Bears 5091/210
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
Agility ~ Phenomenal. This is where Seastrunk shines. His Fluidity in the Open Field and'is Ricochet out'f'is Breaks are magnificent. What he lacks in Core Power, he possesses in an amazing level of Core Agility.
Processing Speed ~ Mediocre. Seastrunk made substantial strides in this crucial Aspect, this Year, but has historically demonstrated an aggravating tendency to improvise when he should just take what's there.
Blocking ~ Horrible. I fear for'is Health ~ and for that of Bryce Petty!! ~ when I watch'm!!
Receiving ~ Baylor simply doesn't integrate their HalfBacks into the Passing Game ~ Seastrunk's next Reception this Year will be his first one!! ~ so there's very little to go on, here. And it goes without saying that if a Team drafts Seastrunk with a mind towards developing him as a significant part of their Passing Game ~ as a FlexBack, which is how I see'm ~ that they will have a substantial Learning Curve to tackle...But there is phenomenal Potential, here, because his combination of Silky Fluidity and Explosive Ricochet out'f'is Breaks is simply astonishing.
I'm not talking about a SlotBack employed as Wes Welker has been deployed: 99% Pass Patterns.
I'm talking about a 24th Century Version of Percy Harvin ~ a guy who lines up at SlotBack, at Slot End, at HalfBack, at WingBack, at FullBack, and at FlankerBack...and who catches the Ball as often as he runs it!!
But I'll categorize'm as a FlexBack, for now, because until the NFL starts developing that Position that exists only in my Feverish Imagination, players with Seastrunk's SkillSet are far more likely to find themselves deployed thither.
Projecting Seastrunk as a FlexBack, I have concerns about his Core Power, his awful Blocking, and his virtually complete lack of Receiving Experience. And I detest his historical penchant for Swinging For The Fences.
Championships aren't won on SportsCenter.
They're won by the hundreds of Plays that you don't see on SportsCenter.
They're won by Moving The Chains.
Sorry for the Lecture. It wasn't targeted at my Audience, per se, but at anyone who thinks otherwise...as many do.
Seastrunk clearly has spectacular Potential, and I, personally, am somewhat encouraged by the significant reduction, from 2012 to 2013, in'is previously frenetic tendency to constantly and obnoxiously Swing For The Fences.
There is elite Potential, here, I believe: If Seastrunk continues to develop his Core Power as well as his Patience and Field Vision, and commits to Moving The Chains in stead of the obnoxious Quest For HighLights, and if he develops his tremendous Potential as a Receiver, he could ultimately have a spectacular Impact.
As it is, I perceive a lot of Variables, there, and a lot of uncertainty, and will attenuate my Grade accordingly.
Thanks, as always, to the extraordinary Work by the men of Draft BreakDown!!
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