Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Southpaw
Michael Westbrook had all the tools to be an elite receiver in the same mold as T.O. or Randy Moss, but that amounted to one decent season in the seven he was here. Jacobs is in the same boat. He seems to be missing that final intangible piece that makes an exceptional college player into a good NFL player. At this point, I'd just be happy if he could become a legitimate third option, and pull in 40 catches a year.
|
Good point. Having watched TJ closely in camps over the past three years, I've been touting his abilities, and predicting great things from him. When you watch the guy working alongside the other receivers in practice, he stands out, because he really does possess so many of the attributes that make a receiver successful in the NFL.
But the one thing he seems to lack personality-wise-- and this is critical-- is that steely confidence and cocky self-assuredness that seems to always accompany today's outstanding receivers. Maybe that's one reason I've always liked the guy. But there's a reason so many great receivers-- Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Joe Horn, Chad Johnson, the list goes on-- exude such unmitigated self-confidence.
To play that position at that level, where they're able to dominate opposing secondaries and establish themselves as upper-echelon wideouts, they not only have to be superior athletes, but they have to possess an unwavering belief that they can mentally
and physically dominate defenders. You can see a little bit of that Jordan-esque killer instinct in any great wideout, whether they brashly proclaim their greatness or not. It's communicated in the way they carry themselves, the way they look people in the eye, their vocal and non-verbal mannerisms. It's something you sense, not just in the words they speak, but in their entire expression of who they are.
I simply don't see that in Taylor. He's not a commanding presence. He's just a quiet, soft-spoken farmboy from rural Florida. There's nothing remarkable about him physically, and his personality is so stealthily unobtrusive that he would virtually disappear in a room full of average people. One might get the sense that Jacobs' goal in life is to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
That could be a big detriment to him, holding him back on the depth chart, while others with "louder" personalities jockey for the attention of coaches, and lobby through the media for more playing time and more looks from the quarterback on gameday. As the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. It could also be that, consciously or unconsiously, the coaches and quarterbacks interpret Taylor's lack of bravado as a lack of self-confidence. Why would they have any confidence in someone who apparently has little or no confidence in himself?
With Patten out of the picture this weekend, this is Taylor's opportunity to let his playmaking abilities speak for themselves. The question is, how loudly will they speak?