TMI 2007: And They Call The Wind Caleb . . .
I am pleased to present the long awaited third edition of MaconDawg's chronicle of the University of Georgia's signing class of 2007. Previous editions have drawn much-appreciated praise from Senator Blutarsky (whose Blog you should really check out) and Kyle King, who at first seemed a little creeped out by the idea, but upon clarification, actually thinks this series is the way recruiting should be covered. Thanks for the endorsement, Kyle. And send Kristen Davis the URL, we're always looking for celebrity endorsements.
Anyway, you can see approximately 8 minutes of senior footage of Greater Atlanta Christian School tailback Caleb King here. The footage is on YouTube, though it appears to have originally come from Scout.com. I'm assuming the folks from Scout have no qualms about this because the footage has been up for over 2 months and viewed over 24,000 times without being removed.
The Resume: A 4 star prospect by Rivals and 5 star according to Scout, he's arguably the jewel of this signing class. King was rated by some as the top tailback in the country until he broke his leg midway through his senior season. That has dropped him off the radar of some recruitniks. However, he committed to Georgia over offers from Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Notre Dame, LSU and USC. In short, recruiting rankings be damned, there's not a college coach in America who wouldn't have taken a commitment from Caleb King.
Pros: The first thing that you notice about King is that he runs with his eyes. He may not break every play for a big gain. But if there are 8 yards to be gotten on any given play, the odds are good that he will find them. King also gets North/South very quickly, and he's not overly pre-occupied with getting to the sideline like a lot of breakaway backs. Caleb is just as likely to break one on a halfback lead behind the guard as he is on the toss sweep, and accelerates through the hole very, very quickly.
Caleb King's running style is also a good lesson to younger backs because he breaks a lot of those long ones on this tape not just by being fast, but by making the first two guys miss. Kid shrugs arm tackles like nobody's business. For this reason, I'm willing to make the somewhat controversial statement that I would rather sign Caleb King than mythical south Florida tailback Noel Devine. I simply feel like King's running style translates more readily to the college level. Devine will have to rein in some of his tendency to just outrun and juke. By way of comparison, Noel Devine is to Barry Sanders as Caleb King is to Walter Payton. He's an all-around tailback with the speed to take it the distance and the toughness to get 4 yards when that's what you need.
Cons: However, nobody's perfect. King does dance in the hole a little bit, employing a "jump-step" that may not work against faster college defenses. He also runs a little upright at times, which makes him more susceptible to hits from the blindside. This is more apparent on sweeps and counters to the outside, where he's actively looking for the hole. This is not a constant problem though, and I think it's easy to correct.
The Skinny: A back in the Kregg Lumpkin/Knowshon Moreno mold. King is the type of versatile, pure tailback who can get yards in any situation, and should break more than his fair share of 20+ yarders (something this offense has desperately lacked in recent years). It will be hard to keep King off the field as a true freshman. He is physically ready to contribute now at 5'11 and a shade under 200 pounds. Eventually, look for King to bulk up to the 215 pound range. The key will be how well he maintains the acceleration and top-end speed that bursts off the screen now.
Anyway, you can see approximately 8 minutes of senior footage of Greater Atlanta Christian School tailback Caleb King here. The footage is on YouTube, though it appears to have originally come from Scout.com. I'm assuming the folks from Scout have no qualms about this because the footage has been up for over 2 months and viewed over 24,000 times without being removed.
The Resume: A 4 star prospect by Rivals and 5 star according to Scout, he's arguably the jewel of this signing class. King was rated by some as the top tailback in the country until he broke his leg midway through his senior season. That has dropped him off the radar of some recruitniks. However, he committed to Georgia over offers from Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Notre Dame, LSU and USC. In short, recruiting rankings be damned, there's not a college coach in America who wouldn't have taken a commitment from Caleb King.
Pros: The first thing that you notice about King is that he runs with his eyes. He may not break every play for a big gain. But if there are 8 yards to be gotten on any given play, the odds are good that he will find them. King also gets North/South very quickly, and he's not overly pre-occupied with getting to the sideline like a lot of breakaway backs. Caleb is just as likely to break one on a halfback lead behind the guard as he is on the toss sweep, and accelerates through the hole very, very quickly.
Caleb King's running style is also a good lesson to younger backs because he breaks a lot of those long ones on this tape not just by being fast, but by making the first two guys miss. Kid shrugs arm tackles like nobody's business. For this reason, I'm willing to make the somewhat controversial statement that I would rather sign Caleb King than mythical south Florida tailback Noel Devine. I simply feel like King's running style translates more readily to the college level. Devine will have to rein in some of his tendency to just outrun and juke. By way of comparison, Noel Devine is to Barry Sanders as Caleb King is to Walter Payton. He's an all-around tailback with the speed to take it the distance and the toughness to get 4 yards when that's what you need.
Cons: However, nobody's perfect. King does dance in the hole a little bit, employing a "jump-step" that may not work against faster college defenses. He also runs a little upright at times, which makes him more susceptible to hits from the blindside. This is more apparent on sweeps and counters to the outside, where he's actively looking for the hole. This is not a constant problem though, and I think it's easy to correct.
The Skinny: A back in the Kregg Lumpkin/Knowshon Moreno mold. King is the type of versatile, pure tailback who can get yards in any situation, and should break more than his fair share of 20+ yarders (something this offense has desperately lacked in recent years). It will be hard to keep King off the field as a true freshman. He is physically ready to contribute now at 5'11 and a shade under 200 pounds. Eventually, look for King to bulk up to the 215 pound range. The key will be how well he maintains the acceleration and top-end speed that bursts off the screen now.
posted by MaconDawg at 3:05 PM
1 Comments:
Anyone know if Caleb passed his test?
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