna have a field day teaching this kid, he has the athletic ability to mimick what he's hearing, and we will be reaping the benefits. To sum up, it's ok to say we have kid who has all the potential in the world, a special athlete with a special body and frame who can literally cover every inch of the field, and we took him at #3 for fifty cents on the dollar, as Daniel Jeremiah says.. The way I look at it, which is from the talent evaluation side, i did my job and got you a player that can do it all, who has work ethic and football intelligence, how much rawness are we dealing with here, where is this kids ceiling from our schematic perspective? And how do we think he's gonna be used by Coyle who had a Michael Johnson that he developed.? DJ played all last season with a torn labrum, he also delayed the surgery so he could perform well at the combine, for which he did, I know from watching his reps, he's a tough kid who is aggressive in his nature on the field, and I like that combo, these are the things that if not part of the players mindset, could contribute to an athletic freak not living up to his potential..
I have just a couple of rules about prospects Deej, don't truly care what experts say, care what I'm seeing. Jordan is a great prospect who will play day #1, then let's let his play on the field speak for itself
I'm the same way, but Im curious if stats can debate what were seeing from an athletic standpoint..this kids movement skills are 2nd to none in the draft..can we pinpoint something that is flawed in the stat dept.
They used a lot of rotations in their defensive groupings, added to the torn labrum relegating him to more of a coverage role, imo this explains his drop in sack production as they just felt he would not be as effective passrushing vs playing in space with that injury.
Now that's wtf I'm talkin about..keep talkin... your thinking rushing the passer movement is different than coverage and run playing movement, and that it cuts down on the pain in the shoulder?
