The Lions will take the win. Count Collinsworth in the camp of those who believe he can have that same kind of impact at the next level, poor pre-draft workouts or not. Welcome to PFF draft week! Just like you, we are excited to get back to football. Scout Frank Ubile compared Collinsworth favorably to a current Bengal ("A Pat McInally with speed") and some of the draft's top receivers, such as Mississippi State's Mardye McDole and UNLV's Sam Greene:"More speed than Verser, much more than McDole more consistentthan Verser and Greene. That rover position has been used a lot in college, but the wide college hash marks that created such a need don't really exist in the NFL. (Complete Story), What Happened To Akili Smith? "But now that neither one of them are here, hey it's a good story.". GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida rush end Jachai Polite became one of the most talked about names coming out of the NFL Combine last month. He began his broadcasting career as a sports radio talk show host for WLW in Cincinnati and later became a reporter for HBOs Inside the NFL in 1989. Marshall is an uninterested blocker, but he has the size to do it at the next level, where there will be added motivation. The 40 yard dash is all about the start and the first 10 yards. Paye's get-off is unimpressive for his athleticism. I never once saw a defender catch him from behind when he was in his prime. As much as I would love to see the Bengals trade back, it just never seems to happen in Cincinnati. This was a coinflip for me between Farley and the safer pick of Northwesterns Greg Newsome II. Running Infante's choice routes where the receivers reacted to the defender and could do it because of the deep trust in Anderson's precision, Collinsworth became the Bengals' first 1,000-yard receiver in the first of four such seasons. MidFlorida Credit Union Event Center This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 07:02. When he got off to a slow start his senior year, they took away the invite and when he finished strong they invited him again. "You knew right away that you had a special player. [24] His son, Austin Collinsworth, is a former football player and team captain at the University of Notre Dame. Cris Collinsworth led the acquisition of Pro Football Focus (PFF) in 2015. What he said always seemed to make sense and he had a gift in explaining the game to casual fans. Still, for so many to be so down on Polite comes as a bit of a surprise even with the bad numbers. The play after the Chargers cut the lead to 10-7 in the second quarter, Verser returned the kickoff 40 yards and seven plays later the Bengals were up 17-7 and on the way to their first Super Bowl. After a while I figured out what they wanted.". He scored 14 touchdowns receiving, two rushing, one on a kickoff return, and threw two touchdown passes. Now it wasn't my rookie year. We got lucky He was brave. His daughter received her degree in Psychology from Harvard. QB | RB | WR | TE | T | iOL | DI | EDGE | LB | CB | S. Billed as one of the best draft prospects in the country since his high school days, Lawrence consistently won big games with great play against top competition. He was a high school quarterback whose 58 total touchdowns still rank third all-time in North Carolina state history. "You watch the tape of him and think of a boxer who is great with that movement, he's hard to get a hand on, he's hard to jam. He is by far the most skilled pass rusher of the players left on the board. He then became a reporter for HBO's (now Showtime's) Inside the NFL in 1989. [8] Collinsworth was a senior captain on the 1980 Gator team that posted the biggest one-year turnaround in NCAA Division I football history at the time, improving to 84 after posting a 0101 record in 1979, Charlie Pell's first season as Florida's head coach. After college, Collinsworth was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2nd round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Florida, where he was recognized as an All-American. He had a famous 99 yard touchdown pass when he was playing for his college squad, the Florida Gators. In 2009, Collinsworth filled the color-commentator role vacated by John Madden on NBC's Sunday Night Football, with Al Michaels. You are right on the money about his route running ability. cris collinsworth 14 18 year olds. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. some comments that probably would have been best kept to himself, he tweeted after watching Polite's game film. [29][30], On March 12, 2011, Collinsworth reportedly was among 83 people rescued from Jeff Ruby's Waterfront restaurant in Covington, Kentucky, when the floating restaurant tore loose from its moorings and began to drift on the Ohio River, only to be stopped by the Brent Spence Bridge that links Ohio to Kentucky. Plus, his hustle sticks out, as he often chased down scrambling quarterbacks running downfield. . No one projected that in their reports. He would provide instant offense for Ryan Fitzpatrick in Washington. Bill Belichick, Cris Collinsworth and Rich Eisen introduce former San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Lance Alworth to the NFL 100 All-Time Team. He is much more physical after the catch than his size would indicate and would be a legitimate tough guy blocking for a run-dominant Ravens offense. Cris spent his entire NFL career with the Bengals. He picks apart zone defenses and has a quick release when he pulls the trigger. ", On 22 Jan 81, von Mann said Verser "is my choice of the receivers I've seen Rare and exceptional ability, he should be an outstanding performer in his first year. Still seething, the one time Collinsworth kicked back and relaxed was the ninth pick of the second round when the Bengals went to pick at No. Fans have been ripping Collinsworth for his description of the play. [28] Another son, Jac, also attended Notre Dame and was a features reporter for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown before joining his father at NBC, where he is the on-site host for Football Night in America and also hosts NBC's Notre Dame football, NASCAR, and coverage for other big events such as the Indianapolis 500 and Kentucky Derby. