No, his numbers were all, what I would call, off the chart. The guy I had prior, who had just graduated, was a
99 overall and the incoming, 5-star Freshman had numbers that were very close to his. I knew that by his Jr. year he would be a
99 easily.
So initially I was very excited. I lost a 99 CB and replaced him w/ an
89... not bad. Then the season started. Every time the opponent had a "must-have" situation... 3rd and long, 4th and goal in the final minutes of a close game, etc... they threw his way and were successful.
On regular situations, 2nd and 5 in the first quarter, he couldn't stop anything then either. I started blitzing more because I feared what this guy was going to give up. I was
Colorado, it was my 6th year and I was coming off an
11-2 season and a big bowl win over, if memory serves,
Penn State.
I had an
A+ schedule, because I don't like playing cupcakes when my team is loaded. And that Freshman CB nearly cost me
4 games out of the first six. I was
5-1... he did cost me a game against
Oklahoma... but could have easily been
1-5 all because of him.
If you looked at his numbers they were insanely good. As a coach you felt like you had
Lester Hayes or
Charles Woodson on the field. Only he turned out to be
Toast. He couldn't defend, he couldn't tackle... he played six games and then played a few times when an injury occurred. He ended w/
1 interception and that was off a tipped pass. He was actually out of position but the ball deflected to him.
I've had other guys who never really lived up to their recruiting status, but none ever as badly as him.