Jaylon Smith nerve regenerating

[CalPolyTechnique]

It seems delusional and beyond belief, but the best of the 2016 Cowboy draft class might be still to come.

Elliott, Dak, Maliek Collins, Anthony Brown, and Jaylon Smith all have All-Pro potential. Throw in Frazier who looks like he can play as a decent backup, and add in Tapper if his back can heal, and ...wait for it ... drum roll ... Rico at TE (who I think will be very good next year).

Don't let that once-in-a-lifetime draft spoil you. Tempting as it is, and some will surely use it, don't use that draft as a measuring stick for future drafts.

I keep saying it but anytime you find your future franchise QB in the draft unexpectedly, you've won the football lottery.

Securing a true franchise QB is the hardest thing to do in professional football. Some teams have spent decades trying to fill the spot (see the Browns, Jets, et cetera).

 

[Nightman]

I think he'd be perfect as that pass-rushing SAM Denver had Miller playing early in his career.

If Cunningham is there at #32 he has to be the pick. I imagine he'll be long gone, though.

Think more of the 3-2-6

JSmith and SLee in the Nickel and Dime will be fantastic

The SAM is a 15 snap position on this D and Wilson can handle it

 

[Doomsday101]

His knee is not the question. It's his nerve (and by extension his "dropfoot").

That he ran a 4.5 is not in question. The specific claim being made is that he wasn't wearing his brace when he ran it.

The AFO (i.e. "brace") is for his foot, not his knee.

Smith never said he ran that without the brace; in fact he mentioned specifically that the brace is not an issue in terms of playing with it. He said he was pushing to play this postseason with the help of the brace, but the team staff decided to take it slow and not push it.

They did say the nerve was regenerating and when asked if that was just what he was feeling or was it what the doctors where saying he said Both. I don't know why this is so hard to imagine, the doctor who did the procedure was quite confident it would heal. Now if Jaylon is running a 4.5 with a brace then all the talk about foot drop is a complete joke by message board poster who are not qualified to speak on it. I have held off saying anything of the subject until it came from Jaylon himself.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Man another month or two and he probably would have been good for the playoffs.

Oh well, something to really look forward to next year.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

They did say the nerve was regenerating and when asked if that was just what he was feeling or was it what the doctors where saying he said Both. I don't know why this is so hard to imagine, the doctor who did the procedure was quite confident it would heal. Now if Jaylon is running a 4.5 with a brace then all the talk about foot drop is a complete joke by message board poster who are not qualified to speak on it. I have held off saying anything of the subject until it came from Jaylon himself.

I don't know what the disconnect is?

He's been training with his AFO on; YOU CAN run with an AFO on; he's said he felt he could have played this postseason with the aid of his AFO.

His nerve is regenerating and progressing; that's the story.

Any claims to him running without it or it being completely healed have NOT come from Jaylon but rather message board posters interpolating the available info.

READ (from Mike Fisher's exclusive interview):
http://www.scout.com/nfl/cowboys/story/1743454-nerve-of-cowboys-jaylon-smith-great-deeds

 

[Idgit]

They did say the nerve was regenerating and when asked if that was just what he was feeling or was it what the doctors where saying he said Both. I don't know why this is so hard to imagine, the doctor who did the procedure was quite confident it would heal. Now if Jaylon is running a 4.5 with a brace then all the talk about foot drop is a complete joke by message board poster who are not qualified to speak on it. I have held off saying anything of the subject until it came from Jaylon himself.

Jaylon and others around him who had talked to him have been saying there was regeneration going on since November. I'm not sure where all the confusion comes from, either. It's a long process and there's not a fixed timetable for a return, but by all accounts the guy is on or slightly ahead of schedule with the healing.

Now, will he ever regain the level of athleticism he had before? Or will he just lose enough that he's still capable of playing at a high level? It's impossible to say. But given the relative uncertainty of this injury, the rehab process has been pretty straightforward other than the odd cryptic tweet here and there.

 

[TRUTH87]

the pessimism around here sometimes is insane.

anyway, i heard theres another player in the league who actually plays with that same brace. (for drop foot) anyone know who it is?

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Just wait until we win the Super Bowl. There will be those who will find something to complain about. Absolutely guarantee you of that. It's a certain as the sun rising in the east each morning.

"The sun rises in the east,?" to quote Rams QB Goff. This is the player the Rams traded up to take with the top pick in the draft.

 

[bayeslife]

Jaylon and others around him who had talked to him have been saying there was regeneration going on since November. I'm not sure where all the confusion comes from, either. It's a long process and there's not a fixed timetable for a return, but by all accounts the guy is on or slightly ahead of schedule with the healing.

Now, will he ever regain the level of athleticism he had before? Or will he just lose enough that he's still capable of playing at a high level? It's impossible to say. But given the relative uncertainty of this injury, the rehab process has been pretty straightforward other than the odd cryptic tweet here and there.

