overlooked White speedsters

Jimmy Chitwood

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(note from JC: this is just an introductory article to the subject. please add other players who are, or have been, overlooked despite their incredible measurables. i know we've listed lots of them before, but i thought a new, more succinctly compiled list, would be useful to visitors to the site.)



"Speed kills."

"Coaches look everywhere for talent."

"The best players play."

We’ve heard these platitudes so often they’ve become a mantra in the sports world, and fans have come to believe them as though they were inviolate truths. So what, then, does it mean if these doctrines are false? And if they are false, why would the high priests of America’s football religion continue to preach them?

I’ll leave it for another time to discuss the “why†of the issue, but I do want to briefly address (and discredit) the validity of the aforementioned credos.

Sprinting is perhaps the most primal of all physical endeavors. It is also the most easily measured. Our bodies are hardwired to run. But as with all other talents, some are more gifted with speed than others. We call those people “fast.â€

Fortunately for so-called talent scouts, all it takes to quickly verify if someone is fast or not is a stopwatch and a given distance. Of course, it’s easy to obfuscate by considering the running surface, whether the runner was wind-aided, reaction time of the timekeeper, and other minutia, but a rudimentary assessment is incredibly easy. It becomes even simpler when athletes are being assessed at a particular location at the same time or are measured using the same criteria at different locales (for example, at “combines†or within a football team’s camp).

The simplicity in measuring such a visceral aspect of athletic ability is a large reason why scouts, coaches, the media, and fans have become besotted with the “40†(yard dash). The 40 measures straight-line speed over a relatively short distance, wherein all participants simply run as fast as they can. While it rarely relates to action during an actual football game, it does provide a baseline to compare players. It is a simple tool to determine who the “fast†athletes are.

And as we’ve all come to “know,†fast players are what coaches covet. Speed kills, after all. And by that doctrine, we all “know†that fast players are never cast(e) aside. Right?

So why, then, do so many fast players go unnoticed? Why is one fast player actively targeted by recruiters and another with the same speed (size, etc.) ignored?

The “Why?†is hard to answer, but with a bit of research it quickly becomes obvious that it is, indeed, quite common for (some) fast players to be overlooked.

The 40 has also become equated with “explosiveness,†or the potential of a player to make impactful plays on the field during a game. In addition to the 40, there are various other drills that coaches and scouts utilize to measure “explosiveness,†including the bench press, the vertical jump and broad jump, and various agility drills.

So, based on the mantra, it would seem obvious that a player who performs well on these drills would, in turn, be A) highly recruited, and B) given multiple opportunities to play. In fact, according to the mantra, coaches are so focused on looking for “explosive†players, that it would be nearly impossible to find a player who “slipped through the cracks†of their “exhaustive†talent search. Furthermore, it would be virtually unheard of to find a player who was recognized to be superb at the various “explosive†drills yet not given a chance to play … again, because the mantra dictates that speed is all-important and coaches will do anything to get it on the field (and so forth).

Yet, it is quite simple to find players who are completely overlooked by the so-called experts.

Take, for example, Cameron Bryan of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.

“Who?†you ask. Exactly.

Bryan is a senior back-up kicker. He is also an un-recruited walk-on. And after getting beat out of his kick-off job as a sophomore, he’s spent the past two seasons standing on the sideline.

Why is he relevant? Because according to the aforementioned mantra, Cameron Bryan’s story shouldn’t exist.

You see, the un-recruited, un-wanted Bryan is one of the fastest players on the Razorbacks roster, running the 40 in 4.4 seconds. That’s blazing fast.

He’s also the top-ranked player (that means he is the fastest) on the team in agility drills. That’s pretty impressive considering you have several “professional prospects†on the squad at the skill positions where speed and agility are at a premium.

“He’s a tremendous athlete,†Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson said. “When you look at him, you might not think that. But he’s on our top five board in agility and quickness every year. It’s kind of a running joke. He’s with all these receivers and specialists.â€

Yet despite having ideal size (5-foot-10, 176-pounds), blazing speed, and incredible agility (change-of-direction is a necessary attribute for a defensive back), the Arkansas coaching staff has never considered Bryan a potential cornerback, a position for which the Razorbacks have been sorely lacking in talent for several years. (Arkansas is giving up over 300 passing yards per game to its opponents this year, and a former linebacker-turned-safety leads the team with 2 interceptions.)

