Sporting News article on Dorial:
Missouri's Dorial Green-Beckham can't hide talent behind humility
http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-foo...franklin-tj-mo
There’s no easy way to say this, so we’ll just come right out with it: Dorial Green-Beckham isn’t all he has been made out to be.
Sorry, but it’s true. For one thing, it turns out he’s kind of a shrimp. All the talk over the past year about his 6-6 frame? Please. Not even close.
“Always been 6-5½,” the Missouri freshman wide receiver said earlier this week in Columbia. “Never 6-6.”
For another, he isn’t even “DGB.” Not anymore.
Those initials, along with his Calvin Johnsonesque measurables, came to define him as a recruit. If college football’s Heisman Trophy winner could go by RGIII, then its No. 1 incoming freshman—already a superstar—had every right to go into the abbreviation business, too.
Only problem: The Tigers aren’t buying it.
“The ‘DGB’ thing was a big thing to walk in with,” said offensive coordinator David Yost. “But the players are like, ‘Hey, he’s Dorial.’ ”
It was a little different with the first five-star recruit of the Gary Pinkel era, quarterback Blaine Gabbert in 2008. Deep into the summer, his teammates were still calling him “Five Star”—less to express their admiration than to give him grief.
“He had to work his tail off (before) his name became Blaine,” Yost said.
The man, myth, legend stuff is already on hold with five-star recruit No. 2. Frankly, that’s a good thing—for everyone involved, but especially for DGB. Sorry, for Green-Beckham. He had hundreds of thousands of words written about him by the football media in January and February alone, but at Mizzou he has a blank slate.
“He hasn’t played a down yet,” said quarterback James Franklin.
Which is not to say Franklin and the rest of Green-Beckham’s teammates and coaches don’t have an inkling that this particular freshman could in fact become everything—perhaps even more than—he was made out to be.
What crossed the mind of senior wide receiver T.J. Moe, the Tigers’ leading pass-catcher in 2011, the first time he saw Green-Beckham run in shorts and a T-shirt?
“If LeBron James lost about 40 pounds,” Moe recalled, “that’s probably what he would look like.”
It’s true: Green-Beckham is a physical freak. He’s fast enough to run past SEC defenders. Strong enough to outfight SEC defenders. Big enough to intimidate SEC defenders.
Even in the most dominant conference in the land, there’s no one else like him right now.
Yost entered training camp unsure of exactly how to deploy Green-Beckham in the offense. Said the OC: “How good of a fade-route runner is he? How good of a corner-route runner? How good on screens? Is he a guy we can jet sweep it to? Is he the guy we want to throw slants to? Or just a go route?”
Whether he knew it or not, Yost had a smile on his face and excitement in his eyes as he rambled aloud. He recalled an epiphany he’d had when Jeremy Maclin was in the program: “We had three or four different screen guys, but finally we said, ‘Why throw a screen to anyone else? We have a guy who can go 30 yards instead of 10.’ ”
Green-Beckham has a suggestion for his coaches, in case they’re inclined to listen.
“Pretty much anything deep, really,” he said. “I hope I’m used on all the deep stuff.”
Yes, he wants to score touchdowns and be a star. Who wouldn’t?
“I haven’t seen any cockiness from him so far,” Franklin said, “but there’s definitely a kill factor. He’s a real competitor. I definitely think it’s possible for him to be one of the best players in the SEC as a freshman.”
Yost’s favorite thing about Maclin—the last receiver to have a truly transformative effect on the Mizzou program—was revealed only in the instant after his catches. The coach believes he has seen signs that Green-Beckham has that same thing about him.
“There’s guys who catch the ball and (are) happy to catch it, and guys who are running to score,” Yost said. “Dorial has caught the ball a couple of times in practice on hitch routes and turned upfield—he was running to score. There are guys like that. Maclin never worried about the first guy. It was the next guy: ‘That’s the guy I’m going to beat to get to the house.’ ”
Green-Beckham dreams of those touchdowns. Again, how could he not? Meanwhile, though, he estimates he has his nose in the Tigers playbook four hours a day. He walks through routes by his lonesome for another 30-45 minutes. That’s all on top of two-a-days.
He’s trying to stay humble. Even if, deep down, he believes the hype. You know, because it’s true.
“I do think I have that potential,” he said. “I’m still sitting in that same (No. 1) spot.”
Earlier this week at Faurot Field, the happy, hopeful Tigers were positioned on bleachers for their official team photo. In the top row of players, smack dab in the middle, was Green-Beckham. Behind him was Pinkel.
Which was perfect, because there’s really only one place for a player like this to be: on top, and right in the middle of all the fun.