Question For Guru

[50's PONY]

Guru,
Your thoughts on our two latest recruits -- Warren and Burley!
Thanks's
50's

[Recruiting Guru]

Blake Warren and Kenard Burley are a very fine pair of recruits for the Mustangs.

Warren is a dynamite football player. When you look at him, you think he's just too small (5-8, 170). He's extremely fast (4.45) in a dead sprint and very quick when changing directions. He has the quality that's so necessary in a small player - great acceleration. He hits full speed in just a couple of steps. In addition to his speed, he also has a slippery way of moving through a defense - even when it looks like he's about to be crushed under a pile of players, he's often able to squirt out the other side. And for a player of his size, he's extremely strong, especially in his thighs. He can power his way through many tackles because his legs never stop moving. He runs very precise routes (sort of like Daniel Francis) and has terrific hands -- he catches the ball with his hands and pulls it in to his chest, as opposed to some receivers who wait for the ball to hit them in the chest, and therefore have it sometimes bounce off them. His catching technique is exceptional.

Warren basically has two drawbacks: he's not a terrific downfield blocker, but his team doesn't ask him to do much of that, so he hasn't had a whole lot of practice. With good coaching, and with increased strength, that area of his game will improve. His other shortcoming is that Arp is a small school, and he doesn't play against the toughest competition in the world. More often than not, he's being covered by guys who simply don't have the speed to keep up with him. Or if they do have the sprint speed, they can't stay with him when he cuts his routes and changes directions. But to his credit, when he does face an inferior opponent, he wears him out.

Burley is another small-school star. He's alomost always the biggest guy on the field, and usually by a large margin. That's the main reason some schools didn't recruit him as heavily - the thought being that anyone his size should overwhelm guys who give up several inches and 50-plus pounds to him, which is often the case for Burley.

Burley has a rather long frame (check out Flozell Adams of the Cowboys). He's got very long arms and very strong hands, so when he gets locked in on a player, that defender is removed from the play. He moves surprisingly well for a player over 300 pounds, and has both the footwork to adjust to defensive line stunts and the speed to get downfield to hit a second player after flattening his first man at the line of scrimmage.

Burley's shortcomings: Like Warren, he doesn't get challenged very often, and can use his sheer mass to overwhelm most defensive linemen he faces. He doesn't often do it, though, playing with a mean streak and a clear desire to dominate, rather than simply making his block. But playing aainst college competition will take some serious adjustment - he might be a year or even two years away from really contribting at SMU. But when he does make the adjustment, look out. He could be a star.

He needs to add a lot of strength. He already has great size, but he needs to harden up his physique, and shed a little baby fat. He doesn't have a lot of excess weight, but he can definitely get a lot stronger.

And while he has good technique, in terms of how he uses his hands and his footwork, he sometimes plays a little stiff. He needs to play lower, dropping his butt and bending his knees more to generate more power in his blocking. Doing that also will help him keep his center of gravity much lower, which will be extremely beneficial when he has to react to a speed rusher who changes directions on him. If he remains upright, those speed rushers will blow past him with a quick change of direction. If he can learn to play lower, he will be better suited to making the adjustment to quicker defensive linemen he'll see in college.

[Recruiting Guru]

It should be noted that I've only seen Burley on tape, not in person.

[50's PONY]

Thanks Guru!

[Recruiting Guru]

No problem - glad to offer whatever I know about a guy.
From what I've seen, SMU is well on its way to a very promising recruiting class.