And it’s not because Bryan is afraid to hit somebody. After tiring of wasting away on the sidelines, he begged head coach John L. Smith to at least let him cover kicks (he’d made seven tackles as a freshman kick-off man).

cameronbryankickoff.jpg

Bryan (#47) lines up to cover a kick

Since then, he's flown down the field on kick-off coverage like a lightning bolt, showcasing the speed and agility that his teammates (but neither the coaches nor the unaware fans) have long appreciated. Smith admits that he hasn’t been surprised at Bryan’s (long overdue) success, since he said Bryan had been doing the same thing on the scout team for years …

cameronbryantackle.jpg

Bryan lights up a kick returner

Which begs the question, how is it that such a physically gifted athlete has been so thoroughly disregarded? As Wilson hinted at, perhaps it is because Bryan doesn’t qualify under yet another mantra … the aesthetic expectation, “He looks like an athlete.â€

Despite his repeated demonstrations of elite speed and agility year after year, perhaps the Arkansas coaching staff turned a blind eye to his potential because Bryan doesn’t “look†fast … Perhaps he’s been denied opportunities for all these years because he doesn’t “look like an athlete.†Perhaps … but does the appearance of a fast time on a stopwatch care what you look like?

Perhaps it does, because this is what Bryan looks like:

cameronbryan.jpg

Cameron Bryan apparently doesn't look athletic ...

As it turns out, most every fast player who is ignored by recruiting "experts" and coaches looks an awful lot like Bryan. "Weird," huh?
 

Riddlewire

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Presenting examples of such players is difficult precisely because they're intentionally buried. After all, I know the Razorbacks program nearly as well as you do JC, and I had never heard of Cameron Bryan.
If I haven't identified them while still in high school, I usually am unaware of these "overlooked white speedsters".
Perhaps the most famous recent example is Hunter Furr. A legitimate speed champion, Hunter was not only the fastest player on his team of black "supermen" at North Carolina, he possessed a size/speed combination that would make even NFL general managers drool. If, that is, he were black. But Furr has spent his career on special teams and buried DEEP on the runningback depth chart (and a transfer to a new school didn't change that).
His career statistics stand as follows:
20 carries for 88 yards and 0 touchdowns
1 KO return for 4 yards
8 tackles
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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i attended Arkansas' ugly game against Tulsa today (free tix with a friend of mine), and Bryan's blazing speed was once again on display on special teams (he ran down a punt and downed it at the one-yard line and was impactful in kick-off coverage, as well), as was the Hogs' ineptness at cornerback. one "wonders" why he's never been given a shot to play a position that he'd seem to be a natural fit for ...

Tulsa has a similar speed freak who is apparently only fit to play in his racially-appropriate role: special teams demon. sophomore "defensive back" Luke Snider is clearly the fastest player on the Golden Hurricanes' roster. he is a physical presence as the gunner on punt coverage and is inevitably the first person down in kick coverage ... yet, "somehow" he isn't talented enough to get on the field any other time. "weird," huh?
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Nick Driskill and Blair Skilliter

did anyone else watch the Division III National Championship game in which Mount Union once again prevailed behind an abundance of White talent?

the point of this post is to mention the two best players on the field.

senior safety Nick Driskill is a two-time first-team All-American, the defending National Defensive Player of the Year, the Capital One Division III Academic All-American of the Year (his second appearance on the Academic All-America team), and the leading tackler on the #1 defense in the nation.

at 5-foot-10, 205-pounds, Driskill is a playmaker not only in run support, but also in pass coverage and special teams. in addition to his 101 tackles (63 solo), he also has 14.5 tackles-for-loss, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 2 interceptions, 11 pass break-ups, and 2 blocked kicks.

he would seem to be an ideal candidate as a future NFL player ... but does anyone think he'll get the call?

************************

the fastest, most versatile player for the (once again) National Champion Purple Raiders is Blair Skilliter.

Skilliter is the definition of a shutdown corner. the National Title game provided a good snapshot of his ability to completely take away one half of the football field in the passing game, at least at this level of college ball. Mount Union flips their cornerbacks, meaning one cornerback always plays the boundary side (meaning the short side of the field, where physical play often supplants pure cover skills) and the other always plays the field side (meaning the wide side of the field with the most area to cover). Skilliter is the field corner, and he blankets it like white on rice. in the Championship game, he was only thrown at one time. ONE time. and he broke up the pass. this is the norm for Skilliter.

but Blair is more than just a standout in coverage. his game-breaking speed (10.86 in the 100-meters in high school) is also used on offense and in the return game.

as one of the very few two-way players in modern college football, he plays tailback, and he finished the season second on the Purple Raiders with 13 rushing touchdowns. despite only playing part-time on offense, he finished the year with 642 rushing yards on 6.0 yards-per-carry.

additionally, Skilliter scored 1 receiving touchdown and is Mount Union's top kick returner, where he scored 1 more touchdown this season.

