Jordan Lasley- The Fifth Element

[diamondbull424]

So this started as a rant in one of the other threads about WRs in Ravens history not having panned out. But there is enough debate on Lasley that I believe he deserves his own thread. Thus let us begin: 

On the fact that Lasley is a 5th round pick

This draft is different. A 4th/5th rounder in this draft class Is equal to a 2nd/3rd round pick in most classes. It’s a middle heavy draft class. What’s more the perceived receiver run that was assumed to take place heavily in the 2nd/3rd round never truly materialized. Teams decided that because of the wealth of receivers, they could go defense and dive into the WR position at a later time. So the talent was pushed down the board.

Lasley especially, is akin to a guy like Arden Key, a 1st round talent that fell because of character concerns. Jordan is not quite a first round talent. But he’s definitely not a 5th round talent. I didn’t watch his tape until late in the draft process, but when I did, he instantly jumped off the screen.

Lastly, we’ve heard the track record that Ravens late round picks don’t work out. Well in Baltimore Ravens history, they had only ever drafted one player from UCLA prior to 2018; that was Jonathan Ogden in 1996. Based off of our UCLA track record of picks both Jordan Lasley and Kenny Young will be Hall of Famers.

His hands are terrible

For all the talk of Lasley having 14 drops over the past two seasons. It seems 11 of those drops came on a 41 reception, 92 Target sophomore campaign. After a horrific season of drops, Lasley started practicing his catches from the juggs machine with a new twist. In 2017, Lasley improved and had 3 drops on 69 receptions. That displays a major commitment to work ethic, dedication, and improvement.

He Has Serious Character Concerns

Arrests

He was arrested twice in 2016; the first time for using a fake ID to purchase alcohol and the second time for using a fake ID to try and sneak into a Hollywood club. The first incident had the charges dropped and the second incident never resulted in a charge. What’s more, I wouldn’t classify McLuvin incidents that result in arrests as “serious character concerns”. I classify these arrests as a lack of maturity.

Suspensions

He was suspended for the above incidents as well as for oversleeping and missing the team bus in 2016. Also he was suspended from practice for getting into a fight with a cornerback (Michael Crabtree anyone?) In 2017, Lasley was suspended another 3 games. There has been no information leaked as to why, but there was reddit speculation that it was for a very dramatic social media post that was made. Mora when speaking on the subject seemed to strongly hint at the suspension being maturity related.

The Untold Story of Lasley’s UCLA Impact

We continue to tell the above narratives but what isn’t being told is how Jordan Lasley meant more to UCLAs passing game production as Josh Rosen. You doubt me? Well consider that in the games that Lasley played, the passing game averaged 395 yds/game. In games without Lasley, but with Rosen; the passing game average only 218 yds/game. On the other side in games with Rosen quarterbacking the passing game average 369 yds/game; in games without Rosen, but with Lasley the passing game averaged 295 yds/game. Combine this with Jordan Lasley’s college dominator rating and it tells the story of a receiver who had a very underrated impact on his teams offense.

The Production

In 2017, Jordan Lasley missed 4 of the 13 UCLA games. Three to suspensions and one to injury. That said, of the 9 games that he played in, he had a college dominator rating of 41.4% with 69 recs for 1264 yds (18.3 avg), an 8.8 yds average after the catch, all with hauling in 9 TDs. Coming back from his suspension to put up 162 receiving yards and then two games over 200 yards. If we take his season averages and extrapolated it over the entirety of 13 games, he would have put up 1826 yds receiving and 13 TDs.

The Fifth Element

Yup, we got THAT guy in the 5th round. Why? Because he’s immature and overly competitive. Does this sound like any of the receivers that the Ravens have ever drafted? If Lasley sounds more like Chad Johnson or Odell Beckham than he does Mark Clayton and Torrey Smith, then I have to ask you, is that REALLY a bad thing? He’s unlike anything we’ve ever had at receiver. And we got Lasley in the 5th round. He is the Fifth Element (the nickname finally fits and you heard it here first).

