Quote:
Originally Posted by Nightfyre
I tend to agree with Steve Smith's take - he ain't half assing, he's pacing his routes to get the corner out of position and then exploding past them when they do. I guess you had Terrion Arnold's speed pegged at like 4.7 then? Cause he burnt Arnold to a crisp for a whole game - reflecting his play speed.
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I don't grade a player on one game. So if the argument is "Well he beat Alabama's great corners" then the argument is flawed. He had 3 catches in that Alabama game. If two of those receptions didn't go for TDs, would you still be singing his praises? Probably not.
But beyond that, I didn't conclude by watching one casual play that he doesn't play fast. If I agreed with route pacing as the entirety of the excuse, I wouldn't be questioning his play speed. Route variation is something you look for. Amari Cooper is a master class in route pacing. Speed looks like and issue on tape repeatedly, which includes having to push off to open at the end of a go route, or not being able to outrun coverage on a completion where he should as a 4.3 player.
I'm going to pull up his highlight reel for now. At 0;34, this is good route pacing. That's what you're looking for. Not looking at a lot of the running in quicksand moments.
I don't even dislike Mitchell. I actually kind of like Mitchell. I don't know that he'd be the guy Reid would prefer. This is a team that relies on a lot of speed and quickness and a ton of movement. I don't think he has the consistency there.