Pro Football Weekly Draft Guide 97 (Tom Knight) vs. 08 (Leodis McKelvin)

[Lomax to Green 84]

I can't believe I still have my 1997 Pro Football Weekly Draft Guide! I actually have the 1995 and 1996 one as well. Last night I went back and read the draft write up on Tom Knight and then went to the 2008 Draft Guide to read up on guys like McKelvin, Jenkins, Talib etc.. to see any similarities.

It's scary how similar the draft bio's were for Tom Knight and Leodis McKelvin.

Positives for both: Top flight athletes, great recovery speed, solid character, great special team return guys.

Negatives for both: Hands of stone, bad ball skills.

Fans love to rag on Tom Knight and make fun of the Cardinals for taking him with the 9th overall pick in 1997. The truth is that many felt Knight was the best overall corner in the entire draft and a better prospect than Shaun Springs who went #3 overall to the Seahawks. The great Jimmy Johnson said after the draft that Knight was their guy at #11 if the Cardinals had not taken him with the 9th pick. What bugged me then with Knight was the negative about ball skills and that is what bugs me about Leodis McKelvin. A couple of nights ago on NFL Network they showed a number of McKelvin highlights both good and bad and I swear it could have been Tom Knight had he had a Iowa Hawkeyes jersey on instead of a Troy jersey.

No to Leodis McKelvin if he somehow falls to #16. I really think that the best corner in the draft is Aqib Talib and so does Deion Sanders. I'll take Deion's opinion when it comes to evaluating corners.

 

[earthsci]

Maybe you guys will correct me but I don't remember Mr. Glass being that bad of a CB when he actually made it on the field.

 

[Lomax to Green 84]

Maybe you guys will correct me but I don't remember Mr. Glass being that bad of a CB when he actually made it on the field.

I agree. I actually like Tom Knight, but there is no way in heck I would have taken him in the first round knowing what he turned out to be. Even when he as on the field he never was a playmaker.

Would have been a great 3rd round pick which is exactly what Mel Kiper had him rated as.

 

[Duckjake]

Maybe you guys will correct me but I don't remember Mr. Glass being that bad of a CB when he actually made it on the field.

I think TK had all of 3 INTs in his time in Arizona. Aeneas had twice that many in one year as a rookie in 1991.

 

[football karma]

I can't believe I still have my 1997 Pro Football Weekly Draft Guide! I actually have the 1995 and 1996 one as well. Last night I went back and read the draft write up on Tom Knight and then went to the 2008 Draft Guide to read up on guys like McKelvin, Jenkins, Talib etc.. to see any similarities.

It's scary how similar the draft bio's were for Tom Knight and Leodis McKelvin.

Positives for both: Top flight athletes, great recovery speed, solid character, great special team return guys.

Negatives for both: Hands of stone, bad ball skills.

Fans love to rag on Tom Knight and make fun of the Cardinals for taking him with the 9th overall pick in 1997. The truth is that many felt Knight was the best overall corner in the entire draft and a better prospect than Shaun Springs who went #3 overall to the Seahawks. The great Jimmy Johnson said after the draft that Knight was their guy at #11 if the Cardinals had not taken him with the 9th pick. What bugged me then with Knight was the negative about ball skills and that is what bugs me about Leodis McKelvin. A couple of nights ago on NFL Network they showed a number of McKelvin highlights both good and bad and I swear it could have been Tom Knight had he had a Iowa Hawkeyes jersey on instead of a Troy jersey.

No to Leodis McKelvin if he somehow falls to #16. I really think that the best corner in the draft is Aqib Talib and so does Deion Sanders. I'll take Deion's opinion when it comes to evaluating corners.

my recollection of Tommy Knight wasnt that he couldnt hang on to an interception -- it was that he couldnt play the ball in the air. Lots of times he would be running stride for stride with a WR, only to have the ball go right over his shoulder and into the WR's hands.

I got to play golf a long time ago at a charity tourney with the Cards secondary coach at the time -- his POV was that "in the air" ball skills were the most under rated aspect of being a good corner, and that players either have it, or they dont -- it couldnt be taught.

As a result, in corner prospect highlights (which is really all the video us amateurs get) I like to look for examples of the corner running with a WR at full speed and being able to track the ball at the same time.

