Big Announcement - Lazard staying put...
- Thread starter KMAC_ATTACK
- Start date
This thread is in Through the Looking Glass territory. AL is not ready for the NFL.
True, elite speed is not the end all be all for successful NFL receivers; however, in its absence other skills must be exceptional. In those respects, such as catching the ball and route running, AL has a lot of work to do. Hopefully, he uses the next year to do so.
True, elite speed is not the end all be all for successful NFL receivers; however, in its absence other skills must be exceptional. In those respects, such as catching the ball and route running, AL has a lot of work to do. Hopefully, he uses the next year to do so.
I agree with this. He's not elite in most areas, other than he's 6'5", but that alone doesn't make you an NFL caliber WR.
I think Lazard knows exactly what he needs to work on. Guys like Jerry Rice weren't fast, but they caught everything, Lazard doesn't. And as CMC said in his last press conference, Lazard needs to learn how to separate from defenders too. It sounds like they all know what Lazard needs to work on this offseason, which is good. You have to admit you have some weaknesses before you can fix them.
AL has to work on his speed and focus. He made some great catches this year, but he also flat dropped some easy ones on critical plays. Love that he realizes that he has work to do, and wants to stay at ISU to do it. As far as making a public announcement of it, I think it is a good idea just to stop all the brainless speculation by the local media. Also might help with recruiting, knowing that the team has a much better chance at winning next year with him on the it might bring some guys into the fold.
I always find it amusing when one of our players is considering going to the pros early. The attitude of a lot of the fans is very predictable. Bash the player for even considering it and then bash the player's ability. I just don't think other fan bases do the same type of thing. Hell, I don't think we do the same type of thing to other team's players.
Same thing happened when Monte announced he was going to stay. Instead of being excited about it and happy that he was going to be a Cyclone for 4 years, people kept talking about how he wasn't ready and how he was never going to be an NBA player, etc. Same thing with Allen.
Same thing happened when Monte announced he was going to stay. Instead of being excited about it and happy that he was going to be a Cyclone for 4 years, people kept talking about how he wasn't ready and how he was never going to be an NBA player, etc. Same thing with Allen.
If he's not ready for the NFL he wouldn't have been told he would have been a 5th round draft pick.
2 things:
1) That was probable best case. Was also told he might not be drafted.
2) Lots of 5th rounders are not NFL players. They are mostly marginal picks.
I'm so glad there are so many experts on here. The Register article quoted an actual draft analyst who said that 2nd or 3rd round was best case scenario. I'm also so glad that there are so many that are determined to think the worst about our players all of the time. it's such a weird thing that we do. A player is good enough to go pro early. A player makes the smart and best choice to stay in school. Fans spend a lot of time talking about how dare the player even consider going pro and the player isn't nearly good enough to go pro. And then they spend a lot of time discussing all of the flaws in the players game. Then the fans are insulted the player dares to say he is going to stay another year.
To me, this is just a good story.
Anyone remember Easy Eddie McCaffery? Tall, not super fast, not super beefy. Caught about 10,000 balls over the middle for Denver. That's kinda what AL feels like to my amateur eye.
