Bengals.com First Day Interviews

[HairOnFire]

Back to Henry, I checked out the video primarily because so many commented on how dumb he appeared. Didn't see it. In fact, if I had read a transcript I would have said he gave the perfect answers to the questions asked.

And I didn't bother with the Krenzel interview. Apparently I just don't care.

[slf]

Wow, Chris Henry is either really reserved or not all that bright....

He scored a 9 on the Wonderlic - my 10 year old would easily double that. He is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and I was surprised Marvin picked him - he prefers intelligent players.

At WR, you don't really need an Einstein.

Relevant questions for WR:

1. Will he run where he is told?

2. Will he catch the ball when gets where he is told to run?

3. Is he fast enough to run more after catching it without being easily caught?

4. Will he block someone with some enthusiasm when not running the ball?

If the answer to each of those is "yes", you are good to go at that spot. It's not like he has to be calling out formations etc. or figuring out line blocking schemes...

Huh?

All the skills in the world won't help in the NFL if you are not executing the conditional part of the play correctly. I thought one of the most important skills is to analyze the coverage after the snap, as the play unfolds. The direction and field position of the receiver's break is determined by the coverage as he departs the line. How many times have we seen the receiver break one way while the quarterback threw the other way? i.e. not being on the same page with the QB? Receiver's mistake becomes the QB's interception on the stats. Pattern recognition and quick memory recall are needed at minimum. Sounds like intelligence to me

[membengal]

Wow, Chris Henry is either really reserved or not all that bright....

He scored a 9 on the Wonderlic - my 10 year old would easily double that. He is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and I was surprised Marvin picked him - he prefers intelligent players.

At WR, you don't really need an Einstein.

Relevant questions for WR:

1. Will he run where he is told?

2. Will he catch the ball when gets where he is told to run?

3. Is he fast enough to run more after catching it without being easily caught?

4. Will he block someone with some enthusiasm when not running the ball?

If the answer to each of those is "yes", you are good to go at that spot. It's not like he has to be calling out formations etc. or figuring out line blocking schemes...

Huh?

All the skills in the world won't help in the NFL if you are not executing the conditional part of the play correctly. I thought one of the most important skills is to analyze the coverage after the snap, as the play unfolds. The direction and field position of the receiver's break is determined by the coverage as he departs the line. How many times have we seen the receiver break one way while the quarterback threw the other way? i.e. not being on the same page with the QB? Receiver's mistake becomes the QB's interception on the stats. Pattern recognition and quick memory recall are needed at minimum. Sounds like intelligence to me

Huh?

That's all a fancy way of expounding what I put in question one...will he run where he is told?

Look, if he doesn't have the football smarts to do what you laid out, he won't work out. But that has s**t all nothing to do with the Wonderlic. I am guessing that the Bengals saw enough football intelligence from him not to worry about it. I am guessing he is more than capable of running the routes correctly and catching the ball when it is thrown to him.

Any bitching about his relative IQ on the Wonderlic is pretty gut stupid, IMO.

[slf]

Huh?

That's all a fancy way of expounding what I put in question one...will he run where he is told?

If only it were that simple. I believe the point is, in the NFL, it is not as simple as running where you are told as the "where" is a variable that unfolds with the play.

[membengal]

Huh?

That's all a fancy way of expounding what I put in question one...will he run where he is told?

If only it were that simple. I believe the point is, in the NFL, it is not as simple as running where you are told as the "where" is a variable that unfolds with the play.

And yet, that is all part of what he is told.

Look, I see your point, and I am not glossing over it. But, compared to what a QB has to cover, or a Center, or a Middle LB, WR does not have to be the MENSA-ist guy on the field. Yes, every player has to make adjustments on any given play. Duh. No one is saying they don't. But let's not overstate what you have to have upstairs to make those adjustments. If the guy is a football player, he can make those adjustments. Period. Either he has that particular capacity or he doesn't.

I think he has it. I think the Wonderlic stuff is not all that helpful a predictor of success at WR. I am not the least bit worried about it. Apparently others are. I will console myself by reading more about him kicking early ass at camp this week and hope that is a nice outlier of things to come for someone as apparently skilled as he is.