I dont know if Mckelvin has this or not --- I beleive his "ball skills" knock come from getting his hands on a bunch of passes, but not intercepting them. That is a different deal entirely.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Maybe you guys will correct me but I don't remember Mr. Glass being that bad of a CB when he actually made it on the field.

what? he was awful. he would stick to his man like glue (which would lead you to beleive he was a great cover corner) but inevitably allow his man to make the reception. i've never seen a corner in position to make a play more than tommy knight and then see him ultimately fail with each and every opportunity to break up the pass. it was amazing. forget the injuries, he couldn't play the ball.

 

[Ryanwb]

I played football in highschool. Pretty much if you were fast and could catch, you were a wide receiver. If you were fast and couldn't catch you were a defensive back. I would be suprised if that philosophy doesn't translate to the college level, having "hands of stone" doesn't worry me, I'm more concerned about coverage skills

 

[40yearfan]

I played football in highschool. Pretty much if you were fast and could catch, you were a wide receiver. If you were fast and couldn't catch you were a defensive back. I would be suprised if that philosophy doesn't translate to the college level, having "hands of stone" doesn't worry me, I'm more concerned about coverage skills

Are you saying you had hands of stone?

 

[HookemCards]

I think TK had all of 3 INTs in his time in Arizona. Aeneas had twice that many in one year as a rookie in 1991.

And McKinnon more than that in one game.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Ahmed Plummer,while he was at OSU, had the worst ball skills of anyone i had seen.I would never had taken him in round 1. The thing about McKelvin is that he has good ball skills on punts and kick returns.So, it may be a concentration type thing and not a lack of ball skills.

 

[DaisyCutter]

my recollection of Tommy Knight wasnt that he couldnt hang on to an interception -- it was that he couldnt play the ball in the air. Lots of times he would be running stride for stride with a WR, only to have the ball go right over his shoulder and into the WR's hands.

I got to play golf a long time ago at a charity tourney with the Cards secondary coach at the time -- his POV was that "in the air" ball skills were the most under rated aspect of being a good corner, and that players either have it, or they dont -- it couldnt be taught.

As a result, in corner prospect highlights (which is really all the video us amateurs get) I like to look for examples of the corner running with a WR at full speed and being able to track the ball at the same time.

I dont know if Mckelvin has this or not --- I beleive his "ball skills" knock come from getting his hands on a bunch of passes, but not intercepting them. That is a different deal entirely.

I wouldn't really want my secondary coach to believe this if I was DC. Makes it pretty easy for the DBs coach when it's time for evaluations at the end of the season.

 

[Pariah]

Hindsight is 20/20...on a lot of teams picks. Knight wasn't a bad pick, but he turned out to be a bad player. Maybe McKelvin will, too. Who knows. But I wouldn't want to pass on him just because there's half a dozen of the same words in his scouting report as was in Tommy Knight's.

JMHO

 

[football karma]

I wouldn't really want my secondary coach to believe this if I was DC. Makes it pretty easy for the DBs coach when it's time for evaluations at the end of the season.

fwiw -- he is now a pretty well regarded defensive coordinator in the NFL now

 

[CardinalChris]

Just like route running in WRs, blocking in RBs, pocket awareness in QBs..... It isn't sexy, it is hard to make tangible, but it can be the difference between Rob Johnson and Tom Brady (just an example, no need to start debating the two players I chose to illustrate this trait!!!)

 

[Skkorpion]

Just like route running in WRs, blocking in RBs, pocket awareness in QBs..... It isn't sexy, it is hard to make tangible, but it can be the difference between Rob Johnson and Tom Brady (just an example, no need to start debating the two players I chose to illustrate this trait!!!)

Well put.

 

[earthsci]

Hindsight is 20/20...on a lot of teams picks. Knight wasn't a bad pick, but he turned out to be a bad player. Maybe McKelvin will, too. Who knows. But I wouldn't want to pass on him just because there's half a dozen of the same words in his scouting report as was in Tommy Knight's.

JMHO

...and well put.

 

[black]

I think of the bigger picture. TK didn't have the luxury of a penetrating D-line. Same goes for the backfield on the offensive side of the ball too.

 

[Duckjake]

I think of the bigger picture. TK didn't have the luxury of a penetrating D-line. Same goes for the backfield on the offensive side of the ball too.

Aeneas Williams (pro bowl 1997,98,99) playing on the other side of TK kind of shrinks that picture.

 

[black]

Aeneas Williams (pro bowl 1997,98,99) playing on the other side of TK kind of shrinks that picture.

Well I guess it does. TK wasn't that bad now com'on.