
Originally Posted by
NateHeupelESQ
Well, I have to admit, I wasn't overly impressed at first. A lot of his catches looked unnecessarily one-handed, and he seemed to share Trey Metoyer's problem of staying inbounds. But the tape got better as it went on, and it looked even better on a 2nd viewing.
His balance is bordering on unfair. He does an amazing job fighting through tackles and keeping his feet moving. He does way too much dancing, though. My guess is that he's pretty much the beating heart and soul of his team's offense. If he doesn't create big every time, stuff may not get done at all. That changes how a good player performs in a game.
He's got strong hands, and he catches the ball away from his body. Those off balance catches made more sense as the tape went on, because it became clear his QB basically puts the ball up and hopes to God that Young comes down with it. Go to 6:12 in the footage, and you'll see a horribly thrown fade route that's fairly well covered. Young comes up with it anyway.
He's going to struggle with more physical CBs who can jam him on the line, but the only teams in the Big 12 who do that on any sort of regular basis are Texas and TCU.
Young will come in with a higher level of proficiency in our offense because it looks like his HS runs a pretty significant chunk of OU's plays. Lots of bubble screens, 4 wide, and even a few tunnel screens in there.
His first step acceleration is quite good though it isn't elite, but after he gets a couple of steps, he's a bear to track down.
Route running is just so-so, and will need a lot of work before he's D1 ready.
Overall, his tape is as good or better than most of the mid-range 4* slot WRs I've seen. If we're not going to get Treadwell, KJ Young is a nice consolation prize.