Wile_E_Coyote
12-31-2004, 10:46 AM
Ascending, descending, plateaued: they are part of the vocabulary of NFL executives who make their living evaluating players.
Those words will be thrown around a lot in the coming weeks, and not just at Arrowhead Stadium. The end of the regular season means personnel meetings throughout the NFL as teams prepare for the off-season. Even those clubs involved in the playoffs find time to start evaluating their roster, pinpointing weaknesses and assessing potential answers to their problems.
That’s because right around the corner are the college all-star games, then the NFL Scouting Combine and the start of unrestricted free agency. The personnel clock never really stops ticking.
Ascending, descending, plateaued; the scouts and evaluators will talk about players in these terms. Ascending means a player on the way up, who has the ability to improve on his previous performances on the college or professional level. Descending defines a player on the way down, who has shown a drop in productivity. Plateaued describes a player who has reached a point where his performance on the field has stopped ascending, but has not yet started down the other side of the mountain. Generally, the career of a player who survives for any time in the league will go from ascending, to plateaued to descending; that’s a normal progression.
Take a look at the Chiefs roster and there are players that fit all three of those descriptions. For instance, Jared Allen is an ascending player.
The rookie defensive end has come in and made a mark in his first season and shows all the physical talents and intangibles (attitude, desire, intelligence) that indicate the best is yet to come.
Before he was injured, veteran safety Jerome Woods was showing the signs of a descending player. The productivity in Gunther Cunningham’s defense was not there when he was on the field. The question that must be answered by the personnel types around Arrowhead is whether that was due strictly to the change in schemes, or a drop in Woods athletic ability. Vonnie Holliday would fall into this category as well. Injuries slowed the veteran defensive lineman all season and that is also part of the equation.
A player can plateau, but then revive his career. Eddie Kennison did that this year. Lional Dalton did the same on defense. After the last several seasons with Denver and Washington, it appeared his career was about to end. Dalton revived his chances with a solid season. He’s not an ascending player, nor a descending player. Right now, he’s plateaued and that’s good enough to keep his spot in the league.
The best thing that’s happened to the Chiefs in 2004 is that they will finish the season with plenty of game tape evidence of nearly every player on their roster. Offensively, they don’t have much to judge on linemen Kevin Sampson, Johnathan Ingram and Brett Williams. Injury did the same for TE Kris Wilson, although they have a good idea of what he’s capable of pulling off. Third QB Damon Huard hasn’t had a chance to show what he can do.
Defensively, they haven’t seen much of LBs Keyaron Fox and Rich Scanlon and S Scott Connot.
That’s it, just eight of 53 players. It’s a good start for the Chiefs off-season.
Those words will be thrown around a lot in the coming weeks, and not just at Arrowhead Stadium. The end of the regular season means personnel meetings throughout the NFL as teams prepare for the off-season. Even those clubs involved in the playoffs find time to start evaluating their roster, pinpointing weaknesses and assessing potential answers to their problems.
That’s because right around the corner are the college all-star games, then the NFL Scouting Combine and the start of unrestricted free agency. The personnel clock never really stops ticking.
Ascending, descending, plateaued; the scouts and evaluators will talk about players in these terms. Ascending means a player on the way up, who has the ability to improve on his previous performances on the college or professional level. Descending defines a player on the way down, who has shown a drop in productivity. Plateaued describes a player who has reached a point where his performance on the field has stopped ascending, but has not yet started down the other side of the mountain. Generally, the career of a player who survives for any time in the league will go from ascending, to plateaued to descending; that’s a normal progression.
Take a look at the Chiefs roster and there are players that fit all three of those descriptions. For instance, Jared Allen is an ascending player.
The rookie defensive end has come in and made a mark in his first season and shows all the physical talents and intangibles (attitude, desire, intelligence) that indicate the best is yet to come.
Before he was injured, veteran safety Jerome Woods was showing the signs of a descending player. The productivity in Gunther Cunningham’s defense was not there when he was on the field. The question that must be answered by the personnel types around Arrowhead is whether that was due strictly to the change in schemes, or a drop in Woods athletic ability. Vonnie Holliday would fall into this category as well. Injuries slowed the veteran defensive lineman all season and that is also part of the equation.
A player can plateau, but then revive his career. Eddie Kennison did that this year. Lional Dalton did the same on defense. After the last several seasons with Denver and Washington, it appeared his career was about to end. Dalton revived his chances with a solid season. He’s not an ascending player, nor a descending player. Right now, he’s plateaued and that’s good enough to keep his spot in the league.
The best thing that’s happened to the Chiefs in 2004 is that they will finish the season with plenty of game tape evidence of nearly every player on their roster. Offensively, they don’t have much to judge on linemen Kevin Sampson, Johnathan Ingram and Brett Williams. Injury did the same for TE Kris Wilson, although they have a good idea of what he’s capable of pulling off. Third QB Damon Huard hasn’t had a chance to show what he can do.
Defensively, they haven’t seen much of LBs Keyaron Fox and Rich Scanlon and S Scott Connot.
That’s it, just eight of 53 players. It’s a good start for the Chiefs off-season.