Boy I disagree with most of that. I thought he was very fluid at using his hands to get by defenders within the 5 yard area. Not everything is a jam right on the line of scrimmage. In fact it's a little more rare to see that. Most often you see a linebacker get a hand on you in the second level within the 5 yard area and the tight end has to use his hands in return and get some separation.
The learning curve for him has been steep and fast. Not long ago he'd never touched a football. Now he's blocking Schofield and Watt on the line, even at one point kicking Watt all the way to the sideline on a stretch play and then pancaking him straight onto his back. Now he's releasing on combo routes and using his hands fluidly at the second level to create separation for himself. He's running normal routes and catching normal passes, not just ones where they tell him to get to the back of the end zone and jump high for the ball.
You go ahead and wait until he gets in the 5th round before you take him. I'll take him in the 3rd or even the 2nd round and I'll be a happy camper. You don't come across a guy with his size, athletic ability and quick learning curve very often. They always say, be an athlete. He was one of the most productive shot blockers in UM history. He's an athlete. He does what you ask him to do and he might not do it right the first time or even the second, if he's real new to it, but to be where he's at right now, on the field tonight he was literally as valuable a player as Jermaine Gresham was in an Oklahoma-Texas game I graded from a year ago...and that's pretty incredible. He didn't have Gresham's reputation or respect from a defense, but he had a lot of the same skill and ability. Jacory Harris wasn't finding him a lot of the time that he was open.
Toward the beginning of the season I would look at Jimmy Graham, and look at Dedric Epps (who has a lot of experience at the position, and a lot of athleticism and ability in his own right) and told you that Epps is the more valuable Tight End. Tonight, it wasn't even close. Graham was not only a better pass catching threat, he was a better blocker.
When he missed that one assignment I'm not sure I've ever seen him asked to do that before. It seemed like an awkward play design. He messed up on it big time for sure, but if you had him practice it and asked him to do it for the next month, he wouldn't mess it up next month. That's what I perceive to be his learning curve.
He's a bright kid. Listen to him talk and you'd hear it. He was on the radio one time and they were joking (semi-seriously) that he should join them on the radio because he was a natural speaker and communicated very, very effectively and efficiently. To me, that's just a brain thing. He's a smart guy.
