Offensive Tackle ~ Dieugot Joseph ~ Florida InterNational Golden Panthers ~ 6057/294
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 lurching around like FrankenStein.
Frame: Vertical Leverage, Hands, Arm Length, and WingSpan.
Combat Skills: Horizontal Leverage, Paw Positioning, Paw Persistence, and FootWork.
Processing Speed: How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the Rapidly Roiling Tactical LandScape!!
Motor: Endurance and Drive: How much Work has been put into Conditioning, and how it manifests itself.
Run Blocking: Applying it all: Power, Agility, Frame, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, and Motor.
Pass Blocking: Power, Agility, Frame, 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.
Frame
* Vertical Leverage. Height is crucial, but it's actually better, I believe, to be an Inch shorter than an Inch Taller.
* Hands. The larger the better, generally, but compact is never a bad Attribute in The Trenches.
* Arm Length. Absolutely crucial. He who boasts the longer Arms initiates Combat.
* WingSpan. Arm Length + Torso Width. A more complete Measurement.
Combat Skills
* Lateral Leverage. Angles. Getting Square or better with the Target.
* Paw Positioning ~ It's all about Angles & Leverage.
* Paw Persistence ~ RPMs: Activity & Persistence.
* FootWork ~ RPMs: Activity & Persistence.
Processing Speed
* Reading & Reacting to Defensive Schemes & Stunts quickly and effectively.
* Field Vision: Finding Targets & approaching them effectively.
Motor
* Intensity.
* Duration.
Run Blocking
* Power ~ Drive Power to project Power in the Running Game.
* Agility ~ especially Acceleration DownField or to the Flank.
* Frame ~ especially Vertical Leverage.
* 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.
* Frame ~ especially WingSpan.
* Combat Skills.
* Processing Speed.
* Motor.
Power: Marginal, but with exceptional Potential. Joseph appears to possess excellent Core Power, and his extraordinary Vertical Jump Number on'is Pro Day supports that notion, but he needs to Beef up about 15-20 Pounds and then successfully translate that Muscle Mass into additional Functional Strength. That'll take Time & Training.
Agility: Sufficient, and with excellent Potential. Joseph is still relatively new to the Offensive Line, having converted thither from Defensive End only 4 Years ago, so it's very possible that he's still closing the Gap between Intrinsic Agility ~ and Power ~ and Functional Agility and Power. His Combine Number for Speed are impressive, for Acceleration are tremendous, and for Fluidity are good. With Time & Training, these will hopefully translate to the GridIron.
Frame: Phenomenal. A bit taller than optimal for Vertical Leverage, but a magnificent WingSpan.
Combat Skills: Awful, in all Regards. Fellah's gonna need a lot'f Work, here.
Processing Speed: Marginal. Here, too. Still getting used to things.
Motor: Excellent. Impressive Intensity. Outstanding Stamina.
Run Blocking: Marginal, but potentially excellent on a Zone Team Scheme.
Pass Blocking: Marginal, but with tremendous Potential.
Joseph is a converted Defensive End who was only a Starter for 1 Year in High School and who weighed all of 230 Pounds when he joined the Golden Panthers in 2012, so he is in substantial ways still acclimating to his Frame and to his Position. That means that he's still catching up on the Learning Curve, but it also means that there's an awfully large Chance that the gap between what he is and what he might reasonably become is substantial.
Translating Raw Power and Agility into Functional Power and Agility ~ translating it so thoroughly that it becomes Second Nature and can be routinely called on, on The Field of Battle ~ is rarely easy, all the more so when one has been developing one's Frame at the BreakNeck Pace that Joseph's been at for 5 Years, and which will entail his ultimately needing to accumulate at least 80 Pounds of Beef from his former 230...and then mastering it so well that he can successfully compete against Trench Warriors, the most'f whom got used to their Frames Years ago.
No easy Task.
Even so: That is, essentially, what all Trench Warriors do, to some extent, and if Joseph proves to possess the Intelligence and Drive necessary to put in the intensive Time & Training that he needs and translate it to the GridIron, he's got the WingSpan and the Raw Agility to eventually become an exceptional, perhaps an outstanding Offensive Tackle.
And with Top Shelf Offensive Tackles as hard to come by as they are, that's worth an Investment!!
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!
Market Value UFA | Yankee Grade 3rd/4th Round |
This is not is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning: Caveat Emptor!!