Here is Eric's summary of Cruz from last year's UDFA discussion:
"Cruz has a nice combination of size and quickness. However, he is not field fast and struggles at times to create separation from cornerbacks. Cruz runs good routes, adjusts well to the football, and has solid hands. Tough, he will catch over the middle, but he is not terribly elusive after the catch. Productive, he finished his collegiate career with 131 catches for 1,958 yards. Cruz has experience in the return game."
Clearly, he is better than that description suggests, and the entire league missed that fact for him to get to UDFA status. What changed since that description was the consensus view? How did the entire league miss it? Isn't it pretty unusual that at the wr position, in particular, a college player can go so entirely unnoticed and then show bona fide starter talent in his first year of playing time?
The part about him not being elusive after the catch certainly seems wrong, now--his quickness and footwork are among his greatest strengths. He also seems faster than the 4.47 he was timed at.
And now, how much upside does he have? Clearly, he will get better as his route-running improves, but how much better can he be?
Can't blame the analysis b/c I'm assuming most other teams had the same thought but, luckily for us, it's proven to be completely false.
the better question would be "how was he found"?
Probably not a ton of pros from Umass.
WR seems to be the most likely position to get big time talent undrafted. See Wes Welker and Miles Austin.
The Giants get a fair amount of contributions from UDFA's and that's is a testament to scouting IMO. Those are guys that obviously weren't drafted and in some cases there is no competition to sign.
He's only 5'9 I'm guessing that had to do with why Welker wasn't drafted. Why he was traded to a division rival is another story.
And it didn't just happen this year. Cruz started flashing talent as soon as he hit training camp. He had one very strong preseason game before he got injured, and was already causing considerable buzz.
And to be frank, Cruz isn't all that elusive. But he's very good at surviving the initial hit and continuing downfield. But in college scouts would just attribute that to lower level competition.
1. Difficult to find, catch, or achieve.
Difficult to catch. Seems like Cruz fits it to a T.
Can't help but to think under the usual mini-camp schedule sponsored by the team, he wouldn't have had so much contact with Eli.
Eli, Cruz, Boss, Nicks, Calhoun, and Clayton were the regular attenders during the Eli camp.
Positives: Unheralded receiving prospect with a reliable and complete game. Displays quickness in his overall game, immediately gets off the line into routes and extends to make the reception away from his frame. Gets vertical in a crowd, displays good eye/hand coordination and comes away with the difficult grab. Comes back into the clearing to make himself an available target and a consistent hand catcher. Goes over the middle, uses his frame to shield away opponents, and takes the big hit yet holds onto the throw.
Negatives: One-speed receiver who does not get separation down the field. Lacks the big frame most teams desire in a possession wide out.
Analysis: Cruz has been incredibly productive the past two seasons and is a skilled pass catcher with reliable hands. He could make it as a team?s fifth receiver if he proves his worth on special teams this summer.
Projection: FA
He does adjust well to the football for the most part, though.
How was he missed in the NFL draft? Small school WR without eye-popping production or measurables. That explains it.
To Me, The sjy is the limit for Cruz, He can be a perrinnel All_pro like Art Monk.
You could make a hell of a team out of players that were missed by NFL teams. It happens.
bopson... Cruz is the guy I was touting for months until his unimpressive preseason. But I stand by my observations. I don't think he is particularly big, fast, or quick. Can he make folks miss? He's proven that, but that doesn't mean he is overly quick like Jernigan is quick.
As an undrafted rookie free agent, Victor Cruz was placed on Injured Reserve in October 2010 with a torn hamstring. He played in three games but did not have a reception. Cruz has average size and athletic ability, but he seems to have a knack for getting open and making plays. He needs to become a more consistent receiver in running routes and catching the football, though he is capable of making the highlight reel-type grab.
- Giants may have pre-empted other teams with Cruz because he's from Paterson NJ and they seem to like signing some "local guys" as FAs. I'm sure Cruz liked it too.
The next thing you'd like to see are some deep post patterns where he separates and Eli hits him in stride.
He sure is looking good right now. Over the next few games, I'd like to see more WR screens to him. He can turn them into big plays.
Woukd it make everyone feel better if the draft went back to 17 rounds and we just did away with UDFA?
That way, there would be less "misses"
Cruz probably graded out as a 8th,9th, or 10th draft pick.
OK.
Link - ( New Window )
"grading out" players is not an exact science.
Why is someone drafted in the first round that ends up not being able play in the nfl?
Cruz is a prime example. Nothinhg to really set him head and shoulders apart from the couple hundred wrs who were elegible to be drafted.
A local boy who the Giants took in to give a look see at instead of someone across the country.
Chances probably were better that he didn't pan out.
Some funny things happened along the way.
I wouldn't say he isn't elusive (again guys, the original post at the top is based on 2010 scouting reports, not what I saw of him at UMASS). But he doesn't seem overly quick to me. Some guys just have a knack for making plays.
When I think of quick-footed WR's, I think of guys like Ike Hilliard.
However, he didn't dominate at Umass and didn't have a post season all star game so he went undrafted. I don't even think they gave him a combine invite.
He's a talented player. But he doesn't look 6' to me. I think its his arms. They look short. But his explosive moves will work. I like him as a slot WR. And a guy to throw a lot of WR screens.
He'll be a more explosive Steve Smith type for the Giants for the rest of the year. Once again, the Giants front office makes the right call.
Cruz - ( New Window )
the question is: Will the things he did in college (like outjumping the DBs from New Hampshire or Rhode Island) work in the NFL?
Bruce...that seems to be the one of the things that seperates Nicks too. He's very aggressive to the ball too.
I look at these guys and see rebounders. Aggressive guys who clean up the glass when playing basketball.
The kid seems to be a very good young player.
He was red shirted and he hit the weight room.
He has the playbook..in theory. He just needs to run the theory in game situations.
Doing well so far. Or, so far so good.
He needs more reps in game situations and we'll see how his progress develops.
Nicks has taken him under his wing, MM looks to him as competition. Perfect.
Looking forward to watching him develop. How about you?
-Not over the top fast, but quick, and even quicker this year since he does not have to think so much about patterns, so he is more fluid-
-Has a excellent instinct (hard to teach) for option routes, and how defenses set up, and declare-
- He is at his best when he is able to work in open space, like the slot, since he has a similar, not identical, skills to Steve Smith, in being able to set up defenders and get open depending on how they react.
But truly the NFL (and us fans too) tend to over-rate those test results, and that's why guys like Heyward-Bey, Harvin, and Maclin get drafted ahead of Nicks. None of them are better "athletes" than Nicks, but their athleticism is more easily quantifiable.
RAC skills too are not easy to judge without a ton of tape. SS posted superior 10 yard splits, 40 yard dash, etc times, and was quicker in/out of his cuts running routes than Cruz is - but Cruz has far more latent RAC talent than SS. It's just a native ability Cruz has.