Connor Williams

[Neonmoon 38,130]

Sucks for him. Injury didn’t help. 

[futureman 22,539]

On 4/9/2018 at 3:25 PM, FWD said:

He won't fall out of the 1st. 

whoops.  should’ve stuck around austin and put out some better tape than 2017, would’ve solidified himself as a 1st rounder in 2019.

Edited April 27, 2018 by futureman

[TtomTerrific 200]

4 minutes ago, futureman said:

whoops.  should’ve stuck around austin and put out some better tape than 2017, would’ve solidified himself as a 1st rounder in 2019.

Yep.  I posted on Shaggy that a couple of boards had Elliott as the first Texas player off the board.  

I didn't see anything out of Williams last year that would garner a bunch of money...even when he was healthy.

Elliot got paid.

Now...Williams may very well go ahead of Elliot

..but one player advanced the fuck out of his earning power and the other did not. For whatever reason.

[Patrick Bateman 3,925]

2 minutes ago, TtomTerrific said:

Yep.  I posted on Shaggy that a couple of boards had Elliott as the first Texas player off the board.  

I didn't see anything out of Williams last year that would garner a bunch of money...even when he was healthy.

Elliot got paid.

Now...Williams may very well go ahead of Elliot

..but one player advanced the fuck out of his earning power and the other did not. For whatever reason.

Huh?  If Connor goes ahead of Elliott and they're from the same class, I don't understand the point.  I mean, Connor's arms aren't getting any longer.  He could probably put on some weight but some teams are scared he's a tweaner -- not quite long enough to play OT at an elite level and not strong enough to be a mauling guard at this point.  He'll still be a top 50ish pick most likely and Elliott's been mocked as a 3-5th rounder, settling in most likely in the 4th.  How did Elliott get paid and Connor's not if he goes 2-3 rounds ahead of him??

 

[TtomTerrific 200]

Elliott was never in any discussion concerning the draft. Had a giant year and left.

Williams was always a "first round guy" ..got worked v. Maryland and then was injured...the opposite of a "giant season"

[Pods 7,586]

His year of good tape is also in the Veer and Shoot, which is renowned for making the tackles look better than they are. 

[ousux 5,601]

14 minutes ago, TtomTerrific said:

Elliott was never in any discussion concerning the draft. Had a giant year and left.

Williams was always a "first round guy" ..got worked v. Maryland and then was injured...the opposite of a "giant season"

Both of them could have used another year of college, pretty sure Elliot was warned he was leaving money on the table coming out with only one year as a starter and considering the other safeties coming out. As for CW, he essentially only had two full years as a starter and his time last year before and after coming back from the injury were underwhelming...he could have fixed that with a good year in '18, but I understand why he declared early.

[A’Dam Psycho 1,470]

NFL draft has become an SEC circle jerk but whatever we’ll see how he does

[Disco Missile 456]

Well, that didn't go as well as he hoped.

[ckhorn 208]

Sucks for the guy. Took the wrong advice if he thought he was a 1st round pick. Maybe actually playing in bowl game would of helped. Does anyone know if any of the 1st round picks skipped there bowl games. Would be interested to know.

[Bevojoe 44]

Wasn’t Jefferson hyped at one time as a first rounder or is that just a beer memory?

[MagicSoccerSpray 1,732]

5 hours ago, maninblack said:

Or just not a 1st rounder

 

5 hours ago, futureman said:

whoops.  should’ve stuck around austin and put out some better tape than 2017, would’ve solidified himself as a 1st rounder in 2019.

 

Football players play football. Williams, and the rest of the Strong quitters, shouldn't have quit on their team and are now learning that lesson the hard way.

 

3 hours ago, Bevojoe said:

Wasn’t Jefferson hyped at one time as a first rounder or is that just a beer memory?

 

He was, but was never actually going to go that high based on two mediocre seasons and only seven-eight decent games. Plus, the NFL doesn't like Divas and they take their mental evals seriously.

[EZ$ 2,105]

It’s not like these guys weren’t advised by scouts or NFL personnel that they all needed to go back to school for another year.

Holton Hill’s decision was understandable, but “leaving now before getting kicked off team next year” isn’t exactly a great reason.  I guess I don’t blame the punter either as he’s the easy-number 1 player at his position.

Malik and Connor needed more film. Another year of hype and maybe being on a winning team would have done these guys wonders. 

[Newy25 7,703]

I guess the lesson to learn from this is to not read the Shag to decide if you should skip your senior year. 

[Tex Pete 20,443]

2 hours ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

Football players play football. Williams, and the rest of the Strong quitters, shouldn't have quit on their team and are now learning that lesson the hard way.

Recently had one of the current staff tell me almost this exact thing. 

