Amani Hooker - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

This is the scouting report I was most looking forward to writing this year. I was hoping I could wait another year to write it, but I certainly can't fault a great player for leaving early. It was truly a pleasure watching Amani Hooker play for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and he got better and better every year. I admit I have black and gold tinted glasses, and even though I never specifically watched him during a game, it was impossible for me not to notice his contributions. But now, I am willing to take a closer look at the Hooker to see the strengths and look for weaknesses that could hurt him at the next level. I looked at his games from 2018 against Mississippi State, Iowa State, and Maryland with a sprinkling of 2017 Ohio State for good measure.

Aw man, who am I kidding? Let's just go to the first play of the game against Ohio State.

This wasn't just to show something painful for Buckeye fans as I did want to display the way he was able to make plays from the traditional safety position as he played a less traditional role this past year. Here, Hooker plays a shallow zone and just does a great job of reading the quarterback's eyes and breaking downhill for the pick-six. JT Barrett actually does a nice job of working left to right here. But Hooker knows he can't do anything on the left, the middle is well covered, so he picks the dig route to make a break on, and he picks right. It looks like Hooker knows where this ball is going before Barrett does.

Hooker is an interesting prospect as he spent his first two years and part of his final year in a traditional safety role before mostly transitioning to a hybrid role where he was more of a nickel back/linebacker. Here's another nice play from Hooker in a traditional safety role.

Even without the benefit of having a bright yellow cone of vision, it's easy to see Hooker looking into the backfield to read the quarterback's eyes. He does this while staying over the top of the route, so he is seeing the quarterback prepare his release as the receiver breaks to the outside, and he cuts off the route to make the interception.

Here is an example of Hooker playing the run.

He diagnoses the play and sprints to fill the hole. David Montgomery is one of the top running backs in the draft, so he did manage to spin out of the tackle, but his momentum was stopped by Hooker, and he wasn't able to regain control and was quickly wrapped up.

This is a really nice play by Hooker making quick decisions.

On this play, Hooker has the responsibility of the short routes while the cornerback is going to handle anything deep. He sees the slot receiver running down field, and the quarterback thinks that it will carry Hooker with him. Instead, Hooker lets that man go and quickly breaks to the outside to the wide receiver to tackle him just after he makes the catch for a short gain. It's a quick diagnosis that makes this play work as if he's a second slower, the receiver is creating yards after the catch for a likely first down.

A receiver blocking Hooker is not a recipe for success.

That is a massive whiff by the receiver, and Hooker is able to finish off the play because of it.

This was something I consistently saw in games as wide receivers were outclassed when trying to block Hooker on quick screens.

it is clear Hooker is diagnosing the play as he is getting blocked, and then he shucks the receiver and does an impressive job of taking out the tight end's right leg to bring him down for a short gain.

Here is another example of him reading the quarterback while dropping down in a zone and making a quick break on the ball.

On this play, he has the option to carry the inside breaking route but sees the Iowa State quarterback looking to his left, so he makes a hard break to the outside, and even though he can't get a hand on it, he got close enough to distract the receiver enough for him to not catch the ball.

I had watched three games, but I wanted a little more. Did I get obsessed with watching Hooker and just go to a highlight video? Yes, admittedly, I did. But it reminded me of this play which I didn't even comprehend its greatness until seeing it on this video.

Hooker covers THREE guys on this play, just by reading the quarterback's eyes. First, he carries the slot receiver coming up the seam before breaking inside on the next receiver's short crossing route where the linebacker picks him up, and then Hooker drifts back to the outside receiver who tries to run into open space, but Hooker again reads the quarterback's eyes, finds the receiver, looks back to the quarterback, and makes the leaping interception. If you're a scout trying to convince your team to draft Hooker, this is the play you show them.

Here's the thing with safeties. They are damn near impossible to evaluate off of television tape. They are barely on screen and immediately offscreen at the snap, so it's tough to show the ins and outs of great safety play. That being said, I have watched Amani Hooker for years. I've seen the minutiae of what most people would call meaningless replays and how the dude is ALWAYS around the ball. For an NFL comparison, I would say he reminds me of Tyrann Mathieu. I don't expect him to test off the charts, but he should do well, and the most important thing is that the guy just makes plays. He has incredible football instincts that you simply can't teach, and there was a reason that Big Ten coaches named him the defensive back of the year despite lining up most of the year in a non-traditional secondary role. He can play a traditional safety role or play as your nickel back, but it's easy to find a way to utilize a guy like Amani Hooker. His versatility and ability to read and react would make him an asset to any defense. As a Hawkeye fan, I'm certainly going to miss him.

