usama young vs. the draft

The trouble is that none of us actually know how good he is, he simply didn't have enough playing time in real games for non-coaches lik us to make any informed opinion about his readiness to start.

He was considered pretty good at Kent State of course and I think he played all 12 games in his final year, but even in a small college he wasn't considered a shut-down cornerback and apparently struggled sometimes to read receivers.

We picked him because of his raw physical tools which are exceptional and hope he can learn enough of the 'mental' side of the game to make the step up in the same way Jahri Evans did, but having watched him on the field for a few downs against the Bears as a nickle back he didn't look all that assured in his reading of the plays and still appeared to need a lot of time.

My concern is that we were a bit overimpressed at his workout warrior status and overlooked the high-level of rawness....Given the way football works nowadays, if Usama takes two more years to make it to the starting lineup and become a useful starter, then there's every chance we'll immediately lose him in free agency, because his contract will be up just as he blossoms.

That's the trouble with raw, long-term potential players :(