Johnnie Morant

[OrangePA]

Saw a piece in the Post Standard that mentioned Johnnie in reference to KJ Williams.

Still feel frustration that with a million dollar body Morant was never more than pretty good on the college level.

Never understood why he was never able to develope quality hands - I guess you either have them or don't?

With his size and speed and strength?

What could have been!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Saw a piece in the Post Standard that mentioned Johnnie in reference to KJ Williams.

Still feel frustration that with a million dollar body Morant was never more than pretty good on the college level.

Never understood why he was never able to develope quality hands - I guess you either have them or don't?

With his size and speed and strength?

What could have been!

Really weird that they didn't redshirt him.

 

[jekelish]

I agree, I remember seeing him walking around campus and I'm not sure I've ever seen a more athletic looking dude in person. Just walking around in street clothes you could tell he could have been an absolutely special player, based on his combination of height, build, and how smoothly he moved when he was just out and about.

Such a disappointing career, amazing that he never came close to reaching his potential.

 

[OrangePA]

Really weird that they didn't redshirt him.

I don't know for sure but I am pretty certain he was promised that he would be on the field as a frosh.

Not only did he have mediocre hands, I'm not sure he was a student of the game.

But what a body.

 

[RF2044]

I don't know for sure but I am pretty certain he was promised that he would be on the field as a frosh.

Not only did he have mediocre hands, I'm not sure he was a student of the game.

But what a body.

That's just it--he had all of the measurables to be a star, so I think some of the ratings were on projection. He was HUGE, but played more like a "small" receiver and didn't make the most of his size. I was at the game @ Pitt his senior year, and seeing Larry Fitzgerald make plays where he just went up and took the ball away from defenders, stood in contrast to Morant getting the ball tipped away at the last second by CBs because he didn't use his size / strength as well.

All that said, Morant had a pretty darn good senior year. I wish he would have redshirted that first year, when he barely played--that fifth year would have produced a ton of more production than what we got out of year 1.

Oh well.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Really weird that they didn't redshirt him.

he was a skill player.

you either have skill...or you dont. (and sadly, sometimes what little skill one has maybe more than what skill is on the rest of the roster).

its not like he needed to put on weight and get stronger.

does anyone think that 1 more year really wouldve mattered??

he spent that year on the raiders taxi squad i believe, he wouldve been getting all the coaching he wouldve needed at that point.

and if i recall correctly, he DID NOT want to redshirt and wasnt interested in becoming a TE.

and ones hands often dont get softer.

 

[jekelish]

His dad was a body builder/personal trainer type, right? I always got the impression that Johnnie was raised to be a physical specimen first, and any type of actual athlete second. Football seemed like it wasn't the thing he was actually trained to be as he was growing up, he just happened to be an incredible specimen who happened to be put out on the football field.

 

[Bayside44]

The dude was a total beast in that UNC game, Bo Jackson video game stuff.

 

[jgeorge322]

anyone remember that grab he had against wv? one handed grab over the shoulder in stride on a bomb and took it to the house. morant was a good player for us by his last year.

 

[OrangePA]

he was a skill player.

you either have skill...or you dont. (and sadly, sometimes what little skill one has maybe more than what skill is on the rest of the roster).

its not like he needed to put on weight and get stronger.

does anyone think that 1 more year really wouldve mattered??

he spent that year on the raiders taxi squad i believe, he wouldve been getting all the coaching he wouldve needed at that point.

and if i recall correctly, he DID NOT want to redshirt and wasnt interested in becoming a TE.

and ones hands often dont get softer.

Yeah, I think that's right - I don't think another year would have made a big difference - he just could not catch and ran bad routes.

I recall hearing that against Miami when the Orange had a chance to win at the end - and RJ threw into the endzone - Johnnie ran the wrong route.

 

[supp]

Saw a piece in the Post Standard that mentioned Johnnie in reference to KJ Williams.

Still feel frustration that with a million dollar body Morant was never more than pretty good on the college level.

Never understood why he was never able to develope quality hands - I guess you either have them or don't?

With his size and speed and strength?

What could have been!

He was pretty damn good his senior year. That's why people were so upset that they blew his redshirt year. How many work hours were wasted cumulatively on this board debating that decision? I think those threads singlehandedly started us down the road to the global recession. If I didn't know better, I'd say we're probably minutes away from reigniting that flame.

