When
we had the online class about the fat athlete and the ideal athletic body, the
first player that came to mind was one of my favorite players. Alshon Jeffery,
wide receiver from the University of South Carolina.
Let
me start off by saying that Jeffery is a big guy. In his college playing days
he was 6’4 and 230 pounds. When I first saw him play in high school, I couldn’t
believe he was a receiver. He looked more like a linebacker or defensive end.
Jeffery has never been a blazing fast receiver, but he is faster than your
average receiver. He uses his big frame and leaping abilities against defenders
to win the ball. Jeffery is simply a dominant receiver. When you add his above
average speed and his leaping abilities to his 6’4 230 pound frame, you are
going to have a stud.
In
his sophomore season, Jeffery was arguably the best receiver in college
football. After shattering SEC records, Jeffery was seen as possibly the next
Calvin Johnson. Had he been draft eligible that season, many NFL scouts had him
pegged as a top 10 pick and a better prospect than Julio Jones who went 6th
overall.
Jeffery
was on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the 2011 college football preview.
However, he appeared to be carrying some extra weight and had a gut. This
instantly had the entire football community questioning his work ethic. Jeffery
was the punch-line to many ‘fat’ jokes as a result. Jeffery lost the extra
weight before the season started, but the damage was already done. He was
already given the fat and lazy athlete tag. Despite having a great junior
season, his draft stock was still shaky and his weight and work ethic was a major concern to
scouts. He was told by scouts that an average receiver didn’t weigh 230 pounds,
and he would have to lose at least 15 pounds before the NFL combine. Jeffery
showed up to the combine at 215 pounds, losing the “required” 15 pounds. He
didn’t participate in any workouts though. It was rumored that he was simply
unable to perform any workouts because he was completely zapped of energy as a
result of his weight loss strategies. Jeffery has said that he is highly
motivated to keep the weight off and will perform some workouts at his South
Carolina pro day.
I
have a few questions regarding this situation.
- Jeffery was 230 pounds in both his sophomore and junior seasons, so why was his weight a concern to scouts in his junior season, but not his sophomore?
- As I previously stated, Jeffery lost the gut he sported on SI before his junior season even started. So if he had not been on the cover of SI, would anyone have brought his work ethic and weight into question?
- Many would argue that what makes Jeffery such a good receiver is that he knows how to use his big frame to his advantage. Is it fair for them to tell him that he needs to lose 15 pounds to be a great NFL receiver? How will the weight loss affect his play?
- What makes NFL scouts think that a player cannot do well in the NFL based on their weight? Is there any truth to it, or are they just looking for the ideal athletic body?
When college football season starts there's endless comparisons, projections, opinions, and if's and why's concerning coaches, teams, schools and players. I think everyone gets caught up in players when different scouts give their opinion on college athletes and how they project to the NFL. But people listen to it, I certainly can't get enough of scouting and listening to draft experts and seeing where a player is going to get projected at the next level. In Jeffery's case, I feel it's unfortunate he landed on the cover of a major magazine in which millions of people will see it and begin to analyze a magazine cover. In terms of a NFL wide receiver, 230 pounds is considered on the bigger end of wide-outs but Jeffery's will eventually be a number one receiver in the NFL and if he can tone out, as he did by dropping 15 pounds, he'll be just fine and end up in the first round as some scouts are projecting. Scouts just want Jeffery's to become that elite talent they know he's capable of and be that Calvin Johnson type player in the future.
ReplyDeleteFor Jeffery to weigh the same both seasons, and be looked at as a top ten receiver one season, but be told to weigh less the next or not be a top ten pick is ridiculous. I agree that asking him to lose weight could affect his play, and he may not be the same receiver without that extra weight. Losing that weight could make it so he may not be able to overpower others and get the ball like he could before. Like stated by Trevor, he was never the fastest receiver, therefore if he can't overpower he may not be the same receiver he was in college. That extra weight could be a necessity for his play.
ReplyDeleteTyler Schaefer
Football is both a soft-bodied sport and not a soft-bodied sport at the same time. For the offensive and defensive linemen, it is crucial to often times weigh as much as you can (in a healthy sense) in order to effectively move people around.
ReplyDeleteWith the wide-receiver position however, it is not the case. You really need to have a certain body frame to adequately expose weaknesses in a professional football team's defenses. There is a major difference between college and professional football when it comes to physicality, where you play 12-14 games within a five month span for college and 16-20 game season within a five month span for the NFL. If his body is not in peak condition, Jeffery will not sustain success over a multi-year period. And if he does, it will not be expected.
Considering the millions, and occasional hundreds of millions of dollars spent on football players at the professional level I believe it is completely 100% okay for scouts, coaches, and owners to judge Alshon Jeffery based on his perceived lack of 'ideal body image'. For better or worse, owners are investing in a player's body as much as they are his character and mental capacity. If they can quantify his weight as a reason to pay him more or less money then that is their choice. In this situation it is also his choice to try and 'lose the belly' to try and earn a better draft position.
He is already in a blessed position that 99.9% of humans genetically could never be in, and he has the chance to be a massive success or a wild failure. And owners will not take any unnecessary chances that they don't have to because ultimately it's their money they are spending.
Like Dane, I too have observed the endless commentary about draft picks well in advance of the April draft. While everyone assumed that Andrew Luck would be the No. 1 pick, I even heard this past week that Luck was not necessarily a "lock" for Indianapolis. What? In all the criticism that Jeffery received, I wondered if any of that might be about jockeying for position to get him at a lower price.
ReplyDelete