CenterFielder ~ Jessie Bates ~ Wake Forest Demon Deacons ~ 6012/200
Old Roles are getting dramatically transformed, and virtually every Front 7 ~ or Front 6!! ~ Defensive Job Description is transitioning into an Hybrid Role where the Defender is asked to excel in multiple Roles and in multiple Fronts.
For that reason, and in order to offer NomenClature that speaks not to archaic, obsolete "Positions", but rather to Skill Sets that accurately reflect the dynamic Changes of the 21st Century Game and the Roles they have spawned, I have undertaken to craft Terminology that is designed to break Skill Sets down as they really are.
Defensive Coordinators have, since Time Immemorial, employed highly creative terminology in devising Defenses and in designating Assignments. In that Spirit, I have admittedly indulged myself considerably in devising the following NomenClature. It is undeniably colorful, but I like to think that there's an underlying Logic, as well:
CenterFielders ~ This is my term for "Free Safeties", as I find the application of the term "Safety" ~ a limp, lame term, to put it kindly ~ to be an Asinine Appellation for a Gladiator. The Prototype would be about 5110/200 or so.
CenterFielders are indeed the Last Line of Defense. But I sense that with the increasing Hybridization of Skill Sets in the Years to come, it will be advantageous for Teams to seek CenterFielders who can not only act as a Reserve Defender in Support of their CornerBacks, but who can ~ at a moment's notice, if need be ~ flip into Direct Coverage.
CenterFielders, like RoverBacks and Gryphons, are Hybrids, tasked both with Pass Coverage and Run Defense. Unlike Rovers and Gryphons, however, CenterFielders are expected to prioritize Pass Defense. As such, I'll be breaking my Evaluations down along the same lines as with the others, but with a decidedly divergent Emphasis:
Agility: Acceleration, Ricochet, Fluidity, and Verticity ~ that's Turn & Burn Acuity, to you Earthlings!!
Processing Speed: How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play.
Tackling: Thunderous Booms are all very well, but I'm more interested in form and efficiency!!
Run Defense: Power, Agility, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, Motor, Navigating Traffic, and Tackling.
Pass Coverage: Agility, Processing Speed, and Field Vision.
Roaming Range: Processing Speed, Field Vision, Fluidity and Speed.
CatchPoint Capacity: Tracking, Timing, Combat Skills, and WingSpan.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Agility
* Fluidity, above all things: Core Agility & Flexibility makes everything possible.
* Ricochet ~ How crisply and how rapidly one breaks in a new direction.
* Acceleration ~ Short Speed or Quickness. Closing Speed.
* Verticity ~ The Ability ~ or lack thereof ~ to Flips Hips and Turn & Burn in Pass Coverage.
Processing Speed
* How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play.
Tackling
* Impact
* Form
* Efficiency
Run Defense
* Power
* Agility
* Combat Skills
* Processing Speed
* Motor
* Tackling
Pass Coverage
* Agility ~ Fluidity, Ricochet, Acceleration, and Speed, baby!!
* Processing Speed ~ Reading and Reacting with Speed & Precision to Offensive Tactics.
* Field Vision ~ Processing Speed with an emphasis on the Tactical LandScape.
Roaming Range
* Processing Speed ~ Reading and Reacting with Speed & Precision to Offensive Tactics.
* Field Vision ~ Processing Speed with an emphasis on the Tactical LandScape.
* Agility ~ Fluidity and Speed.
CatchPoint Capacity
* Tracking
* Timing
* Combat Skills
* WingSpan
* Vertical Agility
Agility: 66. Impressive Speed, Acceleration, Fluidity, Ricochet, and Verticity. Yes, remarkably well-rounded Agility.
Processing Speed: 90. Tremendously consistent and effective read & react speed and efficacy.
Tackling: 60. Marginal Power, and he'll bounce from time to time, but he's very tough and very consistent, with good Form.
Run Defense: 60. Mediocre at The Point of Attack, and at Navigating Traffic, but tremendous Range and good Tackling.
Pass Coverage: 75. Impressive Agility and outstanding Field Vision.
Roaming Range: 80. Ditto. Excellent Click & Close speed and efficacy.
CatchPoint Capacity: 75. Effective Vertical Agility. Extraordinary Tracking & Timing.
And Jessie Bates is right up there.
It's far more difficult to play CornerBack, but it doesn't follow that a CornerBack can go slumming and play CenterFielder any time the notion strikes'm, any more than an Offensive Tackle can go slumming and effectively play Guard.
It takes rapid Processing Speed to play CenterFielder effectively, and not everyone has it.
I sure's Hell don't.
As a Last Line of Defense, I feel that Jessie Bates is remarkably well-equipped to excel: His Field Vision and Processing Speed are tremendous, his Agility is comprehensively impressive, and while he's no freight train by any stretch, he's a ferocious Run Defender, well in excess of his natural abilities to do so. But he's not stupid about it, either.
He looks to me like a damned good candidate to develop into a good and perhaps an exceptional CenterFielder, one with the Intelligence and Drive to be a good bet to become All That He Can Be, and one who could very well anchor his Team's Secondary for years to come. He can Cover, he can play Run Defense, and he can play Deep Safety.
He projects as a good, solid, all-around FootBall Player, is what I mean to say.
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Market Value #54 | Yank Rank 2nd Round |
Please also note, Fellow FootBall Fiends: These CyberScouting Reports are not intended as predictions of success or failure, but as assessments ~ ludicrously amateurish assessments ~ of potential success. FootBall is a rough and often unfair business, and many a worthy Prospect has fallen far short of his potential, sometimes not because of his own failings, but because of those of coaching, scheme, timing...or because huge investments were made on other Prospects.
In other words: If any of my Super Dooper Deeper Sleepers ever fail to fulfill their vast potential, I’m confident that it goes without saying that it wasn’t their fault…or mine!!...Yes, I think that I'm being funny.
In other words: Caveat Emptor, Fellow FootBall Fiends!!
Enter at your own risk!!