#8 for '21 - James BlackStrain 4* WR

smokey_wasp said:
Interestingly, his name is a combo of his parents' last names, which is why the S is capitalized.
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better than a hyphen but not always practical

We are not nearly as good at hyphen recruiting as we were 15 years ago.

I am liking the last few days, couple of weeks. It could be so much fun being a kid playing P5 football in Atlanta.
 
Ok, I think this thread is long enough now that I can post this:

Why is the guy a 4*? He looks slow in the video and has a 4.8/40. He's not particularly big at 6'2" 180lbs. He also missed his junior year with a torn ACL.

Great hands and adjusts to the ball, well. But out of 4* you expect size and/or speed.
 
gtphd said:
Ok, I think this thread is long enough now that I can post this:

Why is the guy a 4*? He looks slow in the video and has a 4.8/40. He's not particularly big at 6'2" 180lbs. He also missed his junior year with a torn ACL.

Great hands and adjusts to the ball, well. But out of 4* you expect size and/or speed.
Click to expand...
Recruiting is an art not a science.

You have outlined possible negatives.

I can speculate on the upside. "Rarely caught from behind" means he is faster than the 4.8 would indicate. But largely it is because he has all the other things you are looking for. Route running, hands, vision, body control, etc. Those are the reasons his offer list is 4 star. And ironically the 4.8 is a reason why the injury isnt crushing his desirability. If he was largely a burner you have to be overly worried he loses that edge.
 
GTCrew said:
Recruiting is an art not a science.

You have outlined possible negatives.

I can speculate on the upside. "Rarely caught from behind" means he is faster than the 4.8 would indicate. But largely it is because he has all the other things you are looking for. Route running, hands, vision, body control, etc. Those are the reasons his offer list is 4 star. And ironically the 4.8 is a reason why the injury isnt crushing his desirability. If he was largely a burner you have to be overly worried he loses that edge.
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I’ll take that skill set all day, every day. We have burners. Based on his film, BlackStrain looks like the type of guy who creates separation by being a great route runner, finding openings in the zone, using his body to shield on slants, and his hands/size to win the jump ball. It’s a great compliment to guys like AB who stretch the defense vertically.
 
gtphd said:
Ok, I think this thread is long enough now that I can post this:

Why is the guy a 4*? He looks slow in the video and has a 4.8/40. He's not particularly big at 6'2" 180lbs. He also missed his junior year with a torn ACL.

Great hands and adjusts to the ball, well. But out of 4* you expect size and/or speed.
Click to expand...
I do not know the answer but here are some considerations: thrown to/completions; TD/completions; YPC; performance in big games, etc. Suffice it to say that a large number of pretty good football programs offered the guy which means there is something going on there. I'm not 100% sure if you are asking specifically where the four stars are coming from or if he is truly a four-star recruit. At the end of the day, what do you want from a wide receiver? Get open, catch the ball, get some yardage after you catch it, don't drop it if it is thrown to you and, occasionally, block for somebody else. I'm not saying speed is overrated but speed is overrated - rather, its not a substitute for all the other stuff.
 
00Burdell said:
I do not know the answer but here are some considerations: thrown to/completions; TD/completions; YPC; performance in big games, etc. Suffice it to say that a large number of pretty good football programs offered the guy which means there is something going on there. I'm not 100% sure if you are asking specifically where the four stars are coming from or if he is truly a four-star recruit. At the end of the day, what do you want from a wide receiver? Get open, catch the ball, get some yardage after you catch it, don't drop it if it is thrown to you and, occasionally, block for somebody else. I'm not saying speed is overrated but speed is overrated - rather, its not a substitute for all the other stuff.
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Don’t doubt there’s something there. The he agencies and P5 programs like him. I’m just trying to understand why.
 
gtphd said:
Ok, I think this thread is long enough now that I can post this:

Why is the guy a 4*? He looks slow in the video and has a 4.8/40. He's not particularly big at 6'2" 180lbs. He also missed his junior year with a torn ACL.

Great hands and adjusts to the ball, well. But out of 4* you expect size and/or speed.
Click to expand...

Long striders are often deceptively fast. I admit, the first video I saw of him I had a similar reaction until I realized that half the highlights the QB was underthrowing him and he was coming back to the ball to make a contested catch. He also looks advanced to me in terms of his ability to run a lot of different routes and to win against press coverage at the LOS.
 
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