I'm sure the Lions will take
That comment
makes my day
BOOM!
Goes the dynamite!
With all the injuries, I cant
With all the injuries, I cant imagine he's worth more than a 3rd-rounder
With the huge injury just
With the huge injury just recently, I have a hard time seeing him drafted at all. Probably will sign as a free agent to some practice squad until a team sees what he can do post injury.
He returned from his first
He returned from his first injury to have a fantastic season this year until his injury. I think teams will take notice of that and draft him late. Running backs have a short shelf life generally, so a team won't take him too high. But he was spectacular at South Carolina, so I can't imagine he'd go undrafted.
University of Tom Brady, B.A. '10; University of Peyton Manning, J.D. '13.
Just because a player comes
Just because a player comes back fine from one injury doesn't mean he will from the next one.
Injuries are also a major mental drain. Rehabing back from an injury is tough, and doing it back to back years is that much harder. Every time this kid has to battle back, he might have a little less drive knowing it might all be for nothing.
He was a good RB, but if I'm a pro team, I'm not using a pick any higher than 6th on him.
For the guy who said there aren't many good RBs coming out, I don't agree. Guys I would draft above Lattimore include:
Montee Ball
LeVeon Bell
Jonathan Franklin
Stepfan Taylor
Eddie Lacy
Kenjon Barner (maybe)
Also maybe Rex Burkhead
Point is, if teams are skeptical of Lattimore because of his injuries, there are some solid options out there who are proven and healthy. The first five for sure.
Lattimore's upside is higher
Lattimore's upside is higher than all those backs if he comes back healthy. I wouldn't rate him above Taylor, Lacy (assuming he comes out), or Franklin.
Lattimore's main problem is
Lattimore's main problem is that running backs have pretty much become a fungible commodity in the NFL. When a guy goes down, teams can find a replacement who's nearly as good off someone's practice squad.
How many truly irreplaceable running backs are there in the NFL? I'd say 1. Peterson. Maybe you could add Ray Rice and Marshawn Lynch to that list (and Lynch was basically picked up off the scrap heap). Otherwise, you have a bunch of guys that are essentially replaceable by someone on the street. Is there truly any difference between Leshoure or Bell for the Lions? The Packers have given 5 or 6 running backs carries this year and they've essentially been the same. And sometimes the guy from the street turns out to be better than the guys drafted (ie, Arian Foster and Alfred Morris).
Why spend a high draft pick (or any draft pick) on an injured player that you'll likely have to IR in his rookie year when there are plenty of available options that can play right away.
This is a huge injury to come
This is a huge injury to come back from, especially for a running back, due to the cutting/change-of-direction that accompanies the positiion, let alone the risk of further injury.
Return-to-play is typically a year, if you're lucky (this is not an isolated ACL a la AP, this is at least a two-fer of the ACL, LCL, and probably meniscal tear)
The concern from a pro team's point of view would be associated meniscal/condylar cartilage damage from Lattimore's injury. This seems to be correlated with worse long-term function, especially in pro athletes.
Would guess a low-round pick, if lucky, otherwise a FA.
He also wasn't killing it
He also wasn't killing it this year. Do you remember Brian's first write-up on South Carolina? They have had issues running the ball all year, even with him. He has killed some average and bad competition but has been shut down against really good SEC teams. It seems South Carolina has had some similar issues with running the ball that we have had. Also, that was as bad as a McGhee's injury except it was a second knee injury for a guy who made a lot of his bones for being able to run through tackles. Late round pick for someone who wants has a several 5-7 rounds picks and thinks that they can rehab him to the point of at least being a solid back up, if not better.
"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates.
Lattimore is extremely
Lattimore is extremely overrated, in my opinion. The guy only averaged 4.6 yards/carry this year before he got hurt. He gets the yards that are there, and that's about it. He's not particularly fast or strong or shifty. I could see him having success for a team with a good passing game (like the Packers) because those yards are easier to gain without a bunch of guys in the box. But if he goes somewhere like Pittsburgh or Baltimore where they really want to run the ball and defenses will stack the box, I don't see him being anything more than average.
So it would seem
like he is striking while the iron is hot, before they see through the mirage (to mix metaphors)
He probably won't get drafted
He probably won't get drafted because there are so many other great runningbacks coming out of college this year.
/s
This is a good move for him.
This is a good move for him. Very few Rbs that look like they have a chance to go in the first round if any. Maybe Gio Bernard or Lacy if he comes out. Other than that there is Franklin from UCLA, Monte Ball. Randall out of Ok St. if he comes out and Gillislee out of Florida.
Willis McGahee was drafted in
Willis McGahee was drafted in the 1st round, and his injury was in January.
ALL ABOARD THE A-TRAIN!!!!!
" ~ Herm "
You're the third person to
You're the third person to say this, but it's not exactly the same. McGahee had a much better college career than Lattimore has, and McGahee's injury wasn't on the heels of a similar injury a year before.
Also - from what I've read, McGahee's injury wasn't as bad at Lattimore's.
