Random info I heard on D-Lo.....

[kkolumbo 8]

So before my flight to Florida yesterday I ran into someone who noticed that I was carrying the "All In" book and saw the AU stuff on my car. Of course the guy asks if I'm an AU fan and I said, "very big AU fan". He replied, "oh that's cool my cousin plays for Auburn and I played at Samford under Pat Sullivan". So his cousin was "Meat" McNeal.

Anyways we get to talking about the team and different players and he said that he attended a few of the summer workouts this year and his eyes LIT UP, when he talked about D-Lo. He said he walked onto the field to watch and immediately yells "who in the **** is that guy?" They said, "oh yeah, that's Benton...straight beast".

He said that D-Lo still isn't quite the best route runner yet, but was absolutely unbeatable on the deep balls and was just physically a freak as of then.

Anyways just figured I'd pass that along.

[AUGRAD86 0]

Pulling for him to finally realize his potential this year. I believe it's now or never for him.

[Elephant Tipper 430]

Thanks for your post.  I've been eager for him to succeed.  Things have just needed (still do) to jell for him.  Always convinced he'd be an impact player.

WDE !!!

[guerra aguila 0]

I read some good stuff about D-Lo today, I think he will embrace this opportunity to shine.

[tbone4jc 2,241]

I eally believe D-Lo will be special this year. I believe he realized this is it for him, time to go from potential to productive! It is time for him to take advantage of CGM and CTT knowledge and instructions, be coachable, and thrive like we believe he can! War Eagle

[NoALtiger 3,873]

He certainly has the opportunity this year. It's getting now or never time for him. Hope he understands that and takes advantage of his chance to shine. We're pulling for ya D-Lo!

[ff4autigers 0]

[kingofhill1 2]

Going into his third pre-season he should be one of the best route runners by now.

[aujacobs 0]

Say for instance that D-Lo does turn it up this year. Regardless of who our QB is, with D-Lo, Lutz, Reed, Blake, Bray, and Coates to throw too, they'll have a wealth of talent to chose from. Gus has plenty to work with. Looking foward to see what he can do with all this talent. WDE!!!!!

[mustache eagle 2,416]

how can a college athlete not be able to be a good route runner by his third fall ... am i missing something?  cant be rocket science can it ... is it that complicated?

[Tiger Growlin 0]

Running great routes sounds simple, but I promise you is it's very complicated. It's a lot more than just running and cutting. It's as much mental as it is physical. Running the route the right way depends a lot of times on the type of coverage in front of you. Press coverage vs soft coverage changes the route and reading the coverage is critical. There is a lot that goes into it. The wr must get lined up correctly, read the coverage, adjust the route if needed and run it in a way that it doesn't throw off the timing of the qb.

[aurules16 0]

"Sometimes it’s a mental thing. You get tired and you’re not that can hurt you. I’m very comfortable now with the offense. I’ve been in it going on my third year, this is the time. Just sit back and get your popcorn. This is the year."

Benton said that STRAIGHT up yesterday. He is my favorite player on the team and I'm pulling for him hard.

WD Benton!

[mustache eagle 2,416]

"Sometimes it’s a mental thing. You get tired and you’re not that can hurt you. I’m very comfortable now with the offense. I’ve been in it going on my third year, this is the time. Just sit back and get your popcorn. This is the year."

Benton said that STRAIGHT up yesterday. He is my favorite player on the team and I'm pulling for him hard.

WD Benton!

glad to hear him say that.  i have predicted that he was auburn's breakout player this year, guess i was fretting his "route running" was going to hose up my prediction. 

[DThriftWarEagle 3]

I'm rooting for Benton to break out too.

[Defense(clap clap) 4]

This is from Jay Tate's blog...

DeAngelo Benton said he never asks coaches why he doesn’t play more. And it’s not because he’s mindful of protocol. “I know why I haven’t been in,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t running it full speed. Coach Malzahn wants you to run full speed every play.”

[easnoddy 0]

Hopefully he will turn out to be a Greg Childs/Alshon Jeffrey/Julio Jones type physical receiver for us this year.  He won't get the credit these guys do regardless, but it would be nice to have a dominant downfield player.

I see Davin Adams as more of a AJ Green type but not quite the physical control that AJ has.

[Richard78 73]

Reminds me a bit of a surprise conversation I had with my stepdaughter recently. She's telling some story and mentions her friend "Trey" (how I heard it). I say, That's funny, Auburn signed a really good football player from here in south Florida named Tre Mason. She said, Yeah, that's him. Turns out she's been good friends with him for several years.