Previous Scouting Reports:
Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
Dwayne Haskins - Ohio State Buckeyes - Quarterback
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End
Josh Jacobs - Alabama Crimson Tide - Running Back
Daniel Jones - Duke blue Devils - Quarterback

The WWE Is Ruining... Carmella

As a pro wrestling fan, it is a part of our identity to always know how to utilize wrestlers better than the WWE. If WWE would just give me, random WWE fan, a job a the company, ratings would immediately rise to the levels of the Monday Night Wars, despite how television ratings have changed as a whole over the last 20 years. But until that happens, WWE will continue ruining our favorite wrestlers, and that is why it is time to point out the error in their ways. Because of WWE's incompetence, I am literally going to pick a wrestler at random and point out how they could be better utilized, because WWE is ruining everyone in one way or another.

Today, it is time to get F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S, yes! It's time to talk about Carmella.

Carmella is (kayfabe) a hairdresser who was friends with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. She quickly lost her hairdressing job because of their antics, and luckily found out that she could be a good professional wrestler. Well, good is relative as she came out on the short side of things in her feud against Eva Marie.

Still, she got promoted along with a couple of bozos that are no longer in the professional wrestling world. Even when she made her Smackdown debut, she was interrupted by the more important Eva Marie.

But even though she wasn't good at pinning opponents, she was good at climbing ladders. Well, kind of. She did win the inaugural Women's Money in the Bank match, but it was only because of James Ellsworth actually climbed the ladder and grabbed the contract for her. It was a terrible decision by the WWE, so then they just redid the match and had Carmella climb the ladder instead of Ellsworth.
Throughout her early career, her most important moments involved Enzo, Big Cass, Eva Marie, and James Ellsworth. You would be hard pressed to find a group of four worse superstars.

Luckily, things turned around for Carmella when she actually cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase since it was brought on by an attack on Charlotte Flair by the IIconics. She then got to have maybe the greatest stretch for any woman in the WWE history. She beat the unbeatable Charlotte Flair, and then beat the unbeatable Asuka in back-to-back feuds. And she beat them multiple times. So unless somebody beats Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch consecutively, that stretch may never be topped.

But of course even that was filled with stupid bullshit as she beat Asuka by James Ellsworth confusing Asuka with cosplay which made about as much sense as...eh, actually it makes about as much sense as most of WWE's storylines.

She did eventually lose her title in a triple threat match to Charlotte Flair, and then teamed up with the one person who was continually challenging her to matches, R-Truth. This was probably my favorite part of Carmella's run as everyone kept beating Carmella to get title chances, so R-Truth rightfully believed that he should challenge Carmella for a title opportunity. But instead of going against each other, they teamed up and won the Mixed Match Challenge that was hilariously compromised by injuries to nearly every team in the tournament. But hey, a win's a win.

After that, she teamed up with Naomi to create a team, because they needed 12 ladies for the first ever women's tag title elimination chamber match. And that's where we are at today.

Honestly, Carmella is an underrated talent. She has improved greatly in the ring, and she has shown the versatility to be a babyface or a heel. She's a good all-around talent but doesn't stand out in any one area. It's a tough spot to be in, because there is so much talent on the WWE women's roster currently. I think the WWE has done a very good job with her so far, although I do think her long title reign stagnated the division a bit. Still, she has talent and charisma but is a woman who would greatly benefit from a secondary title as opposed to a top title.

Carmella is someone who is better when paired with others. Her best push came with Enzo and Big Cass, and her most important push came with James Ellsworth. Hell, her most fun push came with R-Truth. So I searched high, and I searched low, and the perfect people to pair her with are Tyler Breeze and Fandango. She dances and is fashionable, and I'm going to guess that she loves to solve a good mystery. Carmella isn't a killer in the ring, but she does have charisma, so gear towards that and just keep her as a fun part of the women's division. An Intercontinental Tile (or equivalent) has to be in the works, and she should definitely see herself in that picture, because Carmella is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S.

Other Wrestlers WWE Is Ruining
Alicia Fox
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Apollo Crews
Bayley
Big E
Bobby Lashley
Bobby Roode
Chad Gable

Charlotte Flair
Curt Hawkins
Dana Brooke
Dash Wilder
Ember Moon
Goldust
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Jinder Mahal
Kane
Karl Anderson
Killian Dain
Kofi Kingston
Luke Gallows
Mickie James
Mojo Rawley
Nia Jax
Peyton Royce
Randy Orton
Scott Dawson
Shane McMahon
Shinsuke Nakamura
Tyler BreezeZack Ryder 

Daniel Jones - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

I have to admit, although it was always on my list of things to do, I never actually watched Daniel Jones in his college career. I would even put Duke games on, but it's Duke, so I'd forget about it and start watching WALTER matches on YouTube. The good news with that is I come in completely fresh on the Blue Devil signal caller. I gave him his first real look by watching his games against Clemson, Northwestern, and Miami (psych, that game turned into a monsoon) Virginia.

The first thing that really jumped out at me is that Jones seems to do a good job of quickly going through his progressions.

He looks left initially for the curl route on the outside, but with the linebacker in a zone underneath, he recognizes that he has no chance at that route. He then moves back over the field where his slot receiver is running the dig, and he fires the ball in there for the first down.

