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JUDGE: Suggs has nothing to prove
BY CLARK JUDGE
FOXSports.com
Apr. 14, 2003 10:50 a.m.
There is no better pass rusher and no better defensive lineman in this year’s draft than Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs. He demonstrated it last year when he set an NCAA record with 24 sacks, and he will demonstrate it again this week when he holds his second workout in three weeks.
Suggs is scheduled to run for NFL scouts on Friday, and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t cover 40 yards considerably faster than his 4.84-second finish last month. It was that workout that caused critics to question Suggs’ value, and it was that workout that, presumably, provoked Suggs to agree to a second audition only eight days before the draft.
Conventional wisdom suggests this week’s performance is for the benefit of pro teams looking to draft Suggs, but I think there’s more to it. This isn’t as much about satisfying an audience as it is about satisfying Terrell Suggs, who was disappointed and, yes, surprised with his results on March 28.
Let’s face it: This is a guy who achieved extraordinary levels of success throughout his career and who has nothing to prove to anyone. Except maybe himself. Which is why he’ll let us take another look at him this week.
Suggs isn’t going to change someone’s opinion based on a 40-yard dash. You either have a conviction about him by now or you don’t. And if you don’t, you might want to look at last season. The guy wasn’t just good. He was dominant. Nothing gave him trouble until someone put a watch on him.
So he was beat by the watch. Suggs overcame virtually everything else this year, so why can’t he run a 4.6 40 as he predicted? He can, and that’s what this is all about: proving to himself that nothing or nobody keeps him down.
“I want (scouts) to see everything and notice everything I’ve done right,” said Suggs, a former high school running back who once ran for 367 yards in a game. “You should never be comfortable where you are. You should always try and do better. You should want to try to continue to climb.”
Except Suggs, who doesn’t turn 21 until October, can’t climb much farther in this year’s draft. In another year he might be a candidate for the No. 1 choice, but the Cincinnati Bengals seem fixed on a quarterback, with USC’s Carson Palmer the likely choice. Detroit, which has holes in its defense the size of Lake Erie, is a logical destination at the second spot, but the Lions are locked on Michigan State wide receiver Charles Rogers. That takes us to Houston, where the Texans appear to be another club in search of a wide receiver.
“Everyone wants to draft a quarterback,” said Suggs. “Well, defense wins games; offense gets the glory.”
And who gets Suggs? Good question. While he should go in the top three, he probably lasts anywhere from four through six — with Arizona, at the sixth position, doing cartwheels if he slips that far. But I don’t see it happening basically because NFL clubs don’t pass on great pass rushers, and Terrell Suggs might be the best to come along in the last 5-10 years.
“He plays fast, he’s explosive and he’s active,” said Washington player personnel director Vinny Cerrato. “I don’t know how he runs; all I know is how he plays football. And the last time I checked, we were in the business of evaluating football players. This guy is an amazing football player.”
Which is why this week’s workout should mean little to anyone but Suggs. If you question his speed, talk to the offensive linemen he used as speed bumps. The guy was a consensus All-American, the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, had two games last season with four or more sacks and led Arizona State in sacks and tackles-for-losses in each of his three seasons there.
OK, so at 6-foot-3, 251 pounds, he’s undersized for a defensive end in a 4-3 scheme, but that’s what they said about the premier pass rusher in last year’s draft — and all Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney did was lead Indianapolis with 13 sacks, the third-highest total in the league.
“People tell me he’s the most instinctive pass rusher they’ve ever seen,” said Gary Wichard, Suggs’ agent. “If anyone misses out on him they might be missing out on the next Lawrence Taylor.”
I don’t know about that, but I do know Wichard played tapes of Suggs for Freeney and Miami’s Jason Taylor — both of whom he represents — and, according to Wichard, “they were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was so dominant.”
They’re not alone. That’s why what happens this week should mean more to Suggs than it does to any scout from Chicago … or Dallas … or Arizona … or anyone hoping to have a shot at the guy. Suggs should know that what he did on the field counts more than what he does on any track.
Most everyone else does.
“Right now he’s exhaled,” said Wichard. “He didn’t realize the workout was what it was; that it was a part of the process. He just wasn’t ready to go. And for the first time in his career he got humbled. He got his butt kicked, and, at the end of the day, it might be the best thing that ever happened to him.
“It wasn’t a question of speed. It was a question of having a bad start. He has a burst and explosion that is real, and I’m just hoping that he can go out there, get on the track, run his 4.6 and we can all go home.”
Senior writer Clark Judge covers the NFL for FOXSports.com and can be reached at his e-mail address, [email protected].
