It has begun

[Gi-15]

James Laurinaitis is now getting the Penn State treatment, look for him to freeeee fall to the second round.

http://warroomreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=v iew&id=399&Itemid=1

7. With MLB prospects Rey Maualaga and James Laurinaitis sliding in the minds of many scouts, can either or both perform well and stop the slide and regain their momentum?

The simple answer would be for Rey Maualaga's sake yes, for James Laurinaitis probably not. Rey Maualaga is a very gifted athlete who is likely to win over some scouts illustrating his strength in the bench press as well as his speed and explosiveness in the 40 yard dash and agility drills. Maualaga's athleticism has never been brought into question, a defensive coordinator is going to have to worry more about corralling his abilities than anything else. Rey Maualaga is going to have an impressive Scouting Combine. James Laurinaitis on the other hand is not going to overwhelm scouts with his athleticism, there is some speculation that he may have maxed out on his potential and that he has stiff hips and will be lacking in pass defense. James Laurinaitis is still a likely 1st round draft pick, but it wouldn't be shocking if he falls to the bottom portion of the round.


look for more of this in the incoming week, just like Dan Connor last year, the guy is recognized as one of the best LB and athlete in the Nation for about 2 years, and once he is draft-eligible he's a scrub and a product of the system..

 

[White Power]

If Laurinitus is on the board Parcells will take him at #25 there is no way he makes past Parcells. Remember he drafted Booby Carpenter when he was with Dallas and Laurinitus is better than Carpenter. Also their is talk that Carpenter might end up with the Dolphins just thought that I would throw that in there.

 

[Electric Slide]

Yeah I agree with WP Laurinitus won't slip past the first round. I would be shocked if he slipped to the bottom of the 2nd round. I'm excited and hopeful, and and always looking forward to good results. Remember, we speak into existence. If we go around saying bad things are going to happen, they they have a way of happening.

 

[psychosid]

You read it here first, i GARRENTEE that james beats the overrated magula in EVERY drill, except maybe the bench. The caste-whores picked the wrong player this year.Edited by: psychosid

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Who is magula?


I don't see James falling out of the first round either. But I won't hold my breath. We are talking about the Caste System NFL here after all.

 

[psychosid]

Rey Maualuga from U.S.C,

 

[johnnyboy]

You read it here first, i GARRENTEE that james beats the overrated magula in EVERY drill, except maybe the bench. The caste-whores picked the wrong player this year.

Maualuga is not overrated. btw, i hate SC.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Rey Maualuga from U.S.C,

Thanks psycho. I knew I'd never heard of a Magula before.

 

[whiteCB]

I would be shocked if he slipped to the bottom of the 2nd round.

Come on dude shocked, are you sure??? I mean this is the NFL the same league that regulated MLB Paul Pusluszny to the 2nd Rd due to only a "average" 40 time which of course is never enough when your a white MLB. If Laurinitis runs over a 4.7 40, fair or not, because he is white the scouts/GMs will immediately degrade his draft value regardless of what the film and career statistics say otherwise. Trust me I'm just like you, plus an OSU fan, and think Little Animal is more than worthy of a 1st Rd pick but I realize that the NFL is biased towards guys like Laurinitis. Sadly then I wouldn't be surpried if he slips to the 2nd due to an "average" or sub par combine/pro day workout.

 

[Don Wassall]

Last year Dan Connor got the"tight hips"treatment despite being the most productive LB ever at Linebacker U and lasted until the third round after being projected as a first round pick, until he was finally drafted by a team that didn't even need him.


Maybe we should namethe phenomenon"Sudden Tight Hips Syndrome" (STHS).

 

[Electric Slide]

Come on dude shocked, are you sure??? I mean this is the NFL the same league that regulated MLB Paul Pusluszny to the 2nd Rd due to only a "average" 40 time which of course is never enough when your a white MLB. If Laurinitis runs over a 4.7 40, fair or not, because he is white the scouts/GMs will immediately degrade his draft value regardless of what the film and career statistics say otherwise. Trust me I'm just like you, plus an OSU fan, and think Little Animal is more than worthy of a 1st Rd pick but I realize that the NFL is biased towards guys like Laurinitis. Sadly then I wouldn't be surpried if he slips to the 2nd due to an "average" or sub par combine/pro day workout.

I don't want to forcast bad things happening, so yes I'm going to stick by my original statement. Many draft "experts" are saying he's going in the first round, so yes it would be a shock (to me) if they were wrong about this. I'm always looking for good things to happen, saying bad things are going to happen to every white athlete for whatever reason does not satisfy me.

I like to look up to the positive examples like Chris Long going 2nd in the draft last year, rather than the numerous negative examples we can always look at and make us feel depressed.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

"tight hips" is just one more example of the non-quantifiable bullcrap that somehow troubles white athletes, but doesn't affect the magical negroes.

much like the "explosiveness," "upside," and "room brightening smiles," that only blacks can have.

the more mythical and ambiguous a trait, the better, at least as far as the pro-black athlete crowd goes. i mean, how can you refute the clain that a guy has tight hips when even dominating agility drills doesn't shake the label?

 

[Gi-15]

http://www.cleveland.com/buckeyeblog/index.ssf/2009/02/ohio_ state_football_how_will_l.html#post


"People aren't going to expect me to be athletic, but when they see what I can do with no pads on running around, I think I'll surprise some people," Laurinaitis said.