Here is another nice example of Jones quickly going through a read and throwing the ball in to his receiver.

It can't be done much better than this. He looks left, doesn't like what he sees, quickly goes to his second receiver which should be wide open as the only two linebackers who would have a chance of stopping the route underneath either bite on the play fake or swing out to cover the running back, so at that point, it's pitch and catch and Jones throws a nice ball for his receiver.

He seems comfortable in the pocket and doesn't unnecessarily panic while going through those progressions.

Anytime you face a team like Clemson, it's very easy to get happy feet, but even with his internal clock probably telling him that he is in danger, he stayed calm and scanned the field before finding his tight end wide open. Another thing I noticed is even when he was under duress, he did a really nice job of keeping his eyes downfield while doing his best to avoid the rush. This gave him the opportunity to make plays even after his protection had broken down, especially since he appeared to be an above average athlete.

Although his technique was usually clean, one thing I saw repeatedly is that he won't finish his dropback before throwing the ball.

He just continues falling backwards while throwing the ball. Obviously, there is pressure in his face, but I saw this multiple times where he would fail to complete his footwork on the initial dropback and just drift backwards while trying to throw the ball which is not a recipe for success. This one is especially egregious as his feet are nearly touching when he releases the ball.

Deep ball accuracy was definitely an issue as I saw more interceptions than completed passes to his own team.

This one is especially bad as he decides to throw this ball deep before the ball is snapped. Virginia has two guys covering him, and there is no possible way of completing this pass. He underthrows the pass, and it is an easy interception for the defense. I saw him throw one great deep ball in the games I watched, but so many times he would over or underthrow his receivers while trying to go down the field. I am somebody who thinks deep ball accuracy is often overblown, but if I was a team considering drafting him, I would have to see better efforts in other games to find proof this won't be an issue at the next level.

I know the completion percentage was below 60% for his career and just above for his final year, but outside of the struggles on deep balls, I would say the majority of that were his receivers letting him down with drops. In the short-to-intermediate game, I don't think accuracy will be an issue.

One other small note is that he took a lot of sacks and had a lot of balls batted down at the line of scrimmage against Clemson. I'm not sure if I can take much from that or just chalk it up to being up against Clemson so he never really had a chance.

Here was his most impressive play.

PUNTING...IS...WINNING.

Daniel Jones checks a lot of boxes. He struggles on deep balls, but he can scan the field and shows good accuracy in the short-to-intermediate routes. He's mobile, he keeps his eyes down field under pressure, has decent accuracy, and yet I still just didn't feel all that impressed with him. It took me until the third game to realize the issue, and I just didn't see him having the guts to force balls into tight spaces. He would throw underneath, even on third downs as opposed to taking risks. The windows only get tighter in the NFL, and considering he wasn't willing to push things in college, I have serious doubts that he can be a successful starting quarterback in the NFL. For me, he's a backup where maybe he can end up as Chase Daniel, plugging along and filling in for a game or two here and there but not somebody you can rely on to win you games. As much as I believe the tape doesn't lie, for Daniel Jones, it's more about what isn't on tape than what is.

Previous Scouting Reports:
Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
Dwayne Haskins - Ohio State Buckeyes - Quarterback
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End
Josh Jacobs - Alabama Crimson Tide - Running Back

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For all you Dukies who are Jonesing for more content, here is Lukewarm Jonah's take on the Blue Devils signal caller.

Next up on the quarterback scouting table is Daniel Jones.  I actually watched four games instead of three because I just needed to see one more tape session on him.  Let’s start out with Daniel Jones taking on Clemson.   One of the first things I notice is his strong arm.  Jones definitely has a rocket.  He also has good athleticism and makes or extends plays with his legs.  Duke has lots of dropped passes, I wonder what his numbers would have looked like if his guys could catch well.  Jones also throws enough deflections at the line for me to notice, that’s got to get cleaned up at the next level.  Jones had some mixed results under pressure, but man, there was a lot of pressure.  This probably resulted in the heavy amount of shorter throws.  Jones throws pretty well on the move.  He lofts a lot of his deeper passes, which worked against the coverage he was seeing.  One thing I liked is that Jones looks off receivers well.   

Next up we have Daniel Jones playing Temple in their bowl game this year.  Jones shows a nice touch on his deeper throws.  He puts air under them, but the right amount of air for people to run under them and catch them going forward.  The great thing about this game is that his guys catch them and you’re able to see what type of plays can be made when it all comes together.  His best throw is probably his short touchdown where he fits a slant into a tight spot, really between three defenders.  Lot of speed on this ball.  The Temple game was a showcase for Jones, this is what Kiper will be showing when he talks about how great he is. 

