This is bizarre but I'm guessing it must be a function of USC's offensive system moreso than London being incapable of catching balls from the right side or something. Is he the Zoolander of WR's? I think there's a lot of falling head over heels for Burks' measurables going on here. He's tall, big, huge hands, fast, I get it. Those are definitely good things. I'm just always a bit wary of guys at any position where their primary selling point is measurables. Technique and actual football skill are always underrated because those things are harder for fans to assess. It's easy to look at two guys and go "Oh wow, 6'3 225>6'1 190". It's a lot harder to actually watch a ton of tape closely and see how good they are at route running, boxing out DB's, high pointing balls, how much fire they play with, how they find space in zones, etc.
It's not just measurables. He knows how to shield DBs from the ball. He high points the ball. He actually catches the ball at a high rate, unlike London or to a lesser extent Wilson. He's versatile, can line up anywhere. The guy was Arkansas' only threat in the SEC and he consistently produced. He missed a game this past season with an injury and then played injured which affected his play against UGA, but he had a big game against Alabama. You don't do that if you're just measurables. Some of the crap I see on this site in the guise of analysis or reasoning is laughable. One can learn technique. One can't learn height, speed, athleticism and soft hands.
The bold can't be overstated enough IMO. This is how the Jets have been fooled into taking "workout warriors" instead of good football players for years. And despite everyone going gaga over Zach Wilson's stats and his highlight reel throws, for me it was his "hard to measure" qualities that convinced me, and still convince me that he's the long, lost FQB the Jets have been seeking for decades. That said, sometimes -many? - the "tale of the tape" is accurate, and the guy who puts up great numbers is the real deal. How can we tell who that is? Most likely we armchair GMs can't. We don't have access to all the info, nor get to see these guys live in action. We're all just taking our best guess based on "circumstantial evidence". I do like Burks for his measurables, but he's not a slam dunk - nor is any draft pick.
you know you don't have to insult people to try and make a point. your behavior at times is laughable. you can say "one can learn technique" but if that was true there wouldn't have been so many physical specimen busts in the NFL. for some players learning the game is as impossible for them as growing 6 inches and shaving .4 seconds off your 40. Like i've told you before you are a good poster sometimes, but you are really bad when it comes to a discussion where people disagree. all you do is fail to see any point, fail to debate your point or see any flaws in it, and just insult people who don't agree with you.
I agree with you, but with zach he really didn't have a flaw. of course he had the measurable and the arm, but he also produced on a team void of talent, has the intangibles like leadership, drive, football IQ. he's a fast learner, a film buff, he loves the game and studies it. he's a hard worker, puts in the extra effort. whether he pans out or not is 1 thing, sometimes it's hard to know exactly why a person failed, but as a pure prospect coming out of college he was IMO the most perfect QB prospect with a very low chance at busting that i've seen and a high floor and high ceiling. I'd be very surprised if he winds up busting
The thing with london that i've seen personally is he was their whole offense, so teams always had 2-3 guys on him, they moved him around to get him more mismatches and make it harder for teams to double and triple him. that is easiest to do from the slot, because typically a double team from the slot would come from a LBer and he is big enough to moss a LBer
As per PFF London took 326 snaps last year, 41 from the slot, 281 wide. Burks took 328 snaps last year, 222 from the slot, 79 wide. I’m not evaluating what the numbers mean, just putting them out there.
To your point. Everything I have read across every mock to date, has the first WR off the board around pick 6 to 9 with The Panthers as a potential and GB most likely. So at ten the option for one of the top 3 WRs is there for the Jets if they go offense, which is a big if, if the top CB is there. In almost all cases, the first pick with the mocks is London so far for whatever is worth, so apparently many don’t see him as a quote “ one trick pony” as some here might think. I haven’t seen much about any of the WR so I can’t pass an opinion but the consensus tier one with top three, going on round one, London, Wilson and Burks, all with many strengths and some weaknesses depending on what you expect from a WR in your system. Interestingly enough, they see London and Wilson as settling wide at the next level, while Burks taking more snaps from the slot optimizing his freakish strength. I know many would passionately disagree with the current mocks, but that is what’s currently out in the media. Will see what the combine will bring. A lot will change. But the good news to me is that most feel this group is equivalent to last year in the aggregate, not quite at Chases level, but all three with great production and good enough to be 1000 + yards/ year on the right system. Something we haven’t seen for a while.
