Kai Millner jumped into the espn300. Debuting at 115 Overall in his class. He’ll be the highest rated QB we’ve recruited in I think the last 10 years or so.
I'm glad to see him getting some good pub. Rank orderings are always going to leave a lot of room for disagreement in comparison to more qualitative grading. In the ESPN rating Millner (#115) is graded as an 84, which is the same grade as prospects #91-145. #225 is still graded as an 83, though, so their grades don't establish much of a qualitative difference between #91 and #225, but I suspect that fans would feel very different about getting the #91 recruit, vs. getting #225. When you have so many guys that grade similarly on a qualitative scale, it leaves a ton of room for minor differences in evaluation to radically alter a player's ranking. The real takeaway for me, though, is that there are lots of guys that you can win with, which is why it's pretty common for teams with "inferior" talent to upset teams that apparently recruit much better.
Bigger + here is we got him before he exploded up the board like he did. So yeah totally agree about the overall ranking number. But we got a kid who went from practically unranked to somewhere in the top 200 players in the country which is a huge achievement.
On the 50-yard pass you said his arm strength didn't impress you. Seems he was throwing off his back foot a bit as the pocket collapsed. I wonder how it would have been if he could step into it. Also, seems some of your concerns with the short/intermediate passes are topics for the coaches to address (don't throw on the run if there's no one close; set up and sling it, etc.). Would you agree?
I think that that play's pretty consistent with his overall throwing motion, which is actually a good thing (part of that "compactness in the pocket" that I mentioned, which lets him throw a good ball even when the pocket's not super clean). Also, I would add that his arm strength definitely isn't a minus, I just don't think that it's rare in comparison to other guys who might be rated higher based on arm strength.
For the short and intermediate passes, for sure, that's something for the coaches to work on. Accuracy is generally about consistent mechanics, which is why it can break down on the move, or under pressure. I think we definitely want him moving and throwing those passes, it's just a matter of consistency out of the pocket. For the record, he hits a number of those passes in his highlight video, so the potential's there. I also think it's useful to look at a whole game like this, though, since that shows you what's consistent and what's more sporadic.
Kai Millner jumped into the espn300. Debuting at 115 Overall in his class. He’ll be the highest rated QB we’ve recruited in I think the last 10 years or so.
I'm glad to see him getting some good pub. Rank orderings are always going to leave a lot of room for disagreement in comparison to more qualitative grading. In the ESPN rating Millner (#115) is graded as an 84, which is the same grade as prospects #91-145. #225 is still graded as an 83, though, so their grades don't establish much of a qualitative difference between #91 and #225, but I suspect that fans would feel very different about getting the #91 recruit, vs. getting #225. When you have so many guys that grade similarly on a qualitative scale, it leaves a ton of room for minor differences in evaluation to radically alter a player's ranking. The real takeaway for me, though, is that there are lots of guys that you can win with, which is why it's pretty common for teams with "inferior" talent to upset teams that apparently recruit much better.
Bigger + here is we got him before he exploded up the board like he did. So yeah totally agree about the overall ranking number. But we got a kid who went from practically unranked to somewhere in the top 200 players in the country which is a huge achievement.
Kewl
Really? Even with Jared Goff being a highly rated 4*?
You were not the only one to think this! Apparently, Chase Garbers was 176th in his class’ ESPN300.
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/209230/chase-garbers
Goff finished his Marin Catholic career in the mid 200s of his class overall on ESPN300
Thanks, Berk, as always.
On the 50-yard pass you said his arm strength didn't impress you. Seems he was throwing off his back foot a bit as the pocket collapsed. I wonder how it would have been if he could step into it. Also, seems some of your concerns with the short/intermediate passes are topics for the coaches to address (don't throw on the run if there's no one close; set up and sling it, etc.). Would you agree?
I think that that play's pretty consistent with his overall throwing motion, which is actually a good thing (part of that "compactness in the pocket" that I mentioned, which lets him throw a good ball even when the pocket's not super clean). Also, I would add that his arm strength definitely isn't a minus, I just don't think that it's rare in comparison to other guys who might be rated higher based on arm strength.
For the short and intermediate passes, for sure, that's something for the coaches to work on. Accuracy is generally about consistent mechanics, which is why it can break down on the move, or under pressure. I think we definitely want him moving and throwing those passes, it's just a matter of consistency out of the pocket. For the record, he hits a number of those passes in his highlight video, so the potential's there. I also think it's useful to look at a whole game like this, though, since that shows you what's consistent and what's more sporadic.
You're the best, Berk. Thanks for bringing us the content we craaaaave