Daniel Jones against Miami, this is an interesting one.  First of all, the weather for this game was ugly, I mean pouring down rain and the field is soaked.  This led to lots of short passes and runs by Jones.  There were some bad throws, he missed a lot of guys, overthrew a lot of receivers.   There were also some dropped passes, that could have turned into something.  He does make a couple of pretty good back shoulder throws, which is an important throw to have at the next level.  In this game, he made some bad decisions, he was lucky to get away with only the turnovers that happened.  I will say Jones looked much better later in the game when the rain stopped pouring down.  It’s tough to judge anyone in these kind of extreme conditions, but the NFL does play games outside and it does rain.

After watching the offensive line get blown up, and Jones play in a monsoon, I really wanted to see Jones play against one more team.  Let’s take a look at Daniel Jones versus Virgina.  There are some bad drops deep.  Jones puts the ball in a place where it should be caught in one on one situations and the receivers don’t make the play.  These are game changing situations, and I would expect most of these catches to be made in the NFL.  Jones is also not afraid of coverage, which I don’t know how to rate.  One of the things you hear is that open is very different in the NFL than it is in college.  The one on one coverage that he put balls into in this game are the kind of throws that need to be made at the next level.  Unfortunately, Jones also makes a bad interception in double coverage in the end zone.  This is the kind of throw he can’t make at the next level because the secondary in the NFL will almost always make that play.  He shows off his strong arm in this game, has really good zip on the ball and hits guys on the run.  More bad blocking from Duke in this game which allows Jones to show off more of his athleticism.  He really does move around well, but scrambling doesn’t work as well in the NFL.  He needs to focus on moving in the pocket to extend plays more, but not trying to run for gains as often.

Jones is a little rough around the edges right now.  He has a cannon and is actually pretty accurate.  His decision making needs some work as he likes to throw 50/50 balls a lot.  He also runs too much for the NFL, but his athleticism is obviously a gift.  He’s an up and down quarterback, but if he can put it all together he can be a real quarterback.  I am looking forward to seeing what he can do with real talent around him.  I’m not looking forward to Kiper talking about nothing but his size and arm strength.  Jones threw for 60% in his career with guys dropping plenty of balls.  I like how he throws on the move.  Jones is a step below Haskins in my opinion, but he’s certainly got the talent to be a very good starting quarterback in the NFL if he makes a few better decisions.

The WWE Is Ruining... Chad Gable

As a pro wrestling fan, it is a part of our identity to always know how to utilize wrestlers better than the WWE. If WWE would just give me, random WWE fan, a job a the company, ratings would immediately rise to the levels of the Monday Night Wars, despite how television ratings have changed as a whole over the last 20 years. But until that happens, WWE will continue ruining our favorite wrestlers, and that is why it is time to point out the error in their ways. Because of WWE's incompetence, I am literally going to pick a wrestler at random and point out how they could be better utilized, because WWE is ruining everyone in one way or another.

This is probably one of the five guys that I am most passionate about WWE ruining, former Olympian and all-around badass, Chad Gable.

Simply put, Chad Gable is Little Kurt Angle. Hot take warning, Kurt Angle was the greatest professional wrestler in the world in his prime, and I don't think it's particularly close. He could do absolutely everything in the ring, and Chad Gable is right along that same mold. They come from incredible wrestling backgrounds, and their body control is so amazing that they can do things that other guys can only dream about. Yet the WWE can only see an undersized wrestler in Gable, so they refuse to give him the push he so richly deserves.

Things didn't start out bad. He made his debut as part of the tag team American Alpha with Jason Jordan. American Alpha OWNED as a tag team. They were a new era Steiner Brothers, and just typing those words gets me excited in ways that are not safe for this blog. But the WWE has not done well with hot tag teams getting promoted to the main roster. The Ascension was the most dominant tag team in NXT history, and they were quickly buried. American Alpha was the hottest tag team that has ever gotten promoted, and they got a half push. The same thing happened with the best wrestling (The Revival) and most physically impressive (Authors of Pain) tag teams as the WWE just won't seem to commit.

Even though the WWE didn't give American Alpha the push they deserved while they were together, they did give Jason Jordan a big push as Kurt Angle's illegitimate son. Yes, they gave the big push to lesser of American Alpha, but they loved the tag team so much that they made a cheap imitation with Gable and Shelton Benjamin. Surprisingly, that also went nowhere.

After that fizzled, Gable went on to start an undistinguished singles career before teaming with Bobby Roode, because...reasons?

And if you think that tag team is stupid, the way they won the titles is even dumber. They took the titles from Authors of Pain by pinning AOP's manager, Drake Maverick because...reasons?

And if that isn't stupid enough for you, the way they "earned" their title shot is by making fun of Drake Maverick for peeing his pants, because, you guessed it, reasons?

So, yes, Chad Gable's big push has come with a tag team partner who makes no sense where Gable appears to be cosplaying as him now, winning the titles by pinning a manager, in a feud started when they made fun of said manager for peeing his pants. I know I just said all that, but I really felt like I needed to repeat it, because it is just so fucking stupid.

