Danario Alexander and the NFL Draft: The Sound of Silence

I doubt that there been a BCS skill position player with a lower ratio of draft chatter to performance in the modern era. Hell, even BJ Symons and Sonnie Cumbie got talked about. NOBODY is talking about Danario Alexander. Mel Kiper has him as the 4th best senior wideout, and has for quite awhile. But he has not mentioned him (despite my many, many chat questions). A survey of the lesser known draft sites reveals a smattering of love hims and hate hims, but not from anybody I would consider overly credible. You might come across some raging debates between internet fans (hey! who you callin’ an internet fan??), who would fight over the color of the noon-time sky. But you aren’t going to find any in depth analysis from any of the major talking heads, and nary a mention from the big dogs at espn. What is going on?

Some of the uninformed opinions floating around made me smile and might shed a little light on the answer. One, obviously, Alexander was not well known coming into the season. Two, he was not well known because he was frequently injured, and thus carries the dreaded “injury prone” label. For the record, DA broke his wrist, tore his ACL, the graft did not take, and he had a clean up knee operation. He did not tear his ACL twice, as many report. But yeah, that seems like the resume of someone who is injury prone.

Some have opined that DA doesn’t have much speed. As our own Phenom has commented, DA has a newborn colt look about him. I can forgive the casual observer thinking he does not have speed. I think Big 12 defensive backs, who are intimately familiar with the delicate contours of Danario’s ass, might disagree, however. The guy broke several hitch and screen passes for touchdowns, outrunning defenders who had clear angles. He might not have big time quickness, but he definitely has big time straight line speed.

Some have opined that DA plays in a system that pads his numbers. True that. But those of us who have watched him have been watching this system, and ones similar to it, for quite a while. He simply does things that other receivers don’t. He has fantastic body control. I’ve seen him lay out parallel to the ground to catch 5 yard outs. I’ve seen him contort his body in the air to catch passes 40 yards down the field. I’ve seen him outleap defenders. He seems to have all the skills necessary to be a number 1 in the NFL.

WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT HIM? I’m willing to consider erotic comments like “he is stiff through the hips and cannot achieve adequate separation” about young men over whom I have unhealthy obsessions, if only someone semi-qualified would say it. I’m baffled. Thoughts?

Article Tags:

Danario Alexander, Football, Missouri Tigers, Mizzou, NFL Draft

12 Responses

Neon said:

December 15th, 2009 at 4:50 pm

I agree. Danario will be an NFL contributor for years to come and is definitely worth a first day pick. Straight line speed is about the silliest measure of a wideout I can think of. NFL GMs need to get their collective heads out of their asses and convince him that he needs to go!
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 15th, 2009 at 6:29 pm

Danario might be a figment of our imagination. Or maybe he’s lore handed down from generation to generation, like Santa. The NFL hasn’t drafted Santa Claus, who by most accounts, is awfully quick for a such a big guy. Perfect left tackle.
Gene Claude said:

December 16th, 2009 at 6:31 am

Interesting. An enormous mass illusion due to some great traumatic event, experienced collectively by the entire Missouri fan base. Presumably, we actually went 0 – 12 this year and Blaine Gabbert is also a figment of our imagination. Unfortunately, it seems Steckel and the secondary are real.

Well, that’s a downer.
Gene Claude said:

December 16th, 2009 at 6:44 am

How do NFL teams really measure speed? The 40 is interesting, and seems to reward those that accelerate and reach top speed quickly. That is obviously an important skill, but it seems like measuring “top speed attained” would be at least marginally relevant. I suppose the 100 yard helps in that regard. I wouldn’t be surprised if Danario takes longer to build, but is running incredibly fast at top speed. I mean, people have to be watching this film, right? The dude runs right by BCS level secondaries that have great angles on him.

I’m sure the big concern is what he can do against good press coverage. I’ve read that he rounds off routes and people think he won’t be able to get separation in the NFL. Of course, those were mostly people on the internets who probably have seen him play about 7 minutes.
Gene Claude said:

December 16th, 2009 at 3:27 pm

Mr. Kiper finally broke the silence in his chat today, although he had his typical nothing to say:

Chad (STL)

PLEASE ANSWER Mel – Can you comment on Denario Alexander’s draft prospects? He seems like he got snubbed for the all-american team, and he is a true physical specimen. What’s wrong with him? Compare him to Maclin maybe?

Mel Kiper (1:58 PM)

He had the injuries. But if he checks out medically, with the year he has, he has great height. He provides a matchup problems for CBs. When you look at that situation there with Chase Daniel moving on and dealing with a new QB, no Jeremy Maclin, no Coffman. He was the main guy and yet teams couldn’t stop him. With his size and pass catching skills and proves that the medical situation is not an issue, he could be a guy who is very intriguing. Right now he is my fourth highest rated senior WR.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 16th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

I could have told you all that.
Hiphopotamus said:

December 17th, 2009 at 8:29 am

Who are the three rated above him?
Gene Claude said:

December 17th, 2009 at 8:58 am

Three seniors above DA are Gilyard, LaFell and Shipley. But the real issue is the JR class of Bryant, Benn and Tate.

Phenom, no shit. We should start writing like Kiper. He’s like Kadlec without the coaching chops.

Navy has the run game, but sometimes they will throw it up there. Works sometimes, sometimes not. Mizzou, though, will throw it up there a lot to a bunch of guys. They will run it, too. And their defense will stop the run usually, but sometimes not as good as others. Look for Navy to run it a bunch and Mizzou to throw it.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 17th, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Briscoe is another junior for your list. Not sure what the NFL experts are saying about him, but wouldn’t surprise me to see him taken before DA.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 17th, 2009 at 6:17 pm

Well I guess in Mel’s defense there’s nothing too laughable about those guys being in front of him. It probably should just end up being a wash. I have very little doubt any of the eight mentioned above can/will be successful in the NFL, but my confidence level with each is relatively equal.
justwinbaby said:

December 22nd, 2009 at 12:00 pm

I think Denario get the best out of what he’s got, that’s all a credit to him. The knocks on him is his stop and go, his make you miss qualities don’t really stand out. He gears down to make his cuts in his routs and labors to get to top speed. Basically he doesn’t do just one thing really well to get a lot of this early pre-draft chatter. If you ask me- he’s Justin Gage with better hands. Justin was drafted by Chicago in the 5th round, got the run around and found a home with Tennessee where he caught two Vince Young td’s last week. #12 is a guy thats a perfect example of being in the right place at the right time, getting a little lucky and getting paid. Denario will probably follow the same path.
mizzouman said:

April 26th, 2010 at 11:51 am

Suire I am a mizzou fan and don’t understand DA not being drafted. Below are some interesting comparisons:

Yards TD Y/G Draft Round

Alexander MU 1781 14 137
Meier KU 985 8 82 5
Briscoe KU 1337 9 121 6

I am beginning to wonder if the Mizzou Staff promotes their players very well

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Danario Alexander and the NFL Draft: The Sound of Silence

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Gene Claude said:

Gene Claude said:

Gene Claude said:

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Hiphopotamus said:

Gene Claude said:

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