Could Curtis Samuel's Injury Be A Blessing In Disguise?

[Raskle]

3 hours ago, mjligon said:

And now we collectively poop on you

Man, you're getting a metric ton of mileage out of that poop emoji. Keep up the good work!

[Hogmolliesmaht]

Cam has got to be itching to get on the field with CMC and Samuel to see what they can do and so am I.

[MasterAwesome]

Would you rather have a new surgeon who has read his medical textbook cover to cover countless times and has everything memorized but with little to no experience, or one who has performed that particular operation countless times? Practicing something over and over will always be the best way of learning and ultimately mastering anything.

 

I don't buy that being injured and studying the playbook instead of being out there practicing was actually more helpful to him. Despite what Samuel is saying about the hardships of practicing and studying the playbook simultaneously, one does not preclude the other. This seems like just him and Ron being positive about an unfortunate situation (his injury). Saying that reps don't help when the person has no idea what to do is hyperbole...all healthy rookies "have no idea what to do" when they come into the league? Sure they will make some mistakes, but that's what practice and training camp is for...to point out mistakes and correct them.

 

 

[Pejorative Miscreant]

52 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

Would you rather have a new surgeon who has read his medical textbook cover to cover countless times and has everything memorized but with little to no experience, or one who has performed that particular operation countless times? Practicing something over and over will always be the best way of learning and ultimately mastering anything.

 

I don't buy that being injured and studying the playbook instead of being out there practicing was actually more helpful to him. Despite what Samuel is saying about the hardships of practicing and studying the playbook simultaneously, one does not preclude the other. This seems like just him and Ron being positive about an unfortunate situation (his injury). Saying that reps don't help when the person has no idea what to do is hyperbole...all healthy rookies "have no idea what to do" when they come into the league? Sure they will make some mistakes, but that's what practice and training camp is for...to point out mistakes and correct them.

 

 

Agree. I don't think it is more helpful but kudos to him for making the best of a bad situation and studying th playbook diligently. Had he just gone thru the motions and ease around it would have amplified his rustiness.

[Rockahype]

Hopefully our future Pro Bowl/HOFer Damiere Byrd gives him some pointers on how to torch the thirdondary. 

[pantherclaw]

Got to practice when Cam did. 

[Wolfvan88]

3 hours ago, MasterAwesome said:

Would you rather have a new surgeon who has read his medical textbook cover to cover countless times and has everything memorized but with little to no experience, or one who has performed that particular operation countless times? Practicing something over and over will always be the best way of learning and ultimately mastering anything.

 

I don't buy that being injured and studying the playbook instead of being out there practicing was actually more helpful to him. Despite what Samuel is saying about the hardships of practicing and studying the playbook simultaneously, one does not preclude the other. This seems like just him and Ron being positive about an unfortunate situation (his injury). Saying that reps don't help when the person has no idea what to do is hyperbole...all healthy rookies "have no idea what to do" when they come into the league? Sure they will make some mistakes, but that's what practice and training camp is for...to point out mistakes and correct them.

 

 

 

First is he a receiver, that has never played before? 

Practicing it wrong over and over will not help.

He is expected to catch a ball, not to cut you open... (But surgeons do have to start somewhere, usually with an experienced seasoned surgen giving guidance along the way)

But an experienced, while college, receiver, knowing the playbook inside and out, knowing where and when to run a route, pickup a block on the correct side, could be better off starting now recovered from an injury, since he has the mental stuff down. Which I have read is one of the harder parts.

How many times did a receiver go the wrong way, make the wrong cut, be out of place cause they did not know the play called.

**While not ideal per say...

We will just have to see if it actually is beneficial come game time...

[Pejorative Miscreant]

10 minutes ago, Wolfvan88 said:

First is he a receiver, that has never played before? 

Practicing it wrong over and over will not help.

He is expected to catch a ball, not to cut you open... (But surgeons do have to start somewhere, usually with an experienced seasoned surgen giving guidance along the way)

But an experienced, while college, receiver, knowing the playbook inside and out, knowing where and when to run a route, pickup a block on the correct side, could be better off starting now recovered from an injury, since he has the mental stuff down. Which I have read is one of the harder parts.

