Fraley: Rookie OT Young exceeding Cowboys' expectations

[Cr122]

Rookie OT Young exceeding Cowboys' expectations
Posted at 10:33 AM on Wed., Aug. 4, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Gerry Fraley / Reporter Bio | E-mail | News tips


What the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff is seeing from rookie offensive tackle SamYoung is the same thing the scouting staff saw during his career at Notre Dame.

Young rarely looks smooth, but he meets his objectives.

``He's a lot better player than I thought he was,'' offensive line coach Hudson Houck said.

Young, a sixth-round draft choice, often looks ungainly because of his size. The Cowboys list him at 6 feet 8, matching veteran offensive tackles Alex Barron and Marc Colombo for the designation of tallest player in camp.

According to Houck, Young makes up for what he might lack in style with intelligence. He excels, Houck said, at applying classroom lesssons to his play.

``He's a tremendous worker,'' Houck said. ``Time will tell. He needs a lot of experience, as moss of them do.''

 

[Midswat]

With the addition of Barron, we won't have to rely on him this year (hopefully).

It would be good if he could stick with us and develop.

 

[Cr122]

With the addition of Barron, we won't have to rely on him this year (hopefully).

It would be good if he could stick with us and develop.

I think Young will need this whole season to be ready.

I would be more concerned about guys like Brewster and Bright.

Have they even said where they are placing Young anyways?

I'm thinking right tackle only.

 

[sbk92]

He's a bum.

I don't think it. I know it. He'll never be good enough to be an effective starter in this league.

Won't happen. You don't start 4 years in college and underachieve and then turn into a quality NFL player.

 

[sbk92]

Don't get me wrong. I want him to succeed. I want to be wrong. He entered Notre Dame with a lot of hype as a blue chip prospect and future fixture on an NFL offensive line. I'd love to see him finally justify that hype and give us a grand larceny type steal in the 6th round.

But I've watched a ton of ND games over the last 4 years and Young was always unimpressive. And I can't say he improved from rookie to senior. He's a slow footed plodder who gets killed by speed and he isn't the most physical run blocker to make up for it.

He got exposed at the senior bowl practices too.

They can praise him all they want. The guy will never be good enough to where you want him to start for this team.

If he turns out a player, you can chalk that up to me completely whiffing on the player. I'm not saying I don't think he'll be any good. I'm saying I know he won't be.

 

[Cr122]

Young will be at least a solid backup for us at right tackle.

I know I said before that he would be our future starter at right tackle.

But since then I have changed my mind. Who knows he might surprise everyone, and still be.

 

[sbk92]

http://www.irishsportsdaily.com/blogs/christians-blog/1837-senior-bowl-wrapup

Senior Bowl Wrapup

Written by Christian McCollum Sunday, 31 January 2010 12:01


While much of the attention from last week’s Senior Bowl practices was devoted to the struggles of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, three Notre Dame players were down in Mobile and also had tough weeks, according to several analysts.

The NationalFootballPost.com noted that former Irish offensive linemen Sam Young and Eric Olsen struggled at the start of the week.

“Notre Dame offensive linemen Sam Young and C Eric Olsen both had days worth forgetting. Young looked heavy-footed and stiff off the edge and really struggled to keep his base down when asked to anchor on contact. Olsen, meanwhile, was slow to get his hands up and punch off the snap and simply lacked the type of lateral mobility to slide and mirror in space. I don’t want to crush either kid too hard this early in the week, but I can confidently say I thought there were more talented prospects at last week’s East-West Shrine Game than either has shown so far.”

Young will definitely need to add some weight for the next level, according to the National Football Post.

“At nearly 6-8 and only 305 pounds, is it any wonder why Notre Dame offensive tackle Sam Young struggles to anchor on contact? He looked really thin through the lower half and has a frame that lacks bulk throughout.”

Perhaps most interestingly, RealGMFootball.com pointed out that Young seemed to be tipping plays and said that Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon was picking up on it.

“Notre Dame T Sam Young is also in over his head. In the aforementioned comments on Weatherspoon calling out tip-offs, he was looking right at Young. While playing RT he leaned inside on a running play to the left, and he is almost painfully high in his base stance. I’ve yet to see him win a pad level battle this week.”

In their Insider section, ESPN pointed out that Olsen and Young both looked slow and stiff, projecting Young as a fourth or fifth-round pick with Olsen coming later.

TFYDraft.com’s Tony Pauline said that Young will have to play right tackle in the NFL, but wondered if he could succeed there in a piece for CNNSI.com.

“He does not have the athleticism to protect the blind side on the NFL level and really did not display the power necessary to man the right tackle position either.”

Nobody knocked the fight of the Irish linemen though and the reviews improved as the week progressed. ESPN Insider said that Young simply lacked the strength to move defenders around while New Era Scouting’s report said that he performed well in drills.

“Sam Young looked great in drills. He kept his knees bent and his rear low while moving very quickly. However once he was put in to live action, he struggled to mirror the defensive ends.”

Joe Buscaglia of WGR in Buffalo had more positive things to say about Young.

“Another solid day for Young. He may only be a right tackle, but he reminds me a lot of the struggles Phil Loadholt had to go through last year.”

Young’s best day was Thursday, according to RealGM.

“Sam Young of Notre Dame had his best day, by far. He looked very spry in agility drills and did a much better job of staying lower in his stance. In 11’s he fired out and turned the OLB to the side on one rep, then followed that up with a nice interior seal block on Purdue’s Mike Neal, who had a poor day.”

 

[Cr122]

So basically this guy is a pussy.

 

[sbk92]

I find it embarrassing that we're left to hope for scrubs like Sam Young and Robert Brewster as the future of the offensive line.

 

[Cr122]

I find it embarrassing that we're left to hope for scrubs like Sam Young and Robert Brewster as the future of the offensive line.

Apparently yes, we have an injury prone Brewster, and right tackle in Young with no upper body strength and bad footwork.

 

[Cr122]

Hopefully, we get better results out of Mike Tepper and Alex Barron.