Re: Ranking
It was the way he did it.
I am a staunch believer in the fact that you can learn almost everything that you need to know about a player in about 5 plays. (I was a relentless supporter of AR last year at this time using the same logic (even though he was terribly "unproven"), everything I saw in the few plays showed me that he had what it takes to be a star and excel from day 1, that there would be next to zero first time starter struggling, and was largely proven right).
I don't know that he caught it, but on one of Finley's TD pass tries he exhibited the body control and ball skills of Jones. Being 6'5", turn-highpointing a pass (rotating at the jump and catching at the top of the leap) is undefendable, no defender can defend a well thrown pass caught that way, but it is as difficult a catch as there is. If Finley can reliably catch those, lobs out to Jermichael at the corner will be lethal, he will be one of the least coverable RZ players in the NFL.
Another play he caught a crosser at full speed by just turning his torso. Seems simple but watch what % of TE's do this. It is a surprisingly low #.
Another play he caught a sideline pass over his inner shoulder. He was athletic enough to release, get to the sideline, and turn up, and had the tracking and ball skills to catch over his shoulder, which few TE's can do (heck guys like R. Martin struggle with it).
Finley may not be the most athletic guy (but he's up there and pretty good), or good at blocking, he certainly was slow to pick up the playbook, and was a bit immature at times, but his ball skills at TE are very, very elite.
I disliked Jermichael from the day we picked him, and got more down on him as the season progressed, until late. He made me a believer in just a couple of plays.
Originally posted by CaptainKickass
I am a staunch believer in the fact that you can learn almost everything that you need to know about a player in about 5 plays. (I was a relentless supporter of AR last year at this time using the same logic (even though he was terribly "unproven"), everything I saw in the few plays showed me that he had what it takes to be a star and excel from day 1, that there would be next to zero first time starter struggling, and was largely proven right).
I don't know that he caught it, but on one of Finley's TD pass tries he exhibited the body control and ball skills of Jones. Being 6'5", turn-highpointing a pass (rotating at the jump and catching at the top of the leap) is undefendable, no defender can defend a well thrown pass caught that way, but it is as difficult a catch as there is. If Finley can reliably catch those, lobs out to Jermichael at the corner will be lethal, he will be one of the least coverable RZ players in the NFL.
Another play he caught a crosser at full speed by just turning his torso. Seems simple but watch what % of TE's do this. It is a surprisingly low #.
Another play he caught a sideline pass over his inner shoulder. He was athletic enough to release, get to the sideline, and turn up, and had the tracking and ball skills to catch over his shoulder, which few TE's can do (heck guys like R. Martin struggle with it).
Finley may not be the most athletic guy (but he's up there and pretty good), or good at blocking, he certainly was slow to pick up the playbook, and was a bit immature at times, but his ball skills at TE are very, very elite.
I disliked Jermichael from the day we picked him, and got more down on him as the season progressed, until late. He made me a believer in just a couple of plays.


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