JUDGE: Suggs has nothing to prove
BY CLARK JUDGE
FOXSports.com
Apr. 14, 2003 10:50 a.m.
There is no better pass rusher and no better defensive lineman in this year’s draft than Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs. He demonstrated it last year when he set an NCAA record with 24 sacks, and he will demonstrate it again this week when he holds his second workout in three weeks.
Suggs is scheduled to run for NFL scouts on Friday, and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t cover 40 yards considerably faster than his 4.84-second finish last month. It was that workout that caused critics to question Suggs’ value, and it was that workout that, presumably, provoked Suggs to agree to a second audition only eight days before the draft.
Conventional wisdom suggests this week’s performance is for the benefit of pro teams looking to draft Suggs, but I think there’s more to it. This isn’t as much about satisfying an audience as it is about satisfying Terrell Suggs, who was disappointed and, yes, surprised with his results on March 28.
Let’s face it: This is a guy who achieved extraordinary levels of success throughout his career and who has nothing to prove to anyone. Except maybe himself. Which is why he’ll let us take another look at him this week.
Suggs isn’t going to change someone’s opinion based on a 40-yard dash. You either have a conviction about him by now or you don’t. And if you don’t, you might want to look at last season. The guy wasn’t just good. He was dominant. Nothing gave him trouble until someone put a watch on him.
So he was beat by the watch. Suggs overcame virtually everything else this year, so why can’t he run a 4.6 40 as he predicted? He can, and that’s what this is all about: proving to himself that nothing or nobody keeps him down.
“I want (scouts) to see everything and notice everything I’ve done right,” said Suggs, a former high school running back who once ran for 367 yards in a game. “You should never be comfortable where you are. You should always try and do better. You should want to try to continue to climb.”
Except Suggs, who doesn’t turn 21 until October, can’t climb much farther in this year’s draft. In another year he might be a candidate for the No. 1 choice, but the Cincinnati Bengals seem fixed on a quarterback, with USC’s Carson Palmer the likely choice. Detroit, which has holes in its defense the size of Lake Erie, is a logical destination at the second spot, but the Lions are locked on Michigan State wide receiver Charles Rogers. That takes us to Houston, where the Texans appear to be another club in search of a wide receiver.
“Everyone wants to draft a quarterback,” said Suggs. “Well, defense wins games; offense gets the glory.”
And who gets Suggs? Good question. While he should go in the top three, he probably lasts anywhere from four through six — with Arizona, at the sixth position, doing cartwheels if he slips that far. But I don’t see it happening basically because NFL clubs don’t pass on great pass rushers, and Terrell Suggs might be the best to come along in the last 5-10 years.
“He plays fast, he’s explosive and he’s active,” said Washington player personnel director Vinny Cerrato. “I don’t know how he runs; all I know is how he plays football. And the last time I checked, we were in the business of evaluating football players. This guy is an amazing football player.”
Which is why this week’s workout should mean little to anyone but Suggs. If you question his speed, talk to the offensive linemen he used as speed bumps. The guy was a consensus All-American, the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, had two games last season with four or more sacks and led Arizona State in sacks and tackles-for-losses in each of his three seasons there.
OK, so at 6-foot-3, 251 pounds, he’s undersized for a defensive end in a 4-3 scheme, but that’s what they said about the premier pass rusher in last year’s draft — and all Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney did was lead Indianapolis with 13 sacks, the third-highest total in the league.
“People tell me he’s the most instinctive pass rusher they’ve ever seen,” said Gary Wichard, Suggs’ agent. “If anyone misses out on him they might be missing out on the next Lawrence Taylor.”
I don’t know about that, but I do know Wichard played tapes of Suggs for Freeney and Miami’s Jason Taylor — both of whom he represents — and, according to Wichard, “they were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was so dominant.”
They’re not alone. That’s why what happens this week should mean more to Suggs than it does to any scout from Chicago … or Dallas … or Arizona … or anyone hoping to have a shot at the guy. Suggs should know that what he did on the field counts more than what he does on any track.
Most everyone else does.
“Right now he’s exhaled,” said Wichard. “He didn’t realize the workout was what it was; that it was a part of the process. He just wasn’t ready to go. And for the first time in his career he got humbled. He got his butt kicked, and, at the end of the day, it might be the best thing that ever happened to him.
“It wasn’t a question of speed. It was a question of having a bad start. He has a burst and explosion that is real, and I’m just hoping that he can go out there, get on the track, run his 4.6 and we can all go home.”
Senior writer Clark Judge covers the NFL for FOXSports.com and can be reached at his e-mail address, [email protected].
