Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Originally posted by doc_brown_:
Patton has better hands? W. t are you basing this analysis on?
In fact, AJ's hands are just fine. Remember, he was called E.T. in high school because he has giant mits. He did drop the only pass thrown his way in the pros, but that was because of nerves. AJ's a smooth athlete, with great deep speed and good natural hands. Let's hope he's conditioned himself to be stronger. The added strength should boost his confidence this season.
As for Patton, I'm not exactly sure why players like him slip in the draft. At the Senior Bowl, he showed off his receiving talents, determination and overall love for the game. He had a productive career in 2 years of college and reminds people of Reggie Wayne. The knock on him is absence of elite speed, lack of strength and inability to make tough catches. But I think this guy is a gamer, who loves to compete and who should make a strong push for playing time this season.
Not sure where you got this inability to make tough catches from but he made some ridiculous circus catches that left guys like Johntyan Banks and DJ Hayden simply shaking their heads, he came up huge in the clutch, his biggest issue was dealing with jams at the line and needing to add strength when going up against more physical cornerbacks. Hands wise, Patton is golden...3 drops out of 150+ targets is ridiculous.
Read it here:
In his two seasons at Louisiana Tech (after transferring from junior college), Patton had 2,594 receiving yards, 24 touchdown catches and averaged 14.2 yards per catch. Some NFL scouts compared the two-time All-Western Athletic Conference receiver to Reggie Wayne, a receiver who has had an outstanding career in Indianapolis. They like Patton's speed, size, separation and route-running skills, but question his ability to battle for contested balls. (http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/Patton-May-Give-49ers-a-Receiver-Worth-Saluting-205407751.html)
From the tape I've seen, I agree with you that Patton seems to have a knack for coming up with the ball. But after reading this, I figured there were "lowlights" that I haven't seen. After all, he did drop to the 4th round.