Thread: History of Inuries Makes Hardin Difficult to Evaluate

Hardin was a good pick and I don't think it needs defending. The reason Hardin was hurt in college and the reasons behind the injuries to Wright, Conte and a whole lot of other NFL Safeties comes from the pure fact that it's probably the most violent position to play in all of football.

At times these guys are human kamikaze's throwing themselves into full speed collisions with big 240lb RB's, 260lb TE's and now even WR's who go 220-230lbs. You think the life span of an NFL RB is short these guys probably do more damage to their bodies during their NFL careers than any other position. We can't ask Dave Duerson (RIP) that in person anymore but we don't have to. With his dying thoughts and acts he made certain we new it.

The reason we keep drafting Safeties is that they don't come with a lifetime warranty against breakage and they do break. It's inevitable as we're finding out as far as Major Wright is concerned. It's not so much that he's brittle but more because at just 5'11' and 204lbs even he's become smaller than the ideal size for an NFL SS. Teams are drafting 6'2"-6'3" 215-225lb guys who play like small LB's now and have the size and speed to cover 250-260lb TE's who can win a foot race with a lot of WR's.

Even though Hardin's college injuries may have come more as the result of his ST play as it stands he's now been declared "medically sound" and ready to go. They weren't career threatening knee or achilles injuries and I would guess a major shoulder injury is the price you sometimes pay when they ask to you run into people at full speed and tackle them on kick returns. This tells me the guy already likes to hit we just need to teach him how to do it without breaking any of his parts.

So we drafted another Safety? Big deal! My guess is we're gonna need to keep drafting them just to keep healthy ones around. It's a tough hard nosed job they have to do and they get hurt doing it. Fact of like guys.

Injuries can just be bad luck / happenstance sometimes. And sometimes it's just a matter of learning and taking the proper angles. My first game in pop warner, playing corner, first play of my first ever tackle fb game, came in with my right hand up too high and smashed the fuck out of it between my helmet and the rb's. Played the rest of the game with a swollen hand. BUT ... it never happened again. Pain helps you learn. Quick.

This guy plays with reckless abandon. Which is good .... and bad. Just ask Derrick Rose. It's the antithesis of playing fb, but sometimes you can play too hard for your own good and you wind up injured all the time. I'd be happy if he just doesn't blow tackles ... just get the guy on the ground. Light a guy up every once in a while. Ya don't wanna be Doug Plank - taping smelling salts to your upper lip because ur knocking yourself out all the time. Ain't no good if u ain't on the field. But this kid has potential I'll say that.

I'm not against the pick- who cares if he got the guy early. But Gabriel in the other thread saying he was a "very good pick" I don't know about all that. The fella has a ton of proving yet to do, more so than some others. I'd say a risk but a above average prospect.

We could have really used Harrison Smith but he didn't even last until the second round. Hardin is the closest we could get to him and in our defense I'll bet he'll be more effective than Harrison will be with the Vikes.

He's a monster.

I'm not at all upset at the pick, guys. I think that with his versatility - the ability to play ST, CB, and NB - he will be a valuable addition to the Monsters of the Midway.

Like I said we know the kid can run and we know he can hit we just need to teach him how to hit without busting up his parts so much. But what can you say. Safeties need to be hitters so they're gonna get injured and that's just the way it is. We might just as well hire one scout who jobs it is to do nothing but scout Safeties from Maine to Cali.