Georgia Tech has a official visitor coming in

Buzztheirazz

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I wonder what our stopwatches said....

He doesn't look 4.5 fast to me but looks like a baller. Def had some athleticism in those runbacks....
 

daBuzz

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965
I wonder what our stopwatches said....

He doesn't look 4.5 fast to me but looks like a baller. Def had some athleticism in those runbacks....

I concur. He has ball skills but I would bet that 4.51 time was a very generous time by the holder of the stopwatch. He has some athleticism with the ball in the air and the ball in his hands though.
 

Techster

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Kinda reminds me of a smaller Dawan Landry.

Super physical, and excels at playing close to the LOS. Don't think he's a 4.5 guy (yet)...but has adequate speed for this level. Fans get blinded by the 4.3-4.4 talk that they forget not many people run that. 4.5 is pretty darn fast for any level of football.
 
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Shaun Kagawa will be taking a official visit to Georgia Tech starting on Tuesday.

He's from Hawaii... Signed with Army's prep school out of HS but didn't like it when he got there so he decided to leave...you have two years to leave without a transfer punishment. He then signed with SMU in February but something happened with that and he's back on the market again.

He tells me he's down to Wyoming, Hawaii and GT.















Georgia Tech hasn't offered yet but he says he was told that we would offer during his visit.


Is he that 380 lb. running back?
 

daBuzz

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Kinda reminds me of a smaller Dawan Landry.

Super physical, and excels at playing close to the LOS. Don't think he's a 4.5 guy (yet)...but has adequate speed for this level. Fans get blinded by the 4.3-4.4 talk that they forget not many people run that. 4.5 is pretty darn fast for any level of football.

I'm not basing it on 4.5; I'm basing my judgement on the fact that on almost every long run, he's being overtaken by someone. That's high school competition he's facing and the competition at Tech and vs our opponents will only be faster and stronger.

I think the kid's a good player but I wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't say that I have a concern about his speed relative to other people on the field.
 

Techster

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17,714
I'm not basing it on 4.5; I'm basing my judgement on the fact that on almost every long run, he's being overtaken by someone. That's high school competition he's facing and the competition at Tech and vs our opponents will only be faster and stronger.

I think the kid's a good player but I wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't say that I have a concern about his speed relative to other people on the field.

I agree. Does seem like he gets run down a lot...something you don't like to see on highlight films. Recruits on this level should usually be one of the fastest if not the fastest player on the field in his tape. Even on his Army prep tape it doesn't seem like he's one of the faster guys on the field. Just my opinion.
 

danny daniel

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I agree. Does seem like he gets run down a lot...something you don't like to see on highlight films. Recruits on this level should usually be one of the fastest if not the fastest player on the field in his tape. Even on his Army prep tape it doesn't seem like he's one of the faster guys on the field. Just my opinion.

You are probably right on long haul runs as his top end seems to flatten out. However, his short bursts are quick. I almost believe a 4.5 in the 40 with his good start but probably in the 11s in the 100. What I saw on the tape was a game savvy, instinctive, tough football player with ball awareness and more than adequate closing speed. As a yardstick he is faster than Godhigh and much faster than Lothridge, a couple of pretty fair ballplayers.
I once played with a DB whose best time in the 100 yds was 11.3 but I never saw anybody beat him in a 30 yd burst. He caught the fastest RB in the state (and later GT track star) from the back on a breakaway twice in one game with that short burst. I like this player because he has "natural" instincts that cannot be taught.
 

Techster

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You are probably right on long haul runs as his top end seems to flatten out. However, his short bursts are quick. I almost believe a 4.5 in the 40 with his good start but probably in the 11s in the 100. What I saw on the tape was a game savvy, instinctive, tough football player with ball awareness and more than adequate closing speed. As a yardstick he is faster than Godhigh and much faster than Lothridge, a couple of pretty fair ballplayers.
I once played with a DB whose best time in the 100 yds was 11.3 but I never saw anybody beat him in a 30 yd burst. He caught the fastest RB in the state (and later GT track star) from the back on a breakaway twice in one game with that short burst. I like this player because he has "natural" instincts that cannot be taught.

I agree he has great short space quickness and seems to have great reaction and instincts. Looks like he committed to Ma Tech so we'll get so see those qualities on the Flats the next few years!
 

croberts

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Reminds me of two Jackets, tape from 5 years ago out of Fitzgerald in the way he plays around the ball and Mr. golden setting up his blocks down field after getting the ball in his hands. If he turns into a player anything like Jemea or Golden we will all be happy. In looking at the film, looks more like running smart , not running slow.
 

InsideLB

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Agree people confuse top end speed witb 40 yd dash speed.

Some guys top out after 30 or 40 yds and others keep accelerating. Dwyer was a 4.55 guy but get him loose past 30 or 40 yds and he pulled away from almost everybody.

You can have a good 40 time based on mostly your first 20 to 30 yds. Kawgawa is this type of player which is fine for what we want.
 

Boomergump

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Dwyer was a 4.55 guy but get him loose past 30 or 40 yds and he pulled away from almost everybody.

Dwyer was never caught by anybody who didn't have an angle. Never. Not that I remember anyway. So the word "almost" can probably be removed. You are quite correct when talking about speed. Probably the most effectively fast player in the secondary of the game of football was Deion Sanders and even he didn't have amazing 40 times when compared to others. However, if you timed him from yard 5 until yard 45 he would blow away the field. His closing speed was ridiculous.

What do football players really need to have in terms of speed? Well, I guess it depends on position. I will say this much though, a guys ability to change direction and accelerate over 10-20 yard distances, in short bursts, will be tested 20 fold over his top end speed during the course of any contest. It is just the nature of the game.
 
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