SpeedBack ~ Kerryon "My Wayword Son" Johnson ~ Auburn Tigers ~ 5115/213
Regarding SpeedBacks
A couple Years ago, I dropped the term "FlexBack" and divided all HalfBacks into PowerBacks & SpeedBacks.
I've come to believe that any HalfBack that doesn't bring a Passing Game element to the BattleField is...incomplete.
Hence, the term "FlexBack" ~ although quite cool, I believe!! ~ short-circuits the Evaluation Process.
As to how I break them down, I expect that the terms are pretty self-explanatory:
PowerBacks ~ HalfBacks who do their best Work between the Tackles..
SpeedBacks ~ HalfBacks who do their best Work outside the Tackles.
The PowerBack prototype would be about 5115/220 or so.
The SpeedBack prototype would be about 5010/200 or so.
Those are gross oversimplifications, of course, and many HalfBacks will manifest Attributes of both styles. Indeed, Power and Speed ~ better yet: Agility ~ are crucial to the Success of either kind of HalfBack. But I believe that it advances the discussion and better serves my Fellow FootBall Fanatics if I make an effort to distinguish between types.
This is how I break things down, when evaluating all HalfBacks:
Power: Above all: Core Power. Upper body Power is important, but lower body Power, from the Knees to the Ribs, is absolutely crucial. An HalfBack's Capacity to break Tackles is more about Core Power than anything else.
Agility: Launch Velocity, Fluidity, Acceleration, and Ricochet. Long Speed is all well and good, but at the end of the day, it is Gravy. What wins Championships is Moving The Chains. And Moving The Chains is accomplished far more consistently by the guys who exhibit the Agility ~ and the Focus ~ to consistently pick up 5 and sometimes 10 Yards at a time.
Processing Speed: Diagnostic Velocity. Field Vision. That ethereal Capacity to Rapidly Read & React to the Rapidly Roiling & Boiling Tactical LandScape...and to foresee and envision Lanes developing before they actually do.
Blocking: Having an HalfBack who doesn't Block effectively is like having 10 Men on the Field of Battle. Most HalfBacks just coming out'f College are mediocre Blockers, but this is a crucial Aspect of the Game that they'll need to master.
Receiving: Whether he be a PowerBack or a SpeedBack, an HalfBack that can effectively present a genuine Threat in the Passing Game dramatically increases his Team's Options on any given Play. The more dynamic the Threat, the more valuable to'is Team on the Field of Battle, whether he's just slipping out'f the BackField or splitting out Wide.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Power
* Core Power is most of it. Tyrannosaurus Rex would've made an Hell of an HalfBack.
* Torso Power doesn't hurt, though.
Agility
* Launch Velocity
* Fluidity
* Acceleration
* Ricochet
* Long Speed
Processing Speed
* That ethereal Capacity to foresee and envision Lanes developing before they actually do.
Blocking
* Power
* Agility
* Combat Skills
* Processing Speed
* Motor
Receiving
* Separation
* Catch Point Capacity
* Navigation
I've come to believe that any HalfBack that doesn't bring a Passing Game element to the BattleField is...incomplete.
Hence, the term "FlexBack" ~ although quite cool, I believe!! ~ short-circuits the Evaluation Process.
As to how I break them down, I expect that the terms are pretty self-explanatory:
PowerBacks ~ HalfBacks who do their best Work between the Tackles..
SpeedBacks ~ HalfBacks who do their best Work outside the Tackles.
The PowerBack prototype would be about 5115/220 or so.
The SpeedBack prototype would be about 5010/200 or so.
Those are gross oversimplifications, of course, and many HalfBacks will manifest Attributes of both styles. Indeed, Power and Speed ~ better yet: Agility ~ are crucial to the Success of either kind of HalfBack. But I believe that it advances the discussion and better serves my Fellow FootBall Fanatics if I make an effort to distinguish between types.
This is how I break things down, when evaluating all HalfBacks:
Power: Above all: Core Power. Upper body Power is important, but lower body Power, from the Knees to the Ribs, is absolutely crucial. An HalfBack's Capacity to break Tackles is more about Core Power than anything else.
Agility: Launch Velocity, Fluidity, Acceleration, and Ricochet. Long Speed is all well and good, but at the end of the day, it is Gravy. What wins Championships is Moving The Chains. And Moving The Chains is accomplished far more consistently by the guys who exhibit the Agility ~ and the Focus ~ to consistently pick up 5 and sometimes 10 Yards at a time.
Processing Speed: Diagnostic Velocity. Field Vision. That ethereal Capacity to Rapidly Read & React to the Rapidly Roiling & Boiling Tactical LandScape...and to foresee and envision Lanes developing before they actually do.