[Neonmoon 38,130]

There are three ingredients to a high draft pick. Skill, Hype, Winning Team.

you can use any amount or combination of those three ingredients. Hopefully it’s mostly skill as to why you are drafted that high, but usually the most skilled players will be on a winning team and will subsequently be hyped up. 

However, being on a losing or average team hurts your draft stock. It’s a fact. Being on a lower level team hurts your draft stock. If that Boise State LB or UTSA DE played for Ohio State, they would have been Top 10 picks. Media hypes up the bigger team players. 

Connor had Skill and Hype covered after his junior year. He was projected as a Top 10 pick. 

His skill took a hit with bad film and injury his Senior year. There was no winning team to bump him up a little. So the Hype could only support him for so long before crumbling 

 

[Gene Parmesan 4,014]

6 hours ago, Bevojoe said:

Wasn’t Jefferson hyped at one time as a first rounder or is that just a beer memory?

Yes, but then he started playing college football.

[Newy25 7,703]

11 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

There are three ingredients to a high draft pick. Skill, Hype, Winning Team.

you can use any amount or combination of those three ingredients. Hopefully it’s mostly skill as to why you are drafted that high, but usually the most skilled players will be on a winning team and will subsequently be hyped up. 

However, being on a losing or average team hurts your draft stock. It’s a fact. Being on a lower level team hurts your draft stock. If that Boise State LB or UTSA DE played for Ohio State, they would have been Top 10 picks. Media hypes up the bigger team players. 

Connor had Skill and Hype covered after his junior year. He was projected as a Top 10 pick. 

His skill took a hit with bad film and injury his Senior year. There was no winning team to bump him up a little. So the Hype could only support him for so long before crumbling 

 

I must have slept abd missed Connor’s senior season. 

[texifornia 57,080]

3 hours ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

 

 

Football players play football. Williams, and the rest of the Strong quitters, shouldn't have quit on their team and are now learning that lesson the hard way.

 

 

He was, but was never actually going to go that high based on two mediocre seasons and only seven-eight decent games. Plus, the NFL doesn't like Divas and they take their mental evals seriously.

A diva? Seriously? There's definitely questions about how much he actually likes football but Malik seems like a pretty solid dude.

[El Tri 412]

38 minutes ago, texifornia said:

A diva? Seriously? There's definitely questions about how much he actually likes football but Malik seems like a pretty solid dude.

i like malik and connor, but yeah skipping your one fucking bowl game in your entire career is pretty diva-ish

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

Some of our fans' relationship with Malik has been aggy like. He comes in as a hero around Malikmas. He plays okay for a freshman and the hype is still there even though he missed a shit-ton of tackles. Thinking was, once he learned to wrap up, he'd be worthy of #60. Soph year sucks -- injuries and playing out of position by necessity. Then his coach gets fired. Jefferson plays a little better and we are all high on him again, at least until he declares. Now of all a sudden we are rooting for him to fall in the draft so we can say "I told you so."

[El Tri 412]

Just now, MaybeACoordinator said:

Some of our fans' relationship with Malik has been aggy like. He comes in as a hero around Malikmas. He plays okay for a freshman and the hype is still there even though he missed a shit-ton of tackles. Thinking was, once he learned to wrap up, he'd be worthy of #60. Soph year sucks -- injuries and playing out of position by necessity. Then his coach gets fired. Jefferson plays a little better and we are all high on him again, at least until he declares. Now of all a sudden we are rooting for him to fall in the draft so we can say "I told you so."

none of us are rooting for him or connor to fall. in fact, it would have been great if they went first round as that could be used in recruiting. i think we're all in agreement that they made a bad choice and should have come back for their senior year

[Gene Parmesan 4,014]

2 minutes ago, El Tri said:

none of us are rooting for him or connor to fall. in fact, it would have been great if they went first round as that could be used in recruiting. i think we're all in agreement that they made a bad choice and should have come back for their senior year

No one is in agreement on that.  Being a first rounder isn't the only logical reason that one should forgo their senior season.

[Randolph Duke 4,034]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

There are three ingredients to a high draft pick. Skill, Hype, Winning Team.

you can use any amount or combination of those three ingredients. Hopefully it’s mostly skill as to why you are drafted that high, but usually the most skilled players will be on a winning team and will subsequently be hyped up. 

However, being on a losing or average team hurts your draft stock. It’s a fact. Being on a lower level team hurts your draft stock. If that Boise State LB or UTSA DE played for Ohio State, they would have been Top 10 picks. Media hypes up the bigger team players. 

Connor had Skill and Hype covered after his junior year. He was projected as a Top 10 pick. 

His skill took a hit with bad film and injury his Senior year. There was no winning team to bump him up a little. So the Hype could only support him for so long before crumbling 

 

Maybe there is more to life than whether you were picked 14th or 10th, or in the second as opposed to the first round of the NFL draft. Kids should pick schools that best help them make the adjustment from high school to adulthood and that, in some way, prepares them for life after 30.

