More on Walter Nolen's Character Concerns

[*ochocincos*]

(04-14-2025, 06:01 PM)Whatever Wrote: Because natural athletic ability is king in college football, that's why.

You've got 134 FBS schools with 85 scholarship players a piece.  That's 11,390 players, not counting walk ons.  

When you look at an NFL roster, the average RAS of a guy on a 53 man roster is 7.16.  That means they're in the top 29% of all college players that test at their position.  The average RAS for an NFL starter is over 8, meaning top 20%.  There's tons of kids littering college rosters that just don't have the athletic traits to cut it in the NFL, even in a power conference like the SEC. 

A guy can be a monster in college without really applying himself in practice, but when he gets to the NFL and the competition jumps and most everyone is a plus athlete that also puts in the work to learn the nuances of their positions, then the guy who doesn't apply himself can find himself floundering.

Ooh, that's good to know.
I just found that page on RAS website. I had never seen that before.
https://ras.football/roster-breakdowns-of-ras/

But is that really what causes some guys to not produce in NFL vs college?
Are we sure they aren't getting on the field because they just aren't good enough, or could it be they aren't motivated enough to try hard in practice, thus giving coaches a reason to not even try to put them out there during games when maybe they could actually produce?
I know some coaches live by the age old rule that if you slack off in practice, you don't get to play in games, even if you have the talent to do well.
Principle kinda thing.

I'm not saying I'm excusing them to not try during practices or coming to camp out of shape.
All I'm saying is different people have different motivators.
Some, I'm sure, may not find practice enjoyable and can actually go perform well in games because that's what they actually care about.
Allen Iverson is someone who pops into my head.
AI though was among the elite of the elite, so he could prove he didn't need to go hard every practice to do well in games.