Chad Gable is an incredible talent. If I really wanted to build him perfectly, I would integrate the 205 Live matches into Raw and Smackdown and move Gable to that division. I only see 205 Live on the pay per views, and those matches are awesome. But putting Gable in a feud with Buddy Murphy could produce the best matches of 2019. And since it seems likely that the WWE is signing Kushida, a match with him and Gable could set the damn world on fire. I've preached this before, but if WWE integrated the 205 Live division, they could use it more like WCW where guys can naturally elevate themselves and go for the "heavyweight" titles. Just let Chad Gable be a standout wrestler in the smaller division before elevating him into the tiny suplex and grappling machine that he was born to be. The guy has incredible charisma and wrestling abilities - THIS ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE.

Please utilize the super fun, super awesome wrestling machine on the roster, WWE. There's no reason not to be ready, all you have to do is be willing, because you've already got Chad Gable.

Other Wrestlers WWE Is Ruining
Alicia Fox
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Apollo Crews
Bayley
Big E
Bobby Lashley
Bobby Roode
Charlotte Flair
Curt Hawkins
Dana Brooke
Dash Wilder
Ember Moon
Goldust
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Jinder Mahal
Kane
Karl Anderson
Killian Dain
Kofi Kingston
Luke Gallows
Mickie James
Mojo Rawley
Nia Jax
Peyton Royce
Randy Orton
Scott Dawson
Shane McMahon
Shinsuke Nakamura
Tyler Breeze
Zack Ryder

Dwayne Haskins - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

It's that time of the year where I begin to scout the quarterbacks of the 2019 NFL Draft. This is a fascinating year as right now there seems to be only one player that is deemed worthy of top-five consideration, but another few guys who could move their way up as the process goes along. Teams convince themselves of beauty within quarterbacks, because there is nothing worse than not having one. I'm going to start at the top and take a look at Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State by looking at his games against Michigan, Michigan State, and TCU.

Okay, before we get started, I'm going to blow your mind. Dwayne Haskins is a black quarterback, but he is not a mobile quarterback. I know, I know, his skin is much darker than Tom Brady's, but he's not going to beat you with his legs. He's not immobile, but I would compare his athleticism more to a younger Ben Roethlisberger where he can move to avoid pressure, but you should not be depending on him to beat teams with his legs.

The first thing that jumped out at me is his ability at throwing crossing routes.

He was absolutely incredible throwing over the middle of the field for short to intermediate throws. They were not only catchable balls but usually did a great job of leading his receiver to give them the best chance to make yards after the catch. Ohio State was a team built on speed at the wide receiver position, and these throws really did a great job of maximizing those abilities.

I do think he struggles with accuracy outside the numbers. And watching three games, I can't think of a single out route that he threw in any of those contests. That could be an anomaly, or it could be the Ohio State coaches playing to his strengths and keeping most of the passes inside the numbers.

I like that he goes through progressions on this play, but he almost seems too bouncy.

I would have liked to see him plant deliberately and deliver. He just didn't seem set correctly, and I would have liked to see him extend that front leg more. His base looks narrow when delivering the throw which is something that plagued him in all of the games that I saw.

This is another case where his footwork could use some refining.

He has enough space to step up and throw as he's going to take a hit either way, but he doesn't , so his feet, which are narrowly apart, are aimed straight ahead while he tries to complete a pass near the sideline. That is not a recipe for success.

Here is more very poor footwork.

His feet are aimed at the out route while he throws the curl. It's not too surprising that he badly sails this pass.

Back to the positives, I was impressed with Haskins's pocket presence as he would often move into open space as he prepared to throw the ball.

That isn't any grand movement, but by drifting off to his left he avoids the collapsing pocket on his right side and gives himself plenty of room to make the throw over the middle of the field.

Still, I didn't see much in the way of him scanning the field as he failed to quickly move onto his secondary reads.

Here, it looks like he glances toward the post route on the right side, but then makes his mind up to throw to the dig route across the middle of the field and gets lucky that the underneath defender didn't recognize the pattern as even the high pass could have been picked off. Haskins saw that his receiver had half a step on the man in coverage and never saw the other defender dropping into zone.

This is one of my favorite plays, because he actually is able to work through progressions while drifting away from pressure.

On the positive side, he throws it to his third read on this play and delivers a great ball across the middle of the field. At the same time, I question whether he is just going through the motions here, because his first option is the curl, and it is WIDE OPEN. So my best guess is that he looked left to get defenders to drift towards that side to help open up the middle of the field, but if that's the case I should give more credit to the the presnap read as opposed to Haskins understanding the chaos during the play.

Still, the reason people are excited about Haskins is that the arm talent is undeniably there.

Look how beautiful of a ball he throws when he actually steps into it. I just wish he would step into his throws more conistently.