Blocking: Having an HalfBack who doesn't Block effectively is like having 10 Men on the Field of Battle. Most HalfBacks just coming out'f College are mediocre Blockers, but this is a crucial Aspect of the Game that they'll need to master.
Receiving: Whether he be a PowerBack or a SpeedBack, an HalfBack that can effectively present a genuine Threat in the Passing Game dramatically increases his Team's Options on any given Play. The more dynamic the Threat, the more valuable to'is Team on the Field of Battle, whether he's just slipping out'f the BackField or splitting out Wide.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Power
* Core Power is most of it. Tyrannosaurus Rex would've made an Hell of an HalfBack.
* Torso Power doesn't hurt, though.
Agility
* Launch Velocity
* Fluidity
* Acceleration
* Ricochet
* Long Speed
Processing Speed
* That ethereal Capacity to foresee and envision Lanes developing before they actually do.
Blocking
* Power
* Agility
* Combat Skills
* Processing Speed
* Motor
Receiving
* Separation
* Catch Point Capacity
* Navigation
Kerryon Johnson ~ Scouting Report
Power: 25. Spindly as Hell.
Agility: 60. Impressive Acceleration and Fluidity. Mediocre Ricochet.
Processing Speed: 60. Waits too long at times, but incredibly patient and usually guesses right.
Blocking: 33. Very little Core Power, there. Mediocre Combat Skills.
Receiving: 40, but with upside. Agile and Smart, and played a lot'f WildCat, so he's comfortable working the landscape.
Kerryon Johnson ~ Prospectus
In researching Kerryon Johnson, prior to cyberscouting him, I read a few suggestions that his style was reflective of that'f none other than LeVeon Bell, a SuperStar who I missed on by a mile and half...and who is a Revolutionary.
Just because I missed on the guy doesn't mean that I can't learn from'm, right?
Bell's patented propensity ~ and as far as I know: unprecedented propensity ~ to impose a split-second Tape Delay on'mself, in order to gain a tactical advantage that few are capable of exploiting...is changing the way HalfBacks run.
It's inexplicable...but undeniable. Time after time after time, it looks like the Play is dead...and then shloop.
6 more Yards.
I don't see that so much with Johnson, though: Flashes of it, but he lacks Bell's Power and most of'is Field Vision.
I think that he's got the potential to develop into a competitive FlexBack, because there's Agility and Field Vision, there, but not a genuine 3 Down Back, because I doubt his ability to either block or run it between the Tackles consistently.
He's definitely worth a MidRounder, but in my opinion ~ I've been wrong, before, Gods know, and mediocre Backs have thrived in great Systems 1000 times!! ~ his Market Value has gotten way ahead of his Intrinsic Value!!
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
And, now...for some Greatness:
Just because I missed on the guy doesn't mean that I can't learn from'm, right?
Bell's patented propensity ~ and as far as I know: unprecedented propensity ~ to impose a split-second Tape Delay on'mself, in order to gain a tactical advantage that few are capable of exploiting...is changing the way HalfBacks run.
It's inexplicable...but undeniable. Time after time after time, it looks like the Play is dead...and then shloop.
6 more Yards.
I don't see that so much with Johnson, though: Flashes of it, but he lacks Bell's Power and most of'is Field Vision.
I think that he's got the potential to develop into a competitive FlexBack, because there's Agility and Field Vision, there, but not a genuine 3 Down Back, because I doubt his ability to either block or run it between the Tackles consistently.
He's definitely worth a MidRounder, but in my opinion ~ I've been wrong, before, Gods know, and mediocre Backs have thrived in great Systems 1000 times!! ~ his Market Value has gotten way ahead of his Intrinsic Value!!
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
And, now...for some Greatness:
Yank Rank ~ Contender ~ Highly
OverRated!!
OverRated!!
| Market Value #43 | Yankee Grade 4th/5th Round |
Please do Note, Fellow FootBall Fiends: This and all CyberScouting Reports issued by this Site are produced by a ludicrously unqualified Amateur, privy to not even the tiniest fraction of Coach's Tape, Scouting Expertise, Face to Face Interviewing, Experience, or Inside Information enjoyed by the Professionals. As such, anything put forth is certainly misinformed, euphonious, derivative Tripe, and should be rejected out'f hand and indeed shunned by all men and women with even reasonable levels of intelligence or Good Will!! I'm trying to discern Power, Agility, Combat Skills, and far more abstract, esoteric Concepts such as Processing Speed and Motor, and Intelligence and Drive, and I'm trying to do so based almost entirely on a fascinating fusion of Tape, Combine Numbers, and Pro Days, while trying to attenuate my findings based on making Allowances for Competition Level, Scheme, Concept, Context, and, above all: Trajectory!!
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!!
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!!
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