Offensive Tackle ~ Corey Robinson ~ South Carolina GameCocks ~ 6066/324
The Gutters are riddled with the Corpses of Teams that were built around so-called "skill" Players ~ teams that delighted their Fantasy FootBall Fans every Year, all the way until January...until The Only Games That Really Matter.
It is then, of course, that the Capacity ~ or lack thereof ~ to Move The Chains and protect the QuarterBack against PlayOff Caliber Defenses rears its ugly head. And another Team built for Fantasy FootBall bites the dust.
This is how I break things down, when I'm evaluating Offensive Tackles:
Power: Above all: Core Power. Torso Power is important, but Core Power, from the Knees to the Ribs, is absolutely crucial. All the upper body Strength in the world will still fail if you simply can't dig in your heels. But Core Power enables an Offensive Lineman to project Power in the Running Game and to reject Power in the Passing Game.
Agility: Launch Velocity, Acceleration, and above all: Fluidity or Core Agility. Core Agility is even more essential to sustained good Health ~ and to sustained good FootBall ~ than Core Power. The ability to react with Serpentine smoothness is a tremendous asset in all Aspects of the Game, and certainly in the Hand to Hand Combat that characterizes Trench Warfare. All the Power in the World goes only so far if you're stiff and lumbering out there.
Combat Skills: Paw Power, Mechanics ~ Hand Speed & Positioning ~ and of course: Frame.
Intangibles: Processing Speed and Motor. Processing Speed or Diagnostic Velocity is about how quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to how the Rapidly Roiling Tactical LandScape effects Blocking Schemes, and Motor is about Endurance and Drive: How much Work has been put into Conditioning, and how it manifests itself.
Run Blocking: Power, Agility, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, and Motor.
Pass Blocking: Power, Agility, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, and Motor.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Power
* Core Power ~ lower body Power. Core Power trumps Torso Power. Tyrannosaurus Rex had exceptional Core Power.
* Torso Power ~ upper Body Power. Important, but not crucial. T Rex had lousy Torso Power...yet was King.
* Anchoring Strength in the Passing Game. The capacity to Stand one's Ground.
* Drive Power in the Running Game. The capacity to drive your man back.
Agility
* Fluidity, above all things: Core Agility & Flexibility makes everything possible.
* Launch Velocity ~ Speed into Contact off the Snap.
* Acceleration ~ Short Speed or Quickness.
Combat Skills
* Paw Power ~ The Power & Speed of the initial Punch.
* Paw Velocity ~ How active the Hands are.
* Paw Positioning ~ It's all about Angles & Leverage.
* Frame ~ Above all: WingSpan.
Intangibles
* Processing Speed ~ Field Vision. Reading Defensive Schemes quickly and effectively, and finding 2nd Level Targets.
* Motor ~ Intensity and Duration.
Run Blocking
* Power ~ Drive Power to project Power in the Running Game.
* Agility ~ especially Acceleration DownField or to the Flank.
* Combat Skills
* Processing Speed
* Motor
Pass Blocking
* Power ~ Anchoring Strength to reject Power in the Passing Game.
* Agility ~ especially Fluidity to Mirror the Pass Rusher.
* Combat Skills
* Processing Speed
* Motor
Agility: Marginal. I suspect decent and even impressive intrinsic Agility, but it does not manifest itself on Tape.
Combat Skills: Impressive. Marginal Mechanics and mediocre Persistence, but an extraordinary Frame that just oozes Left Tackle Potential...Yeah, I'm definitely going to need to Spin Off "Frame" as its own Category, next Year.
Intangibles: Marginal. Mediocre Motor and deficient Field Vision and Processing Speed.
Run Blocking: Mediocre. What a strange Evaluation this is to craft. Robinson brings marginal Power to the BattleField and supplements it with marginal Agility and marginal Mechanics, with his best developed Attribute being his mediocre Persistence...But when you Cut & Paste the whole thing together with that extraordinary Frame, the result, on the BattleField, not only in College, but translatable to the Pros...is competitive...and with immense Potential.
Pass Blocking: Mediocre, but, yes: with tremendous Potential.
I'm not suggesting that he's swallowed a gallon of Tony Robbin's Sewage and become Johny Self Improvement, mind you.
But I saw enough of a Difference to believe that there's some fiber in Mister Robinson's Soul.
He's got a lot of Work to do, God knows, but young men develop not only at different Speeds, but with different Timing. What I mean is: Some guys just start later than other guys, not because there's anything wrong with them, per se, but because their Wiring's different, or their Circumstances are different, or maybe a combination of the two.
...All of which is to say that it seems possible to me that Corey Robinson's light kicked on relatively recently...but that it may indeed have kicked on...and that while he's a long way behind the curve and has a long way to go before he's ready to develop into a Starter, much less a Star, that there's enough Talent there ~ by which I mean that amazing and extraordinarily optimal Frame!! ~ and enough of an Indication of Potential for Growth that I think he's worth a shot.
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
Market Value 3rd ~ 6th Round | Yankee Grade 4th/5th Round |
This is not is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning: Caveat Emptor!!