As you can probably tell, I'm not super high on Dwayne Haskins. I can see the Ben Roethlisberger comparisons, but to me, he's more of a Blake Bortles. Someone with all of the physical tools who can flash at times but will  never give you the consistency necessary to make you feel comfortable with your quarterback situation. Still, if the guy cleans up his mechanics, he has enough arm talent to succeed, but it's not a bet I'd be willing to make.

Previous Scouting Reports:
Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End
Josh Jacobs - Alabama Crimson Tide - Running Back

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And bonus content from Lukewarm Jonah, who gives a more optimistic outlook for Haskins.

I watched film of Dwayne Haskins against Penn State, Minnesota and Michigan.  I was very impressed by his arm strength, accuracy and touch.  He really seems to be able to make every throw, and those throws look good.  I’m gushing here, but he really has elite arm talent.  That being said, there are a couple of things I noticed that made me stop and worry.  Almost all of his plays seem to have a designed target for the ball meaning he doesn’t seem to read defenses that much besides seeing if his primary target is open.  I would like to see more plays where he goes through his progression beyond his first or second option because in the NFL, your first option isn’t always going to be available.  This also makes him dump it off a lot, which is good because he’s taking care of the ball, but again in the NFL, on 3rd and 10 you need to have the confidence to not dump it off 2 yards past the line of scrimmage.  A lot of Haskins’ gaudy stats from this past year come from some nice RAC, but with the way he can throw the ball, I’m not overly concerned with this fact.

I feel very weird writing this, but one of my favorite plays of Haskins is something that is an afterthought in almost everyone’s head and what Minnesota fans looked at as a missed opportunity as an interception.  Haskins is pressured, moves out of the pocket and provides an almost perfect throw to his running back who is man covered.  The ball bounces off the linebackers helmet into the air for a potential interception.  Why is this play that could have easily been a pick so impressive to me?  He dealt with the pressure well and threw the ball exactly how it needed to be thrown, not too much air, not too flat.  The majority of the time, he won’t get unlucky and have that ball take a weird bounce off some guy’s head and that will be a nice competition for a first down.  It was a beautiful play where he got unlucky.

If your team is looking for a franchise quarterback, and if you’re picking early you probably will be, Haskins has all the tools to be one.  I’d like to see more proof that he can go through his progression because it’s so important in the NFL, but his touch on short, medium and long throws is incredible and not everyone has it.  Put that touch together with his arm strength and you have the potential to be special. 

The WWE Is Ruining... Shane McMahon

As a pro wrestling fan, it is a part of our identity to always know how to utilize wrestlers better than the WWE. If WWE would just give me, random WWE fan, a job a the company, ratings would immediately rise to the levels of the Monday Night Wars, despite how television ratings have changed as a whole over the last 20 years. But until that happens, WWE will continue ruining our favorite wrestlers, and that is why it is time to point out the error in their ways. Because of WWE's incompetence, I am literally going to pick a wrestler at random and point out how they could be better utilized, because WWE is ruining everyone in one way or another.

Today, we look at the greatest in-ring competitor in the McMahon family, Shane McMahon.

Shane McMahon became beloved for taking risks that few full-time wrestlers were willing to take. He really liked to jump off really high things into a mildly hard surface with a crash pad underneath. As someone who is scared of heights, good on him for those moves, but this infinite love that the WWE has for him is a little over the top for my tastes.

Nowhere was this more evident than his return to the WWE. After a seven-year hiatus, he came back to one of the biggest pops of the year. There are very few guys you can imagine getting that sort of pop, but people really missed Shane McMahon. He used that goodwill to lose to The Undertaker at WrestleMania which means he would not be able to take over Raw, but much like a parent whose kid didn't get into an Ivy League school, Vince McMahon gave him the cool present anyway to help out with his self-esteem.

He's been in many stupid things that I would like to forget, but him somehow beating up Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and just being the most badass guy on the show is not the best look for the spoiled son of the boss. Needless to say, nobody misses Shane McMahon anymore.

Currently, he is in a tag team with The Miz where they immediately beat Sheamus and Cesaro. Oh God, I just remembered that he inserted himself into the Best in the World tournament after the Finals had already started. Oh wow, that was some stupid shit, yet still not as stupid as him beating my two favorite wrestlers Sami Zayn and Cesaro in his last two feuds. God, they couldn't come up with a better plan for me to hate someone than give this push to Shane McMahon.

So how to "fix" Shane McMahon? Let his old sweaty ass finally get some comeuppance. I mean, it's a pretty easy story to sell. Shane McMahon is the boss. Who the fuck cheers for the boss? Who sees a beaten down employee finally rise up to take on his boss and cheers for the boss to beat him back down? Have Shane McMahon not only lose but get his ass kicked. Shit, don't just let The Miz beat his ass. Have Miz's Dad beat his ass. Have a tag team match where the Mizanins beat the ever living shit out of the McMahons. That is a good use of Shane McMahon.

