Tribal Warfare
02-02-2006, 08:32 PM
http://www.draftdaddy.com/blog/blog.cfm
Michigan defensive tackle Gabe Watson could be scratching the top 10 after the week he had in Mobile. These mocks have him in the lower edge of the first if not the second round. This is outrageous. We are talking about a player that was so dominating the coaches wanted to take him out of drills because offensive players couldn't get any constructive work done.
Remember, in 2003 defensive tackle Kevin Williams went from no-where (a projected third round pick on that Sunday previous) to being a top 10 after a dominating Senior Bowl week. Gabe Watson had just as good of a week and he didn't come out of nowhere. Scouts have known about him since he was 18, as he was one of the elite 5-star prep defensive tackle’s coming out of high school. Looking at him play he’s ridiculously athletic for a 340 pounder and several times during Senior Bowl week he defeated a double team and a fullback block to make the play on the running back in the backfield for a loss. You just don’t see stuff like that every day and you certainly don’t see it out of second round defensive tackle’s. All this talk about a poor work ethic is in our opinion more of a reflection on the stereotypes of the "fat defensive tackle" than a knock on Gabe Watson the individual. Go back a couple years and look at draft profiles of players like Sam Adams and Ted Washington, you will find the same claims of laziness. Every player making the jump from college to pros has to re-dedicate themselves and work harder than they have ever worked, in order to achieve success in the NFL. Gabe Watson is no different than every other prospect in the draft, he will have to work harder than he did in college there is no question about that. The point here is you can measure a man’s speed, his size, his strength – all of his physical attributes – but you can never accurately measure his character. It’s a leap of faith to give these guys huge sums of money before stepping on the field, but that’s not going to stop all 32 NFL teams from doing just that in the first round. In the grand scheme of things Gabe Watson is a rare commodity and a better bet than people are realizing.
Michigan defensive tackle Gabe Watson could be scratching the top 10 after the week he had in Mobile. These mocks have him in the lower edge of the first if not the second round. This is outrageous. We are talking about a player that was so dominating the coaches wanted to take him out of drills because offensive players couldn't get any constructive work done.
Remember, in 2003 defensive tackle Kevin Williams went from no-where (a projected third round pick on that Sunday previous) to being a top 10 after a dominating Senior Bowl week. Gabe Watson had just as good of a week and he didn't come out of nowhere. Scouts have known about him since he was 18, as he was one of the elite 5-star prep defensive tackle’s coming out of high school. Looking at him play he’s ridiculously athletic for a 340 pounder and several times during Senior Bowl week he defeated a double team and a fullback block to make the play on the running back in the backfield for a loss. You just don’t see stuff like that every day and you certainly don’t see it out of second round defensive tackle’s. All this talk about a poor work ethic is in our opinion more of a reflection on the stereotypes of the "fat defensive tackle" than a knock on Gabe Watson the individual. Go back a couple years and look at draft profiles of players like Sam Adams and Ted Washington, you will find the same claims of laziness. Every player making the jump from college to pros has to re-dedicate themselves and work harder than they have ever worked, in order to achieve success in the NFL. Gabe Watson is no different than every other prospect in the draft, he will have to work harder than he did in college there is no question about that. The point here is you can measure a man’s speed, his size, his strength – all of his physical attributes – but you can never accurately measure his character. It’s a leap of faith to give these guys huge sums of money before stepping on the field, but that’s not going to stop all 32 NFL teams from doing just that in the first round. In the grand scheme of things Gabe Watson is a rare commodity and a better bet than people are realizing.