Pokes28
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Not wanting to hijack the Carpenter thread, I figured I would respond to questions regarding my comments about Chad Jackson with a thread all his own.
Chad Jackson reminds me of last year's Troy Williamson who wasn't all that highly regarded coming out of college (expected to be a 3rd rounder or so when he declared). Williamson like Jackson never had more than 900 yards in a season, but because he can line up in shorts and run in the 4.3s, he's considered an explosive prospect. Sorry, I just don't buy it. Williamson had a whopping 24 catches for 372 yards and 2 TDs as a rookie. Not exactly tearing the league up with that amazingly explosive speed.
The issue is that when I watch these guys they don't look to be anything special on a football field. There are fast guys that don't play fast and there are "slow guys" that run by blazing corners on a football field (see TO and Michael Irvin). Football speed isn't something that should be confused with track speed. There is a huge difference. Jackson is fast on the football field, but he's not THAT much faster on the field the same way that the Moss brothers and Steve Smith are.
There has been some that have brought up that Jackson hasn't had great QB play. I will say that before this past season, there were a lot of people that thought that Chris Leak was going to be a great NFL prospect. It wasn't until he was put into an offense that requires him to be something other than a drop back passer (which is what Leak is) that he started showing that he may not be a top prospect. Yet despite that, he still had over a 130 QB rating.
People like to state that it was the scheme that kept Jackson from averaging more than his 10.2 yards per catch this season. Yet they fail to see that was lower than any WR on the team that had 10 or more catches. Yes he was very dynamic in 2004 with well over 20 yards per catch. But that was in a completely different role with the team. Basically his role was run deep and get the ball chucked to him. This was as the 3rd or 4th WR on the field. I would hope that his numbers would be balooned.
I'm not saying that Jackson won't be a good NFL receiver. That will be entirely up to his work ethic. He has the tools to be very good. But based on what he's done on the field at Florida, I'm not holding my breath that he'll be anything special and if he's not special, why waste the first round pick on him?
Simply put, I don't think there are any WRs worthy of a first round pick this year. If Dallas is wanting to take a chance on a WR, I'd rather take a look at Martin Nance, Greg Jennings, or Marques Colston. At least with them as they spend two or three years developing you are wasting that first round pick.
David Harrell - Pokes
dwh
Chad Jackson reminds me of last year's Troy Williamson who wasn't all that highly regarded coming out of college (expected to be a 3rd rounder or so when he declared). Williamson like Jackson never had more than 900 yards in a season, but because he can line up in shorts and run in the 4.3s, he's considered an explosive prospect. Sorry, I just don't buy it. Williamson had a whopping 24 catches for 372 yards and 2 TDs as a rookie. Not exactly tearing the league up with that amazingly explosive speed.
The issue is that when I watch these guys they don't look to be anything special on a football field. There are fast guys that don't play fast and there are "slow guys" that run by blazing corners on a football field (see TO and Michael Irvin). Football speed isn't something that should be confused with track speed. There is a huge difference. Jackson is fast on the football field, but he's not THAT much faster on the field the same way that the Moss brothers and Steve Smith are.
There has been some that have brought up that Jackson hasn't had great QB play. I will say that before this past season, there were a lot of people that thought that Chris Leak was going to be a great NFL prospect. It wasn't until he was put into an offense that requires him to be something other than a drop back passer (which is what Leak is) that he started showing that he may not be a top prospect. Yet despite that, he still had over a 130 QB rating.
People like to state that it was the scheme that kept Jackson from averaging more than his 10.2 yards per catch this season. Yet they fail to see that was lower than any WR on the team that had 10 or more catches. Yes he was very dynamic in 2004 with well over 20 yards per catch. But that was in a completely different role with the team. Basically his role was run deep and get the ball chucked to him. This was as the 3rd or 4th WR on the field. I would hope that his numbers would be balooned.
I'm not saying that Jackson won't be a good NFL receiver. That will be entirely up to his work ethic. He has the tools to be very good. But based on what he's done on the field at Florida, I'm not holding my breath that he'll be anything special and if he's not special, why waste the first round pick on him?
Simply put, I don't think there are any WRs worthy of a first round pick this year. If Dallas is wanting to take a chance on a WR, I'd rather take a look at Martin Nance, Greg Jennings, or Marques Colston. At least with them as they spend two or three years developing you are wasting that first round pick.
David Harrell - Pokes
dwh