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Jaylon Waddle is certainly in play here, but Smith won the Heisman voters and me over with his end-of-season run. ", Infante compared Verser's fluid running style to future Steelers Hall of Famer Lynn Swann: "We were looking for someone who can beat the bump-and-run coverage, a guy who's quick enough and strong enough to outmaneuver individuals in the defensive secondary.". The Gators even played him at running back against LSU to try to isolate him, and the Tigers still doubled him. 10, his agent went to great lengths to assure him that Cincinnati wasn't the place for him. He would likely be the first cornerback taken in this draft but for his recent back surgery. 'Is this BS?' Even the scouting combine photo of Cris Collinsworth, which turned 40 this spring, seems to reflect the audacity of that second-round pick in. 37, the Bengals took the kid with the watch. . He comes off the ball low and powerfully in the run game and has plenty of athleticism in space. At 6ft 5in (1.96m) in height, Collinsworth often created mismatches against much smaller cornerbacks. Net Worth: $25 Million. Infante, who passed away five years ago at age 75, coached and played at the University of Florida in the two decades before Collinsworth enrolled at Gainesville. Im expecting new defensive coordinator Joe Cullen to attack much like Wink Martindale does in Baltimore. He spent 8 years in the NFL, all of them with the Cincinnati Bengals. Any time you have a 240-pound edge player, there will be physical concerns. Cris Collinsworth hall of fame He returned to the Bengals and played for them through the end of the 1988 season, catching three passes for 40 yards in Super Bowl XXIII, the final game of his career. At one point in time, Cris Collinsworth could be soon on HBO hosting Inside the NFL, on the NFL Network doing color commentary, and on NBC as a studio analyst when the network got the NFL back with Sunday Night Football. He received a Sports Emmy Award in April 1998 as Outstanding Studio Analyst and his second in 1999. You can rely on him to do what he's told to do.". [11][12][13], During his career at Florida, Collinsworth caught 120 passes for 1,937 yards, and rushed for another 210. Video game fans around the world can recognize his voice even if they dont know who he is. The draft has always been an Ouija board interspersed with 40-yard dashes to the unknown and vertical leaps into uncertainty. I loved watching his creative route running, which features subtle pauses and an ability to bounce off defenders to gain position. Sometimes the team is at fault. . His ball skills and creative contested catches are really special; he knows how to position/stack his body against the defender in very creative ways, and he doesnt foul while doing it. Bateman caught 14 deep passes in 2019 and broke 36 tackles on 147 career catches. Horn allowed a completion rate of only 33% on throws into his coverage in 2020. Another former Ohio State quarterback who has been compared to Burrow appreciates the comparison. The Lions, meanwhile, are quietly building their own war chest as protection behind a one-year trial with quarterback Jared Goff. [24] He worked on Fox's Super Bowl XXXIX telecast three years later. WHY did they run 4.4? At 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds, Barmore is surprisingly nimble. Fans enjoyed how he broke down plays during the game. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Darrisaw has an athletic kick step and a death grip when he gets his hands on rushers. Who could? "Makes things happen!" You will see him flip out on scrambles like a Russell Wilson, and he is just as mobile. He proved last year that he can play left tackle after previously featuring at guard. PFF is a football performance data and technology company. This falls under the too good to pass up category for the end of the first round. The 6 foot 5 Chris was an outstanding football receiver with 417 receptions in 107 games played in the NFL, he was a very skilled player. He is a hammer on the edge and can play in a 4-3 or 3-4. I think he could easily be the best lineman out of this draft. Likes. The Browns for their roster building. Collinsworth played in 107 games, catching 417 passes for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. 1 announce team from 2002-2004 alongside Joe Buck and Troy Aikman before leaving the network. My concern is how he'll fare against speed off the edge; he has such great energy in the running game, but I would just like to see him use that same energy finishing in protection. Bolton possesses untapped potential as a man coverage linebacker and likely will not come off the field. He allowed only 12 catches on 34 targets for 93 yards in 2020. After Al Michaels gave a brief introduction for the upcoming game, the camera would pan out slightly and allow Collinsworth to slide himself into the picture via his broadcasting chair, after which he provided insights of his own. If Farley can maintain his health, he will make Deion Sanders-like flashy plays running down overthrown balls. And when I watched the tape, my first question was, what am I suppose to not like about Mac Jones?. One scouting report from December with an indecipherable signature concluded Verser is "the No. 40 Times for Tall Receivers are a Poor Indicator of Speed, Welcome to FootballProsLive.com. But Kim Wood never joked about his strength of heart and body. Collinsworth basically told them to take a hike, went to the Japan Bowl and was the MVP. Academic All-America Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2001). It reflected how close the discussion was over the first-round pick and we had a divided room. Lawrence hit Kirk perfectly in the hands. running the 40-yard dash at either 4.43 or 4.44, depending on the . The Bears would love to sizzle in this draft, but only solid picks remain. And he looked as though he was toying with defenses at times this past year. He will get hit more this year than he has in his career to date, so I just hope he can survive at just 212 pounds. 