What's interesting is that
@Wozzy has always been consistent that Jennings is more athletic and a superior prospect to Perkins. I didn't entirely agree, thought Perkins showed more potential and hadn't seen anything to garner any optimism about Jennings in any way, let alone his athleticism.
Lo and behold, Jennings is healthy and dude looks like he belongs. Physical, athletic, setting a hard edge, getting upfield with a pass-rush; he looks like the well-rounded edge in the mold of Vrabes/Ninko opposite Judon. If he manages to stay healthy and produce, a consistent presence at that spot will certainly make the defense better.
I'm very curious to hear your thought process, Wozzy, as to why you have always thought Jennings>Perkins, physically/mentally. I mean specifics, combine measureables, etc. Just curious to hear because it's been cool to see Jennings appear this season.
Before SPARK (or is it SPARQ) scores existed, I created my own value system based on athleticism… measurables. I refined it over the years placing a premium on certain measurables for certain positions.
Some people blanche at this, as if I’m saying
“measurables determine success,” but I’ve never held that opinion. Measurables are only part of the equation. But if everything else exists in a prospect, smarts, health, heart… measurables set the ceiling.
Bill Parcells once said of drafting rookies (paraphrasing);
“the first thing you look at is production, did he play well. Then you look at athleticism, smarts, intangibles etc…. then the last thing you look at is production.” So beyond measurables I look at production. I don’t even watch college football, I just look at the numbers once it’s all over.
The NFL draft process is a dice roll, it’s like being handed a bunch of scratch tickets. Humans are unreliable so rookies are unreliable… especially in one of the hardest jobs in the world.
There's no accounting for the human element; addiction, ego, vanity, stupidity, laziness, injury... this is why there are no
"sure thing" picks, and the draft is a crapshoot.
In Jennings case due to covid and past injuries I had to go somewhat on faith. He didn’t workout prior to the draft. That being said I relied on production. Jennings led the best college team in the nation in sacks, tackles for a loss, QB Hits and was third in tackles and passes defensed. He was arguably their best defender. A bad injury as a junior made him slip in the draft, but his senior season he was healthy.
In Perkins case, he is simply a bad athlete for his size.
In hindsight Dalton Keene and N’Keal appear to be terrible draft picks… but what we know now is worthless on draft night.
When NFL teams learn how to predict future injuries (Keene) or a lack of heart (N’Keal) the draft will be foolproof… but that will never happen. I never offer guarantees on rookies, I simply give my opinion of whether they’re talented enough to succeed or not… after that it’s up to them, their coaches and luck (health).
