Nick Gates

BlitzFirst said:
Failed the eye test.  Bet Gates could beat him in bench, squat, clean and proagility tests though.  Am I saying Gates is amazing?  Nope.  I'm saying board posters have narratives and beat them like dead horses and they more than often aren't true.
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I'm not saying that in order to be strong, you have to look strong.   I'm saying that his performance in general is consistent with that of a player who ISN'T strong.  He has poor footwork, unimpressive backward mobility,  seemingly a lack of understanding of the blocking schemes he had to work with this year, and allegedly a poor work ethic.  If he has any hopes of being an NFL lineman it's going to be at the guard position,  but even at that rate he brings nothing to the table that an experienced guard would have.   If I were a betting man, I'd say his days of playing football at a major level are over.  

 
BlitzFirst said:
Mowing lawns isn't as complicated as football and requires 0 athletic ability.  Poor comparison. 
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Forgot squash was just as complicated as football or required the athletic ability of a collegiant athlete to play. 

 
BlitzFirst said:
I won't argue that ANY of the OLineman performed well last year.  But I won't take part in any narrative that drags him through the mud and states that he somehow regressed from being all big ten in both his first and 2nd years and then suddenly, he sucks.

I think our team sucked last year and everyone's performance save for a few were WAY down.  I still don't think Gates has poor footwork, unimpressive backward mobility.  Blocking scheme...maybe, but more on Cav than on him.

He may even have had a poor work ethic...I don't know because I wasn't there.  Regardless, he'll be an NFL lineman and probably will excel.

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For those of you who wonder what I'm talking about when I say 'narrative' I'll give you a good example.  Will Compton.  Go through this board from a few years ago and there were NONSTOP posts about how slow and bad Will Compton is.

Suddenly, he's in the NFL and is a stalwart FORCE for the Redskins.

That is just one example.  There are quite a few others.  Board posters often think they know what they're talking about when evaluating a player...but we more than often don't.
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True enough.   Gates was definitely a victim of the recently changed blocking scheme that cav  and langs implemented in the running game.   That doesn't excuse his pass blocking though.   Lord knows we have seen our fair share of linemen who were marginally successful here go on to have good NFL careers.  I just don't think that Gates is in that group.  

 
BlitzFirst said:
Tell you what...let's both go watch a squash match and give commentary afterwards.  We'll attend with someone who coaches squash for a living.

Which one of us 3 will probably have better insight as to whether or not a squash player is good or not?

I'm not saying everyone has to coach...I am saying coaches know better than board posters.  I'm also saying board posters are more often wrong than right when it comes to this topic due to most of us having an untrained eye.
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Guys, we were actually a really good team last year.  Mike Riley and the other coaches told us so.  They have a trained eye and we don't.  Don't let your eyes deceive you.  Remember, we were really good in practice, but when it came to games, that is when it all fell apart.  Remember, Mike Riley told us that and he has a trained eye.

 
Multiple people with "trained eyes" felt Nick Gates didn't play very well this past season. It doesn't take ridiculous metaphors about playing squash or mowing the lawn to see the end result was less than optimal.

He still could end up getting drafted and having a fairly successful NFL career, though.

 
BlitzFirst said:
Tell you what...let's both go watch a squash match and give commentary afterwards.  We'll attend with someone who coaches squash for a living.

Which one of us 3 will probably have better insight as to whether or not a squash player is good or not?

I'm not saying everyone has to coach...I am saying coaches know better than board posters.  I'm also saying board posters are more often wrong than right when it comes to this topic due to most of us having an untrained eye.
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Again, Damon Benning and Rob Zatechka, two people who know more about football than you or I, have made mention of his lack of work ethic and overall laziness. 

 
I will go on record that he will be a backup guard at bestl.  Could he be a back up right tackle...maybe on a unit desperate with a lot of injuries.  He didn't play well and I don't care if people want to blame the coaches or the player, the catch up in the NFL will be difficult.  If he lacks any work ethic at all he will be out as there faster than he came in the door.  There is not enough talent there for them to waste time with someone who is not 1000% committed to improve.  He absolutely did not play with strength and that isn't debatable.  I spent a lifetime working with people in both the strength sports and S&C training for a specific sport.  He is either not strong, strong but not powerful, or one of those kids who tests well in the weight room but it doesn't translate to the field due to genetics.  I hope he does well, having linemen Huskers in the pros used to be a given, not any longer. 

 
BlitzFirst said:
I'm not saying they didn't.  I'm saying others on this board are making up stuff that these multiple people DID NOT say.  It's called creating a narrative and it's been done before on this very board.  It's really sad that people need to make stuff up so they can bag on a player who bled red for the program.
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Yes you are. 

Cdog923 said:
The last two can be labeled as "stupid narratives"

The first two are almost common knowledge at this point. 
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BlitzFirst said:
I don't think so.

I think its 'common narrative' put out by people who have never played offensive line, never coached offensive line, and have never coached football a day in their lives.

Saying something is true when you don't have the experienced eye to observe it actually is true does not make something true.

Just my 2 cents.  I'm proud of the guy for battling in the trenches for us through 2 regime changes.  I'm not going to under appreciate him or belittle his contributions.
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BlitzFirst said:
Sure, he isn't ripped...do you know what his bench is?  His squat?  His clean?  Do you know if he's strong or not?  Do you know his pro agility scores?  If not, all you have is the eye test which is a poor indication of performance.

Gates was about 60-70% with his ankle injury the final 4 games.  I'm pretty sure he wasn't 100% for the bowl game.
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Bowl game?

 
Have you people watched squash? You have to be pretty damn athletic to play it well. That ball has almost no bounce, which means you need a lot of agility in order to hit it. The only good argument that you don't need to be as athletic to play it is the better athletes are probably playing cricket or badminton or soccer, so the bar is set lower.

There are probably more brains required to be a good OL though.

 
BlitzFirst said:
You're adorable.  You really should stop your fascination with me.  How about that Nick Gates in the NFL!
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Oh, don't worry; I'm done with you, friendo. Trolling can be fun, but at least try to base yours in some version of reality in the future. 

And, to the point: I've stated multiple times that Gates needs to fix his (noted by multiple experts) lack of work ethic to have a successful future in the NFL.  

 
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