One of the good reports coming out of Eagles minicamp is that Eagles 1st-round draft pick Nelson Agholor has so far avoided the somewhat typical phase of rookie frustration.
Excuse me for saying “Whoa Nellie!” (I’m going to be the first to use that phrase every time Agholor makes a big catch or a big play when the real-time action begins.)
For most rookies and even some 2nd-year guys, the transition from college ball to the pro camp experience is a test of adaptive learning and simply overcoming frustration.
2nd-year receiver Josh Huff is reportedly still going through frustration with the pace of practice. The receivers in particular are challenged with getting back quickly to the next offensive play after running their previous routes— and still with enough time before the snap to pick up the complete play call.
You’re a star in college—and all of a sudden you are struggling as an entry-level pro.
You’ve got a new system to learn with different verbiage and keys.
You’re sometimes losing focus because you’re tired. The reps are fast-paced and if you’re a receiver or running back you probably are racking up hundreds of “yards gained” at each practice. Plus you probably had to get up at 5:00 A.M. just to get in your lifting and meeting room time.
You’re thinking too much, hesitating sometimes to read what’s around you, and not consistently reacting with fluid response to the play.
You used to get by on your natural speed, size and athletic ability in college. But now everyone in camp is as big, fast or athletic as you.
And they haven’t even started hitting yet…
I was listening to Stan White, former NFL linebacker and now a high school head coach, speak on the radio a couple of nights ago about the NFL rookie transition process. He said it basically boils down to knocking off these three goals in succession:
1. Absorb the language and the spacing in the playbook as soon as possible;
2. Build the self-confidence to efficiently read a play properly then quickly react;
3. When the hitting and tackling begin, establish your physicality and toughness as quickly as possible.
It’s not easy. White pointed out on his show that he has been doing some talking with 2nd-year Ravens linebacker Arthur Brown about his struggles with all of the above. Brown is one of the fastest inside backers in all of football going sideline to sideline. He used that sheer speed to dominate in college. But after he was a high draft pick two years ago, he still finds himself frustrated with shedding blockers and misreading plays. Unless he makes a quantum leap in that department, Arthur Brown may be out of a job next year.
“Nellie” Agholor may be that rare rookie exception who makes a smooth transition to pro ball.
A lot of times a rookie receiver gets frustrated because the easy separation he used to get in college just ain’t happening at the NFL level.
All reports out of Eagles minicamp gave Nellie high grades for his route-running, his catching ability, his familiarity with the language and the playbook, and his energetic conditioning.
But even Nellie admits he makes some mistakes every day in practice:
“I believe that you really have to take lumps to grow. If everything was going your way so fast and it was so smooth and feeling like it was easy, then you could see yourself missing out on minor details that could come back to hurt,” Agholor told Dave Spadaro in an interview at PE.com. “When you make a mistake, you have a conversation with your coaches. You get your peers’ input, your coaching points and you watch the film. And you can grow from all of that.”
“I’m embracing being here. I know that every day is a new experience for me to learn my way. I have a better formula for success today than I did when I went to college. When I was in college at first I was a little bit lost and I didn’t know what to expect. I think the coaching staff here and the people here have helped my game plan become a little bit easier.”
“I have all of my notes, all of my feedback from the coaches and I have the film — I have all of that to remind me where I’m at right now. It’s all in my mind. I want to map all of that out when this camp is over, take a little bit of time off to see my family and refresh and then when I get back to it, dissect everything that has happened and take the next step. I love this whole thing, every part of every day.”
Oh yeah— that’s the one other thing I forgot to mention Stan White said—
You have to really, REALLY love playing the game of football to put yourself through the frustration of learning your position at this level.
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