re: Travis Etienne RB Jennings High school

Running as fast as a 10.5 n the hundred so far when the wind isnt kicking...at 5'11 199 he's already bigger than mark ingram nd trent richardson

10.5 is a great speed for him.... 11 flat not so much so. Which is it guys? Tia

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tennessee was always his fav because orange is his fav color

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Makes sense

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10.5 is a great speed for him.... 11 flat not so much so. Which is it guys? Tia

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These other posters know more, I was just going by what has been reported in the newspapers. Fastest time I have seen on him is 10.98.

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Really? The kid was the fastest man at Nike Opening

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Not surprised. On film he looks fast as F### to me. As for his hundred time@ 11... That could be simply block technique. So critical.

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I'd advise this kid to look into playing defense.

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I'm told he played one play on defense last year. It's in the below highlights at ~3:12. Receiver runs what looks like a short post. Looks like the receiver is either on a pump and go/double move type route or just was half-arse stalk blocking and didn't know the ball was coming his way. Etienne jumps on the move, the ball goes deep, he's fast enough to recover, get to the ball, return it 90+ yards for a TD.

Terrible single play to base his skills as a defender- the receiver doesn't really make a big enough effort or run a convincing route. Or maybe that's what he was supposed to do and they hoped the CB jumped the route to go over the top, and the QB wasn't able to put it anywhere near where he needed to. Definitely doesn't show how he'd stack up against a real QB/WR as opposed to the-what are they down there...3A? competition- but he's an athlete and has enough instinct to put his eyes where they need to go more often than not. He could pick it up, almost no doubt. And damn, was the result of the play impressive - especially since it was literally the one defensive snap he played.


But when he's offered to play the position he's always played at some/all of the top schools, why would he?
[link=(www.hudl.com/athlete/3063012/highlights/311001445)]Tune to 3:12[/link]

I'm not trying to slam or even negate what you're saying. I'm just putting myself in his shoes- when the best of the best are saying "come carry the ball like you've always wanted to," I wouldn't think twice about flipping sides.

That said- I think there's a lot to what you're saying. He'd be able to be a very good DB, but again- most kids in his shoes would probably rather play RB at a very good school than DB at the best. I went to high school with a guy who was recruited by lots of D1 places as a FS. He wound up going to an FCS school because he wanted to play QB. I don't think it's uncommon. And I think it probably leads to at least a handful of offers from elite schools recruiting them out of their ideal position because they know they'll absolutely lose them if they don't.

Heard this story about his recent trip to Bama: Saban has an button on his desk to automatically open and close his office door. Travis was impressed with that and Saban told him that he installed it because he realized that the time it took him to get up and open or close his door is time that he could be thinking about Alabama footbal instead. He told Travis that he eats the same lunch every day, a tuna sandwich and a salad, because he doesn't want to have to think about what he wants to eat and instead can spend that time thinking about Alabama football. The guy is intense.

Travis liked that Saban didn't sugar coat things and didn't promise him playing time immediately. Instead he said they only care about production. If you produce in practice, you will play. If not, you will get passed up on the depth chart and end up transferring. Other coaches have been promising playing time as a freshman and he likes that Saban was honest with him.

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he eats the same lunch every day, a tuna sandwich and a salad, because he doesn't want to have to think about what he wants to eat

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All that money and he chooses to live miserably. That's fricking sad.