Thordaddy
Binding you with ancient logic
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2012
- Messages
- 10,462
- Name
- Rich
Thank you. And yeah, he was. Not that it matters now, but the thing to remember is that in the last 10 years, not one SEC DPOY has been taken out of the 1st round. Not one. It looked like between the depth of this extraordinary draft and Sam's "tweener" status, he was dinged a bit and was seen as more of a 2-3rd rounder. I was reading that in December when I first read about him. Then as more undergrads declared he was seen as a 3rd or so leading up to the Combine.
THEN he came out and...well, all bets were off. Within days of that, some sites had him as a 5th rounder, some hadn't changed him much and others had him as undrafted... before he'd even done anything at the Combine.
But, yeah, initially, prior to coming out, he was projected as a 3rd in plenty of places. Which already was sort of historic because that was a first of sorts...this draft would be the first draft to push an SEC DPOY out of the first round in over a decade. And it's not like he didn't earn his stripes, he very much did. But once he came out, folks just didn't believe the NFL would embrace him and by and large they were right. It was reported that several teams REMOVED HIM FROM THEIR BOARDS. Now, every team has had players arrested and had to deal with all sorts of sordid nonsense. And as we've come to see, the prognostications that drafting Michael Sam would be a "distraction" was a bunch of baloney, although a lot of that credit has to go to the Rams Organization. The point being that from the moment he came out, Michael Sam by much of the NFL stopped being evaluated as a football player which explains his fall.
See, I did some breakdowns of DEs prior to the draft and NONE got to the QB faster than Sam except for Clowney. None. On the clock. I didn't include any sacks against a TE or free shots because I wanted to score "contested" sacks. Sam's time to the QB when in the pocket was just over 1.4 seconds which was astounding and very efficient (also barely edged by Clowney). If Kony Ealy didn't contain (which wasn't unusual, unfortunately) and the QB ran away, the time increased only slightly to barely 2.0 seconds. Which means IF the QB saw Sam coming, he'd have maybe a half second to run and he'd still likely be caught for a sack. What I saw on the video was game speed. Guys didn't run away from him.
My point is that when I analyzed the video and did my own work, much of the platitudes and talking head BS that I heard didn't pass the smell test. I knew what I'd seen in doing a frame by frame. I know what I saw in the side by side comparisons. Michael Sam is a damned good football player and WAY, WAY better than a 7th rounder. Now it happens that's where we got him, so good for the Rams and the NFL will just have to show the next gay athlete that maybe it's not a big deal NEXT time.
And again, I'm not taking anything away from Ethan Westbrooks because that young man can ball. He can really play and I hope he's a Ram for a long time with plenty of sacks and tackles for loss and the whole enchilada. But he wasn't drafted because of his situation. Now that he's with the Rams he's making the most of his opportunities and I'm so very glad for him and the Rams.
I really hope the Rams keep both young men because both are shaping up to be talented contributors and why shouldn't the Rams be that team that's loaded with depth for once?
Mac,I don't doubt any of your analysis there of what you saw on film,in fact I honor your work, I haven't forgotten you insistence on Alshon Jeffrey and how so many of us whiffed on him (including our Rams)but I still have a very tough time accepting the idea that Sam is near third round talent . His combine numbers weren't that lofty first of all.and second but even more important to me ,the implication as to why he fell.
You make a primafacia case for the entire league to be homophobic as well as many tallent evaluators and I have trouble leveling those kind of charges against anyone until I know it to be the case,charges of racist ,homophobe,sexist are so serious in my mind and get thrown out just to gain sway in argument in such a cavalier way ,once that bell gets rung you can't unring it and IMO are more hurtful to the target than any epithet because of course thinking people know the epithet really reflects upon the issuer and doesn't REALLY diminish the target . Once labeled that way where do you go to get your reputation back ? We must consider the humanity of all parties here before we give in to our own prejudices.,NOT BTW saying you are giving in .
I think Mike Sam was drafted about where his abilities dictated , his quickness is good but the bulk of you analysis was against far inferior competition to what he will face in the NFL and although he shined against that competition he's just a little small and not the freak athlete a guy that size has to be to be productive at this level the way a third round talent can and often has been.
It is my experience that in matters of sexual orientation attitudes are polarized towards over reaction in both directions ,people tend to have near militant attitudes in reaction to the polar opposite and rare is the unbiased opinion of one another,I won't let myself believe this whole league was afraid to draft that kid for the talent he possesses ,I can't write that many people off ,I have to examine anyone on a case by case basis before I make those kinds of judgement ,I just do.
Maybe I'm naive , but I have to believe in the good in everyone first until they prove me wrong.