quote:
There is nothing physically that Jarvis can point to as being more impressive than OBJ. Physicality, hands, and pass blocking are things you can learn.

Thats a head scratcher... So the things Jarvis is better at, you can learn to do, but the things OBJ is better at, you cant. Right right.... In shorts and tee shirts, OBJ > Jarvis. On the field and in pads, Jarvis > OBJ. And is a much better football player.

And I get he had a bad time. But he never had an issue with speed in the SEC. Hell, his freshman year on kickoffs he was the 1st guy down the field. Ahead of guys like Mingo, Ron Brooks, Reid, Claiborne, TM, Blue, etc. All of those guys had better times at the combine in shorts and t shirts. A 40 time in shorts and t shirt isnt and being fast on the field in pads going against someone trying to stop you are 2 diff things. How many times does a guy run free for 10 yards, much less 40 yards, in a game? Never. Perfect example of combine speed / game speed: Jared Cook ran a 4.50 in the combine. Same time as TM. But on the field, I saw TM catch Cook from behind and strip the ball. But both guys ran the same time at the combine... how did that happen?

And you can "learn" to be more consistent catching the ball better, blocking, etc. I agree with you there, but you can also work to get faster, quicker, etc. And you cant make a player turn into a physical player or into a natural pass catcher. They can get better at it, but still arent naturally physical players or natural catching the ball. Jarvis is a guy that is natural at catching the ball and naturally physical. OBJ has had his fair share of drops, and prefers the finesse over the physicality part of the game.

And the main difference between OBJ and Jarvis, IMO, isnt something you can measure at the combine. Jarvis has the attitude of a dog in a fight with his back up against the wall. He wants to physically dominate his opponent every snap. Hes more than willing to lay a block to free the ball carrier, or to sell a route that creates space for another player to get open. He wants to play on special teams and go down there and drop someone and make a play. I cant tell you how many times Ive seen Jarvis down field blocking his opponent into the bench to spring a teammate for a big play or TD and got up celebrating like he made the game winning catch in the Super Bowl. And ive never seen him hang his head. I have seen OBJ hang his head while at LSU, regardless if they won or lost.

And like you said, DBs are playing much more physical now a days and in press man coverage. If you watched these guys play the last few years, you would see its the complete opposite with shedding a defender and getting off the line. Jarvis is actually better at getting off the line going against bump and run press coverage, while OBJ struggled against the teams that did at against us.

OBJ is better at going against DBs that play off of him, allowing him to get a free release and use his speed as a strength. When you bump OBJ and get physical with him at the line, he struggles to get free and into his routes, taking away his biggest thread which is his speed. Jarvis knows how to shed defenders playing press coverage on him. Much more physical and can rip through a DB bumping at the line. And Jarvis is actually very quick off the line and knows how to sell his fakes and routes much better than OBJ does.

And those amazing catches Jarvis made had nothing to do with his separation. Most were bad decisions by Mett and Jarvis bailed him out by making amazing catches in front of multiple defenders.

The fact that you said Jarvis' could be "uncompetitive" in the NFL based off of what he did in shorts and t shirt is laughable. Coaches and scouts all agree that film > combine and its not really close. They all know who they like before the combine. And its not like Jarvis was dominating SWAC guys or whatever. He was doing it against SEC DBs. Guys like Milliner, Haha, Slay, Banks, Purifoy, Roberson,etc. Never had any trouble getting separation against them or was too slow to go against them. In fact, Jarvis was way better than OBJ was against SEC and top 25 opponents. And when LSU was losing or tied. And was way more clutch as a player than OBJ.

On the field, Jarvis reminds me of a smaller Keenan Allen, said that during the season and way before the combine. And after the combine, the same things were said about Allen that people are saying about Jarvis.

I do agree OBJ has a higher ceiling than Jarvis. But he also has bust potential more than Jarvis as well. Out of all top WRs in the draft, OBJ and Kelvin Benjamin have the most bust potential IMO.

This post was edited on 3/10/14 at 7:45 pm