CenterFielder ~ Marvin Stewart ~ North Carolina Tar Heels ~ 5110/200
Old Roles are getting dramatically transformed, and virtually every Front 7 ~ or Front 6!! ~ Defensive Job Description is transitioning into an Hybrid Role where the Defender is asked to excel in multiple Roles and in multiple Fronts.
For that reason, and in order to offer NomenClature that speaks not to archaic, obsolete "Positions", but rather to Skill Sets that accurately reflect the dynamic Changes of the 21st Century Game and the Roles they have spawned, I have undertaken to craft Terminology that is designed to break Skill Sets down as they really are.
Defensive Coordinators have, since Time Immemorial, employed highly creative terminology in devising Defenses and in designating Assignments. In that Spirit, I have admittedly indulged myself considerably in devising the following NomenClature. It is undeniably colorful, but I like to think that there's an underlying Logic, as well:
CenterFielders ~ This is my term for "Free Safeties", as I find the application of the term "Safety" ~ a limp, lame term, to put it kindly ~ to be an Asinine Appellation for a Gladiator. The Prototype would be about 5110/200 or so.
CenterFielders are indeed the Last Line of Defense. But I sense that with the increasing Hybridization of Skill Sets in the Years to come, it will be advantageous for Teams to seek CenterFielders who can not only act as a Reserve Defender in Support of their CornerBacks, but who can ~ at a moment's notice, if need be ~ flip into Direct Coverage.
CenterFielders, like RoverBacks and Gryphons, are Hybrids, tasked both with Pass Coverage and Run Defense. Unlike Rovers and Gryphons, however, CenterFielders are expected to prioritize Pass Defense. As such, I'll be breaking my Evaluations down along the same lines as with the others, but with a decidedly divergent Emphasis:
Agility: Acceleration, Ricochet, Fluidity, and Verticity ~ that's Turn & Burn Acuity, to you Earthlings!!
Processing Speed: How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play.
Tackling: Thunderous Booms are all very well, but I'm more interested in form and efficiency!!
Run Defense: Power, Agility, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, Motor, Navigating Traffic, and Tackling.
Pass Coverage: Agility, Processing Speed, and Field Vision.
Roaming Range: Processing Speed, Field Vision, Fluidity and Speed.
CatchPoint Capacity: Tracking, Timing, Combat Skills, and WingSpan.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Agility
* Fluidity, above all things: Core Agility & Flexibility makes everything possible.
* Ricochet ~ How crisply and how rapidly one breaks in a new direction.
* Acceleration ~ Short Speed or Quickness. Closing Speed.
* Verticity ~ The Ability ~ or lack thereof ~ to Flips Hips and Turn & Burn in Pass Coverage.
Processing Speed
* How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play.
Tackling
* Impact
* Form
* Efficiency
Run Defense
* Power
* Agility
* Combat Skills
* Processing Speed
* Motor
* Tackling
Pass Coverage
* Agility ~ Fluidity, Ricochet, Acceleration, and Speed, baby!!
* Processing Speed ~ Reading and Reacting with Speed & Precision to Offensive Tactics.
* Field Vision ~ Processing Speed with an emphasis on the Tactical LandScape.
Roaming Range
* Processing Speed ~ Reading and Reacting with Speed & Precision to Offensive Tactics.
* Field Vision ~ Processing Speed with an emphasis on the Tactical LandScape.
* Agility ~ Fluidity and Speed.
CatchPoint Capacity
* Tracking
* Timing
* Combat Skills
* WingSpan
* Vertical Agility
Agility: 50. Stewart played CornerBack at North Carolina, and if I were grading'm as a Corner, I'd hit'm with a 33 ~ marginal, because his marginal Speed is of course an enormous Liability in Coverage...But as a CenterFielder, where Fluidity and Acceleration matter most and Speed only matters when he drops into Coverage, he's playing more to'is Strengths.
Processing Speed: 75. Very, very savvy. Played Corner, yes, but mentally prepared for CenterFielder.
Tackling: 80. Excellent Intensity and excellent Form.
Run Defense: 80. Superb Field Vision, effective Acceleration, excellent Combat Skills in Traffic, and terrific Tackling.
Pass Coverage: 40. Quick, but not Fast. Usually, I and I alone mean that as a compliment, but'f course we're talking Pass Coverage, here, and Speed kills. I'd say 33 in Off Coverage and 50 in Press Coverage, as Stewart exhibits outstanding Combat Skills, though he does tend to continue them farther down the field than Zebras are likely to like.
Roaming Range: 55. I'll go with "Effective." Moderate Acceleration, but impressive Fluidity and, more importantly, exceptional Field Vision and Processing Speed. He won't cover a vast empire of grass, but he'll usually get there.
CatchPoint Capacity: 55. Ayup. I'll go with "Effective", again. I'm still feeling my around with digital numbers, so please don't hold me to locked-in translations!! But 55 and Effective nominally sounds about right...Anyway: Stewart's got a shorter WingSpan, not much Vertical Agility, and as for Hands? Well, as a WideOut, Stewart makes one Hell of a CenterFielder, yowza yowza yowza...But his Tracking & Timing is excellent, and his Combat Skills are outstanding.
Reserve. 6th/7th Rounder.
But as a CenterFielder, there is very average Agility to deal with, and marginal WingSpan, as well, and the stark lack of either Speed or Length in Pass Coverage render'm a Liability...But as a CenterFielder, his excellent combination of Processing Speed and Run Defense that aspect of his Game to be Starting Quality, despite the shaky Pass Coverage.
I do feel that the Pirates reached a bit, though.
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Market Value #53 | Yankee Grade 3rd Round |
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!!