BTW, a 3 minute highlight tape doesn't change my mind especially when those highlights are repeated over and over. There were maybe 2-3 plays that actually show cased good hands. 7 or so seconds in against NE, pretty awesome play. 32 seconds in against NE, pretty insane throw from hene and a real nice catch and then the one catch down the seem against the raiders was a solid play too. (3:17) I'll add the play against the skins with the nice little move he put on the Lber but that was pretty bad coverage too. Everything else looks like a blown coverage or the other team playing cover 2 and he's wide open for a routine catch. Put a more athletic player in that spot and you're talking real big plays instead of 10-15 yrds.
Second look through, the skins game he had more solid catches too. not gonna list them all.
If anything the video show cases how inaccurate moore was when he was wide open and the long TD against KC shows either fasanos lack of speed or moores poor arm. The long TD in the KC game should have had more air under it and fasno should have had even more seperation to begin with since the LBER blew his assignment so badly.
---------- Post added at 01:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:22 PM ----------
Nope, pretty glad Henne is gone too despite with some enourmous coaching he has way more potential than matt moore. Nice try though.
---------- Post added at 01:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:24 PM ----------
that picture is hilarious btw. lol
So you start by saying there's really only a few catches worth noting on that video and you finish by losing count of how many there are, throwing up your hands and saying "I'm not going to list them all"?
The reason the plays repeat is to give you a better view of them. I included the instant replays if I felt they included a better view of the play, as well as the coaches tape if I felt that showed something the other views did not.
1. New England. Through formation he ends up in one-on-one coverage with Gary Guyton (now on the Dolphins), who has
4.47 speed as tested at the 2008 Combine. Not only that, to get out on the route, Fasano has to use a quick hand move to make Rob Ninkovich miss on his attempt to jam Anthony at the line. He then finishes the play with an amazing one handed over the shoulder grab.
2. New England. Now he's running a seam route against the zone coverage of Dane Fletcher (4.62 speed) and Patrick Chung. Note the shoulder fake to the outside which immediately causes Fletcher to flatten out and look to undercut the ball on an out route. The deke also helps to hold Patrick Chung on his outside leverage an extra beat before he begins closing on the seam route. Finishes the play with a nice catch in stride, and holds onto the ball even after being walloped by Chung from the blind side.
3. New England. Once again matches up one-on-one with the 4.47 speedster Gary Guyton, and easily creates separation. Finishes the play by adjusting to the poor back-shoulder bullet placement of the seam pass.
4. Cleveland. Truthfully I did not intend to keep this catch in the video as it didn't fit within my stated scope. However, that doesn't mean he didn't do anything great on this play. He got by a hard jam by Scott Fujita, found a big hole in the zone, caught the low ball thrown by Henne, stayed on his feet and ran immediately for 9 more yards after the catch.
5. Kansas City. Interesting that you criticize this play. For me, it was in its own way one of the most impressive in the bunch. It was a great play design, I'll give you that. Fasano releases off the line to the back side and is immediately jammed hard by NT Kelly Gregg, but uses his hands to get by him. From there, you're right, he is wide open because Derrick Johnson was late getting out and was also rubbed by Brandon Marshall. However, I included the play anyway. Why? Derrick Johnson runs a 4.52, verified at the 2005 Combine. He also has a 37.5 inch vertical and ran an unbelievable 3.93 shuttle. Yet when Fasano gets 5 yards of separation on him, he maintains that separation until he has to turn back and slow up for the football. Then Anthony does something I still find incredible. His back is completely turned to the end zone and he's catching the ball as Derrick Johnson is ramming at him full speed right at his face, Fasano catches the ball at the 11 yard line and back pedals, turns and keeps running into the end zone while PRO BOWL linebacker Derrick Johnson feebly tries to get him down. Yes, Fasano got open because of the play design and the rub by Marshall, as well as Anthony's being able to shed a jam by Kelly Gregg. However, he finished the damn play over a Pro Bowler because he's a damn good player.
6. Washington. The first thing he does is shed a jam from sensational young outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan. What he does next is way more cool, though. If you watch the coaches tape, he's actually lined up in one-on-one coverage with DeAngelo Hall. The first view of this play is really the best one because you can see closer up how Fasano turns his shoulders around to the outside to fake an out/corner route, gets DeAngelo to bite, and then turns back inside for the catch. This a three time Pro Bowl selection cornerback and it would be one thing if Fasano beat him in coverage because he's just bigger and more physical, but no...he actually created separation with his ability to run the route. After that, adjusting to the poorly placed ball on his back shoulder, which allowed DeAngelo to try and strip the ball away, and then defeating Hall's attempt to strip the football...that's just gravy. Hell of a play.
7. Washington. Again, one on one coverage with All Pro linebacker London Fletcher. This is becoming old hat. Fasano turns his shoulder to fake the in cut, uses his hands to release outside and up the field, uses the separation he created on the All Pro to make an incredible (once you see it up close) one-handed over the shoulder catch. And it's not even his first incredible one-handed over the shoulder catch of the video.
8. Oakland. Anthony takes a hard jam by Kamerion Wimbley, and dishes back even more than Wimbley gave him, with a hard chuck of his own. He made Kamerian look silly through strong hand use, leaving Wimbley grasping at air and stumbling over himself trying to recover. Of course, it goes without saying Fasano finished the catch and even ran for an extra 8 yards after the catch, staying on his feet despite having to spin backward to secure the ball in traffic.
9. Philadelphia. Here Anthony turns the shoulder to the outside but sees the big hole between the cover two zones and turns straight up into it. Finishes by jumping for the high throw and absorbing a wicked shot from Nate Allen, even twirling around for an extra 4 yards after the hit. And hell, this was probably the easiest of the catches in the video.
10. Philadelphia. Here he beats the 4.59 speedster linebacker Keenan Clayton for yet another catch over the middle. You can't see the up field view of this play but it was impressive how Anthony had to spot the ball with Keenan's body blocking the view of it, and the adjust out to the front of Keenan and catch the ball as it squirted by his shoulder. Not an easy thing to do.
There are certainly catches I left out. He caught a nice deep one for a TD against the Bills that I left out simply because he ran a basic corner route and was left uncovered. The best thing he did on the play was run his route and finish with the catch. I purposely included 10 very impressive catches mostly beating the type of coverage he'd have to beat in Joe Philbin's offense. The fact that he showed he can consistently do that and finish the play with a catch is the reason Joe Philbin is intrigued with Fasano.
