SpeedBack ~ Ronald Jones ~ Southern California Trojans ~ 5110/204
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
Ronald Jones ~ Scouting Report
Power: 50. Average, but highly improved from a year ago, where I would've gone with "awful", as some still do. He beefed up and gets a far better grade, at least from me. Consistently tough and even broke several Tackles in the backfield.
For Those Scoring At Home: I award Double Word Score for Tackles broken in the backfield.
That's right: Double Word Score.
Agility: 90. Excellent Fluidity, extraordinary Ricochet, and outstanding Acceleration.
Processing Speed: 60. Sometimes a cut too many, but usually crisp, decisive, and correct.
Blocking: 75. Got blown up a few times against Ohio State, but otherwise outstanding. I've read that he sucks at Blocking, but that's not what I saw. In 5 Games, he was consistently locked and exhibited tremendous Combat Skills.
Receiving: 50 but with high upside. Raw a dirt ~ not his fault ~ but focused and very, very explosive.
Ronald Jones ~ Prospectus
What a blast I had, cyberscouting Ronald Jones!!
Some'f my favorite processes are when I come in with certain expectorations ~ I always research other Sites before sinking my teeth in, which probably horrifies most Earthlings!! ~ only to get them shattered by what The Tape shows.
It's always refreshing ~ exhilarating!! ~ to get my expectorations knocked on their asses!!
And I make no bones about it: I went in expecting to see a powerless, vision-challenged, blocking-retardant, pass-dropping Prima Donna...You know something?...Sometimes I feel like I'm reading last year's Scouting Reports.
I started off with a nominal 4th/5th Round Grade, and had my Red Pen ready to run amok...And then, Play by Play and Snap by Snap, I found myself walking that shit forward...4th Round...3rd/4th Round...3rd Round...I swear: that's how my mind actually works, when I'm cyberscouting!! Usually, there's a little fluctuation between what I expected and what I end up evaluating a Prospect as, by I tend to get a pretty accurate sense of where I'll end up before I roll The Tape.
Of course, that nominally "preconceived" perspective of mine tends to diverge from "conventional wisdom" about as often as it aligns with it even before I start...and I trust that nobody'll confuse my final grades for anyone else's!!
I value things differently than Earthlings, you see.
But to the point, and at long last: I expected to end up grading Ronald Jones as a 4th/5th Round highly overrated Contender... but, after all the intellectual debris that I've just disgorged...I'm toeing the line of conventional wisdom!! Hah!!
He's explosive, he's usually decisive and effectively so, he's far more powerful than advertised, he's tenacious, he's tough, he is a remarkably effective Blocker, and he's got the Agility and the Work Ethic to become an exceptional Receiver.
In a word: He's got high Impact Player possibilities, and the Intelligence and Drive to make it happen.
Pay the man!!
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Some'f my favorite processes are when I come in with certain expectorations ~ I always research other Sites before sinking my teeth in, which probably horrifies most Earthlings!! ~ only to get them shattered by what The Tape shows.
It's always refreshing ~ exhilarating!! ~ to get my expectorations knocked on their asses!!
And I make no bones about it: I went in expecting to see a powerless, vision-challenged, blocking-retardant, pass-dropping Prima Donna...You know something?...Sometimes I feel like I'm reading last year's Scouting Reports.
I started off with a nominal 4th/5th Round Grade, and had my Red Pen ready to run amok...And then, Play by Play and Snap by Snap, I found myself walking that shit forward...4th Round...3rd/4th Round...3rd Round...I swear: that's how my mind actually works, when I'm cyberscouting!! Usually, there's a little fluctuation between what I expected and what I end up evaluating a Prospect as, by I tend to get a pretty accurate sense of where I'll end up before I roll The Tape.
Of course, that nominally "preconceived" perspective of mine tends to diverge from "conventional wisdom" about as often as it aligns with it even before I start...and I trust that nobody'll confuse my final grades for anyone else's!!
I value things differently than Earthlings, you see.
But to the point, and at long last: I expected to end up grading Ronald Jones as a 4th/5th Round highly overrated Contender... but, after all the intellectual debris that I've just disgorged...I'm toeing the line of conventional wisdom!! Hah!!
He's explosive, he's usually decisive and effectively so, he's far more powerful than advertised, he's tenacious, he's tough, he is a remarkably effective Blocker, and he's got the Agility and the Work Ethic to become an exceptional Receiver.
In a word: He's got high Impact Player possibilities, and the Intelligence and Drive to make it happen.
Pay the man!!
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Yank Rank: Beast ~ Par Value
| Market Value #38 | Yankee Grade 1st/2nd 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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