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Jaguars general manager Gene Smith continued to embarrass Big Cat Country by selecting the third consecutive draft pick from off the BCC interest board in Larry Hart. In typical Jaguar fashion, the Jaguars selected a player that left most of the nation scratching their head.
At 6'0, 246 pounds Larry Hart clearly dominated at his level of competition while playing at Central Arkansas. At the junior college level, Hart was a two time All-State selection before transferring to Central Arkansas. The learning curve didn't affect him at all as he was an AP FCS All-American in both of his years at UCA. The jump from the FCS level to the NFL is going to be considerably greater than that of a Division 1 FBS player. The question for Jaguars fan, myself included, has to be why was this player at such a low level of competition?
If anyone can tell me, I'd love to know because it wasn't for a lack of high school production. In Hart's senior season of high school he recorded 12.5 sacks and was named to the All-District and All-Jackson Metro teams.
The assumption of many was that Hart would be better suited to play in a 3-4 system as an OLB due to his size and skill set. At just 246 pounds, Hart will be smaller than what is expected of a 4-3 DE. What can be expected is a lack of run stopping skills and for Hart to be used as a situational pass rusher. After a few offseasons of NFL conditioning, perhaps we'll see Hart develop into a player with the ability to become an every-downs player.
One of my personal favorite draft sites is JB Scouting Inc., where they exclusively cover small school NFL draft prospects. At that site, they have draft journals for their favorite small school prospects where the prospects document the draft process weekly. Larry Hart was one of these prospects and you can read his journal entires at the site. Very fascinating stuff.
Video Killed the Scouting Report:
Larry Hart: By The Numbers
Larry Hart | |||||
Position 1: Defensive End |
Height: 6'0 | ||||
Position 2: Outside Linebacker |
Weight: 246 | ||||
Class: Senior | Age: 21 | ||||
Projected Round: - |
40time: 4.62 |
2008, 2009 1st Team AP FCS All-American
Stats Overview
Tackles
Misc
Interceptions
YEAR
TOT
SOLO
AST
SACK
STF
STFY
FF
BK
INT
YDS
AVG
LNG
TD
PD
2008
43
22
21
15.0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
2009
30
15
15
9.5
0
0
0
0
1
0
0.0
0
0
0
According to the Experts
Chad Reuter
"Central Arkansas defensive end Larry Hart shows power and speed off the edge, but the 6-foot, 246-pound Hart lacks great length and will likely move to linebacker at the next level. This week he's joined Marshall's Albert McClellan, Stephen F. Austin's Tim Knicky, and South Dakota State's Danny Batten as former ends working at linebacker to improve their draft stock."
CBS Sports <---- Follow Link for Full Report
More reactionary than instinctual. Will get sucked in on play-action and misdirection due to his aggressiveness. Will play contain and is difficult to escape on the edge on those occasions...