After that, have Kevin Owens powerbomb him onto the apron of the ring and have him out for a year. When he comes back, he can attack Sami Zayn from behind, and Sami Zayn laughs as Shane McMahon delivers the worst punches in wrestling, and then beats the ever living shit out of him. Then have Cesaro do this to him.

And if they can't do that, just get his sweaty ass off television; it's seriously uncomfortable to watch.

Other Wrestlers WWE Is Ruining
Alicia Fox
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Apollo Crews
Bayley
Big E
Bobby Lashley
Bobby Roode
Charlotte Flair
Curt Hawkins
Dana Brooke
Dash Wilder
Ember Moon
Goldust
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Jinder Mahal
Kane
Karl Anderson
Killian Dain
Kofi Kingston
Luke Gallows
Mickie James
Mojo Rawley
Nia Jax
Peyton Royce
Randy Orton
Scott Dawson
Shinsuke Nakamura
Tyler Breeze
Zack Ryder

Sebastian Rivera Is What Wrestling Needs

Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera is the #1 ranked guy at 125 pounds this year. He has dominated most of his competition and decisively beat the former #1 ranked guy, Spencer Lee from Iowa so there is no doubt that he deserves his ranking. This past weekend, Northwestern took on the Michigan Wolverines, and Rivera could have made the easy choice and taken on a solid opponent in Drew Mattin. But Rivera didn't make the easy choice; he made the hard one.

A weight class above Rivera, at 133 pounds, Michigan has the #1 ranked wrestler in Stevan Micic, who has dominated everyone he has faced so far this season. Rivera passed on the chance to pad his record by taking out Mattin and instead decided to challenge himself and move up a weight class to take on Stevan Micic.

I love college wrestling, but even I have to admit that there are issues, and one of the most aggravating ones is that wrestlers "protect" their record by skipping dual meets against tough opponents. The most egregious example comes from the best wrestler on my favorite team, Spencer Lee of the Iowa Hawkeyes, who after losing to Rivera at Midlands did not wrestle in the Northwestern dual meet to delay the rematch. Now I don't want this to come across as me blaming Lee, as I think the decision almost certainly came from the coaching staff, but for a sport that needs to do anything it can to attract fans, it is very stupid that they go out of their way to avoid putting on the best matches.

But Rivera, possibly inspired by last year's decision of then #1 at 133 pounds, Seth Gross, going up to 141 to face off against #1, Bryce Meredith, decided to take on Micic to find out how good he really was. Before I spoil the match, here's a chance to watch it.

Rivera, making the tough decision to move up a weight class, was rewarded with an ass kicking from Stevan Micic. Micic controlled the match from the opening whistle and nearly got a major decision but had to settle for a 10-4 victory. Rivera's only points were off escapes, and he never came close to scoring on offense. He got handled by a clearly superior wrestler.

But that's okay. In fact, it's still great. Instead of asking, "What if Rivera moved up a weight class to take on Micic?" Now we know. Yeah, it didn't turn out how Rivera wanted, but he's in the same place he would have been had he taken the easy route and beaten Mattin. He'll still rightly be ranked #1 in the nation, but he provided the most exciting moment of the wrestling weekend by going up a weight class and challenging himself.

As much as I hate to admit it, the regular season really doesn't matter in college wrestling. I love watching it, and my heart believes it matters, but my brain knows that as long as you make the NCAA Tournament, nothing that happened before means anything. So it's on the coaches and the wrestlers to make the most exciting matches throughout the season. Let's hope more people follow the lead that Seth Gross and Sebastian Rivera have set forward, because setting up the most exciting matches shouldn't be such a surprising decision.

Josh Jacobs - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Breaking the streak of Iowa tight ends, I am going to look at both a different school and a different position by taking a look at Alabama's Josh Jacobs. Jacobs has been getting a ton of buzz, and I wanted to see if whether I should buy into the hype or whether this was just a product of him being surrounded by such talented players that he is being overrated. I took a look at his games against Clemson, Mississippi State, and Tennessee.

The guy is smooth as all hell.

He starts the run by breaking through the leg tackle by a Tennessee linebacker, then jukes the poor safety out of his boots.

Jacobs rarely goes down on first contact.

This is a third down play where he gets met by a linebacker right at the line to gain. If the linebacker wins, it's fourth down. Instead, Jacobs bounces off the linebacker and charges forward for almost ten more yards after the initial contact.

He also doesn't shy away from contact.

He could scamper out of bounds without taking any contact, but what fun is that? Instead he delivers a hit to the safety to gain a couple extra yards on the carry.

But he's also smart enough to not take contact if he doesn't have to.

This is stupid. There are two Mississippi State defenders ready to tackle him for a loss as teh defensive end totally outplays the right tackle and the corner converges on the run. Jacobs is running right for them, and then he just plants his right foot in the ground to cut up field and ends up with a touchdown.