 

[drd23]

 You sure renamed the thread real quick @diamondbull424

I do agree that the red flags with him are oversold.  All his problems in college relate to being an immature kid that needs to grow up.  Hopefully being around professionals (instead of college kids that just feed his ego) will help him become more responsible.  I agree with Matt Waldman who believes that, purely from a football perspective, him missing a team bus is actually the worst thing he's done in terms of "character concerns".

Hopefully he does grow up and his on field production at UCLA translates to the NFL.  If it does, I agree that we could have a very good WR indeed

[DreamKid]

31 minutes ago, diamondbull424 said:

This draft is different. A 4th/5th rounder in this draft class Is equal to a 2nd/3rd round pick in most classes. It’s a middle heavy draft class.

Great great post DB. I really don't know why most people don't get the above either. This is the deepest WR class I've ever seen, all it lacked was multiple elite options at the top. Look at Mr. Irrelevant even, Trey Quinn is a great player. Hell, Deontay Burnett went undrafted.

I also view Lasley as a 2nd round talent. From his cut ups that I watched this year I saw 2 drops, one was a concentration drop and the other was a ball thrown behind him that he tried to adjust to. He's a great player and his tape is better than Torrey's was coming out.

Jaleel is no different, I won't say there was a consensus because many just labeled him the typical big man, but he had early round hype going into the process. He disappeared after his Senior Bowl performance but his bullet proof tape is undeniable. I couldn't be more excited with the two talents we added at WR. 

 

 

[RavensDefense3]

i don't know if its just me but he looked really smooth/natural running those routes on that  video.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

His drops alone are what turn me off about him. Character issues are just a bonus.

[diamondbull424]

1 hour ago, drd23 said:

 You sure renamed the thread real quick @diamondbull424

 

Didn’t think anyone would notice. I was having a hard time deciding between the two titles. ? 

57 minutes ago, DreamKid said:

I also view Lasley as a 2nd round talent. From his cut ups that I watched this year I saw 2 drops, one was a concentration drop and the other was a ball thrown behind him that he tried to adjust to. He's a great player and his tape is better than Torrey's was coming out.

Yup, on tape his hands never appeared to pop out to me as an issue. He’s a natural hands catcher that will go out of his frame to get a ball. With Torrey, even when he trained himself to be a hands catcher it always looked robotic and forced. Combine that with his almost 10” hands and I definitely think focus was his issue vs simply not having natural hands, like Torrey.

Considering the stories about his 2016 season where he got busted trying to buy booze and go to a Hollywood club, I wonder if the drops and missing the team bus weren’t alcohol related.

Obviously this is just a wild assumption, but if the first premise is true, then one might have to wonder if the 3 game suspension in 2017!might not have been related to Lasley falling back into a drinking problem that coach Mora was looking to correct before it became an issue again. I mean because you have to wonder why the coach wouldn’t speak on why he’s disciplining the player, an addiction wouldn’t certainly explain why he would be open about the team bus suspension, but not about the 3 game suspension.

[DreamKid]

2 minutes ago, diamondbull424 said:

I mean because you have to wonder why the coach wouldn’t speak on why he’s disciplining the player, an addiction wouldn’t certainly explain why he would be open about the team bus suspension, but not about the 3 game suspension.

The team bus thing is a pretty common punishment. It's an easy headline. I don't think addiction is an issue, because that's just a separate entity. He and Mora enjoyed a special relationship and he wouldn't suspend him for being an addict, he'd have him take a leave of absence from the team and get help. It's likely just a maturity issue like getting in a beef online with another player, or maybe arguing in class with an ex etc etc. A headline that would look worse for him than the punishment given. I don't believe there's any one big issue hanging out there, it's more an unfortunate pattern of little f'ups that made teams steer clear. 

[DreamKid]

1 hour ago, diamondbull424 said:

For all the talk of Lasley having 14 drops over the past two seasons. It seems 11 of those drops came on a 41 reception, 92 Target sophomore campaign. After a horrific season of drops, Lasley started practicing his catches from the juggs machine with a new twist.