17 and 18 year-old kids who make the college decision based on where they potentially could be picked in the NFL draft are the type of kids who rarely make it to the NFL draft.

Outside of Cleveland, and maybe a could other teams, NFL scouts have the ability to identify potential. If it is there, the kid will get a shot at an NFL roster spot.

[thrillhammer 684]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

There are three ingredients to a high draft pick. Skill, Hype, Winning Team.

that's not really true though.  there are kids from utsa drafted higher than ours.  they have neither hype nor winning team.  i would add two other ingredients.  physical health and mental health.  connor's downfall was the first one.  some kids just seem flaky and not focused on their team so don't seem like viable assets to the league, and get passed over that way.

 

 

[Machinator 32,099]

On the early entrants:

Dickson: accomplished everything there is to be accomplished at his position on the collegiate level. I don't think there was any practical reason for him to return.

Elliot: probably the most questionable early departure (of the players who have a high chance of being drafted). The two arguments for his leaving is that his physical ceiling isn't first-round good, so there was not as much to be gained coming back for a senior year, and that his statistical production generated hype (Thorpe finalist) that isn't sustainable year-over-year. I don't buy that, mostly because I think another year of tape in Orlando's defense would have proven his skill more substantially in spite of his not-elite atheticism.

Williams: no doubt, his mediocre 2017 tape hurt. However, his measurables at the Combine changed NFL teams' view of him from tackle to guard, and there's not much you can do to change that with an extra year in college (and there's no guarantee he doesn't get injured again at UT). It depends on how far he falls today, I suppose.

Hill: top 50 talent who has shown under multiple coaching staffs that he can't keep his head screwed on straight. I suppose he could have come back another year and stayed clean/trouble-free for a whole season, and that might help. But at this point there are enough red flags that will permanently affect his draft stock that he might as well prove his worth now and play for a good second contract.

Jefferson: his mediocre on-field instincts affect his stock more than any character concerns ever will. He played through turf toe this season and made a genuine attempt to go in the Texas Bowl; I'm not sure where the "diva" stuff is coming from.

Warren: lol.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Machinator

[thrillhammer 684]

machinator, you are clearly forgetting akers TEAM me slogan, and to is the rest of the team, and possibly the entire generation.   you could have just written "selfish" next to every player you listed and it would have been a much shorter post. every single player you listed you could put themselves above the team.  to say "i dont think there was any practical reason for him to return" is aggravating.  wins are not practical?  longhorn pride is not practical?  think how good we would have been next year with all these guys on the field.  

Edited April 27, 2018 by thrillhammer

[Machinator 32,099]

Just now, thrillhammer said:

machinator, you are clearly forgetting akers TEAM me slogan, and to is the rest of the team, and possibly the entire generation.   you could have just written "selfish" next to every player you listed and it would have been a much shorter post. every single player you listed you could put themselves above the team.  to say "i dont think there was any practical reason for him to return" is aggravating.  wins are practical?  longhorn pride is not practical?  think how good we would have been next year with all these guys on the field.  

Not practical for them, no. Well, yes for Warren if he disabused himself of the notion that he's a running back at the next level.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

Jefferson did a lot for the program, even if he didn't quite pan out the way we all wanted on the field. He stuck a needle in that aggy balloon...And if you hated Charlie's tenure here as it was, imagine what you would have thought of it if he hadn't been able to recruit more actual talent than we had for the previous five or so years, much of which followed in Malik's wake. 

[Hank_Hill 18,894]

A lot of weepy vaginas in here. Kids left to get paid more money than most of us ever will. Never a bad decision.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

I really think it would be bad for Holton Hill and the Texans if he wound up in Houston. If there was ever a rookie who did not need his homeys having easy access to him, it's Hill. For his sake I hope he ends up somewhere like Buffalo or New England, at least until he matures a little. 

[1leggedduck 443]

I want all these guys to do well in the NFL but only because they were Longhorns, and it reflects well on the school for them to have great careers. However, fuck every one of them that sat out a bowl game, when that is the final opportunity to play with your team and for your university. I get leaving early to start your career, but not playing in bowl games is unfair to your team mates who have worked just as hard as you have, and now have to play next to your backup. Get off my yard.

[Hank_Hill 18,894]

We won the game and looked good doing it. Idgaf.

[Gene Parmesan 4,014]

2 minutes ago, Hank_Hill said:

We won the game and looked good doing it. Idgaf.

Thank god Dickson didn't decide to sit.

