Bob Magaw
Footballguy
Agree Ebron is a much better dynasty than redraft prospect.menobrown said:In a redraft I understand but a horrible move in a dynasty format to cut him.cstu said:He just turned 21 in April, be patient.Yeah, but he's V. Davis with less athleticism and worse hands.
He's also absolutely nothing like Vernon Davis, that's a terrible comp that needs to stop. He can't run as fast or jump as high as Vernon but what TE's can? But Vernon's not a really smooth route runner either. I believe I've said it in this thread a few times. From a size/workout numbers and play style angle the comp you need to think about with Ebron is Winslow Jr.
TE's take time, be patient in dynasty and at this time of the year never count on them in a redraft format.
Davis is a Calvin Johnson-like physical phenom and athletic prodigy, probably unprecedented at his position, he ran a sub-4.4 and had something like a 40" VJ at 250+ lbs. Nonetheless, he hasn't had a Megatron-like impact, so athleticism isn't everything.
There are a few reasons Davis name comes up. He was the last TE to be taken in the top 10. His career 16.5 yards per reception average (?) may be the best in NCAA history for a future first round TE (Ebron is right behind him by about a 1/20th of a yard whisker at 16.45). Lots of first round TEs hold the potential to create size/speed/athleticism mismatches. Not many are taken in the top 10. That was a statement about his relative talent compared to previous prospects.
Jimmy Graham has come up, too, by their OC (who came from NO). He acknowledged there are things Graham can do that Ebron can't, obviously, but also that there may be things Ebron can do that Graham can't. Ebron doesn't have to be identical to Graham (or Davis) for the OC to try to create mismatches with HIS combo of size/speed/athleticism. I agree it is important for people to not read a Davis or Graham comp superficially and think they have identical skill sets, game and projected NFL future, and it is worthwhile to make that distinction. Ebron ran a 4.60 (still pretty fast for his size) with about a 34" VJ, so it wasn't for that reason that scouts graded him so high. There were other factors.
I think you hit the nail on the head in the route running critique of Davis. He didn't set the league on fire his first few years in the league, and his impact was fairly delayed relative to his talent. Which goes to show there is a lot more to being an elite TE than having elite speed and jumping ability. Scouts have said Ebron is already more advanced as a route runner than Davis at a comparable stage of development, smoother and not as straightlinish. There are different ways for a given constellation of attributes and traits to create rare mismatch problems for defenses.