 

[OrangeDW]

he was a skill player.

you either have skill...or you dont. (and sadly, sometimes what little skill one has maybe more than what skill is on the rest of the roster).

its not like he needed to put on weight and get stronger.

does anyone think that 1 more year really wouldve mattered??

he spent that year on the raiders taxi squad i believe, he wouldve been getting all the coaching he wouldve needed at that point.

and if i recall correctly, he DID NOT want to redshirt and wasnt interested in becoming a TE.

and ones hands often dont get softer.

He was at least reasonably productive as a soph. and junior, and then had a pretty good senior year. If we redshirted him, we would've gotten 4 productive years out of him rather than 3. His freshman year was a waste.

But again, maybe he was promised he wouldn't be redshirted or something.

 

[OrangePA]

The dude was a total beast in that UNC game, Bo Jackson video game stuff.

Yes, he had a really good game against NC that day.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

He was at least reasonably productive as a soph. and junior, and then had a pretty good senior year. If we redshirted him, we would've gotten 4 productive years out of him rather than 3. His freshman year was a waste.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We traded a handful of meaningless plays for a full season of productivity at the end of his eligibility.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We traded a handful of meaningless plays for a full season of productivity at the end of his eligibility.

i think we should give him credit for being clairvoyant.

his 'last' year coincided with Robin's last. if he came back, he wouldve had the dynamic duo tossing footballs nowhere near his direction.

although if he were to run the wrong route, he couldve stumbled into a few huge gainers....

Oh Lord

 

[RMH44]

I think many are forgetting that Lavar Lobdell was also a highly touted 4-star receiver coming out of HS. He didn't have all the hype surrounding him as did Morant but both were huge disappointments, imo.

 

[Noexcuse]

Yeah, I think that's right - I don't think another year would have made a big difference - he just could not catch and ran bad routes.

I recall hearing that against Miami when the Orange had a chance to win at the end - and RJ threw into the endzone - Johnnie ran the wrong route.

I think that pretty much sums it up about his time on the hill. Not sure he and any of the post McNabb qb's that were here at that time were ever really on the same page. I remember a play where JM was running open across the middle and RJ was standing there with the ball, hesitating and then finally passing it to him. The ball led him right to the sideline and out of bounds.

 

[Texas Otto]

I think many are forgetting that Lavar Lobdell was also a highly touted 4-star receiver coming out of HS. He didn't have all the hype surrounding him as did Morant but both were huge disappointments, imo.

wo wo wo I would not call Morant a huge disappointment Lobdell yes

 

[RMH44]

wo wo wo I would not call Morant a huge disappointment Lobdell yes

Really? Apparently I had higher hopes for the number 2 wide receiver coming out of HS than you did.

Sad to say...but his SU career was pedestrian at best.

 

[Texas Otto]

Really? Apparently I had higher hopes for the number 2 wide receiver coming out of HS than you did.

Sad to say...but his SU career was pedestrian at best.

But nowhere near as disappointing as Lobdell IMHO disappointing yes but he was a servacibale wideout throughout 3 of his 4 years unlike Lobdell

 

[sufandu]

Physically, the guy was megatron while Calvin Johnson was still considering where to go to college. He just didn't play like he wanted it very badly. The most frustrating thing for me was to see him try and basket catch a slightly underthrown deep ball while a 5'10" db jumped and knocked it away. I never once saw him even attempt to jump and highpoint a ball. I don't know if it was lack of awareness or laziness. If he had done just that one thing it wouldn't have mattered if he ran the wrong route because he could've done his Randy Moss impression and ran streaks to the endzone all day, catching lobs for touchdowns.

 

[sufandu]

Apparently, he works as a strength and conditioning coach now. He's probably doing exactly what he wants. If so, good for him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Morant

 

[VirginiaOrange]

Saw a piece in the Post Standard that mentioned Johnnie in reference to KJ Williams.

Still feel frustration that with a million dollar body Morant was never more than pretty good on the college level.

Never understood why he was never able to develope quality hands - I guess you either have them or don't?

With his size and speed and strength?

What could have been!

No one underachieved more than Shelby Hill. On one list, Hill went into his senior year as the highest rated player with regard to NFL draft rankings and disappeared after one year in NFL Europe.

 

[orangenauburn]

Could the way Morants career played out be a reason why a lot of NJ coaches stopped sending top kids to Cuse?

 

[Texas Otto]

Could the way Morants career played out be a reason why a lot of NJ coaches stopped sending top kids to Cuse?

No