The Steal of the Draft?

The Dolphins made a lot of moves in the second round, and when the time to make a selection finally came with the 63^rd pick they decided to go with a wide receiver from LSU named Jarvis Landry.  Many Phins fans did not know who he was, and did not like the pick, however many football gambling fans are saying he might have been one of the most under rated wide receivers in the entire draft. This is a big statement considering that there was 12 receivers taken in the first two rounds, and he was the 12^th one selected.

Immediately the naysayers started complaining saying, “if he is so good then why was he the 12th WR taken?” Well one of the biggest reasons was because he ran the worst time for a wide receiver in the 40 with a 4.77. First of all the 40 times are bull-sh#t, look at Ted Ginn and Clyde Gates, their 40 times were extremely fast, but teams need players who can catch the ball not track stars. Second of all, Landry tweaked his hamstring at the combine, and when he ran at his pro day he put up a respectable time of 4.55. Lastly if any of the phins fans looked at tapes on this guy, like Hickey and his team have been doing all off-season they will see a player that has football speed. Not only does he have football speed, and runs clean crisp routes, but he catches every thing that is thrown in his vicinity. He may not be the biggest WR at 5’11” or the fastest receiver but he does have abnormally huge hands at 10 ¼, which he uses to pluck balls out of the air in traffic. He is extremely tough and is not afraid to take a hit or give a hit in the blocking game. A lot of football gambling fans are comparing him to Hines Ward, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Smith, not a bad list.

He was the team captain on a very good LSU team, and when you talk to the LSU Tigers fans, most will say that they actually think that he will turn out to be a more productive player in the NFL than his former teammate Odell Beckham Jr, who was selected by the New York Giants with the 12^th pick overall in this year’s draft . This is coming from people who have watched both of these young men play together for years. Last season, even thoughBeckham Jr. played on the same team,  he led the Tigers with 77 catches for 1,193 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.  Beckham Jr is more of a home-run threat,  but Landry is the better pro prospect because of his large, reliable hands, natural build and athleticism which enables him to make a play after the catch.

He is one of the most complete receivers in the entire draft and the most important trait that he has is his ability to make the catch. I know this sounds stupid, that of course a wide receiver should be able to catch the ball. However not all wide receivers always catch the ball, or can make an acrobatic catch, or make a catch across the middle, or hold on to the ball after being hit hard. Jarvis Landry can make all these catches, and has the ability to get yards after the catch. Now please tell me what fan does not what a tough as nails receiver who can catch everything that is thrown his way?