Matt Waldman’s RSP Boiler Room examines three plays of 2019 NFL Draft prospect Elijah Holyfield and reveals the value of the connection among the eyes, mind, and feet in the running back’s game.
I’m about to put a few details of Elijah Holyfield’s game under close scrutiny. For some, it means I’m about to nitpick.
Which leads me to a short tangent about my sites and reader comments.
Early this morning, I noticed that I had a huge backlog of pending comments on the RSP Film Room channel from YouTube watchers. Occasionally, they accused me of nitpicking, which I find is often the case when they’re an unabashed fan of the player and it seeps into their critique of my analysis.
By the way, if you’ve been wondering, I approve comments on the YouTube channel and this blog rather than allow all comments because I want to promote a civil environment. I have no issue with commentary that disagrees with my analysis but I want my sites to promote civility. If it’s not civil, it’s not getting approved, which means you’ll see fewer comments on this channel and site.
So you know, I’m not deleting a lot of commentary. I’ve found that when the small minority of folks who want to dump their anger on my sites aren’t getting a platform to do so, they go elsewhere.
What happens most often is that I don’t get around to approving comments for quite some time. Even less often do I have time to answer them. You have a better chance of getting a response from me via email or Twitter than YouTube comments.
It’s simply about priorities and interacting on YouTube at this time is low on the food chain. Now, back to Holyfield.
A quick runner with an intense and aggressive style, Holyfield is undoubtedly talented enough to contribute in the NFL at a significant level. How much he’ll do will depend on how much he refines his processing of obstacles. I call this the triumvirate of the eyes, mind, and feet.
The three plays showcased in this RSP Boiler Room illustrates Holyfield’s current conceptual skill set as a runner. He processes penetration with efficient footwork, which will serve him well on Sundays. The next step is to become more skilled and consistent with pressing the line of scrimmage so he’s setting up linebackers and safeties more effectively.
I haven’t seen enough from Holyfield’s tape to place him in the same tier of talent as Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, but he’s an NFL-caliber talent with room for growth. At worst, Holyfield should deliver as a quality contributor to a committee backfield who can serve as a starter when necessary.
With additional work on the triumvirate of skills discussed above, he could do more.
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