Small wideout from the same college as Danieal Manning.

Height: 5-111/2 | Weight: 185 | 40-Time: 4.34

Official Bio

Strengths:
Smooth athlete...Adequate height...Outstanding timed speed...Quick with great acceleration and a burst...Soft, reliable hands...Good body control and ball skills...Elusive...Nice vision and instincts...Solid route runner...Vertical threat who can really separate...Terrific production.

Weaknesses:
Doesn't have the ideal bulk that you look for...Not very strong...Won't break a lot of tackles...Trys hard but isn't a great blocker...Worked as a return man but didn't stand out...Is facing a big jump in competition.

Eh, would have rather had Quan Cosby

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

There are reports that he ran in the 4.2's If that's the case, fine - let him spread the field

Is every Angelo pick this year going to have the same name as a rural Illinois town?

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Physically, he sounds a lot like Devin Hester to me. 4.34? He's fast as fuck.

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

But...., is he also dumb as fuck?
If a cheetah could catch a ball I would put it in a uniform before hester. I think he actually went to a school where they require you to attend some classes though.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

BZZ - actually, Mike Mayock made the comment on the NFL Network coverage.

"Trys"? Hope the scouting skills are better than the spelling.

The pick is in line with Angelo's desire to get players with top end skills.

He is thin, but not small at 6 feet.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

What is the history of players, like Knox, who are largely or completely unknown until the Draft Combine? Do some of them end up succeeding or are they largely busts? Just wondering.

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There has been much recent success with skill position players from small schools. The level of competition may be lower, but he obviously has the speed to go by even the fastest of cornerbacks. If he doesn't get jammed at the line, he can blow anyone away.

One thing that kept Bennett off the field last year was a lack of elite speed. Turner and Lovie will not be able to ignore Knox.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

That's a big if. I remember Lovie saying similar things about Danieal Manning--how he had great speed and athleticism, but was raw at the safety position. But Lovie was confident he could teach Manning the requisite skills to become a good safety. That never worked out.

So my question isn't necessarily about small school players; it's about players whose stock sharply rises as a result of their freakish Combine performances. Don't such players typically turn out to be disappointments? I have no stats to back this contention up, but I suspect it is true.

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but you are talking about players who leap up to the top of the draft based on measurables rather than production...in this case we are talking about the 5th round...and, it is not just measurables, the guy was highly productive (I think he caught 100 balls last year)...he just went to a small school...anyone with that kind of speed is worth taking a flier on in the later rounds

Last year the "small school" guy who shot up the boards on measurables was chris johnson (ecu isn't exactly small but you get the point).

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Yeah, a fifth round pick is no big deal. I guess it's interesting that he didn't rise through the draft that much despite his Combine showing.

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It was a strong year for WR.

Remember, DeSean Jackson from Cal last year was the fastest reciever in the draft but fell because he was small.

I think Knox will make the team and get significant playing time.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I do not see how taking a WR in the 5th round with that kind of speed is a bad risk. The Bears desperately needed talent at the WR position and if one out of the 3 headed monster of Iglesias Bennet and Knox can stick it will be a step in the right direction.

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I am more interested in the general philosophy of taking athletic but unskilled or inconsistent players than I am in specifically looking at Knox, although he fits the description.

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I'd be interested to find that out myself, but I imagine that data is practically impossible to come by, and these sort of discussions get anecdotal awfully quickly.

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Fire Phil Emery

Well in the 5th round you aren't going to get a perfect player obviously but I have no idea what the breakdown would be between athletically talented but unskilled in a football sense or fundamentally sound but athletically lacking. For what its worth Al Afalava seems to be in the football solid but unathletic category.

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It would be nearly impossible because you are starting out with a subjective description: a general consensus of draft status on a player no one really knows about.

The guys who really shock me are the unproductive big school players who have good draft positions based on measurables. I simply cannot figure out how a guy like Ayers was a 1st round pick. A pass rushing DE who had 4 sacks as a senior...but everyone seemed to think he was a top talent.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

[quote="Phil McCracken For what its worth Al Afalava seems to be in the football solid but unathletic category.[/quote]

It would not be a bears draft if they did not get a big hitting, slow footed strong safety, to take the place of the big hitting, slow footed safety they drafted three years before, with a big hitting slow footed safety they drafted two years ago being slotted for the starting position.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This is my problem with the pool guy.

Yes, I wonder about him, too. More importantly, though, when will you be demonstrating to the CSFMB that you can duplicate his feat????

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Anyone thinking that this kid lacks skill, should take look at this. Skills he most certainly has...brains and the fortitude to take the beatings handed out weekly in the NFL, who knows?

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2482606/johnny_knox_wr_abilene_christian/

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I used to be a Cubs fan, now I just hate baseball.

Thanks for posting the interesting video. Knox looks like he has very good hands and incredible speed/quickness. I still have no idea if he can beat a jam at the line of scrimmage, though.

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From that video, his route running seems to be a bit of an issue. He rounds off his cuts quite a bit.

There is no round shape in a straight line...run, forrest, run

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.