bendog
04-25-2007, 11:08 AM
This is from my local rag, clairion ledger, last Sunday.
The writer, Rick Clevland, is an OK columnist. Actually, imo, he's really better than anybody currently in Den.
Hey, Saints: Trade up, take Willis
Good for Patrick Willis. I'm glad he recently ran a 4.37 40-yard dash for NFL scouts. I'm glad he bench-pressed 225 pounds 22 times (or was it 220 pounds 25 times?).
If that's what it took for him to move well up in the first round, good for him. He's a good guy, solid as marble. He's overcome more than most of us could even imagine. You pull for guys like PWillie.
But that 40-yard time and those bench presses aren't why I'd pick him first if I needed a linebacker. No, I'd choose Willis because he tackles. You don't need a stopwatch to watch him run past other people in his color uniform and then explode into somebody toting the ball in the other color uniform to make tackle after tackle.
You don't need to see him push weights to see he rises to the level of the competition. You just had to be there in Tiger Stadium this past autumn when he was a one-man highlight reel, racing from sideline to sideline, making tackles, running down a speeding wide receiver from behind, sacking a 265-pound quarterback who will probably be the first pick of the draft.
You can't use a stopwatch or scales to measure Willis's heart. You just had to see him out there as a junior, wearing that huge club of a cast on his right arm, and still the best player on the field.
See, you can't measure what's inside a player. You can't measure grit. And that's what separates Patrick Willis from 99.9 percent of other linebackers.
That's why he'll excel in the NFL.
NEXT GRANDISHAR?
It always has been my contention that the NFL relies too much on height, weight, 40 times and bench-press measurements to calculate a football player's worth.
Perfect example: Ohio State once had two prized linebackers on the same team. One was named Randy Gradishar, the other Rick Middleton. Gradishar was by far the more productive college player, an All American. Middleton, however, was bigger, stronger and faster. He measured better.
So, the New Orleans Saints, who needed a linebacker, picked Middleton ahead of Gradishar. Denver, picking next, gladly took Gradishar.
Gradishar became a seven-time Pro Bowler, a Bronco legend. Middleton was a bust, gone after two seasons.
But, boy, he was big and fast.
When scouts went to Mississippi Valley State to time Jerry Rice, they did a double-take when their stopwatches stopped at 4.65 when Rice ran the 40.
"This is the guy we've been hearing all about," the disappointed scouts said. "That's all the fast he is?"
Al Toon and Eddie Brown, who ran faster times, were picked ahead of Rice in the draft. Brown and Toon had nice careers. Together, they caught 72 touchdown passes.
Rice caught 197!
Again, you can't measure what's inside. You can't measure football speed, as opposed to track speed.
Or as then- Mississippi Valley State coach Archie Cooley so eloquently put it when told of Rice's 40-yard dash time: "Hell, nobody was chasing him."
IT'S AN INEXACT SCIENCE
We could go on and on about how inexact a science all this is. My point today: Sometimes the NFL gets so caught up in 40 times and bench-press numbers that they miss the obvious: Can he play?
Patrick Willis can.
So could Peyton Manning.
But Ryan Leaf, the guy many teams had rated ahead of Manning, couldn't.
Adalius Thomas just signed a five-year, $35 million contract with the New England Patriots. He is considered one of the best, if not the best defensive players in pro football.
Seven years ago, Thomas was the 186th pick of the draft. He lasted until the sixth round.
His 40 time wasn't great. He was, scouts said, an in-between size.
Plus, they said, he was a bit stiff in the hips. Now, Thomas just knocks people stiff.
I would wager that Patrick Willis will do the same. But again, I'm not basing that on a 4.37 time in the 40 or whatever that bench press was.
That's based on four years of watching him play and three years of interviewing him.
If I were the New Orleans Saints, I'd trade up in the draft to get him. They've got draft picks stockpiled. And Willis could be that impact defensive player they still desperately need.