[Rednilla 5,401]

Running great routes sounds simple, but I promise you is it's very complicated. It's a lot more than just running and cutting. It's as much mental as it is physical. Running the route the right way depends a lot of times on the type of coverage in front of you. Press coverage vs soft coverage changes the route and reading the coverage is critical. There is a lot that goes into it. The wr must get lined up correctly, read the coverage, adjust the route if needed and run it in a way that it doesn't throw off the timing of the qb.

Agreed 100%. People don't realize how much goes into playing football sometimes. And there's one more thing that plays in, too, and that's the fact that it's a human being across the line, and he's trying to read you, too, so you can't give anything away. You have to be consistent with your hands before the snap (often, receivers will get antsy fingers when they know the ball is coming their way; this is why coaches teach them to clench their fists pre-snap while bending their elbows to get ready to sprint), can't be leaning too much one way or the other because it tips which way you're going to cut, and the less amount of time spent preparing for the cut (chopping feet, slowing a bit, etc), the better, because sudden movements are always the hardest to predict.

And this is just a quick look into a receiver's mentality. On a pass play. When he is likely to be the intended target.

My baseball coach once said football isn't nearly the thinking man's game that baseball is. Now, I understand what he's getting at, but I still take issue with it. A great deal goes on in the game within the game that the casual fan simply doesn't get.

[Rednilla 5,401]

With regard to Benton, here's hoping that he steps up this year. He has all the talent in the world and the experience to make a critical impact on this team. If he plays up to his potential, then that's two outstanding upper class wideouts and an outstanding upper class tight end to go along with a bevy of talented youth...which is about what you want. It would make it that much easier to let Coates and Denson cut their teeth on special teams rather than being forced in before they are ready (Sammie looks ready right now, but it's nice to have the younger guys pushing the upperclassmen rather having to step in regardless of readiness).

[catch8185 4]

Yeah, I kind of thought the same thing about having experience and wondering about the route running.  Seems like you often hear that a guy is a great route runner, or more like just has a knack for the ball.  I get the impression Benton was probably more like the second.  And ... I can only imagine how precise Gus expects it to be.  Seems like I remember seeing one of the video clips with either Gus or Trooper and they were reprimanding one of the guys for running 8 or 9 yds. on a route that was supposed to be 7 yds.  (Something like that).  I've never had the opportunity to watch him (DB) that closely in practice or games, (injuries have hampered that some), but being as highly rated as he was, I wasn't too surprised.  Sounds like a kid that could probably get by on athletic ability alone.  But Malzahn being who he is, you would think that he is not going to let athleticism outweigh precision for very long. 

I was excited when we first got Benton to sign.  He was a major recruiting steal.  But yeah, like the rest, I'm hoping he can live up to his potential.  We are always in need of a physical receiver and not just a possession receiver.  Darvin was pretty smooth and pretty clutch.  Tillman was my favorite though.  You always felt like he might come down with it.  Blake seems like he could fill our possession receiver pretty well, but we need a guy like Benton (or Coates) to just go up and get it and bring it down to stretch the field.

[Elephant Tipper 430]

"Time may be running out for Auburn's Benton" Medium length.  Insightful.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110807/SPORTS0402/108070330/Time-may-running-out-Auburn-s-Benton

http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/14975723/article-Benton%E2%80%99s-time-has-arrived-at-Auburn?instance=sports_top

“He’s got a great opportunity right now,” Malzahn said of Benton. “We need him to rise up. So far in camp, he’s off to a very good start. We’ve told him he needs to be consistent. So far so good. He just needs to keep getting better, keep improving.”

“Now is the time to put it together - to show Malzahn that I’m feelingreal comfortable and that I’ll be an impact player for this upcomingseason,” Benton said. “I know this right here is my chance. Probably my last one.”

We're pulling for you D-Lo !

WDE !!!

[AuburnSpider 2]

Same story every preseason.  I hope this is the year the light goes on upstairs.

[Rednilla 5,401]

Same story every preseason.  I hope this is the year the light goes on upstairs.

If you're referring to D-Lo specifically, I can't agree; the last two years he's been sitting behind Darvin, who never came off the field. This is his time; not when he was a true freshman a year and a half removed from football activity, and not when he was a sophomore with only bit participation in anything other than special teams.

Matter of fact, the more I think about it, the more I think he's going to step up and make waves this year. Come midseason, I expect he'll be one of the more feared receivers in the SEC. Maybe I'm getting too far ahead of myself, but I sincerely believe the light IS going to come on for him...

[AuburnSpider 2]

We agree to disagree.  With his attributes many expected more.  To his credit injuries happen.

[3rdgen 2]

I agree with red. Nobody outside the team expected darvin to have the 2009 season he had. Once that happened combined with benton being bitten by the injury bug and the emergence of emory blake as the 3rd wr it was highly unlikely benton would see the field much till darvin left.