I am not a football coach and I never played the game. I am a fan. I know that if it's SMU, that's my team. I understand that if one player is bigger than the guy he's matched up against, he has a chance to win a one-on-one battle. I know that if you're faster than I am, I'm not really likely to catch you from behind. I couldn't tell you what a Cover-2 defense is, and I have no idea what the center is saying when he points into the defense and barks out calls to his fellow linemen. So there, I admit it. I am no expert.
So, with that said: I went out to practice once before the guys split for spring break. I tried to pay special attention to the JUCOs. I couldn't pick out Troy Therien (I hadn't seen a roster, so I didn't realize he was 90). Clayton Cox is a really impressive looking guy, and in my admittedly less-than-expert opinion, he looks like he moves pretty well. Randall Good isn't too tall, but man, he can really run.
And then there's Victor Makinde, the JUCO cornerback. What an unbelievably impressive looking guy. Remember when you were in school and there was always one guy who you'd look at and think "there's no way he's our age"? That's what Makinde looks like standing there with the rest of the defensive backs. He's huge. I've never seen a DB who looks like that. And wait until you see this guy run. He looks a little like Champ Bailey -- huge and super-fast. I mean amazingly fast. It almost looks unnatural.
Now again, I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to technique. But I talked to a bunch of people who have a much better idea what they're looking at, and they said that the reports of him being a longshot project might be a bit of a stretch. One guy, in particular, said Makinde's not as raw as some people have claimed. He looks like he still gets some things mixed up on some things, but he's been in this defense for 2 weeks or so. Someone wrote here that he was a longshot when we signed him, but the early reviews seem really positive.
Victor Makinde
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DallasDiehard
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RedRiverPony
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Champ Bailey played both ways at Georgia, and has dabbled on offense with the Redskins and Broncos. In Makinde's case, since he's relatively new to the game, surely there's no chance the coaches would be tempted to let him try both, would there? I know he's big and super-fast, but he has to perfect the CB position first (or only). He's only got two years at SMU, so I hope that idea is just the inane concoction of an over-caffienated PonyFan who got lost (or married) and ended up in Oklahoma.
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DiamondM75
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No Cal Pony
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I was recently working in Arizona, and asked around about this kid. Apparently, he is very quick, as advertised. He is a bit raw, as others have noted, but folks said he seemed to be a quick learner, with his ability making up for his lack of experience. A couple of folks were surprised that he ended up at SMU. So maybe he won't turn out to be world class, but I got the impression that he could make an impact.
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