'19 VA ATH Litchfield Ajavon (Notre Dame Signee)

[BobbyMac]

This might be an all time worst. I've watched every tape at some point and I do take into account combine #'s... not a Sparq score so much as the performances at Powerball and Vert that give you a Watson or a Cross score don't disqualify you from being elite. Ajavon is an elite safety prospect along with guys like Nick Cross, Noa Pola-Gates, Brian Williams, Brendan Gant, Jaylan McCollough, Jamal Morris, etc.

His overall Sparq is meaningless to me. He's a highly accomplished hurdler. He can run on the low sside of the 4.6's and more impotantly, plays fast. If you look at his tape, you'd think the only guys as track fast as him would be Williams and Pola-Gates. He plays just as fast as Cross who has freakish measurables. He had a bad PB effort which is a big who cares as a data point. If he throws a 43 instead of a 35, he's a 105 and everyone at 247 still thinks he's still a 4.5*

Stars and ratings don't matter on an individual basis in regards to the prospect you are getting and their potential on the field production. 5* DB Max Redfield vs 3* DB Julian Love proves the point. Give me a team full of Ajavon-type 3 & low 4 stars, an All American corner, a couple of DL's that create consistent chaos, a typical ND O-line and a QB that has IT and you can win an NC just like Clemson did in '16.

 

[zelezo vlk]

To couple with what Crus has said, this kid is a great fit for ND. Listen to the interview he did with ISD last year and tell me you don't want that kid with a golden helmet.

 

[BobbyMac]

To couple with what Crus has said, this kid is a great fit for ND. Listen to the interview he did with ISD last year and tell me you don't want that kid with a golden helmet.

Thank you for posting that because I meant to touch on that. He checks all my favorite off field boxes.

 

[NDMIA]

And sprinkle in a few Jaylon Smith and Quenton Nelson 5*'s to add to ur combo and were winning natty's in no time.

 

[Southside Sully]

Seems like a straight minded kid. I don't think the ratings would bother him, and if they do, I like a little chip on anyones shoulder to prove them wrong. Will look good in Blue and Gold on Saturdays.

 

[snoopdog]

Great article on Baker Mayfield on the SI website regarding this very thing.

He went to an elite 11 camp...and being only 6'0"was treated like dogsh*t, despite being the best quarterback there (his assessment). He said in the article these camps are a joke because they base everything on the irelevant

 

[OCIrish]

Who was the kid out of Texas last year who's Sparq score was off the charts, and I don't believe his offer list was anything to write home about???? Kid was practically begging for a ND offer, and never got one. Test scores only tell one part of a story.

 

[Luckylucci]

Great article on Baker Mayfield on the SI website regarding this very thing.

He went to an elite 11 camp...and being only 6'0"was treated like dogsh*t, despite being the best quarterback there (his assessment). He said in the article these camps are a joke because they base everything on the irelevant

I wouldn’t go as far to say irrelevant. Movement skills are a part of evaluations and in a lot of cases, you can judge that better in a camp setting or an in person eval.

I think that the testing portion is the least relevant, especially for players at this stage. I’d rather see how fluid a CB’s hips are versus whether or not he can run a 4.5 40 at 16/17.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I wouldn’t go as far to say irrelevant. Movement skills are a part of evaluations and in a lot of cases, you can judge that better in a camp setting or an in person eval.

I think that the testing portion is the least relevant, especially for players at this stage. I’d rather see how fluid a CB’s hips are versus whether or not he can run a 4.5 40 at 16/17.

What's the hit rate on these camps at QB? How often are the kids they identify the most effective in college? How often are they getting drafted? How often are they the best pros?

 

[NDdomer2]

Are those schools that offered still recruiting him though?

I just watched his film for the first time. I'd give him a 3 star rating. I dont see a tangy athlete that can cover the field, I see a hard hitter but average speed for D1. Not great size either.

Based on their film, I would have personally graded Studstill higher if they were in same year. I dont think he's a non factor, and I think he'll play at ND, but he's definitely not a can't miss IMO.

 

[snoopdog]

I wouldn’t go as far to say irrelevant. Movement skills are a part of evaluations and in a lot of cases, you can judge that better in a camp setting or an in person eval.

I think that the testing portion is the least relevant, especially for players at this stage. I’d rather see how fluid a CB’s hips are versus whether or not he can run a 4.5 40 at 16/17.

Mayfield said it was based on confimation bias.

Because it isn't football, they extrapolate the drills to actually playing football........ which is ludicrous.

Its like the recent assessments of Trevor Lawrence vs PJ. Everything that Lawrence does is mind blowing great, and everything that PJ does is really good. Which is bullsh*t. Despite everything PJ did on the field was sublime, the subjective (ie irrelevant) tests prove that Lawrence is 5 star and PJ a mid level 4 star.