at 5-foot-8, 180-pounds and with reported 4.3 speed in the 40, Skilliter is physically on par with most cornerbacks in the NFL (aside from his debilitating skin condition, that is). will he get a call from those NFL "talent evaluators" who only care about talent? his times in speed drills and his on-field performance dictate that they should. i guess time will tell ...
 

footballer

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Most of the best white college skill players RB/WR/DB with NFL potential end up playing oversees in Europe leagues.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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early on this season, i've noticed several White cats blazing around the field. no surprise there. but what continually befuddles me is how these fleet-footed playmakers aren't playing in big time programs … after all, aren't we "assured" that coaches covet speed?

if that were actually true, i'd like to know how the following guys were "somehow" "overlooked" by the "talent scouts" (sic).

i watched sophomore wide receiver/returner Daniel Braverman effortlessly and repeatedly glide past the opposing defense in Western Michigan's season opener (someone else here at CF also noted this, i think it was Freethinker?). so one wonders how a 5-foot-10 playmaking sprinter with a reported 10.68 100-meters and a 4.30 in the 40 ended up at Western Michigan … i mean, he played his high school football in Florida. "weird," huh?

OHFOSDBIOZYDBOC.20121014154344.JPG

Daniel Braverman

similarly, Cade Stone, a 5-foot-10 junior wide receiver/returner for FCS program Abilene Christian, blows away the competition on the field and on the track. with a reported personal-best 10.54 in the 100-meters, why isn't the blazingly fast Stone playing for a big time program? i guess his explosiveness is not explosive enough … after all, he only returned 2 kickoffs as a freshman but took one of them 92 yards for a touchdown. and despite being the ideal size for a tailback (5-10, 185-pounds), Stone is penciled into his racially-appropriate position as a slot receiver. but he averaged over 6 yards-per-carry as a sophomore and scored 1 touchdown despite only getting 10 carries. why isn't this talent playing on a bigger stage? once again, "weird," huh?

Story.jpg

Cade Stone

fellow Abilene Christian wideout, junior Jace Hudson reportedly has a personal-best of 21.6 in the 200-meters at 6-foot-4. yet, he, too, is toiling away in virtual obscurity instead of playing for one of these allegedly speed-starved schools in the South. with outstanding size and speed, his "falling through the cracks" is very, very "weird," huh? but only if you don't understand the Caste System.

jace_in_track.jpg

Jace Hudson
 

Leonardfan

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Nice work JC, hopefully we get more posts/threads in this sub forum. It seems to be slowing to a crawl.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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thanks, Leonardfan. i also hope that more folks share info about players/teams that they know about in this thread.

******************

one "wonders," i'm sure, how speed freaks like Lafayette College's Ross Scheuerman "somehow" ends up at such a low profile school. after all, the former wrestling standout and record-setting tailback with reported 4.3 speed in the 40 (to go along with ideal tailback size at 6-foot-1, 205-pounds) would "appear" to have all the necessary tools to be pursued heavily by the allegedly speed-covetous elite programs. he even has a history of turning losing teams into winning ones (see both his high school and collegiate careers) and piling up HUGE numbers in the process. a dual threat as both a runner and receiver, he led his conference last season in all-purpose yards and rushing touchdowns.

of course, "appearances" can be deceiving (as is his blue collar, overachieving, deceptive speed), because Scheuerman doesn't have that most vital of key physical attributes to play tailback at a Division I school. no, he is White.

10200045-standard.jpg


[video=youtube;GgthW7AS8eM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgthW7AS8eM[/video]
 

DixieDestroyer

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thanks, Leonardfan. i also hope that more folks share info about players/teams that they know about in this thread.

******************

one "wonders," i'm sure, how speed freaks like Lafayette College's Ross Scheuerman "somehow" ends up at such a low profile school. after all, the former wrestling standout and record-setting tailback with reported 4.3 speed in the 40 (to go along with ideal tailback size at 6-foot-1, 205-pounds) would "appear" to have all the necessary tools to be pursued heavily by the allegedly speed-covetous elite programs. he even has a history of turning losing teams into winning ones (see both his high school and collegiate careers) and piling up HUGE numbers in the process. a dual threat as both a runner and receiver, he led his conference last season in all-purpose yards and rushing touchdowns.

of course, "appearances" can be deceiving (as is his blue collar, overachieving, deceptive speed), because Scheuerman doesn't have that most vital of key physical attributes to play tailback at a Division I school. no, he is White.

10200045-standard.jpg


[video=youtube;GgthW7AS8eM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgthW7AS8eM[/video]

Good catch (& post) JC. That young man would've been a "5 star" recruit out of HS...had he only been a colored boy.
 
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