Huskies ~ 6057/252
Those who are True Hybrid Threats are among the deadliest Players in the Game.
The "Tight Ends" who spend far more of their time running Routes from all over the Formation, and who aren't especially renowned for their Blocking ~ though many of them are adept Chippers ~ I refer to as Flex Ends.
Those who are True Hybrid Threats are among the deadliest Players in the Game.
Finally, those Hybrid Players who are so ridiculously Hybridized that they literally roam back and forth over the constantly fluctuating line between "LineMan" and "Back" ~ and who a confused FootBall World has clumsily designated, at times, as either "Tight End", "H-Back", or "FullBack", I refer to as WingBacks.
WingBack is a Position that by its very nature rests upon the Ethereal Edge between "LineMan" and "Back".
As such, I believe that the Term exquisitely captures the Essence of these particular Hybrids.
They're terms ~ WingBack and Flex End ~ that I find 1000 times cooler than "H-Back" or "Move" Tight End.
But that's me!!
The most compelling Attributes of a Flex End, in the 21st Century, are, in my view, and in no particular order:
Separation. Getting Open. This encompasses their ability to beat Press, their Acceleration out'f the Blocks, their Routing Precision, their Agility, their Ricochet, their capacity to outsmart Defenders, and their Instincts.
Catching. This encompasses Hands, Catch Radius, Vertical Agility, and Timing.
Navigation. How well he Navigates the Field in Pursuit of Yards After Catch: Power, Agility, and Field Vision.
Blocking. Having a Flex End who doesn't Block effectively is like having 10 Men on the Field of Battle.
Catching ~ We'll have to see, of course, but 4 Years as a Star BasketBall Player at BloomsBurg speak to great experience and skill at the Art & Craft of the Combat Skills needed to establish and sustain Position. And the fact that he set BloomsBurg's All Time Record with 175 Blocks suggests a bit of Vertical Agility, eh?? Hah!!
Navigation ~ His complete dearth of Core Power doesn't suggest he'll be barreling DownField, hauling Defenders along for the ride too very often, but his extraordinarily explosive Acceleration suggest he'll make a Play or two!!
Blocking ~ At first blush, this would project to be his largest and most lingering Weakness, should Webster in fact follow the Flex End path to The Next Level, primarily because of his hideously raw Combat Skills and his complete and utter lack of Core Power...But I could very easily imagine the Combat Skills he presumably mastered on The Court eventually translating very successfully to the NFL, and as a Flex End, he wouldn't be expected to grind in the Trenches.
For those not familiar with Larry Webster, he is Larry Webster II, son of a successful Defender who played for a Decade in the NFL, and who himself enjoyed spectacular success as a 4 Year BasketBall Player at BloomsBurg before returning, after a long absence, to the GridIron...where he enjoyed 2 more spectacular Years at Defensive End!!
However, I believe that his Game translates better to Flex End at The Next Level.
As it stands, the lad has virtually no Core Power to speak of. Consequently, he could potentially be historically bad, trying to Set the Edge as a Run Defender. For that to even have a chance of changing, I think he'd have to make an enormous investment in Beef, laying on something like 20 Pounds or more. That is serious business.
He would have to take an entire Red Shirt Season to Beef Up. I couldn't for the life of me find his Birth Date, but it's been six Years since High School, so that would make him already about 24, so the clock is ticking. And there's no guarantee that he wouldn't consequently lose a fatal portion of his Agility and destroy his Career.
Another option would be to convert to Flank Defender ~ what you Earthling call "OutSide LineBacker" ~ while remaining at about his current weight, but not only would his lack of Core Power continue to be an issue in Run Defense, his height could cause him serious problems in Pass Coverage, trying to rapidly react and redirect in RealTime.
You could certainly argue that asking him to scrap two Years of playing Defense to start from Scratch on Offense at the age of 24 or whatever the Hell he is would be disastrous, and I won't pretend that what I propose isn't a Gamble.
But it seems to me that his Frame is too tall for Flank Defender and too skinny for Defensive End.
To maximize his Chances on the Defensive side of the Ball, he'd be looking at an automatic RedShirt Season, on top of which he's got a long ways to go in developing a Pass Rushing Repertoire and all the rest of it.
Flex End, though, is not nearly as complicated a gig in the first place.
It's no secret that a rapidly growing list of successful College Hoops Stars have started from Scratch and gone on to forge tremendous Careers at Flex End. The most recent additions to the ranks are Jordan Cameron and Julius Thomas, two Prospects who I touted highly in 2011 and who exploded into Prominence just last Year.
I believe that Larry Webster possesses the perfect raw Skill Set to develop ~ explosive Acceleration, tremendous Length, enormous Hands, and an Hoop Player's Agility and natural Instincts for Navigating Traffic and finding Open Space.
He'd be starting from Scratch, of course, but we've just witnessed what a few Years of hard work did for Jordan Cameron and Julius Thomas in very similar circumstances, and let me tell you: A guy like Larry Webster, who walked back on the FootBall Field after a four Years absence and tore up the League is clearly a guy with more than enough Drive and Intelligence to unleash every ounce of the vast Potential he has within'm...and become extraordinary.
Thanks, as always, to the extraordinary Work by the men of Draft BreakDown!!
Consensus Market Value 6th/7th Round | Yankee Grade 2nd/3rd Round |