Are there a lot of guys who look awful in practice but look like All Pros when the game is on the line? How are coaches supposed to identify those players?
I'd expect that if you took ANY pro ball player to Kiwanis Park and put him in the batting cage, they're going to rake. If I took a prospect and put him in the batting cage and he's whiffing on half the pitches, I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to trust him against a 98 mph fast ball.
There are lots of guys who look great in practice but fall apart when the games count--take William Powell, for example. But I don't know why a coach would say, "Well, out here on the practice field LaRon Byrd can't compete against Michael Adams, but I'll bet that when he's facing off against Carlos Rogers, he's going to win that battle every time."
My guess is that Whiz REALLY values players who know what the hell they're supposed to do, even if sometimes they can't physically do it. So he'll play a guy like Lenon who knows the system and is where he's supposed to be most of the time even if occasionally he runs like he's dragging a bus behind him.
A guy like Bradley looks the part but when he's in there he often seems to have no idea where he's supposed to be. In our defense, with Horton's mad scientist approach we've all seen what happens when even one guy screws up, it's often a huge play. So you have to trust the guys you're playing understand the system.
Its why Scho didn't play more last year and was heavily praised by Horton this year, he learned where to be.
Whiz is the same on offense it's why it took Floyd so long to get on the field consistently, he was so often in the wrong place either lining up or running the wrong pattern, Whiz didn't trust him. He's gotten past that now and surprise, he's playing more and showing he's going to be much better than Doucet.
But there is a reason Whiz plays Doucet still, he knows on a big play Early isn't likely to run the wrong way and lead to a pick. The problem is he'll run the right route, and then drop the pass.
Housler went through it last year too not sure of the offense, not always running the route correctly. he's proven he can this year and he's playing.
I'm an unapologetic Early Doucet fan. I'd still rather have him on the field than Dominique Byrd, who had his own problems holding on to the ball in preseason. It's not like Jerry Rice is sitting on the sidelines and Early Doucet is taking PT away from him.