When I watch London he just seems to lack that special ability to line up anywhere and be dominant. His height and long arms help him make a lot of jump ball plays and back shoulder catches. After that nothing really wowed me. He also dropped a lot of balls that were easy catches… I honestly have a feeling he’s a bust.
Wasn't Moore exclusively a slot WR in college? If not, he was primarily a slot WR. As we can see, that really doesn't mean anything except that the player has less experience playing wide than in the slot. If he has the talent and necessary skills to play wide then, his team will probably have him play wide in the NFL as the Jets are doing with Moore, unless they already have two topfligh wide outs and need a slot WR. I think Burks is going to dominate and have great production wherever he lines up.
The following is interesting. I have no idea if it was ever true or just smoke, or if it was true, if it's still true after the Combine. https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/footb...adlines&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Thanks for the link. I hope the rumor is wrong regarding Burks to the Jets, but I'll trust Douglas (for now).
I think the opposite is happening. He's got the physical tools, so his doubters are trying to push a narrative that he's a workout warrior and not a wide receiver. It's objectively false. He was a thousand yard receiver this past year and is natural hand catcher. He played our wide and in the slot. He ran screens, slants, digs, fades (+back shoulder), and posts. He's done everything you can ask for a receiver and produced. He just so happens to also be a physical freak with great YAC-ability. This is not a Stephen Hill situation. The guy is a legit wide receiver with legit production against the top conference in college football. His best tape is him torching Alabama with a banged up pec/shoulder.
It's never been argued that he didn't have good production last year. He's not a physical freak though. The combine suggests he's an average or below average athlete. The narrative pre-combine was that he was an elite athlete, which was used to excuse his lack of polish and suddenness as a route runner.
Just because he didn't run a 4.3 doesn't mean he's not a freak. Have all of them rerun it with 10 pounds of pads on and you'll see who has the game speed. He hit 22.6 mph on a catch and run TD this past year, which would've been the fastest in the NFL this year, by far. That 3 inch and 30-40 pound weight difference between him and most of this class is significant. I trust the tape, which shows the ability to high point and dust DB's. I agree that he'll need to polish his route running (every prospect needs to for the NFL), but it's not like he's got bambi legs out there.
There is enough game video on all the receivers, there is nothing that’s a surprise to anyone, especially the scouts, the fans are just finding out now the little details about the players that will be drafted come April. You know as well as I do that the draft boards are pretty much all set, the interviews will determine last minute adjustments.
How many WRs are 6'2, 225 pounds as fast as he is and as strong as he is? He IS a physical freak. If you can't see it, then that's on you and your definition.
Top speed is way less important than acceleration. There's no 3 inch difference between him and the rest of the class, he's 6'2 which is slightly above average for a WR and 2 inches shorter than London. He also was in the bottom third for vertical at the combine which negates some of the height he does have. He's good at shielding DB's but not at high pointing balls. He had the third worst 3 cone drill of any WR at the combine, indicating his lateral agility is flat out bad. There's basically no evidence he's an above average athlete and most of the evidence indicates he's average. He's just somewhat tall and pretty heavy. A freak means you're unusually strong/big AND explosive at the same time. Burks is probably strong given his weight but he's not unusually explosive at all. He was in the bottom third in vertical (the main measure of explosiveness at the combine) and had the 3rd worst 3 cone time of any WR in this class in addition to the slow 40 time. He lacks lateral agility, explosiveness and acceleration as I said a month ago based on tape. I'm not even saying he's a bad athlete, he's not. He's definitely not a freak though. Let's look at Calvin Johnson's combine, he was a true freak WR: 6'5 240 lbs 4.35 second 40 42.5" vertical 11' 7" broad jump That's a freak. Burks isn't within the same galaxy as that and it devalues the meaning of the word freak to act like he is.
I thought Burks' stock would rise after combine, but it fell as he was less athletic than people, including myself, were hoping. According to reports his workouts were not stellar either. Elite athleticism is important at the next level. Not a guarantee of success by any means (see Mims), but an attribute that needs to be factored into evaluation. It's no surprise JD was targeting great athletes in each draft so far. For example, I thought the fact Burks had a contested catch rate of 43.8 vs that of Garrett Wilson one of 61.2 could be explained by small sample size. However, maybe it's because Wilson actually has a much higher vertical than Burks - something I didn't think was the case. The point being that of course tape counts for most, but other factors like athletic scores have value too and might help explain some things that didn't make sense before. I am still Burks fan, but if JD passes on him to take Wilson or Linderbaum, I now would be onboard.
