re: Clifton Garrett struggling?

I saw Clifton play in high school in Illinois this past fall. I believe that he will be a very good player. However, I was not as blown away as I thought I might be before I arrived at the game. He ran well, was physical, and made plays but if I didn't know the reputation going into the game I wouldn't have thought that he was an LSU-caliber recruit. It didn't have anything to do with effort as I thought he played hard. I wrote as much last fall and got hammered for it, although I understand that probably wasn't wise as he wasn't signed yet.

Someone on LSU's staff was in my wedding. I texted him this immediately following the game, "I saw Chief was coming. To be honest, I expected more. He looks the part, runs well, but he doesn't disengage well because he lets guys get in to his body but that can be fixed. What surprised me a bit was I expect a guy like that to really pop out at me during warmups and while I obviously figured out pretty quickly which kid he was it wasn't immediate. If I had been at the game looking for an LSU caliber kid I would have never recommended him. However, I have seen him on film make some WOW plays athletically where he played downhill really fast. Have seen more on film than I did tonight."

Again, he may end up being a great player. He definitely has ability. I was just slightly underwhelmed when I saw him in person. With that said, I saw his highlight tape and was very impressed.