The Football Brainiacs

Image from Scout.com

After spending quite some time looking through Jovan’s film I wrote my thoughts which are immediately below. We then had a chance to speak to Jovan’s coach and compare notes and discuss a little recruiting which I will add down at the bottom. Nothing in the piece below was changed based on the coaches opinion. It just so happened that his coach and I agree on a great many things as they relate to Jovan Pruitt.

My Thoughts on Pruitt

I’ve watched a lot of tape on offensive tackles this year.  I haven’t been crazy about what I’ve seen…until now. Football at it’s core is about competition.  It’s about the hometown saying our boys are better than yours, and feeling good about that.  Corporate evaluation websites make a living on this because at the end of the day, whether it be in the iron bowl, the red river rivalry, the Paul Bunyan, the worlds largest outdoor cocktail party, the game, whatever fan base you call home, you want to win.  When corporate evaluation sites came out with star ratings, it was a stroke of genius.  The brilliance in that is the simple fact that the fan bases in each of those rivalry games and countless others want to win…at everything.   So if we have more five stars, or four stars than you, then that means we’re winning all the time.  We’re winning the game behind the game.  Kind of like public enemy said…it might feel good, it might sound a lil somethin’, but damn the game if it aint sayin nuthin.  The more tape I watch on underrated prospects, the more I believe what Chuck D and Flav had to say.  I looked at several different corporate sites:  247, Rivals, Espn, and all of them seem to agree that Jonathan Alvarez is a two star, Jonathan Willis is a two star, Jonathan Thomas is a two star or in some cases wasn’t even in the database, Trai Mosley’s a two star.

Really? Bull. I don’t care what scale you are using; if you actually think a guy like Trai Mosley is less than half of your total available stars then you either didn’t evaluate the kid, in which case you should just say that, or you don’t know a lot about football.

I can tell you this.  Each one of us here at The Football Brainiacs believe in everyone of these players, and we believe they’re much better than those “stars” indicate.  You may ask why the rant? Aren’t you supposed to be talking about Jovan Pruitt? Yes I am. But it’s hard not to get a little fumed when companies that are literally impacting kids’ opportunities can’t see how obviously incredible a kid like Pruitt is. You don’t have to have even a basic level of football knowledge to see it. As offensive tackles go Jovan Pruitt is Jesus Shuttlesworth.

First of all when you watch him, everyone else on his offensive line in a two-point stance is leaning forward at the waist but Jovan, in a good way, sticks out like a sore thumb.  You automatically recognize where he is on the line because he bends at the knees so effortlessly.  When you look at him it’s almost like he’s sitting on an invisible chair.  He actually looks comfortable in a squat position.  Speaking from a big man’s perspective, for most of us, that’s unnatural in that it’s not comfortable for 99% of us.  Most young offensive linemen are what Mel Kiper likes to call “heavy-legged waist benders”.  Most are awkward.  Most have a little baby fat.  Most haven’t learned how to be very aggressive.  Most don’t understand how to use their hands.  Most don’t know how to finish, and most definitely don’t feel as comfortable as Jovan appears to be bending his knees.  That simple fact is what separates a tackle’s ability to become elite and simply be serviceable.  Bending at the knees.  That’s why power cleans in my opinion are the single most important lift for a football player.  Power cleans teach power and explosiveness, and enhance the ability to explode out of that invisible chair in pass protection or run blocking.

Jovan is your prototypical left tackle without a doubt. He is one of the most college ready offensive tackle I’ve seen this year.  The reason for that is that he’s pushing 300 already (found out from his coach he’s actually 320), he’s effortless in pass protection, he blocks well in space, he’s a beast in run blocking, and he’s very heavy handed.  He’s truly a rare prospect in the sense that he’s got great feet, great hips, great size, heavy hands, and man alive this guy is put together well.  If there’s any prospect out there that Sooner fans should want to get on the team at a position of need, in my opinion, it’s Jovan.  He’s a high 4 star to five star all day every day to me because of that rare combination of athleticism and power.  He isn’t the dancing bear and he isn’t the road grader. He’s both!

There will be only two things that hold Jovan back from being elite…catastrophic injury or himself.  If Jovan has that lunch pail mentality that Adrian Peterson has, he has the potential to be a first round draft choice a few years from now.  Make no mistake about it, if Coach Bedenbaugh is able to swing Jovan away from his commitment to Arkansas the direction of this offensive line that Coach B is building has the makings of something special.  Forget what you know about star rankings to this point, even though it might feel good it, it might sound a lil something, but damn the game if it ain’t sayin nuthin.  To me there’s no doubt that they all missed on Jovan.  Three star?  Not even close.  Mr. Pruitt, sir you most definitely have game.

Coaches Notes

– Coach told us he is the hardest worker. “No one works harder than Jovan”. If you want to know how they know it then get this. Jovan came to them weighing 340 lbs. He worked so hard he dropped to 275 lbs. And then began building his muscular physique into “320 lbs of good weight”.

– Coach said, he’s got very heavy hands but at the same time he can bend and change direction and he can handle a good pass rusher from all the way out to a wide 9 technique. He’s very coachable. Said the only thing that he needs to continue working on his refining his technique and finishing blocks.

– Coach said, every college coach that came through their school to see Jovan and watched him workout said he is one of, if not the best, tackle in the country. Jovan’s coach said he sees him becoming a 1st rounder and said that they had a number of coaches come through and say Jovan would be a first rounder.

Can Oklahoma Flip Jovan?

The short answer to that question is – perhaps. Jovan is intrigued by the ability of the Arkansas’ O-line coach to put guys in the league but he’s fully aware of Oklahoma’s history as well. So it seems that’s a bit of a rub. Jovan is definitely interested in Oklahoma and the door is still open. What a lot people don’t realize is that Arkansas’ coaches believe Jovan will start from day one and to be honest they probably aren’t wrong. At Oklahoma Jovan may very well win a backup role but as a true freshman even the best OL need time to adjust and beating out Daryl and Tyrus just isn’t within any reasonable realm of expectation. Jovan is aware of that. What his coach told us is that it’s really going to come down to how well Oklahoma can make their case. My impressions were pretty simple. Jovan likes Arkansas and he likes Oklahoma but Oklahoma’s tradition, proximity, etc. would have probably led him to OU if it weren’t for the fact that the chances of him starting right away are slim to none. That seems to be the primary advantage that Arkansas is holding right now.