"There are stereotypes across the board. You look at guys like Paul Posluszny, they said he's not athletic and he's played well for Buffalo. Same thing with Dan Connor. Maybe it's something with Big Ten linebackers. But it's something you have to deal with. We're prepared to deal with those questions and I have nothing to hide. I'm going to go out and show them."


It's something with Big Ten linebackers, really?

 

[whiteathlete33]

I honestly can't remember one white player whose scouting report was completely positive in reference solely to his athletic ability. For instance Luke Staley was said to have good speed but didnd't have great cutting ability. Matt Jones was fast but only had great straightline speed. Dan Cody was a a very fast and athletic De but was a "high motor guy." It doesn't matter how athletic a white guy is he will always have something negative written about his athleticism.

 

[whiteCB]

Come on dude shocked, are you sure??? I mean this is the NFL the same league that regulated MLB Paul Pusluszny to the 2nd Rd due to only a "average" 40 time which of course is never enough when your a white MLB. If Laurinitis runs over a 4.7 40, fair or not, because he is white the scouts/GMs will immediately degrade his draft value regardless of what the film and career statistics say otherwise. Trust me I'm just like you, plus an OSU fan, and think Little Animal is more than worthy of a 1st Rd pick but I realize that the NFL is biased towards guys like Laurinitis. Sadly then I wouldn't be surpried if he slips to the 2nd due to an "average" or sub par combine/pro day workout.

I don't want to forcast bad things happening, so yes I'm going to stick by my original statement. Many draft "experts" are saying he's going in the first round, so yes it would be a shock (to me) if they were wrong about this. I'm always looking for good things to happen, saying bad things are going to happen to every white athlete for whatever reason does not satisfy me.

I like to look up to the positive examples like Chris Long going 2nd in the draft last year, rather than the numerous negative examples we can always look at and make us feel depressed.

Hey I hope Laurinitis gets drafted in the 1st rd as much as anybody here. However, I've seen what's happened to guy like Dan Connor, Paul Puslunszy, Mike Hass, and so on so I take these things with a grain of salt. Sorry for being a "Debbie Downer". BTW I do admire your positive outlook on things. I though am more of a skeptic. lol

 

[Deus Vult]

http://www.cleveland.com/buckeyeblog/index.ssf/2009/02/ohio_ state_football_how_will_l.html#post

"There are stereotypes across the board. You look at guys like Paul Posluszny, they said he's not athletic... Maybe it's something with Big Ten linebackers..."

It's something with Big Ten linebackers, really?

Another ailment: BTLB (Big Ten Linebackers Disease)! Funny it didn't affect perception of Percy Snow, when he was supposed to be all-world.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

If Laurinaitis has some of his Dad's power (to go with his own athletic ability & solid LB play), he'll be a stud in the NFL. I grew up watching the Road Warriors/LoD, and remember the had a (worked) bench press contest where Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) threw up 550lbs (or around that range). James' probably inherited a bit of that natural strength (sans the probable "sauce factor" of his Dad).

 

[backrow]

If Laurinaitis has some of his Dad's power (to go with his own athletic ability & solid LB play), he'll be a stud in the NFL. I grew up watching the Road Warriors/LoD, and remember the had a (worked) bench press contest where Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) threw up 550lbs (or around that range). James' probably inherited a bit of that natural strength (sans the probable "sauce factor" of his Dad).

he tested quite weak on a bench press, actually, much to my surprise. he had 22 reps, which, for a guy his size isn't great.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

BR, thanks. He's probably natural (sans the sauce).

 

[celticdb15]

On the field Laurinitis plays with a 4.6 and you would think the kid would test out incredibly at bench. Idc what his times are he is the best middle linebacker in the Draft. He plays downhill and despite his not so hot bench reps he can take on blockers and is extremely athletic. Btw TOugh J or JC how did the 40 yard dash even get started?

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

That would be a better question for Sport Historian I think. I don't know why they picked 40 yards though. I think it would be better to test a 25 yard dash. They want to know about top-end speed, but again it is very rare to run 40 yards Straight lined in a footrace in game time.

Many black RBs get run down from behind on long runs happened to Barry Sanders and many other freakish talents; So that's that! Maybe the NFL thought 40 yard speed was essential to get your team from where a drive starts on the 30 or so up until field goal range on the other team's 30 yard line?

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

indeed, SportHistorian can probably provide a more complete answer to the question of the 40-yard dash time. that being said, as i remember the story it goes something like this...

the 100-yard dash used to be used to determine football speed, but some coach decided that 100 yards was too far to run. he concluded that 40 yards was the longest distance a football player would routinely be called to run in a game (40 yards being roughly the distance the average punt covered), and so he began using that as a measuring stick in his recruiting.

i'm guessing he had some success with this theory, and from that point on his methods were copied by other coaches. it has evolved from there, and with the media exposure football gets nowadays the fascination has morphed into worship.

 

[dwid]

i love the quote about rey is going to have an impressive combine, he ran slower than laurenitis. He is a good linebacker but i knew he would not blow up the combine. And then he gets "injured" and then some story about how he has been injured the past 2 weeks....sure and Crabtree is also injured too. They will both benefit from conditions at Pro Day

 

[SteveB]

I believe that the 40 yard dash was used because that is the average distance that a player would cover on a kickoff or punt coverage.

 

[Gi-15]

just for the record here is a part of scout.com Big Ten Preview of next year :

Penn StateBegins: March 30Game: April 25
The early spring buzz ... Sean Lee is back ... soon. Penn State might suffer some major losses on defense, losing Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans, Josh Gaines, Tyrell Sales, and the entire secondary, but it gets back, arguably, the best linebacker in college football.