Slot Corner ~ Jordan Whitehead ~ PittsBurgh Panthers ~ 5103/198
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:
Slot Corners ~ Upon Further Review, I confess that I believe that I went A Bridge Too Far with this Business of rebranding NickelBacks as CenterFielders. CenterFielders ~ "Free Safeties" to you Earthlings!! ~ are optimally Hybrids capable of Direct Coverage, anyway, and my premise that NickelBacks ought to be able to manifest the Processing Speed that CenterFielders need, as well as the Run Defense Aspect of a CenterFielder was pushing Evolution too far, too fast!!
It would be terrific for Defenses if NickelBacks were all spry yet beefy 5090/210 Pounders whose Frames could stand up to the rigors of the Run Defense that is an important Aspect of a CenterFielder's Game.
But even then, their Height would be a Liability in surveying the Tactical LandScape.
NickelBacks are of course Pass Defense Specialists, but I will include Run Defense in my Evaluations. But I will note, of course, that as with Blocking as it pertains to WideOuts, it is desirable, yes, but its absence is no Red Flag.
This is how I break down Slot Corners:
Agility: Acceleration, Ricochet, Fluidity, Verticity ~ that's Turn & Burn Acuity, to you Earthlings!! ~ and Speed!!
Processing Speed: How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play.
Run Defense: Power, Agility, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, Motor, and Tackling.
Pass Coverage: Agility, Processing Speed, and Field Vision.
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.
* Speed ~ Corner and WideOut are really the only Roles where 40 Times matter.
Processing Speed
* How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play: Run/Pass, Routes, Picks, and such.
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 Routes and WideOuts.
* Field Vision ~ Processing Speed with an emphasis on the Tactical LandScape.
CatchPoint Capacity
* Tracking
* Timing
* Combat Skills
* WingSpan
* Vertical Agility
Agility: 90. Despite mediocre Speed numbers and horrible Fluidity numbers at his Pro Day, WhiteHead consistently exhibits outstanding all-around agility when the bullets are actually flying, provided that he's reasonably healthy.
Processing Speed: 25. I'm not entirely sure that he could give you accurate directions to PittsBurgh's Film Room.
Run Defense: 50, with extraordinary potential. Whitehead's Field Vision, Processing Speed, Combat Skills in navigating Traffic, and Tackling are all fairly horrible, but his Motor, Power, and Agility are both tremendous.
Pass Coverage: 50, and again with extraordinary potential. His remarkable Fluidity and Speed make for outstanding potential if he improve his Combat Skills, Field Vision, and Processing Speed by a quantum leap or ten.
CatchPoint Capacity: 25. His Tracking & Timing, Combat Skills, and horrifically short WingSpan are all terrible.
Ceiling? Warrior. 2nd Round. Whitehead's Height doesn't prevent'm from playing effectively as a Boundary Corner, in and of itself, but I believe that that, combined with those incredibly short Arms, does. For that reason ~ my believing that he's confined to Slot Corner potential ~ I cannot justify a Beast/1st Round Ceiling. Having noted that, I will say that his extraordinary Agility, combined with his impressive Core Power and outstanding Motor, translate, in my opinion, to outstanding potential to become a stellar Cover Corner and an outstanding Run Defender.
Floor? Long Shot. 6th/7th Round. If he doesn't jack up the mental part of his Game dramatically, he may never see a Snap.
Risk/Reward Ratio? Pretty shaky. He's had multiple suspensions, his WingSpan is short enough to be a glaring Liability, and, above all, his horrible Field Vision raises enormous questions not only about his mental capacity to learn the Game well enough to compete, much less excel, but also about his Drive, despite the Motor we see in Run Support.
But not all is always evident, especially when we're talking about young men...And Whitehead was sensational in 2015, when he arrived in PittsBurgh as a Freshman. There certainly enough potential, and hope of its realization, to warrant a Pick.
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Market Value #117 | Yankee Grade 4th/5th 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!!