Slot End ~ Thomas Duarte ~ Los Angeles Bruins
6021/231
Regarding Slot Ends
Most Fans don't know that WideOuts can generally be broken down into 3 Categories, based on traditional Roles, and that those Roles naturally enough call for 3 distinctive Skill Sets, based on the classic X, Y, and Z Positions:
Split Ends are usually the bigger, taller WideOuts who line up in the X Position, on the Line of Scrimmage.
SlotBacks are usually the quicker, smaller WideOuts who line up at the Y Position, off the Line.
FlankerBacks are usually the faster WideOuts who line up at the Z Position, off the Line.
The Split End prototype would be about 6030/225 or so.
The Flanker prototype would be about 6000/200 or so.
The SlotBack prototype would be about 5010/195 or so.
And I'm adding a 4th: The Slot End.
The term may make some Readers cringe, for the same reason that the term Jumbo Shrimp might.
And it's a term, as far as I know, entirely of my own Invention.
But it is of course the perfect formational term for a WideOut lined up in the Slot but on the Line of Scrimmage.
And it seems to me to be an excellent term to describe the Skill Set of a WideOut who's not especially tall ~ like a Split End ~ not especially fast ~ like a FlankerBack ~ and not especially spry ~ like a SlotBack ~ and is often a bit Beefy.
And it's also a pretty apt description of a WideOut tall enough to be a Split End, but not fast enough.
In other words: a WideOut who profiles as a Slot End. But I digress.
However a given Coach chooses to deploy the Soldiers at his disposal is of course entirely up to him, and most WideOuts will see Snaps at multiple Positions and in multiple Alignments, but I believe that it is valuable to categorize WideOuts in terms of classic Skill Sets, to better define the differences in the kind of Impact they might wield at the next level.
This is how I break things down when I'm evaluating Split Ends, Flankers, and SlotBacks:
Separation: Getting Open. This encompasses Combat Skills & Fluidity to beat Press, Acceleration out'f the Blocks, Fluidity and Ricochet in navigating Traffic, Route Running Precision, the capacity to deceive Defenders, and Field Vision for Timing Seems and Open Zones. All other Aspects of a WideOut's Job Description are dwarfed by this one.
Catch Point Capacity: In Transit or Contested: Hands, WingSpan, Vertical Agility, Combat Skills, and Timing.
Yards After Catch are well and fine, but it seems to me that 90% of the Value of a Flex End and any WideOut is getting open and catching the Ball. Anyone who's read my Work extensively knows that I consider Blocking to be the Heart & Soul of FootBall, but that is a philosophical position, and I recognize that with most Philosophies, where it comes to Wide Receivers and Flex Ends...it's just Gravy. And so is Yards After Catch: Moving The Chains is What Wins.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Separation
* Combat Skills
* Fluidity
* Acceleration
* Ricochet
* Routing
* Deception
* Field Vision
Catch Point Capacity
Catch Point Capacity
* Timing
* Combat Skills
* Vertical Agility
* Hands
* WingSpan
Split Ends are usually the bigger, taller WideOuts who line up in the X Position, on the Line of Scrimmage.
SlotBacks are usually the quicker, smaller WideOuts who line up at the Y Position, off the Line.
FlankerBacks are usually the faster WideOuts who line up at the Z Position, off the Line.
The Split End prototype would be about 6030/225 or so.
The Flanker prototype would be about 6000/200 or so.
The SlotBack prototype would be about 5010/195 or so.
And I'm adding a 4th: The Slot End.
The term may make some Readers cringe, for the same reason that the term Jumbo Shrimp might.
And it's a term, as far as I know, entirely of my own Invention.
But it is of course the perfect formational term for a WideOut lined up in the Slot but on the Line of Scrimmage.
And it seems to me to be an excellent term to describe the Skill Set of a WideOut who's not especially tall ~ like a Split End ~ not especially fast ~ like a FlankerBack ~ and not especially spry ~ like a SlotBack ~ and is often a bit Beefy.
And it's also a pretty apt description of a WideOut tall enough to be a Split End, but not fast enough.
In other words: a WideOut who profiles as a Slot End. But I digress.
However a given Coach chooses to deploy the Soldiers at his disposal is of course entirely up to him, and most WideOuts will see Snaps at multiple Positions and in multiple Alignments, but I believe that it is valuable to categorize WideOuts in terms of classic Skill Sets, to better define the differences in the kind of Impact they might wield at the next level.
This is how I break things down when I'm evaluating Split Ends, Flankers, and SlotBacks:
Separation: Getting Open. This encompasses Combat Skills & Fluidity to beat Press, Acceleration out'f the Blocks, Fluidity and Ricochet in navigating Traffic, Route Running Precision, the capacity to deceive Defenders, and Field Vision for Timing Seems and Open Zones. All other Aspects of a WideOut's Job Description are dwarfed by this one.
Catch Point Capacity: In Transit or Contested: Hands, WingSpan, Vertical Agility, Combat Skills, and Timing.
Yards After Catch are well and fine, but it seems to me that 90% of the Value of a Flex End and any WideOut is getting open and catching the Ball. Anyone who's read my Work extensively knows that I consider Blocking to be the Heart & Soul of FootBall, but that is a philosophical position, and I recognize that with most Philosophies, where it comes to Wide Receivers and Flex Ends...it's just Gravy. And so is Yards After Catch: Moving The Chains is What Wins.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Separation
* Combat Skills
* Fluidity
* Acceleration
* Ricochet
* Routing
* Deception
* Field Vision
Catch Point Capacity
Catch Point Capacity
* Timing
* Combat Skills
* Vertical Agility
* Hands
* WingSpan
Thomas Duarte Scouting Report
Separation: Impressive. Competitive Combat Skills. Mediocre Speed, even for a Flex End. Don't even ask me about how it projects as a Split End. Impressive Fluidity, however, impressive Ricochet, and excellent Routing.
Catch Point Capacity: Impressive Combat Skills and Hands.
Catch Point Capacity: Impressive Combat Skills and Hands.
Thomas Duarte Prospectus
Thomas Duarte is far more of a Receiver than a Blocker...But as a Receiver, his equally impressive Separation Skills and CatchPoint Capacity describe a Prospect with Potential to Get Open and Make A Play far more often than failing to.
This kid can Work The Field...and you can trust'm to throw the Ball to.
HighLight Reels?? Look elsewhere.
But Thomas Duarte scores very nicely on my Move The Chains Test. He is by no means a Sure Thing, but I really like his Chances of developing into a guy who consistently Gets Open and Makes The Catch.
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
This kid can Work The Field...and you can trust'm to throw the Ball to.
HighLight Reels?? Look elsewhere.
But Thomas Duarte scores very nicely on my Move The Chains Test. He is by no means a Sure Thing, but I really like his Chances of developing into a guy who consistently Gets Open and Makes The Catch.
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
Yank Rank: Soldier ~ Deeper Sleeper!!
| Market Value #231 | Yankee Grade 3rd Round |
Please do Note: This and all Evaluations 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 of Good Will!! I'm trying to discern Power, Agility, Combat Skills, and far more abstract, esoteric Concepts such as Processing Speed and Motor, 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 Allowances for Competition Level, Scheme, Concept, Context, and, above all: Trajectory!!
None of this is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning!! Caveat Emptor!!
None of this is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning!! Caveat Emptor!!
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