How many times did a receiver go the wrong way, make the wrong cut, be out of place cause they did not know the play called.

**While not ideal per say...

We will just have to see if it actually is beneficial come game time...

Huh?

[Saca312]

@MasterAwesome I'd rather have the surgeon that actually understands what he's doing AND has experience. That's what Samuel's going through right now. If he started earlier, he likely would still be unsure of what he's doing because doing & not having much time to process makes it harder. Just like a surgeon who only studies for a little bit and tries to practice and makes mistakes will likely make a habit of said mistakes and ultimately fail.

[MasterAwesome]

1 hour ago, Saca312 said:

@MasterAwesome I'd rather have the surgeon that actually understands what he's doing AND has experience. That's what Samuel's going through right now. If he started earlier, he likely would still be unsure of what he's doing because doing & not having much time to process makes it harder. Just like a surgeon who only studies for a little bit and tries to practice and makes mistakes will likely make a habit of said mistakes and ultimately fail.

What are you basing this off of when you say that he "likely would still be unsure of what he's doing"? Do we have a documented history of rookie receivers not knowing their routes and assignments this late into training camp/preseason? Not just us, but league-wide?

Let me ask you this: are you arguing that participating fully in training camp actually hinders the development of rookie receivers? Follow-up question: in hindsight are you happy about the OTA rule that prohibited McCaffrey from participating until after he graduated? I mean, technically that gave McCaffrey extra time to study the playbook before participating in organized activities. You know who seemingly disagrees with the point you're arguing in this thread? McCaffrey himself:

"[Running backs coach Jim Skipper will] quiz me over the phone, and then I'll go over everything, and he'll tell me what to learn for the next day," McCaffrey said. "You can still get the plays down and get good training when you're home, but nothing will ever compete with actually getting the reps on the field, being with the guys".

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/6/6/15746834/christian-mccaffrey-ota-rule-rookie-stanford-ucla-oregon-practice

[Saca312]

@MasterAwesomeI'm saying there both positives and negatives in both ways. Samuel's raw, so him understanding routes is a positive. The negative is obviously lack of reps, but the positive is the mental aspect is stout.

McCaffrey's really good at picking up route concepts and plays quick, and he's been doing that forever at Stanford. He's more oriented in needing reps more-so than processing routes.

Meanwhile, Samuel wasn't really a receiver until just last year. He's raw, and he needs to learn and process more route concepts. While reps are definitely important, it's likely that he could be making a few more mistakes if he didn't have the time to check out the technicalities and stuff on the routes.

Sure, having reps probably is the most desirable, but it also could've led to a much longer learning process, especially when under pressure to "perform to keep one's job."

I'm just trying to find the positive in Samuel's injury, and it's very plausible it is good in its own way. Was it the most desirable outcome? Not in a longshot. But there still can be good things that come out of this, and Samuel seems to be doing well.

[Cyberjag]

"Blessing in disguise" is a term used to describe something that's bad but which later turns out to be beneficial.  For instance, I once suffered through a lack of work in my chosen field, which caused me to make a change in what I was doing.  Since then, although I struggled at first I'm far more successful than others who had managed to navigate the downturn that I could not.  THAT was a blessing in disguise.

Had Samuel been able to practice, he would have.  He no doubt would have still learned the playbook, and would also have the experience of having run through it.  I don't think you call his injury a blessing in any form.  However, it's fair to say that the outcome will be far better than we had a right to hope, given his work in the playbook while he could not run.

[KendrickPanther]

I think expectations are too high for Curtis. The is a college RB converted to a college WR. The NFL is a big step up. I would be surprised if he caught more than 30 passes and 8 rushing attempts.

[Saca312]

14 minutes ago, KendrickPanther said:

I think expectations are too high for Curtis. The is a college RB converted to a college WR. The NFL is a big step up. I would be surprised if he caught more than 30 passes and 8 rushing attempts.

Nah. For what he did in college he did really well in running the routes he did. All I think he needs to do is expand his route tree, but the talent is most certainly there as a receiver.