pass in the third quarter of Sunday’s game in Buffalo and then everything went haywire.Bortles
went deep down the sideline to Donte Moncrief for a 30-yard touchdown over Bills
defensive back Levi Wallace. Wallace tried to rip the ball out of Moncrief’s
hands when he came down and the two men continued to struggle over it once
Moncrief went down to the turf.Several other players came around and a fracas
broke out among many of them. It was hard to keep track of everyone
involved
Frank Gore Jerseys 2019 , but Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette was in there without a helmet and threw a punch at Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson. Lawson
returned fire and both players were ejected from the game after a video review
of both the spot of the ball and the melee.The two players continued going at it
as they made their way up the tunnel, so there may be further penalties to come
from the league this week.The Moncrief catch was initially ruled a touchdown,
but replay showed he was down just short of the end zone. It looked like they
got in again on a pass to Dede Westbrook a couple of plays later, but a holding
penalty on Keelan Cole kiboshed that one. Kyle Williams then sacked Bortles on
third down and the Jags had to settle for a field goal attempt.Josh Lambo had a
rare miss from inside the 50 and the Jaguars had themselves a full-scale
calamity just when it looked like things were starting to go their way. It
remains 14-14 with 39 seconds left in the third quarter. Can Metcalf’s
impressive talents outshine his weaknesses?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections
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ReportsBuffalo Bills NFL Draft CoverageD.K. Metcalf film analysis: The highs and
lows of a rare receiver prospectNew,85commentsCan Metcalf’s impressive talents
outshine his weaknesses?EDTShareTweetShareShareD.K. Metcalf film analysis: The
highs and lows of a rare receiver prospectThe 2019 NFL Draft’s wide-receiver
class is a “Have it Your Way” menu of options, headlined by the mercurial draft
stock of Mississippi’s D.K. Metcalf. While reviews are mixed, the receiver is
held up by many as the top wideout in the draft, and the Buffalo Bills don’t
have a number-one threat on their roster at the moment. Let’s analyze the tape
and see what makes Metcalf so enticing (and where he could improve).You’re all
familiar with the Metcalf prospectus by now—an incredible combination of size,
speed
White John Brown Jerseys , and strength (but lacking on the agility front). Everything he showed in the weight room and on the track translates to his
football tape as well. The play below is a perfect distillation of Metcalf’s
best traits. He has the strength and technique at the line to instantly
neutralize press coverage, the acceleration to open a ten-foot gap between
himself and the cornerback, the catch radius to grab a slightly overthrown pass
without diving, and the speed to bring the play to the end zone.Metcalf’s
route-running technique has pluses and minuses. I love his hand-fighting off the
line of scrimmage, which combines with his ludicrous strength to win against the
press. His speed forces cornerbacks to play him conservatively in man coverage.
He’ll include double moves and pace variations into his routes in order to take
advantage of his best traits (acceleration and speed).However, his footwork and
body movement doesn’t carry a whole lot of subtlety. When running his routes,
patient defenders can identify the breaks (or the false cuts) and close on the
pass. It probably doesn’t help that he ran an extremely basic route tree at Ole
Miss: fades, comebacks, hitches
John Brown Jerseys 2019 , posts, and not much else.Metcalf’s catching technique is excellent when working with his best traits—jump balls and difficult
adjustments—and less effective on tricky situations like balls thrown into his
body at waist height. He’ll let the ball into his chest, and sometimes positions
his hands awkwardly around the pass, and it led to multiple drops I saw on his
tape.Metcalf’s three-cone drill and short shuttle were both terrible results at
the Combine—indicating poor change-of-direction ability. This is apparent on the
play below. Running a comeback, Metcalf catches the ball, and needs nearly a
full two seconds to stop and change direction to run after the catch.Of course,
the other facets of his athletic ability compensate for that weakness. He
quickly accelerates to high gear and is ten yards downfield before the
cornerback can touch him.Metcalf does a nice job of using his upper-body
strength to separate from cornerbacks at the catch point. Sometimes he’s a
little too strong for his own good, and he’ll earn the occasional Offensive Pass
Interference penalty.Because of Metcalf’s trouble with turning around, he can
lose concentration in the transition from separation to catching. This doesn’t
always result in drops
White Cole Beasley Jerseys , but near the sidelines, it means he can lose awareness of his feet and end up catching the ball out of bounds.I did not see
Metcalf blocking very often in the games I watched, with the Rebels preferring
to have him run out decoy routes (or running RPO concepts that didn’t point in
his direction). He didn’t always engage defenders when the play was headed his
way, but when he did, his incredible upper-body strength was instantly
noticeable. This is a player with dominating upside as a blocker.In the right
setting, with enough experience, D.K. Metcalf could be an incredible vertical
threat for an offense. Think of how Martavis Bryant was playing for the
Pittsburgh Steelers, and now imagine a player with an extra 20 lbs of muscle
mass on top of that speed. However, he’s not for everybody. Put in a complicated
west-coast offense
Cole Beasley Jerseys 2019 , I think Metcalf would absolutely struggle to break into the league. I have legitimate concerns about his injury history and his
unrefined route-running technique. There are other receivers in this class I
like better than Metcalf.Based on my observations of his game play, Metcalf
would be a high-risk, high-reward draft selection for the Buffalo Bills. As a
deep threat with size, he fits the Bills better than he would fit many other
teams. Overall, though, I wouldn’t sign off on drafting Metcalf in the first
round without trading down first.