[Reese Bennett 3,615]

Football is a brutal game and every player with a legit shot at the NFL knows their time could be over in an instant. If they make it through without major injury, there are still the cumulative effects to deal with. I don’t see how anyone can begrudge any football player’s decision to spend one of those risky and finite seasons getting paid. CW and Malik are Longhorns for life and I will be watching them in the NFL. What is with these crappy posts? 

[texifornia 57,080]

People get very heated about being a team player when it's not their future financial well-being at stake.

[TornACL 7,722]

4 minutes ago, texifornia said:

People get very heated about being a team player when it's not their future financial well-being at stake.

Yes.

I love the idea of "If he had come back he'd be a first rounder next year" as if it's a foregone conclusion. Nobody ever gets hurt, underachieves, etc. apparently.

The last 30 years of the NFL is littered with stories about guys who stayed an extra year and then got hurt, underachieved, etc. and never saw the paycheck they would have seen had they left early. But for some reason we only remember the people who left early and flamed out.

If somebody wants to go get paid, more power to 'em. Wish they'd stick around forever but it ain't my call.

[Mr. Drummond 2,199]

They didn't skip the Rose Bowl/Sugar Bowl etc with a chance to go to the national championship..   I would absolutely tell my son to skip the Texas bowl or whatever its called.

[Disco Missile 456]

1 hour ago, El Tri said:

i like malik and connor, but yeah skipping your one fucking bowl game in your entire career is pretty diva-ish

I hadn't thought about that. That is dumb.

[6th Street 6,493]

Williams is a solid value in Round 2. Multi-year starter with good upside if he can stay healthy. 

[Gene Parmesan 4,014]

6 minutes ago, Disco Missile said:

I hadn't thought about that. That is dumb.

It wasn't their 1 bowl game.  Have you all forgot the erotic display that was the 2014 Texas Bowl.

[Katfid54 8,635]

Just now, Gene Parmesan said:

It wasn't their 1 bowl game.  Have you all forgot the erotic display that was the 2014 Texas Bowl.

Those dudes were class of 2015, so....

[Disco Missile 456]

47 minutes ago, Hank_Hill said:

A lot of weepy vaginas in here. Kids left to get paid more money than most of us ever will. Never a bad decision.

That's not exactly true.

An athlete's 3rd year is typically their first year as a true veteran player. They're more craftsman than journeyman. They've spent 2 or 3 years in S&C and honing their skills. Third year is usually the year it all comes together.
The final year of eligibility is the one usually focused on the next level. The third year was polish. The fourth year is showing out.

By foregoing their final year some guys don't give themselves that chance. One more year of maturity can do wonders, and almost never hurts a guy that was good enough to leave the previous year.

[Gene Parmesan 4,014]

3 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

Those dudes were class of 2015, so....

Well I'm an idiot.

[Disco Missile 456]

But I still think VY should've come back in 2006, so...

[Katfid54 8,635]

6 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Well I'm an idiot.

[pacman 7,369]

11 hours ago, TtomTerrific said:

Elliott was never in any discussion concerning the draft. Had a giant year and left.

Williams was always a "first round guy" ..got worked v. Maryland and then was injured...the opposite of a "giant season"

One or two random magazines/websites/idiots rated Connor a 1st rounder two years ago. That's hardly credible when compared to the draft process of scrutiny. 2nd or 3rd round draft pick is great for Connor regardless what might have been next year

[MirrOlure 14,833]

I'm more concerned (not that he cares or it matters) about who is advising him, and thought that it was a good idea to participate in the "red carpet" BS and social media blitz Wheel of NFL Fortune jackassery.

[Disco Missile 456]

13 minutes ago, pacman said:

One or two random magazines/websites/idiots rated Connor a 1st rounder two years ago. That's hardly credible when compared to the draft process of scrutiny. 2nd or 3rd round draft pick is great for Connor regardless what might have been next year

What do you deem credible and who are the idiots you are referring to?

Todd McShay said he was the 2nd best OT in the draft.
Mike Mayock called him the 3rd best OT and a first round talent.
Nearly every national paper called CW55 a first round pick.
Bleacher Report mock draft had him going #4.
247 Sports had him going in the 1st with one article suggesting he could go #1.
NFL analyst Lance Zierlein said he was a possible 1st rounder, but didn't like his regression his Junior year even pre-injury.

That's just a quick run through. Most said he was first round. A few said maybe not. 
A senior year would have likely guaranteed a 1st round spot and 1st round money.

[Newy25 7,703]

Mallik absolutely made the wrong decision to leave. Until the very end he was a physical specimen with virtually no instinct for the position and he will be drafted as such. He could have benefitted the most from playing his senior year. 

If Connor keeps falling or if he knew he was not a first round pick I bet he would have stayed. I think there was a lot of echo chamber/fan site group think that may have lesdhim down this path. If his height and wing span are the limiting factors, that should  not have been a revelation to anyone.