Split End ~ Joshua Doctson ~ Texas Christian Horny Frogs ~ 6020/203
Split Ends are usually the bigger, taller WideOuts who line up in the X Position, on the Line of Scrimmage.
SlotBacks are usually the quicker, smaller WideOuts who line up at the Y Position, off the Line.
FlankerBacks are usually the faster WideOuts who line up at the Z Position, off the Line.
The Split End prototype would be about 6030/225 or so.
The Flanker prototype would be about 6000/200 or so.
The SlotBack prototype would be about 5010/195 or so.
However a given Coach chooses to deploy the Soldiers at his disposal is of course entirely up to him, and most WideOuts will see Snaps at multiple Positions and in multiple Alignments, but I believe that it is valuable to categorize WideOuts in terms of classic Skill Sets, to better define the differences in the kind of Impact they might wield at the next level.
This is how I break things down when I'm evaluating Split Ends, Flankers, and SlotBacks:
Separation: Getting Open. This encompasses Combat Skills & Fluidity to beat Press, Acceleration out'f the Blocks, Fluidity and Ricochet in navigating Traffic, Route Running Precision, the capacity to deceive Defenders, and Field Vision for Timing Seems and Open Zones. All other Aspects of a WideOut's Job Description are dwarfed by this one.
Catch Point Capacity: In Transit or Contested: Hands, WingSpan, Vertical Agility, Combat Skills, and Timing.
Yards After Catch are well and fine, but it seems to me that 90% of the Value of a Flex End and any WideOut is getting open and catching the Ball. Anyone who's read my Work extensively knows that I consider Blocking to be the Heart & Soul of FootBall, but that is a philosophical position, and I recognize that with most Philosophies, where it comes to Wide Receivers and Flex Ends...it's just Gravy. And so is Yards After Catch: Moving The Chains is What Wins.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Separation
* Combat Skills
* Fluidity
* Acceleration
* Ricochet
* Routing
* Deception
* Field Vision
Catch Point Capacity
Catch Point Capacity
* Timing
* Combat Skills
* Vertical Agility
* Hands
* WingSpan
Catch Point Capacity: Phenomenal. Tremendous Vertical Agility, exceptional Tracking & Timing, impressive Combat Skills in contrast to his Release, and extraordinary Hands. Somewhat less impressive In Traffic, mind you.
Doctson is an absolute Beast at The Catch Point...But like Dobson before'm, I have severe Doubts about his capacity to consistently get to the Catch Point in the first place. Doctson lacks much in the way of either Core Power or Combat Skills and consequently has manifested serious Issues against Press Coverage, and his Acceleration out'f the Blocks is likewise mediocre: I don't believe he's going to get much immediate Separation in the NFL.
And I have serious Doubts about his ability to get it afterwards, as well: His Routing Repertoire is of course Elementary, his having spent College in the Horny Frog Spread, and, unlike Corey Coleman, I don't perceive that Doctson has developed much Savvy over the Years. And also unlike Coleman, and far more so, I don't see anything resembling Coleman's explosive Agility to bail Doctson out where Training or Instinct fail: His Fluidity and Ricochet are mediocre.
In short, Doctson is facing a steep Learning Curve because of the Offense he played in at Texas Christian, and he is further hamstrung by a lack of Core Power, Combat Tactics, Speed, and Agility.
When he does get open ~ and sometimes even when he doesn't ~ he is phenomenal at The Catch Point.
But as I see it ~ and God knows I am all alone on this one, and not for the first time!! ~ Joshua Doctson The Prospect brings with'm an enormous load of Risk, one far underestimated by the Draft Community as an whole!!
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
OverRated!!
Market Value 1st/2nd Round | Yankee Grade 4th/5th Round |
None of this is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning!! Caveat Emptor!!