White identifies the Panthers

If he repeats it, you simply deny it. Remember, it's a two way street.

Say that at that dinner, White liked what he heard from Fox as far as what the Panthers plans were from him and decided that this is where he wanted to be, but knew that he might not last this long. And Fox casually suggested that if he "couldn't" run and showed up a little overweight then he would have a good chance to drop to the Panthers. Why wouldn't he take that shot?

What is the real downside here? 3-4 spots? It's not like White was going to be a top 10 pick, right?

 

you never know what happened, but i'd think fox said all that without actually saying it.

 

After the Rose Bowl, White was projected to probably go between picks 10 and 15. Dropping down to #27 would be a loss of 3 to 6 million dollars, which translates to between a two thirds or even half of what he could have made. A good combine and pro workout theoretically could have pushed him even higher than that.

This is a very simple and straightforward psychological phenomenon. Because it looks likely that we're going to get this guy, some Panthers fans are aggressively adopting delusions that rationalize this guy's extreme character flaws. They're actively ignoring the fact that White had a reputation for being a fat, lazy punk throughout his time at USC, and instead pretending that this is just an act because he really wants to play for Carolina. It isn't. Maybe the guy comes here and becomes a Pro Bowler despite those flaws, but I don't think so, and I didn't think he looked that great on film either (not bad, mind you, I just thought USC's line made him look a lot better than he is).

 

I dunno. I don't think I'm rationalizing, and you weren't directing that at me, but I knew coming in that he was an odd character, but not a bad one. The weight doesn't bother me that much, and didn't before all this; I'd like to know his 40, his 10/20 traps, and I'd love to know whether the line masked any vision problems (doubt it) and whether or not his feet are good enough to sidestep and accelerate (I believe so). I'm not worried that his (incredible) line gave him all his yards, because he had 61% of his yards after contact in 04 and around 70% in 05. A great line does keep you from taking tons of hits at the LOS, but you're not talking about a guy who's getting 6 yards down the line and going down when the wind hits right.
The strength issue, I don't believe that's a major one. I'd rather his lower body be developed, with his style, but I believe he's simply got some work to do. For a generic big back, that's a big issue. For this guy, it's a bit different. He should get stronger.
And hell, all I really need to know about his 40s are whether or not he can consistently pull 4.55 or better.

 

But he is a bad one. He's been reported numerous times to have a bad attitude and a bad work ethic. No, he's not Terrell Owens, but he's definitely a bad character in football terms. And keep in mind that those after contact numbers rarely come after being touched by defensive linemen. If you watch the film, he's almost always into the second or third level before he's contacted, and because of that, I don't have any idea how adept he might be at picking holes at the line of scrimmage. He never really had to in college. He does have good feet and runs with a better pad level than Shelton, but aside from that I don't see how he's any better than Shelton.

 

But he was already dropping before all of this, wasn't he? So all of that drop can't be attributed to that.

I don't know if this was aimed at me or not, but if it was, I'm not rationalizing anything. It appears that Fox - or some other Panther official told him not to run because he could hurt his stock with a slow time - and they at least insinuated that they would like him on the team. If - IF - that is true, then it's really not a far stretch for them to have sold the team to him and he liked what he heard and that he wanted to come here - even if it meant sacrificing some cash up front.

I'll evaluate the guy based on what he does here - I have no preconceived notion of his abilities, so I don't need to rationalize anything.

 

So, if your hammy is hurt and your tummy is big, don't run cause it will hurt your stock. Oh, not running will hurt your stock so much that we will draft you.

Kozel, guys don't just rise and fall for no reason like they do on "draft boards" The real boards are just now being made.

 

I just can't buy into the notion he's doing it on purpose based upon some deal he made with a coach.

 

Not until the combine.

If you say so.

 

links?