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Edgy Interviews Micah Jones

Purple Pile Driver said:
A dozen P5 schools seem to think he can contribute including half the schools in the B1G. You don't need to be Carl Lewis to be all B1G. Look at AC.

This guy moves the chains and his size will certainly be tough to deal with for defenders.
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Contribute, absolutely. I should clarify -- the question is whether he's fast enough to justify what will be sky-high expectations given his offer list and star ratings.

The kid even self-reports a 4.8 40 on his Hudl page. He's a big frame with the ability to high point the ball, but will likely need to get faster to be a lead WR for a P5 team.
 
Yep, but we've had a lot a speed burners on recent teams that you rarely notice in a game. If the OL can't protect or the QB isn't nimble in the pocket, it's difficult to take the top off D's. I'll take a guy that can be a consistent threat underneath all day. I don't think the expectation would be that he would be all conference his first year, but I do think he sees the field and is a piece of the puzzle.
 
Purple Pile Driver said:
Yep, but we've had a lot a speed burners on recent teams that you rarely notice in a game. If the OL can't protect or the QB isn't nimble in the pocket, it's difficult to take the top off D's. I'll take a guy that can be a consistent threat underneath all day. I don't think the expectation would be that he would be all conference his first year, but I do think he sees the field and is a piece of the puzzle.
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Who are these "speed burners" about which you speak? Because I haven't seen them.
 
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Overly_Invested_Cat said:
Solomon Vault, Roberts are two of them.
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Eh... we've seen Vault have a pretty significant impact, albeit moreso in the return game than as a receiver to this point (though he made some bigtime catches down the field; needs to work on consistency catching the ball).

For my money, Roberts is just too small to translate raw speed into football speed, which was the concern for him from day one.
 
gocatsgo2003 said:
Contribute, absolutely. I should clarify -- the question is whether he's fast enough to justify what will be sky-high expectations given his offer list and star ratings.

The kid even self-reports a 4.8 40 on his Hudl page. He's a big frame with the ability to high point the ball, but will likely need to get faster to be a lead WR for a P5 team.
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DarthCat is going to love this kid.
 
gocatsgo2003 said:
Eh... we've seen Vault have a pretty significant impact, albeit moreso in the return game than as a receiver to this point (though he made some bigtime catches down the field; needs to work on consistency catching the ball).

For my money, Roberts is just too small to translate raw speed into football speed, which was the concern for him from day one.
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Unless my memory is failing me, isn't Roberts very similar to Jonathon Fields in terms of size and speed and I would call fields one of the top 5 receivers at NU over the last 10 - 15 years. Let's be honest too, a burner with ideal WR size and hands, most likely isn't coming to NU. We typically get the burners on the smaller side or the guys with size but not the take the top off the defense speed.
 
Windy City Cat Fan said:
Unless my memory is failing me, isn't Roberts very similar to Jonathon Fields in terms of size and speed and I would call fields one of the top 5 receivers at NU over the last 10 - 15 years. Let's be honest too, a burner with ideal WR size and hands, most likely isn't coming to NU. We typically get the burners on the smaller side or the guys with size but not the take the top off the defense speed.
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I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take that comment seriously...

EDIT -- off the top of my head: Ebert, Markshausen, Philmore, Herbert, Peterman, Lane, and Ward were all pretty clearly better receivers than Fields. And that's before even considering guys like Brewer, etc.
 
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gocatsgo2003 said:
I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take that comment seriously...

EDIT -- off the top of my head: Ebert, Markshausen, Philmore, Herbert, Peterman, Lane, and Ward were all pretty clearly better receivers than Fields. And that's before even considering guys like Brewer, etc.
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Carr obviously too - more like the top 10-15 I guess
 
gocatsgo2003 said:
Contribute, absolutely. I should clarify -- the question is whether he's fast enough to justify what will be sky-high expectations given his offer list and star ratings.

The kid even self-reports a 4.8 40 on his Hudl page. He's a big frame with the ability to high point the ball, but will likely need to get faster to be a lead WR for a P5 team.
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We go over this point a lot. Jerry Brown, Fred Bilettnikoff, and Steve Largent didn't have better 40's. Yes, speed helps. But, it isn't everything nor is it the most important thing. If it were, James Jett would have had a better career than Largent, Bilettnikoff, or Brown. He didn't.

Austin Carr isn't the only non-speedster at NU who excelled. Many of our best WR's including D'Wayne Bates, Richard Buchanan and Zeke Markhausen weren't world class speedsters either. If Micah Jones has careers like them for us, we should be thrilled.
 
gocatsgo2003 said:
Eh... we've seen Vault have a pretty significant impact, albeit moreso in the return game than as a receiver to this point (though he made some bigtime catches down the field; needs to work on consistency catching the ball).

For my money, Roberts is just too small to translate raw speed into football speed, which was the concern for him from day one.
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Both can crush him in a foot race, and yet, neither could hold Austin Carr's jock as a WR. OverInvestedCat's point is spot on. And the idea of size being an issue with football speed, you must be joking. How many 5'9 speedster WR's have gone through the league through the years? Steve Smith. Wes Welker. And 5'6" Darren Sproles deserves mention since he's probably as successful as a pass-catcher as he is a RB. And is 5'8" Barry Sanders unable to translate his raw speed to football speed because of his size?

There's a lot more to being a WR than pure speed. Speed isn't even absolutely critical (though of course it is helpful). Get a WR who can win jump balls, run great routes, and most importantly catch over someone who runs fast any day of the week. Miles Shuler contributed, but I would rather he were slower and could catch better. Perhaps, an investment in an automatic tennis ball machine or 10X more time in front of one would have helped him.