 

[Luckylucci]

Mayfield said it was based on confimation bias.

Because it isn't football, they extrapolate the drills to actually playing football........ which is ludicrous.

Its like the recent assessments of Trevor Lawrence vs PJ. Everything that Lawrence does is mind blowing great, and everything that PJ does is really good. Which is bullsh*t. Despite everything PJ did on the field was sublime, the subjective (ie irrelevant) tests prove that Lawrence is 5 star and PJ a mid level 4 star.

This isn't a QB only conversation we're having, as it relates to all position groups. More broadly speaking. I think that camp setting like drills are more helpful for different position groups than others, and that overall it should be a smaller relative portion of the overall eval, for any/all position groups. Some even smaller than others. However, they are certainly not irrelevant. The NFL combine, with an incredible amount of money at stake, uses a lot of the same movement drills for CB's, S's, LB's, DL, QB's, etc. So do NFL teams with their off season workouts. So, to say it's irrelevant when the highest level of the sport uses them, is a little much.

My point is, you are right in that it's bogus that they are making these decisions with a majority of the eval coming from these camps. I was already making that point, so we agree. But to say all of the drills are irrelevant, you are going to lose me there.

 

[Luckylucci]

What's the hit rate on these camps at QB? How often are the kids they identify the most effective in college? How often are they getting drafted? How often are they the best pros?

See above.

 

[snoopdog]

This isn't a QB only conversation we're having, as it relates to all position groups. More broadly speaking. I think that camp setting like drills are more helpful for different position groups than others, and that overall it should be a smaller relative portion of the overall eval, for any/all position groups. Some even smaller than others. However, they are certainly not irrelevant. The NFL combine, with an incredible amount of money at stake, uses a lot of the same movement drills for CB's, S's, LB's, DL, QB's, etc. So do NFL teams with their off season workouts. So, to say it's irrelevant when the highest level of the sport uses them, is a little much.

My point is, you are right in that it's bogus that they are making these decisions with a majority of the eval coming from these camps. I was already making that point, so we agree. But to say all of the drills are irrelevant, you are going to lose me there.

I agree that we mostly agree...but I was going to use the NFL Combine as a basis for my argument...but was to lazy.

The biggest mistakes NFL GM's make is using the combine to reassess the ability of talent.

If a player lights it up on the field fine. But if a 4.35 wide receiver struggles in NCAA Div ....they are going to struggle in the NFL. Football is football and testing is testing.

SO if AL runs 4.65 as a 16-17 year old safety in High School, but kicks ass on the field, there is zero justification for using those numbers to down grade his potential. His original grade was based performance, his downgrade was based on flawed adult thinking on what football is.


And I do think we largely agree on this

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Classic. Must spread reps around.

 

[Luckylucci]

And as I said in post #128, the testing portion is the least relevant piece of an eval. I would never discount it completely but it would never be a major portion.

But, there is more to the combine and these camps than just testing numbers. They put all position groups through various movement drills. Those are actually quite important, IMO. For example, monitoring tightness of hips and shoulders for CB's, S's, and WR's.

 

[NDGOLDEN]

Just tweeted out he’s committing tomorrow! Doesn’t say where but it’s pretty obvious

 

[ResLife Hero]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Commitment tomorrow at 3:00 pm 🙏</p>— Litchfield Ajavon (@litch_ajavon) <a href="https://twitter.com/litch_ajavon/status/987502039650496513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[clashmore_mike]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">100% committed, can’t wait to start a new chapter in my life! <a href="https://t.co/aOTMNaovqX">pic.twitter.com/aOTMNaovqX</a></p>— Litchfield Ajavon (@litch_ajavon) <a href="https://twitter.com/litch_ajavon/status/987769321354153985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[stlnd01]

Yes. Nice video, too.

 

[BobbyMac]

KAPOOOOOOOOW!

 

[Luckylucci]

Awesome. Welcome to ND Litchfield! Our expected S depth chart is going to be unreal. Allen/Griffith followed by Ajavon/Hamilton. Crazy to think about with where we were to start the 16’ season.

 

[Luckylucci]

He did an interview with ISD. One of my favorite interviews from a prospect ever.

 

[EddytoNow]

Ajavon is a welcome addition to the team. There are football players and there are athletes who play on a football team. Ajavon is a football player. He has a head for the game to go along with his physical tools and will add to the quality defense being assembled at Notre Dame.

 

[Irish#1]

Welcome young man

 

[HawaiianIrish]

Cheeeeee huuuuuuuuuuu

 

[zelezo vlk]

Awesome sauce.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[irishff1014]

Another great pick up. Welcome to ND young man.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

 

[Luckylucci]

Bump, I just love the dancing dinosaur.