He understands the position, how plays develop in front of him, when to switch to coverage, how to get to the ball carrier. A good athlete with a great frame to build. A damn high 3 Star at least.
The Ford game film shows some very good strengths and some definite weaknsses he will need to work on. 1. He is well coached on how to shed blockers and find the football. 2. Once he finds the football he is like a missile going to the ball carrier. 3. His tackling form is horrible. He will need to work on tackling before I let him anywhere near the field. 4. If his height and weight are correct he will not see the field until year 3. Maybe some special teams, but not on defense. 5. I like that the kid has a nose for the ball, when he bulks up to about 235 to 240 he will be a good defensive player. 6. Overall, he reminds me of one of the linebackers TCU puts in the NFL on a regular basis.
Bill, I'll agree to disagree. I don't want him at 230-245. I'm fed up with Herman's BigTen lardass LBs that can't move. Put 10 pounds on him and make him a step quicker. His film reminds me of a bigger, slower Joe Bob Bizzell. I want fast LBs, as in sub 4.5. We are in the Big XII, speed, speed and more speed.
He can add 25 lbs of muscle and still keep his speed, lots of guys do it, Oilers had a guy named Lamar Lathan who was 250 lbs and ran a 4.5 40. It's not out of the ordinary. The one thing I like about our S&C coach is he does a great job of teaching lower body strength. get him stronger in his legs and he will add 20 lbs easily without losing speed. The days of Jesse Armstead playing linebacker at 205 are over. Anything less than 220 and he just won't hold up taking on linemen.
I don't understand 4.6 and 10.7 unless he is eternally slow out of the blocks or Mule Frazier is the starter for the 40
Ford had an extremely productive senior season — 142 tackles (115 solo), including 11 tackles for loss, one sack, six pressures, one interception, one pass breakup, and one forced fumble after a junior season in which he totaled 105 tackles, including eight tackles for loss, with eight pass breakups, three forced fumbles, and three interceptions. I think he must know a little bit about tackling and pass coverage too. At 6'2.5" and 205 lbs., I think McKnight can add 20-25 lbs. of muscle easily wihtout impacting his speed..
I don't care about stats, I just watched his highlight reel, now think about this, it is a collection of his best plays. What I saw in that video is a guy that will wiff on a lot of tackles on the next level. His tackling form is nothing short of terrible. It works for him on the high school level, but don't think for a moment he can get away with that kind of tackling in a college game.
What I saw is a kid who used his arm strength & athleticism to overwhelm opponents; but moreover, a young man with a very high motor, with an unbending will to get to the ball carrier. Psychologically, he is a baller. Excellent. What his coaches do to improve his technique will be the key. After all, that is why UT pays coaches the big bucks. He likely will redshirt as a freshman, get experience as a redshirt freshman, hone tackling technique all the while; and then rock it and roll it as a sophomore on up.
I won't expect to see him on the field as a defensive player until he is in his third year. I agree with all the things you said above, but I would add another year for him to put on some muscle. This is the thing about 3'star players, they require a couple of years in the S&C program to develop physically.
Austin Bill: This player is interesting in that he will be sort of a "test case" for the new Defensive side of the ball coaching staff. Ford has a world of potential. A good, fundamentally sound staff will develop this young man into a top player. He already has speed, great motor and physicality. He is not afraid to attack the blocker in front of him and then race to the ball. If the staff can't coach this young man up, that is on them. The player is bringing all the raw talent and desire needed to make it, imo.
I have watched him play for 3 years, and he has improved every season. (Even Nobis and Johnson had a whiff or two during their Texas careers.) He will be ready after a redshirt year because he has the basic skills and willpower to succeed. Everyone agreed that Jefferson was ready to start the minute he hit the field. After 3 seasons of S&C and "coaching", he had not developed period which led to Strong benching him for a game and then subbing for him on passing downs. The bottom line Ford is a winner which the Texas defense desperately needs.
Our recruits are layers. Very few walk in the door ready to contribute at starter expectations. If he takes three years, then so be it. Late bloomers are welcome because in a mature recruiting cycle the late bloomers will soon be blooming each year. You just have to invest in the time and hopefully Herman's recruits from three years ago are blooming now and so on and so forth.
If this is true, he will fit right in and should start immediately. Highlight reels are for people without access to watching a kid play or coaches too lazy to do their job - see also Mack Brown. I learned a valuable lesson from Coach Bill and Barry. We were sitting in my den with my daughter trying to lift Bill's National Championship ring he had handed her. I asked them why they wanted a kid that I had known since he was 12. When he went to the kids HS, he asked for game film. He was handed a hi-lite reel. He told the HC that he wanted the films of all 30 games the kid started and a projector. He watched all 30 games in entirety. He told me that as a fan, I saw the kid make one more tackle as a senior than he did as a sophomore. He said the difference was that the first two years he was flying all over the field and making plays 10-15 yards down field. His senior year, those tackles were within two yards of the line of scrimmage. Highlight tapes are kinda like references on an employment application - they aren't going to list anyone that won't say nice things. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
BINGO I take highlights with a grain of salt, Basically they show the athlete in the best light. I had a buddy of mine whose son was a starting linebacker for a high school in Austin. Kid was terrible, took me 2 years worth of film to put together one highlight reel of take to post on Hudl. When I was done, you would have thought the kid was all state, but looking at the rest of the film you knew he was not a college level talent. So when I'm watching a highlight reel now I look for things that can't be faked. For a linebacker it's things like speed, tackling form etc. This kid is 205 lbs. His tackling form is terrible. He is a project, this isn't a bad thing, he has great athletic ability. I have no problem when a guy can develop into his ability. Tyler Owens ended up a 5'star, but he was also a project because his skills as a DB were terrible. Hopefully next year he will clean up enough to get on the field as a productive Safety. Lets not forget, Vince Young was a project as a passer and he really didn't show improvement until his Redshirt Junior year. Chris Simms came in as polished a passer I've ever seen, but he never really improved as a QB until his senior year.
It is nice to see what a kid can do in highlight films. the only way to judge them quantitatively is by length. If they only have 5 minutes of highlights, maybe a 3 star. I they have 7 -9 minutes , probably a four star. If they have 10- or more, probably a 5 star. That is about as scientific as it gets. Look at poor Bijan; he was almost always out of the game by mid 3rd quarter. He only had like 128 carries last year, or about 10 a game. He could have piled on the statistics big time if he had a greedy coach. Of course, he had about 30% TD ration on his carries. Then there were the kick returns and a few passes for TD also.
My take is that some players peak in HS and never improve much afterward. It could have been the coaching but in then case of Jefferson, I wonder. Where is he now? On the other hand, other players — 3 stars or less — mature and peak later. Players like Connor Williams and D’Onta Foreman might fit into this category.
