Alvin Bailey question

[billio155]

Hey all, I was hoping someone could shed some light on Alvin Bailey,( Kearly?) I was looking through my draft mags this morning and noticed he was ranked the forth of fifth best guard by most of the "experts." But then he fell out of the draft altogether, hell we took a defensive tackle with the hopes of making him a guard rather than draft Bailey. And now Bailey looks like a complete stud at left tackle, a position he has never played before and arguably the most difficult position to play in football, outside of qb. It's a strange road for a prospect with that much talent to take, considering most team owners would sell their first child for a stud LT. Does anybody know this guys story?

 

[Basis4day]

http://www.fieldgulls.com/2013/8/14/462 ... y-chargers

 

[Missing_Clink]

It's pretty crazy. I wonder if and when he may just force his way into the competition at either starting guard spot

 

[Evil_Shenanigans]

Sooner rather than later based on that one game! I want to see more of this kid!

 

[drdiags]

SI's Doug Farrar picked up on a report John Boyle did, which was based off an interview Tom Cable did with the KJR folks.

Here is Doug's article, which adds some details to why he was not drafted

“In terms of running the football, he had a huge intensity problem in college,” Cable told John Boyle of the Everett Herald this week. “On film, he would stand up and look like he loved to pass-protect, but here that’s only half the battle. It’s not too difficult to see why he was available to us where he was. At the same time, if we can get that [intensity] out of him, he’ll have a chance.”

http://nfl.si.com/2013/08/16/seattl...starter-status-after-the-draft-passed-him-by/

Here is John Boyle's story

http://heraldnet.com/article/20130815/SPORTS/708159840#Lateral-movement

And KJR's interview with Tom Cable, containing the original quotes used in the two articles

http://www.sportsradiokjr.com/media...mand-mitchinthemorning/86-tom-cable-23547552/

 

[kearly]

I remember that when Seattle signed their initial 9 UDFA's, it was Lotulelei who got the biggest signing bonus but it was Bailey who was highlighted as the biggest "coup" in terms of draft value by the media (though usually that doesn't mean anything). Rishaw Johnson was a similar story the year before, he was a guard that some had rated fairly high (JS himself claimed he had a 3rd round grade on Johnson).

As far as why he fell out of the draft, there isn't any single reason that stands out, but there were some factors that added up.

-Bailey lacks lateral athleticism which is something scouts value highly. His profile is/was very similar to Frank Omiyale, and Omiyale was a disaster when not paired with Cable, though with Cable he was shockingly good. (Seriously, Seattle needs to do what it takes to keep Cable as long as they possibly can. I would be 100% fine with Cable being our next HC many years from now).

-Bailey is a perfect fit for Cable, but there might only be a few other offensive lines in football that target the same kind profile Cable does (run block > pass pro, limited athleticism is okay, emphasizing strength, etc). So that could have been a factor.

-Arkansas tanked during Bailey's final season. Pretty much every Arkansas player saw their draft stock drop off because of it, including their QB. IIRC, Knile Davis was their first player to get drafted at the end of the 3rd round, and he only went that high because of a monster combine.

-Dumb luck. Sometimes good players slide down the board for unexplained / mysterious reasons. I think there is a herd mentality factor, too. If a guy is supposed to go in the 3rd and he's still there in the 6th/7th, that seems to scare off a lot of GMs perhaps because they wonder if other GMs know something they don't.

-Dumb luck 2.0. Sometimes lousy prospects become great NFL players and vice versa (Nick Foles and Brad Sorenson race to mind- even the now incredible Richard Sherman was a pretty flawed/undeveloped prospect at Stanford). Maybe Bailey really wasn't that great but "clicked" at the NFL level. Maybe Cable's coaching unlocked a new level of ability from him. It wouldn't be the first time that I've seen coaches dramatically improve a player almost overnight.

“In terms of running the football, he had a huge intensity problem in college,” Cable told John Boyle of the Everett Herald this week. “On film, he would stand up and look like he loved to pass-protect, but here that’s only half the battle. It’s not too difficult to see why he was available to us where he was. At the same time, if we can get that [intensity] out of him, he’ll have a chance.”

Good post, nice finds.

If "intensity" was truly Bailey's biggest problem, then it looks like this was a clear case of a Tom Cable fixer up. The very first play I saw of Bailey in training camp, he was dominating players with intensity alone. He was Giacomini-esque, but better. His intensity really stood out in a very good way.

Bailey did mail it in during the final preseason drive, which might reflect the lack of intensity that Cable cited. Sure, it was during the epitome of garbage time, but I would have liked to see Bailey "run through the line," so to speak. You'd never see Giacomini going at 50%. It's not a big deal, but it might speak to some of the tendencies that Cable was referring to. It's interesting that Cable thinks Bailey still lacks effort as a run blocker, because if true, then that means Bailey dominated at less than full effort.

 

[billio155]

Ask and you shall receive. You guys rock. Here is to Alvin Bailey being the next bit of coal polished into a diamond by Tom Cable.