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Bet on the tools (NFL Draft)

DMoney

DMoney

D-Moni
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This is a down year for South Florida in the draft, so I went back and looked at my old writeups on the four local guys who went in the first two rounds.

The lesson? Always bet on the unique physical tools. Those are the guys who made it, even if there were questions on position or polish. Kevin Austin (ND) will probably be the next local guy picked and he fits the same mold.

2019

Kaiir Elam- 6’1, 182, 4.51* (Benjamin)- Small-school standout with some prototype tools. Similar build to Divaad Wilson from UGA. Held up well when he faced top competition in the offseason. Florida signee.

2018

Nik Bonitto- 6’3, 204, 4.71* (St. Thomas Aquinas)- Basketball player with spectacular movement skills. 4.26 shuttle and excellent burst. More of an athlete than a thumper. He moves well enough to convert to LB full-time like Ryan Shazier. Some locals have said he doesn’t love football. All I know is that on pure talent, he’s one of the best players in the class.

Tyquan Thornton- 6'3, 165 (Booker T) Another potential breakout who could have a huge season with 2019 QB Daniel Richardson. Track star with elite speed- 10.5 in 100M, 21.30 in 200M and 46.97 in 400M. High ceiling if he continues to develop as a football player. Track offer from LSU.

James Cook (Central)- 6', 181 lbs., 4.71* Similar burst and acceleration to his brother but not as strong. Makes fast defenses like Booker T look slow. 9.2 yards per carry. More of a slippery runner than Dalvin. Not asked to carry the load (only 68 carries). Talented receiver in camp settings.
 
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DMoney said:
This is a down year for South Florida in the draft, so I went back and looked at my old writeups on the four local guys who went in the first two rounds.

The lesson? Always bet on the unique physical tools. Those are the guys who made it, even if there were questions on position or polish. Kevin Austin (ND) will probably be the next local guy picked and he fits the same mold.

2019

Kaiir Elam- 6’1, 182, 4.51* (Benjamin)- Small-school standout with some prototype tools. Similar build to Divaad Wilson from UGA. Held up well when he faced top competition in the offseason. Florida signee.

2018

Nik Bonitto- 6’3, 204, 4.71* (St. Thomas Aquinas)- Basketball player with spectacular movement skills. 4.26 shuttle and excellent burst. More of an athlete than a thumper. He moves well enough to convert to LB full-time like Ryan Shazier. Some locals have said he doesn’t love football. All I know is that on pure talent, he’s one of the best players in the class.

Tyquan Thornton- 6'3, 165 (Booker T) Another potential breakout who could have a huge season with 2019 QB Daniel Richardson. Track star with elite speed- 10.5 in 100M, 21.30 in 200M and 46.97 in 400M. High ceiling if he continues to develop as a football player. Track offer from LSU.

James Cook (Central)- 6', 181 lbs., 4.71* Similar burst and acceleration to his brother but not as strong. Makes fast defenses like Booker T look slow. 9.2 yards per carry. More of a slippery runner than Dalvin. Not asked to carry the load (only 68 carries). Talented receiver in camp settings.
Click to expand...
i remember the cook and thornton recruitments vividly ... especially thornton, thought we had him ... cook was always up in the air
 
DMoney said:
This is a down year for South Florida in the draft, so I went back and looked at my old writeups on the four local guys who went in the first two rounds.

The lesson? Always bet on the unique physical tools. Those are the guys who made it, even if there were questions on position or polish. Kevin Austin (ND) will probably be the next local guy picked and he fits the same mold.

2019

Kaiir Elam- 6’1, 182, 4.51* (Benjamin)- Small-school standout with some prototype tools. Similar build to Divaad Wilson from UGA. Held up well when he faced top competition in the offseason. Florida signee.

2018

Nik Bonitto- 6’3, 204, 4.71* (St. Thomas Aquinas)- Basketball player with spectacular movement skills. 4.26 shuttle and excellent burst. More of an athlete than a thumper. He moves well enough to convert to LB full-time like Ryan Shazier. Some locals have said he doesn’t love football. All I know is that on pure talent, he’s one of the best players in the class.

Tyquan Thornton- 6'3, 165 (Booker T) Another potential breakout who could have a huge season with 2019 QB Daniel Richardson. Track star with elite speed- 10.5 in 100M, 21.30 in 200M and 46.97 in 400M. High ceiling if he continues to develop as a football player. Track offer from LSU.

