One of many things I have not gotten to. Pitt offered a pro-style QB from NC (maybe Bill Cowher will toss a peace offering to people in the ‘Burgh by helping with the recruiting).
Pittsburgh football coach Dave Wannstedt gave the green light to a scholarship offer for Tuscola junior quarterback Tyler Brosius on Tuesday.
The Panthers came to Waynesville last week to watch Brosius throw, and have now become the fifth Division I program to offer, joining Central Florida, Elon, Maryland and Western Carolina.
However, while you love Brosius’ style, his gunslinging mentality is also evident in his throwing mechanics. He whips and slings the ball, carries it low, pats the ball and has somewhat of a street-ball style. He does not always set his feet and can get a bit erratic as a result. He moves around a lot in the pocket and has that Brett Favre feel of just trying to make plays. At times he is polished and sharp and others he is risky and mechanically very unsound. Must sharpen his overall discipline and fundamental footwork and delivery.
They also use “riverboat gambler” in the evaluation. This would make him a big project if he chose Pitt. Coach Wannstedt wants a game manager at QB. The evaluation would suggest a poor fit with Brosius’ game.
Last week, when I listed the prospects I’d see on my pre-draft workout tour, I got a number of calls from NBA executives with the same request: “Let us know how Blair looks.” NBA GMs want to love this guy. They need players like him. But they’re scared off by the physical limitations he has.
I’m happy to report that the news is good. Blair looks closer to 6-6 than 6-8, but he has a huge 7-foot, 2-inch wingspan that makes up for his lack of height.
As far as his weight goes, Blair looks considerably better than he looked at Pittsburgh. He has lost about 15 pounds during the first two weeks of training. His physique is much more chiseled. And most importantly, his athleticism has improved greatly because he has lost that weight and improved his conditioning.
Where that should help Blair the most is on the defensive end of the floor. A lot of teams are concerned that Blair won’t have the foot speed to defend the pick-and-roll in the league. What I saw at his workout suggests he does.
Blair looked much quicker and more explosive than he looked at Pittsburgh. His quickness and leaping ability were impressive for someone his size. He went as hard as anyone in the gym that day and didn’t slow down toward the end.
Perhaps most telling was a drill in which Blair and others had to throw the ball hard off the backboard, leap up to catch it, come back down and then leap again for a dunk. Blair repeatedly exploded up and finished strong above the rim. A few times, it seemed as though Blair would pull it down.
On the skills portion, Blair is a work in progress. He still doesn’t have much of a face-the-basket game. His shot mechanics are inconsistent, so it’s unlikely that he’ll be a good pick-and-pop guy early in his career. His ballhandling also could use much work. But then again, NBA teams aren’t drafting him to shoot 3s and handle the ball.
In a draft with just one dominant, physical big guy — Blake Griffin — Blair may move up to fill that gap. Last year, a number of NBA guys had Kevin Love ranked as a mid-first-round pick because of his perceived lack of size and athleticism. He wowed in workouts, then delivered as a rookie in Minnesota. That could help Blair’s case, as could the NBA success of players such as Paul Millsap and Carl Landry.
Young may not be a 20-year old with loads of potential, but he will be a 24-year old rookie who will have the maturity and experience to step in immediately and contribute as a rookie in the NBA. Young is very strong and athletic, but he doesn’t try to be flashy. He is a smart player who knows how to score points and will his team to victory. Young’s patented move is his pump fake that nobody can seem to resist, even though everybody and their grandmother knows that he’s going to pump fake every time he touches the ball.
Then there is this, that I know I didn’t even expect to read in highly speculative, heavy rumor disinformation time that are the workouts.
One of HOOPSWORLD’s favorite fringe players is really seeing some interest. Tyrell Biggs is a 2nd round draft pick at best, but two very strong workouts have generated some buzz for the 6’8 Biggs. The Pacers recently had Biggs in for a look and his “all over the court effort” got him praise from the Pacers and a couple of stitches above his eye after the workout. Biggs had his best workout of the week with the Chicago Bulls. Sources near the situation say he thoroughly dominated UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough in almost every drill and has now landed himself a spot on the Bulls’ board in the second round. A lot of thing have to break Biggs’ way for him to be a draft pick, but considering how far on the outside the process he was four weeks ago things are looking up for Biggs.
Lots of qualifiers and hedging on the hype, but good for Tyrell Biggs. Weird, but good.
Devlin left the Cavaliers because coach Al Groh fired his offensive coaching staff and brought in a new set of coaches who implemented the spread offense. Tight ends do not have a big role in spread offenses.
The coaches switched Devlin to defensive end and he tried out his new position for a month during spring drills. Giving away 50-plus pounds against offensive tackles was an eye-opening experience for Devlin. He knew it would be a struggle to add the necessary weight to compete for playing time on the defense next season, so he decided to transfer to a school where he could play tight end in a traditional pro-style offense.
“I want to stress that I really liked my time at Virginia,” Devlin said. “I loved my coaches. My teammates were great. But I couldn’t be unhappy on the football field for three more years. Virginia runs the 3-4 [defense]. The two defensive ends who played last year were 290 and 285 pounds. I was playing a full 30 pounds lighter at the position. If you’re light and you’re going up against 330-pound tackles, it’s not good.
“They tried to find a place for me to fit in, but I wanted to be happy playing football. I probably wouldn’t have seen the field next season because of my weight. It didn’t bother me to transfer because if I went somewhere else, I’d be sitting out anyway.”
Devlin’s mom will be happy. The article does a bit more than suggest that she was still giving him a hard time about choosing UVa.
As expected, he sees the opportunity to compete for the TE position after sitting out this year. Pitt keeps stockpiling some talented and highly sought TEs. Hopefully they will be used a lot more than just for blocking.
Tony Clemons, a WR from the area, who left Michigan’s program is heading to Colorado. It appears by the list of teams he also considered that Pitt never really entered the picture. I’m assuming it was his lack of interest in Pitt or wanting to leave the ‘Burgh, but who really knows for sure.
