[Pervis_Griffith]

I apologize if this has already been posted -- it has a date of 4-21 -- but this is a pretty good read on Gibson.

We may have found ourselves a steal in the 3rd.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/Sports/nfl...ocid=DELLDHP17


The most astute NFL talent evaluators will tell you that when it comes to players, it’s more important to focus on what people can do as opposed to what they can’t. I’ve heard it from both Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll, and also from Seahawks general manager John Schneider, Carroll’s consigliere. It’s easy to discount a receiver because he only ran three routes in college, or a running back because he runs too upright and might not be fully developed.

But those truly interested in player development will understand that sometimes, that receiver who can run a third of the route tree is beating the daylights out of every cornerback he faces, or that running back is bouncing off linebackers every play for extra yards.

With players on the fringe of what they will be, you can either cut them off because they don’t fit your suit, or you can adjust the suit for their unique talents. The guys who do the latter tend to win Super Bowls. The guys who do the former tend to get fired.

In the 2020 draft class, Memphis running back/receiver Antonio Gibson (yes, you read that positional delineation right) may be the ultimate litmus test for those executives who see prospects one way or another. Gibson got on the field for just 370 snaps in two years with the Tigers after two seasons at East Central Community College in Mississippi.

“Grades were just… at the end of the day, you could also blame me to be honest, but as a young kid, I was getting bad grades and my coaches weren’t really saying anything to me because they wanted me to play,” Gibson told me recently. “It wasn’t until my junior year I started getting offers but I couldn’t accept them, or they couldn’t officially offer them because of my grades. So, that’s when it started clicking to me that I need this [college] and that’s the reason I had to go to JUCO route.”

Once he was done with that route, he had a few choices in West Virginia, Mississippi State, and Memphis.

“I picked Memphis because a lot of schools offer you then go on about their business,” he said. “They won’t really reach out to you to tell you a signing date, but coach [Mike] Norvell and the staff were on me every other day. They were checking in making sure I was alright, seeing if classes were going good, checking on my family, I got a family feeling from them, and when I went on my visit it was the same thing, so I ended up picking Memphis.”


The rest is at the link above ....