Lazard with Jax Makes Me Sad
- Thread starter GT25Ump
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- Mar 27, 2006
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Please. Just stop. Guessing by your username that you know AL. He was awesome here. One of my favorite players to ever put on an ISU jersey, but dude, come on. You're making yourself look foolish.
Just because I’m critical of professional GMs and coaches. I didn’t think he was going to make the team ever since the first preseason game and he wasn’t given a shot. I’m realistic about it but you guys are acting like if anyone dares criticize the NFL GMs they are stupid. I think the professional leagues are slow and stubborn. Just look at Moneyball. I think Lazard absolutely should make a team. I think the NFL has completely missed the mark on him analysis wise. That is ok. He will continue to work harder and prove them wrong. What isn’t ok is calling people dumb for disagreeing with the NFL.
Looks like curt wants to keep this guy rolling!
Sorry I agree with him.
Professional sports in general seem slow to look outside the box of what they are used to. See money ball or small ball for example.
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I agree with you somewhat. I do think that teams pick players and the try to fit them in the mold of what they expect at that position. With unique mismatch players like Niang or Lazard, fitting them into the stereotypical forward/WR mold is just a terrible idea. They would be better served by seeing what made them successful in college and utilizing them that way.
What I think you're missing is that teams draft to their needs and there are some huge egos when it comes to people in any professional organization. They are less likely to go out of their way to cater to any single player, especially a rookie. Just my two cents.
I mean I get it. That doesn’t mean I can’t be critical of it. I’m not saying he is going to make the team by any means. It isn’t even about Lazard or any one player. It is a general criticism of professional sports. I get annoyed when people call people dumb for general disagreements. Saying Lazard is good enough to play in the NFL isn’t a stupid opinion. It is different than what the NFL says but it isn’t a ridiculous opinion.
I am going to agree with what you are saying and then disagree at the same time.
AL is good enough to be in the NFL, provided he finds the right coach. They would need to be offensive minded, and match up oriented. Unfortunately for AL Jacksonville isn't that place. That is why I wondered why there. But If you think about the places he could go and the coaches that would know how to use him, they don't need him. For the most part those coaches have good teams, and good/proven players in their system. So while I think AL is good enough, I don't believe, he is so much better than anyone else it makes him NFL for sure. So it wouldn't surprise me if he is cut.
Hopefully for him, he makes it. I think if he makes it, he can be an asset to a team.
I generally agree. I did think Jacksonville would be a good fit though. They are more run oriented and I thought having a good big blocking receiver would be a plus in their system. It gets old though seeing our own fans degrade our players.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Here's the thing. Not a single one of us knows if he would be effective as a tight end in the NFL. We have no idea if his skills will translate. We don't know if hedh be good at it. It takes an incredible amount of hubris to state that a group of professional coaches that have been evaluating him intensely these past weeks and months are just wrong, or they're not giving him a fair shake, or they're not using him correctly. We don't know what they've seen in practice. We do know that it's their job to evaluate talent. The coaches have a plan for the team, what roles they want players to play, and the types of players that they are looking for, for their scheme.
Jacksonville's offense is predicated on a power run attack. Maybe they feel like they're set at the TE position, and don't want to take on a project player. We don't know.
Perhaps, even with as good of a WR blocker as AL was, it hasn't translated well to training camp. We don't know that either.
There are so many things we don't know about how he has performed at camp. Immmediately jumping to the conclusion that he's getting screwed and the coaches don't know how to use him is ridiculous. It's nothing but homerism.
This is a good point. In college he was blocking Div 1 DBs and occasionally Div 1 LBs. As an NFL TE he would generally be blocking NFL DEs and NFL LBs. That is a big difference.
Just look at Phillip Seymour Hoffman's coach character in Moneyball for the mindset. My team is losing but I'm not going to think that far out of the box because right now I am coaching for my job prospects next year after I get fired from this job.
Sometimes it's simply a numbers crunch, too. A 53 player roster all but guarantees that a team will be thin at some positions. So he may have performed well enough to earn a roster spot but he won't because they need to keep eleven defensive linemen instead of ten, or whatever. Like Janny said, there are just way too many unknowns. Ultimately it won't matter all that much. If the Jags cut him loose he'll get another opportunity somewhere else. That's just life at the bottom of an NFL roster. Some guys get signed and cut by the same team multiple times in a season or have a cup of coffee with three or four teams in one season before they stick somewhere. The player has to perform but so much of it is timing and luck, too.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Exactly. There are tons of stories of college stars whose skills just didn't translate to the Pros. And if that's what happens to Allen, it doesn't change a single thing about what he did for Iowa State, or what an awesome player he was here. It's not tearing him down to talk about it, either. If a person can't handle a realistic discussion of it, that's their own problem, not anyone else's.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Very much agree. It's not a knock on him if he gets cut. Lots of really talented guys get cut. He'll move on and try to give it a go somewhere else. And it will either happen for him or it won't. Like you said, "that's just life at the bottom of an NFL roster."
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LincolnWay187
Guest
If the main issue is separation, Allen needs to hulk up and become a TE then. No doubt in my mind he has the will and ability to get huge.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
We actually get a ton of players that sign with teams after going undrafted. Hardly any of them end up making it, but our guys are getting a shot. Rhoads had a lot of defensive players get a shot to make a team. With Campbell I think we will start having kids that actually get drafted and have long careers.
The other factor in all of this is special teams. If you are the 5,6 or even 7th receiver you need to be a good special teams player. I have never seen Alan do anything on special teams that was that good. So basically he needs to be a top 3 or 4 receiver on the team.