Lastly - things have changed in 10 years. Lots of teams picked RBs in the first round in McGahee's time. The RB position has been de-emphasized nowadays, both between the increase in the passing game and in the lack of durability of RBs leading to teams using multiple running backs.
Strangely enough
GhostofYost and ChristLover's posts don't contradict each other.
"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk
I think that means it's a bad
I think that means it's a bad sign of his future. If you know you are going to fully recovery, then I think it's in your best interest to prove it and guarantee a high draft pick. If you aren't sure, then it's in your best interest to try to get a team to gamble on you. Honestly, if he's shown early signs of recovery, I'd still only expect a 3rd round pick at best.
Or it could be that he wants
Or it could be that he wants to make some cash playing football before another injury prevents him from ever playing again.
We'll see how much cash he
We'll see how much cash he gets when he falls down to rounds 5-7 because teams don't want to waste a pick on a guy that won't even be able to play for them until 2014.
This kid has had some pretty
This kid has had some pretty bad luck - I wish him the best in the NFL.
I can see this kid ending up a lot like AP
Coming out of college with an injury (be it a shoulder injury), powerful runner w/ lots of speed. Best of luck to him.
Yeah, well... I'm gonna go build my own theme park, with blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the park!
His nickname is AD--All Day.
His nickname is AD--All Day. Not AP. I hate when people call him AP.
perhaps
Your reading comprehension needs work.
Wasting away in Ohio, a Wolverine in a sea of red and grey
stolen
you saw this on around the horn today.
(No subject)
I've got to agree with that
I've got to agree with that decision. Get to the NFL before you can get injured again in college. As for the recovery, ESPN called it a torn ACL and LCL... gruesome, but not the worst thing anyone's ever come back from. I bet he gets taken in later rounds (4th or higher) by a good team that can afford to gamble on an RB's recovery (eg Patriots) and turns into a pleasant surprise.
Willis Magahee seems to have
Willis Magahee seems to have done alright for himself, post-knee explosion.
Willis McGahee
Willis McGahee did the same thing. He had a comparable, if not worse, knee injury and was still a first round pick.
Sigh. Beaten to the punch.
Sigh. Beaten to the punch.
May not be the same but Frank
May not be the same but Frank Gore had surgery on both knees and well he's had a better career than Willis.
Michigan FB, Michigan BB, Michigan HKY, 49ers, SF Giants, Sac Kings, Red Wings
I wish him the best of luck
I wish him the best of luck but he may have a false sense of confidence (re: rehab) watching Adrian Peterson this year. AP is just not human
I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?
best of luck to the kid, but
best of luck to the kid, but i think best case scenario for him is getting drafted in rounds 5-7 by a team that can afford to take a gamble on him. i could see him not getting drafted because he's too injury-prone, and running backs outside of the trent richardson type aren't exactly hot commodities in a pass-happy nfl.
It's been a lot. Its been a roller coaster that for some reason seemed like it would never get good. But you know what? We kept fighting. It's like that old saying goes, "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions." -David Molk
"The McGahee Route"
The Yahoo! write-up mentions something that I honestly didn't think of right away when I read this thread - (LINK)
"Going to the NFL now means that Lattimore can work with an NFL team's doctors, training staff and strength and conditioning staff full time. That's probably the best option for a quick recovery."
I imagine that's true (I wonder if this is part of the reason why McGahee did this), and while this might be the more risky road for him - possibly a low-round pick, having to prove he can produce for a stretch without injury - if he can get on board witha team and make rehab a job essentially, he could still probably churn out a productive NFL career in the best case. I wish him luck.
"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."
Follow the random tweets of a Michigan alum - http://twitter.com/#!/LorneEC3
Yeah, someone will at the
Yeah, someone will at the very least sign him as a free agent, at which point he would have full access to staff, facilities, etc.
Also, I acknowledge that we
Also, I acknowledge that we made the same point, using different sources, and you beat me by one minute. :)
I understand that the major
I understand that the major motivating factor is access to different (read: superior) rehab capabilities available to him if he is declared for the draft (ie NFL resources). I don't know exactly what those differences are, but apparently that's a major driving consideration. That said, I'm sure he also just wants to move on from a bad luck period of his playing career and just move on, draft prospects or not. Can't blame him.
http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/stor
http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?w=1ces3&storyId=8732298&i=cfb&co=eVar44-s...
"Lattimore believes that focusing entirely on his rehabilitation with NFL team doctors will help him recover the quickest, according to the source."
That whole
thing about not having to go to class probably helps too.
Bring back Keith Jackson
Can't blame him
This is obviously a special case, and you really can't blame the kid for leaving. But it's really starting to irk me that its so encouraged for players to leave early, to the point where people like Barkley are derided for staying and dropping in stock. This article is basically my rebuke to that notion in the media: http://ahorizontalmyth.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/those-who-stay-and-why-t...
Great read. Thank you for
Great read. Thank you for sharing this!
I'm sure the Lions will take him in the second round.