James Cook (Central)- 6', 181 lbs., 4.71* Similar burst and acceleration to his brother but not as strong. Makes fast defenses like Booker T look slow. 9.2 yards per carry. More of a slippery runner than Dalvin. Not asked to carry the load (only 68 carries). Talented receiver in camp settings.
Click to expand...
I would add NFL pedigree. Bet on the nfl genes with Cook and Elam
 
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Looking at these players profiles you start thinking who has the traits on the current roster to be top 100 picks? Spitballing here and lots needs to happen before most on here would end up in top 100.

QB-TVD, maybe the entire QB room
RB-Chaney, Citizen
TE-Arroyo, Skinner
WR-Smith, Brinson, Smith
OL-Nelson, Rivers

DE-Ugude, Harvey
DL-Mesidor, Taylor, Jackson, Moten
LB-Wesley B., Chase Smith
CB-Stevenson, Graves, Harris
S-James, Avantae, Kam, Balom
 
Was torn on the Thornton pick for my Pats. On one hand, we need speed in the worst way. On the other, thought a guy like Pickens or Skyy Moore would have been better picks for us. Last time we had a guy this fast was Bethel Johnson and this guy seems to comp to him pretty well which scares me a bit.
 
gacaneaddict said:
Looking at these players profiles you start thinking who has the traits on the current roster to be top 100 picks? Spitballing here and lots needs to happen before most on here would end up in top 100.

QB-TVD, maybe the entire QB room
RB-Chaney, Citizen
TE-Arroyo, Skinner
WR-Smith, Brinson, Smith
OL-Nelson, Rivers

DE-Ugude, Harvey
DL-Mesidor, Taylor, Jackson, Moten
LB-Wesley B., Chase Smith
CB-Stevenson, Graves, Harris
S-James, Avantae, Kam, Balom
Click to expand...
I'd still say the receivers, Harvey, and Balom would be outside that top 100 elite overall athleticism range but pretty good list.
 
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gacaneaddict said:
Looking at these players profiles you start thinking who has the traits on the current roster to be top 100 picks? Spitballing here and lots needs to happen before most on here would end up in top 100.

QB-TVD, maybe the entire QB room
RB-Chaney, Citizen
TE-Arroyo, Skinner
WR-Smith, Brinson, Smith
OL-Nelson, Rivers

DE-Ugude, Harvey
DL-Mesidor, Taylor, Jackson, Moten
LB-Wesley B., Chase Smith
CB-Stevenson, Graves, Harris
S-James, Avantae, Kam, Balom
Click to expand...
I know he’s not there right now but don’t forget about Mallory. He might be a huge part of this offense with the wr talent down a bit. If he stays healthy and puts up a big year, he can easily go top 3 rounds next year.
 
This is why it’s critical to have a top-shelf staff, not only position coaches but the department in general.

This staff will be expansive enough to have coaches finding and committing to kids with these physical tools.

Another note: How many years in a row has STA had a kid drafted???
 
BS85 said:
Miami basically let Bonitto and Elam walk right?
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1651332614228.gif
 
We all knew it. We fool ourselves thinking technically sound kids will translate into AAs. The Jaquan Johnson types should be our meat and potatoes. But you need a lot more Dukes and Rousseaus to get back to the championship. And we’ve been taking guys like Bradley Jennings and Derrek Smith. The very definition of JAGs.
 
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This board was screaming for everyone of those kids! From what I remember when we were "recruiting" them:

- Elam: long, prototypical CB. UF the whole way.
- Bonitto: a CIS favorite. tweener off the edge with athletic traits. Manny thought he wasn't a fit in our D, smh.
- Thornton: another CIS favorite. absolute speed demon. Not sure how hard we pushed, smh.
- Cook: baby Dalvin just never seemed to get the hype he probably deserved. Don't think we even recruited him, smh.

The talent is insane down here. No more excuses.
 
Ziggy said:
This board was screaming for everyone of those kids! From what I remember when we were "recruiting" them:

- Elam: long, prototypical CB. UF the whole way.
- Bonitto: a CIS favorite. tweener off the edge with athletic traits. Manny thought he wasn't a fit in our D, smh.
- Thornton: another CIS favorite. absolute speed demon. Not sure how hard we pushed, smh.
- Cook: baby Dalvin just never seemed to get the hype he probably deserved. Don't think we even recruited him, smh.

The talent is insane down here. No more excuses.
Click to expand...

Down year, too. Think about the impact those guys would have had major on our team?!

At the same time, everything happens for a reason. We land those guys and go 9-3 in 2019, we still have Manny as HC with Enos running our offense.
 
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All that **** done. You can't go into battle with undersized and slow players all over the field who don't have elite intangibles to make up for any of it. The top recruits end up the top picks. Elite athleticism is the basis of being great, then you add mentality
 
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