Although this play isn't going to make many highlight reels, it does a good job of showing Jacobs's vision.

A lot of times he is just following a very good offensive line and doing what the play asks, but on this stretch play, he has to make a decision about where to cut up field. While many backs may continue to go outside, looking for a home run, Jacobs sees a seam that he can use to get a first down and does just that.

Now combine the last two plays and you have this one.

Jacobs loses no speed when making his cuts, and it's runs like these that make it very easy to believe in the hype. But I promise the man is not perfect.

His blocking needs work.

I saw this multiple times in pass protection. Jacobs drops his head when trying to block, and it's really tough to hit something you can't see. He at least made some contact by spearing the defender in the chest, but that technique is not a recipe for success.

Luckily, I was rather impressed with him in the other facet of the passing game.

This is obviously a fairly easy catch, but he frames the ball with his hands as opposed to catching it with his chest, and he takes the time to see the ball in, tucks it, and runs to the end zone.

On top of having good technique, he can also make the tough catches.

This is a great adjustment on this ball. He gets turned around but focuses on the ball and makes the play. With these skills, there is no doubt that Jacobs can be a three down back that can hurt you in both the running and passing games.

The most impressive thing about Jacobs is that this was not against inferior competition. Mississippi State and Clemson have a pretty strong argument for being the best two defenses in college football this year, and he was still able to show off his skills against the best of the best. Outside of pass blocking, he basically excels at every other aspect of playing the running back position. On top of that, since he was at Alabama, there isn't a lot of wear and tear on his body which makes him even more appealing. He reminds me of Sony Michel in that he can do everything, and Jacobs has the advantage of not having any significant injury history. Michel was a late first round pick, and I can easily see Jacobs getting taken in the middle of the first round. The running back position may not be valued like it once was, but it's tough to see a situation where this guy doesn't make a team happy by taking a running back early.

Previous Scouting Reports:
Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End

The WWE Is Ruining... Big E

As a pro wrestling fan, it is a part of our identity to always know how to utilize wrestlers better than the WWE. If WWE would just give me, random WWE fan, a job a the company, ratings would immediately rise to the levels of the Monday Night Wars, despite how television ratings have changed as a whole over the last 20 years. But until that happens, WWE will continue ruining our favorite wrestlers, and that is why it is time to point out the error in their ways. Because of WWE's incompetence, I am literally going to pick a wrestler at random and point out how they could be better utilized, because WWE is ruining everyone in one way or another.

Today, we look at someone near and dear to my heart, the only former Iowa Hawkeye in the WWE, Big E Langston.

Big E made a big name for himself in NXT before winning the NXT Title by bringing back an old favorite from King Kong Bundy and demanding five counts when pinning his overmatched opponents. Him chanting "FIVE" was incredibly over, so when he got called up to the main roster, it was immediately dropped.

It still started off fairly well as he was the muscle behind Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. But once they broke up, his momentum faded and he was kind of stuck in no man's land.

Then came The New Day. People kind of forget how hated The New Day was at first, but even though the gimmick of positivity being shoved down your throat can be grating, these guys portrayed the gimmick so hard that nobody could deny how much fun it was. The gimmick has basically been the same for over four years, and they have managed to still keep things fresh with pure creativity. It would seem like the WWE could not manage to better utilize Big E than in his role with The New Day.

But I think he can do more. Now I do think that he should keep his affiliation with The New Day. Honestly, I think the WWE could learn something from New Japan by having guys have friends even if they are not constantly tagging with them as opposed to randomly pairing up tag teams as they drag out feuds, they could have tag team partners that actually make sense. So keep Big E with New Day, but let him finally have a singles run.

Big E has the size, charisma, and in-ring ability to be at the top of the company. The guy can go, and him having singles matches with the likes of AJ Styles, Andrade, or Daniel Bryan is a pretty damn exciting idea. And honestly, that last option has me incredibly pumped. What better way to combat The New face of negativity (but ultimately 100% CORRECT about the world), Daniel Bryan, taking on the personification of positivity, Big E in a war of ideologies.

I'm not saying he should win the title right away, but that is the sort of feud that gets people looking at Big E differently where down the line he is seen as more than capable of leading a company.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are known for their wrestling prowess. They've had plenty of National Champions, some World Champions, and even some Olympic Champions, but it is time for them to go for the greatest belt of all, the WWE Championship. Big E is the man to bring it home.

Other Wrestlers WWE Is Ruining
Alicia Fox
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Apollo Crews
Bayley
Bobby Lashley
Bobby Roode
Charlotte Flair
Curt Hawkins
Dana Brooke
Dash Wilder
Ember Moon
Goldust
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Jinder Mahal
Kane
Karl Anderson
Killian Dain
Kofi Kingston
Luke Gallows
Mickie James
Mojo Rawley
Nia Jax
Peyton Royce
Randy Orton
Scott Dawson
Shinsuke Nakamura
Tyler Breeze
Zack Ryder