In fact, he could be the Randy Gradishar they missed on all those years ago.
The writer, Rick Clevland, is an OK columnist. Actually, imo, he's really better than anybody currently in Den.
Hey, Saints: Trade up, take Willis
Good for Patrick Willis. I'm glad he recently ran a 4.37 40-yard dash for NFL scouts. I'm glad he bench-pressed 225 pounds 22 times (or was it 220 pounds 25 times?).
If that's what it took for him to move well up in the first round, good for him. He's a good guy, solid as marble. He's overcome more than most of us could even imagine. You pull for guys like PWillie.
But that 40-yard time and those bench presses aren't why I'd pick him first if I needed a linebacker. No, I'd choose Willis because he tackles. You don't need a stopwatch to watch him run past other people in his color uniform and then explode into somebody toting the ball in the other color uniform to make tackle after tackle.
You don't need to see him push weights to see he rises to the level of the competition. You just had to be there in Tiger Stadium this past autumn when he was a one-man highlight reel, racing from sideline to sideline, making tackles, running down a speeding wide receiver from behind, sacking a 265-pound quarterback who will probably be the first pick of the draft.
You can't use a stopwatch or scales to measure Willis's heart. You just had to see him out there as a junior, wearing that huge club of a cast on his right arm, and still the best player on the field.
See, you can't measure what's inside a player. You can't measure grit. And that's what separates Patrick Willis from 99.9 percent of other linebackers.
That's why he'll excel in the NFL.
NEXT GRANDISHAR?
It always has been my contention that the NFL relies too much on height, weight, 40 times and bench-press measurements to calculate a football player's worth.
Perfect example: Ohio State once had two prized linebackers on the same team. One was named Randy Gradishar, the other Rick Middleton. Gradishar was by far the more productive college player, an All American. Middleton, however, was bigger, stronger and faster. He measured better.
So, the New Orleans Saints, who needed a linebacker, picked Middleton ahead of Gradishar. Denver, picking next, gladly took Gradishar.
Gradishar became a seven-time Pro Bowler, a Bronco legend. Middleton was a bust, gone after two seasons.
But, boy, he was big and fast.
When scouts went to Mississippi Valley State to time Jerry Rice, they did a double-take when their stopwatches stopped at 4.65 when Rice ran the 40.
"This is the guy we've been hearing all about," the disappointed scouts said. "That's all the fast he is?"
Al Toon and Eddie Brown, who ran faster times, were picked ahead of Rice in the draft. Brown and Toon had nice careers. Together, they caught 72 touchdown passes.
Rice caught 197!
Again, you can't measure what's inside. You can't measure football speed, as opposed to track speed.
Or as then- Mississippi Valley State coach Archie Cooley so eloquently put it when told of Rice's 40-yard dash time: "Hell, nobody was chasing him."
IT'S AN INEXACT SCIENCE
We could go on and on about how inexact a science all this is. My point today: Sometimes the NFL gets so caught up in 40 times and bench-press numbers that they miss the obvious: Can he play?
Patrick Willis can.
So could Peyton Manning.
But Ryan Leaf, the guy many teams had rated ahead of Manning, couldn't.
Adalius Thomas just signed a five-year, $35 million contract with the New England Patriots. He is considered one of the best, if not the best defensive players in pro football.
Seven years ago, Thomas was the 186th pick of the draft. He lasted until the sixth round.
His 40 time wasn't great. He was, scouts said, an in-between size.
Plus, they said, he was a bit stiff in the hips. Now, Thomas just knocks people stiff.
I would wager that Patrick Willis will do the same. But again, I'm not basing that on a 4.37 time in the 40 or whatever that bench press was.
That's based on four years of watching him play and three years of interviewing him.
If I were the New Orleans Saints, I'd trade up in the draft to get him. They've got draft picks stockpiled. And Willis could be that impact defensive player they still desperately need.
In fact, he could be the Randy Gradishar they missed on all those years ago.