AJ Randle context

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I want to know what’s holding this kid up from being a 5 star because the athleticism is off the charts.
He has been steady moving up the lists and is now a top 100 player. If you watch his film the one thing that sticks out is that while athletically gifted he isn’t all that physical for the position. That’s just an objective observation, doesn’t mean the kid is trash just that it may have something to do with it.

To reiterate this was a massive pick up.
This is very fair, but I’ll add that this was a common criticism of Sonny Styles. He got stronger and barely missed any tackles this year.
 
This is very fair, but I’ll add that this was a common criticism of Sonny Styles. He got stronger and barely missed any tackles this year.
I remember one of those that he missed

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He has been steady moving up the lists and is now a top 100 player. If you watch his film the one thing that sticks out is that while athletically gifted he isn’t all that physical for the position. That’s just an objective observation, doesn’t mean the kid is trash just that it may have something to do with it.

To reiterate this was a massive pick up.
Yeah he lacks that “pop”, knock back power, and technique when it comes to tackling. He gets dragged by tacklers a bit and sometimes hits too high. All teachable things. He has EVERYTHING else. And that’s why he’s a top 100 guy. Has all the physical traits of an all American player and looks to have those intangibles you look for.
 
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Yeah he lacks that “pop”, knock back power, and technique when it comes to tackling. He gets dragged by tacklers a bit and sometimes hits too high. All teachable things. He has EVERYTHING else. And that’s why he’s a top 100 guy. Has all the physical traits of an all American player and looks to have those intangibles you look for.
Guy plays both ways during the football season and runs track. Hard to add the required weight… I think he’s gonna add the needed size and that “pop” will magically appear
 
He’s
Guy plays both ways during the football season and runs track. Hard to add the required weight… I think he’s gonna add the needed size and that “pop” will magically appear
plenty big enough to create that pop now (in HS). It’s just technique. He’s 6’3 215. He could be 260, but if tackling technique isn’t right, he won’t knock dudes back. He’s not attacking with the shoulder pads, he’s just running into guys and pulling them down on a lot of his hits. I’m sure you’ll see better tackling and running THROUGH guys in his senior highlights.
 
He’s

plenty big enough to create that pop now (in HS). It’s just technique. He’s 6’3 215. He could be 260, but if tackling technique isn’t right, he won’t knock dudes back. He’s not attacking with the shoulder pads, he’s just running into guys and pulling them down on a lot of his hits. I’m sure you’ll see better tackling and running THROUGH guys in his senior highlights.
It’s not a concern. I brought it up in the context of why he isn’t a 5 star at the moment.
 
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Those really tall kids tend to have difficulty lowering their pad level (knee bend) and exploding through contact. That's probably why you don't see a ton of elite hitters in the back-end that are 6'3"+.

You can't teach that type of length and athleticism though. I actually have a 6'3" 207lb DB that I just transitioned to LB this spring and now he's on everybody's radar for that exact reason... and he struggles with the same thing.

Hetherman is really good at getting kids to buying in to being physical so I believe it can be done.
 
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