Speaking of WRs who lacked speed but had other more critical attributes to make up for it, for as much crap Kyle Prater got from some people for his lack of speed and "underwhelming" career, he was still our leading WR his senior year and if every WR does as well as he does, we'd have one of the top units in the league.
 
EvanstonCat said:
Both can crush him in a foot race, and yet, neither could hold Austin Carr's jock as a WR. OverInvestedCat's point is spot on. And the idea of size being an issue with football speed, you must be joking. How many 5'9 speedster WR's have gone through the league through the years? Steve Smith. Wes Welker. And 5'6" Darren Sproles deserves mention since he's probably as successful as a pass-catcher as he is a RB. And is 5'8" Barry Sanders unable to translate his raw speed to football speed because of his size?

There's a lot more to being a WR than pure speed. Speed isn't even absolutely critical (though of course it is helpful). Get a WR who can win jump balls, run great routes, and most importantly catch over someone who runs fast any day of the week. Miles Shuler contributed, but I would rather he were slower and could catch better. Perhaps, an investment in an automatic tennis ball machine or 10X more time in front of one would have helped him.

Speaking of WRs who lacked speed but had other more critical attributes to make up for it, for as much crap Kyle Prater got from some people for his lack of speed and "underwhelming" career, he was still our leading WR his senior year and if every WR does as well as he does, we'd have one of the top units in the league.
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I think you missed his point. Roberts is too light to play effectively for a power 5 team, despite his 4.3 speed. Sproles was probably 175 in college, but still powerfully built with a low center of gravity. Roberts doesn't have the strength to break an arm tackle.
 
Hungry Jack said:
I think you missed his point. Roberts is too light to play effectively for a power 5 team, despite his 4.3 speed. Sproles was probably 175 in college, but still powerfully built with a low center of gravity. Roberts doesn't have the strength to break an arm tackle.
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Sproles was actually bigger than that (though still quite short), 5061 187 at the Combine in 2005 (to go with 23 bench reps).
 
Hungry Jack said:
Yeah. He got bigger through college and played at about 190 in the NFL.

IIRC, Jacquizz Rodgers was a wisp of a guy as a freshman at Oregon, and now he's 5'6" 205 in the NFL.
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Rodgers was 5-6 180 on OSU's 2008 signing day release. Those are not verified numbers, but don't know I would go with "wisp of a guy" based on those measurables and photos/videos of him from high school... pretty stout dude (mute your speakers if you're averse to colorful language):

 
EvanstonCat said:
We go over this point a lot. Jerry Brown, Fred Bilettnikoff, and Steve Largent didn't have better 40's. Yes, speed helps. But, it isn't everything nor is it the most important thing. If it were, James Jett would have had a better career than Largent, Bilettnikoff, or Brown. He didn't.

Austin Carr isn't the only non-speedster at NU who excelled. Many of our best WR's including D'Wayne Bates, Richard Buchanan and Zeke Markhausen weren't world class speedsters either. If Micah Jones has careers like them for us, we should be thrilled.
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I grew up with Fred Biletnikoff, and played with him and against him. He was not a "burner" by any means, but was probably the best athlete I ever saw play any sport. One does not become All State, All American, All Pro and College and Pro Football Hall of Fame for no reason! Speed is a great weapon, but many other attributes combine to make a great wide receiver.
 
No Chores said:
I grew up with Fred Biletnikoff, and played with him and against him. He was not a "burner" by any means, but was probably the best athlete I ever saw play any sport. One does not become All State, All American, All Pro and College and Pro Football Hall of Fame for no reason! Speed is a great weapon, but many other attributes combine to make a great wide receiver.
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Did he use stick um when you played with him ?
 
Purple Pile Driver said:
Did he use stick um when you played with him ?
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Not to my knowledge, but mostly I played basketball with him and against him, where stick-um was not particularly valuable. I played with Freddie in the state Biddy Basketball Tournament when we were both 11 and 12. Later we were on different teams in Junior High School and High School. I did not play football, and watched Freddie destroy every high school team in the region, including my own. My biggest claim to fame, though, was that when we were both in college, we dated the same bank teller, and I'm certain she liked me better than Fred!
 
No Chores said:
Not to my knowledge, but mostly I played basketball with him and against him, where stick-um was not particularly valuable. I played with Freddie in the state Biddy Basketball Tournament when we were both 11 and 12. Later we were on different teams in Junior High School and High School. I did not play football, and watched Freddie destroy every high school team in the region, including my own. My biggest claim to fame, though, was that when we were both in college, we dated the same bank teller, and I'm certain she liked me better than Fred!
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Perhaps she liked you better because his hands were covered with stickum.
 
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gocatsgo2003 said:
Rodgers was 5-6 180 on OSU's 2008 signing day release. Those are not verified numbers, but don't know I would go with "wisp of a guy" based on those measurables and photos/videos of him from high school... pretty stout dude (mute your speakers if you're averse to colorful language):

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LOL. I remember watching him as a Beaver thinking how small he was. But 5'6" 180 is pretty stout.
 
gocatsgo2003 said:
I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take that comment seriously...

EDIT -- off the top of my head: Ebert, Markshausen, Philmore, Herbert, Peterman, Lane, and Ward were all pretty clearly better receivers than Fields. And that's before even considering guys like Brewer, etc.
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and Kain Colter
 
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