Let me put your mind at ease. So long as there are no setbacks, Jaylon Smith will enter training camp as the best player on the defense. He is an abnormal freak player. DeMarcus Ware of linebackers.

 

[Wood]

They did say the nerve was regenerating and when asked if that was just what he was feeling or was it what the doctors where saying he said Both. I don't know why this is so hard to imagine, the doctor who did the procedure was quite confident it would heal. Now if Jaylon is running a 4.5 with a brace then all the talk about foot drop is a complete joke by message board poster who are not qualified to speak on it. I have held off saying anything of the subject until it came from Jaylon himself.

The issue with drop foot will be lateral movement not straight on speed (such as 40 yard dash). At best its still 50/50 proposition that nerve will fire fully. The sense I am getting now is how effective can he play if nerve is firing at only 70-80 %. He has very athletic build and mind set of champion so he might still be pretty good....just not elite. Personally, I can live with that.

 

[MRV52]

The issue with drop foot will be lateral movement not straight on speed (such as 40 yard dash). At best its still 50/50 proposition that nerve will fire fully. The sense I am getting now is how effective can he play if nerve is firing at only 70-80 %. He has very athletic build and mind set of champion so he might still be pretty good....just not elite. Personally, I can live with that.

I don't know, but he sure looked good in the 3 cone drill.

 

[manster4ever]

The issue with drop foot will be lateral movement not straight on speed (such as 40 yard dash). At best its still 50/50 proposition that nerve will fire fully. The sense I am getting now is how effective can he play if nerve is firing at only 70-80 %. He has very athletic build and mind set of champion so he might still be pretty good....just not elite. Personally, I can live with that.

Me too. Although he was moving pretty darn well laterally in that video of him doing the cone drill. Yeah, he was a high 2nd rounder, not a high 1st rounder. Lets say he's as good as Deandre Levy of the Lions or Dontae Hightower of the Pats or KJ Wright of the Seahawks...I'd take it and run. BUT, we all know he has the ability to be as good as Sean Lee, Lavonte David, Thomas Davis or maybe Jamie Collins if we really hit the lottery. I would take Thomas Davis and run with it. If he's healthy, that's the guy he really reminds me of.

 

[manster4ever]

I don't know, but he sure looked good in the 3 cone drill.

Ha...beat me to it

 

[Szczepanik]

As expected

 

[Sepia]

I'm a lady, but you're welcome!

The more I read about Jaylon and his character, work ethic, and leadership, he sounds like he will have the Dak role for the defense. He and Sean Lee will do great things together.

Heh, Jerry agrees with me. At his press conference today, he said, "Jaylon has the same kind of stuff Dak has" in terms of leadership.

We got not one but TWO of these invaluable young players?

Best draft ever.

 

[JoeKing]

Jaylon will either be a star next season just like Dak and Zeke are now -OR- he will be the smoking gun that proves Jerry likes to troll the fans sometimes and make them think one thing when the opposite is true.

 

[xwalker]

Think more of the 3-2-6

JSmith and SLee in the Nickel and Dime will be fantastic

The SAM is a 15 snap position on this D and Wilson can handle it

I think he'd be perfect as that pass-rushing SAM Denver had Miller playing early in his career.

If Cunningham is there at #32 he has to be the pick. I imagine he'll be long gone, though.

Von Miller played 4-3 SLB in base and then DE on a 4 man line in Nickel until 2015 when Wade Phillips came and implemented a 3-4.

The Seahawks did something similar with Bruce Irvin but he also played in coverage in the Nickel when not lined up at DE.

As bkight13 says the problem with that is it would take Jaylon out of coverage which is probably is top skillset. Yes he was an impressive blitzer in college and might be a good Nickel DE but he could be one of the best ever in terms of coverage LBs.

 

[VACowboy]

Von Miller played 4-3 SLB in base and then DE on a 4 man line in Nickel until 2015 when Wade Phillips came and implemented a 3-4.

The Seahawks did something similar with Bruce Irvin but he also played in coverage in the Nickel when not lined up at DE.

As bkight13 says the problem with that is it would take Jaylon out of coverage which is probably is top skillset. Yes he was an impressive blitzer in college and might be a good Nickel DE but he could be one of the best ever in terms of coverage LBs.

I would never advocate playing JSmith at DE but I do want him on the field in the base defense. The SLB covers a lot of TE's, but I think it would be a shame to not use him as a blitzer as well.

 

[CowboyStar88]

Heh, Jerry agrees with me. At his press conference today, he said, "Jaylon has the same kind of stuff Dak has" in terms of leadership.

We got not one but TWO of these invaluable young players?

Best draft ever.

I just hope the Cowboys don't screw up this draft since they will be drafting much later in the rounds

 

[DogFace]

the pessimism around here sometimes is insane.

anyway, i heard theres another player in the league who actually plays with that same brace. (for drop foot) anyone know who it is?

It's really not that bad. It just seems that way because the very few are so persistent, overconfident with seemingly very little credibility or expertise in any area, and generally annoying to other humans.

Most here are pretty positive.