Here is a great interview where right at the beginning you gain insight into him as a player. His worst game of the season was his 2nd against Memphis, he had a few catches but they pressed him up pretty good and clearly you can see how much that drove him to make technical progressions which show up as you track his season. He's specifically talks about watching tape, emulating Jerry Rice, and being a workhorse off the field. He's switched on mentally and has an ability to progress and translate skills very quickly. The exact opposite of Perriman. I'm expecting a big preseason from him, you can just tell he's different from who we usually draft.

 

[diamondbull424]

I swear this guy just reminds me of Chad Johnson. Someone that’s just kind of a good guy that sometimes goes a little too far when having fun and it bites him in the butt. But he’s got passion, he’s got swagger, and he’s technically sound.

No offense to Jaleel Scott, but we’ve had guys of his ilk from a mental standpoint. I question his mental toughness. When I hear Lasley speak, he reminds me of a Russell Westbrook that you’ll see all smiles one minute, but is ready to eat faces the next. Chad Johnson had that type of competitive nature. So while Ocho Cinco was viewed by some to be a distraction his immense work ethic was never in question and his teammates always seemed to have his back.

I think that’s just the kind of attitude a receiver needs to be great in the NFL. Someone elsewhere mentioned his tweet about taking notes ? on being passed, I love it. He’s proven he does a great job using that fire to get better.

Someone also mentioned not liking a tweet of him saying next generation with Lamar Jackson. I actually love that. He’s a rookie, but already planning to be great. He’s spoke it into existence, if he comes in and struggles then he can shut up. But I like receivers that talk a good game (like Shannon Sharpe) as long as they back it up.

[drd23]

6 minutes ago, diamondbull424 said:

Someone also mentioned not liking a tweet of him saying next generation with Lamar Jackson

I'm not trying to put words into @Mancunian Raven's mouth, but I think that might be a cultural thing.  That sort of brashness/swagger is celebrated in much of America, but elsewhere in the world, like Australia and I think the UK, it is looked down upon

[DreamKid]

6 minutes ago, drd23 said:

I'm not trying to put words into @Mancunian Raven's mouth, but I think that might be a cultural thing.  That sort of brashness/swagger is celebrated in much of America, but elsewhere in the world, like Australia and I think the UK, it is looked down upon

Boy did I find that out when I didn't understand why so many people from Ireland were writing hate articles about Conor Mcgregor during his rise. The old guard of boxing journalists and dull sport enthusiasts, dragged Conor so hard despite all the glory he won his country. It's sad how much confidence, evolution, and the breaking of stereotypes can unnerve some people. 

[Danand]

I will happily admit, that I read about his multiple off field issues combined with the fights in practice and with the drops, I quickly discarded him and didn't watch much on him as I thought he would be the kind of player, that wouldn't be on our board.

If he is actually just an immature kid, but will learn from his mistakes, he could very well end up being one of our most talented wide receivers drafted.

[Mancunian Raven]

16 hours ago, drd23 said:

I'm not trying to put words into @Mancunian Raven's mouth, but I think that might be a cultural thing.  That sort of brashness/swagger is celebrated in much of America, but elsewhere in the world, like Australia and I think the UK, it is looked down upon

The brashness is certainly off-putting, in and of itself, and that probably is a cultural thing. My favourite NFL players are the low key, quiet guys who do their jobs and don't swagger about the place. I loved Boldin's TD celebration consisting simply of handing the ball to a fan, and I love Joe Flacco's stoic demeanour. In my view, those who shout the loudest are the most desperate to be heard.

But in Lasley's case I'd forgive that arrogance if he had earned the status to talk himself up as a star. Until he does, I'd much rather see him knuckle down, and get to work. Make the roster first, before he brags about being part of the new era.

[DreamKid]

 

[DreamKid]

On 5/2/2018 at 11:49 AM, Mancunian Raven said:

The brashness is certainly off-putting, in and of itself, and that probably is a cultural thing. My favourite NFL players are the low key, quiet guys who do their jobs and don't swagger about the place.

Lasley ain't hearing none of that.