1 WR in the draft. Even the scouting combine photo of Cris Collinsworth, which turned 40 this spring, seems to reflect the audacity of that second-round pick in 1981. Right away you knew. I guess it just goes to show the draft is potluck to some degree.". I remember the conversation afterward," Collinsworth says. Can't you see this through the haze of the Freezer Bowl at the end of that rookie year? 9221 SE Event Center Place If all it took was straight line speed, every Olympic sprinter would be a great wideout. 8 years later he joined FOX's team. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. His father played in the NBA for eight years, and if Rashawn's feet are anything to go by, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. When the call didn't come at No. Cris Collinsworth's 40 time was 4.38 seconds. United States. I considered USC's Alijah Vera-Tucker here due to his guard-tackle versatility, but I ultimately went with the more powerful player in Leatherwood to block for Henry. PO Box 568234 Verser one, Collinsworth two. He will fight and hold and jam the entire game. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com. It is also possible that Pittsburgh could draft injured Alabama center Landon Dickerson and wait for him to recover. He had a short stride and could make a 90 degree cut, at full speed, without slowing down, or chopping his feet. Quote Tweets. [24] He joined the NBC pregame show in 1996.[24]. He retired from the NFL following the 1988 season. Collinsworth earned prep football All-America honors from Parade, Scholastic Coach, Joe Namath Prep and Kickoff magazines. His running skill was inherited by his daughter Ashley who won the Kentucky High School title in the 100 meters race, and ran for Harvard later where she became a team captain. Moehrig led all college safeties in pass breakups over the past two years. [24] Collinsworth was also the host of the television show Guinness World Records Primetime during his stay at Fox. A very intelligent person. Still, Lawrences running skills will make the RPO game very difficult to stop. Because they were short. When he came back, Infante worked him out in Gainesville and while he didn't figure it out until later when he hooked with an NFL passing champion in Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, he realized what Infante was doing matched his cerebral game of leverage and speed. It's a rare sight to see a quarterback escape Ojulari in space. He is nearly impossible to cover inside on option routes. You had to think your way through it.It ended up being a nice fit. In 2009, he took over as the color commentator on Sunday nights when John Madden left the booth and is still in that role today. Write by: . Pro Bowl & Super Bowl The fumble would be immediately followed by a 92-yard 49ers touchdown drive, and San Francisco won 2621. Collinsworth played wide receiver on a competitive Cincinnati Bengals team that made the Super Bowl twice during his eight-year career. Before NBC, he co-hosted as a studio analyst Inside the NFL on HBO for that network's Sunday night NFL coverage and did color commentary on the NFL Network. With just hours remaining until the start of the 2021 NFL Draft, I take my best pass at Round 1. He may have benefited from a lot of open receivers in college, but his tight-window throws stood out. The Michigan product isn't a polished pass rusher, but he will learn a lot in Baltimore. Collinsworth on being a modern athletic rarity, a four-sport (football, basketball, baseball, track) star at Astronaut High in Titusville, the metropolis of 31,494 people adjacent to Mims: "It's. Advertisement Cris Collinsworth 40 time What was Cris Collinsworth's 40 time? Then Brown, 72 years young, the man who sketched the beginnings of the modern passing game as the head coach in Cleveland three decades before, bounced out of the room cocking his arm to throw an imaginary football. He is not afraid of man coverage and brings a very aggressive mindset. "Uncle Willie was 40 years older than us," he says . Collinsworth played four years of basketball for his dad and also played some baseball for the War Eagles. Or does that mean he knows that in that first round everyone is going to miss out on one of the toughest and most productive wide receivers in the 1980s NFL? He remained with the Bengals until the 1988 season, catching three passes for 40 yards in Super Bowl XXIII, the final game of his career. He was incredibly fast, which not only helped him succeed on the football field but as a track and field star as well. They don't get it out of the guy for whatever reason.". Good quickness on cuts. He appeared EA Sports NFL Madden 09, 10 as well as 11 and 12. Three-time Pro Bowl Selection. The Gators struggled the next season but Collinsworth caught 41 passes for 593 yards and two touchdowns despite Florida finishing 0-10-1. The taller, longer framed receivers usually carry their pads better and not much speed is lost when their 40 time gets translated to the game field. 407-575-7801 Collinsworth was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons (1981-1988), all with the Cincinnati Bengals. Tough pick here. But running a 4.39 with the numbers he put up will get him into the first round. The best word to describe him is probably slippery. He can look completely blocked at times and still find a way to sneak through for the sack as the quarterback steps up. He can catch the ball in his hands. He ran over 5-flat, which means he likely will fall and that will be a mistake for a lot of football teams," Collinsworth said. He currently takes a lot of short, choppy steps that put little pressure on the tackle. "I don't know where that one came from," Brown says of the photo story. Its time to move on". [24] He also served as color commentator for NFL Network Thursday night games (and one Saturday-night game) alongside play-by-play man Bryant Gumbel and Bob Papa. 3 that no trade seemed fair. He surpassed 1,000 yards receiving four times (in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986) and was named to the Pro Bowl 3 times. He faced the best receivers in the country, and his physical style created issues for almost everyone he faced. "I'm not here to condemn anyone.