File this under “Thinking Outside of the Box.”
As the Panthers look to solidify their 53-man roster, I have a crazy suggestion:
Why not put an athletic 7-foot former basketball player with long arms, a good vertical, and decent foot speed on the roster and turn him into a specialist for three things:
- End zone jump balls/box outs
- Blocking field goals
- Hail Marys
If we think 6’5” Kelvin Benjamin looks like a beast going over smaller corner backs in the end zone, imagine what it would look like to have someone six inches taller than KB going up and over the average NFL corner!
Some Examples
The “7-Foot Leaper” I’m envisioning is an athletic big guy in the mold of Kevin Garnett, DeAndre Jordan, and Giannis “The Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo.
Guys who are tall with long wingspans, nice verticals, and quick feet. Guys who can sprint, jump, and catch.
I used the NBA players above as a reference since we should all be familiar with how athletic they are. While these guys are NBA stars, there are many, many former college basketball players who are just as big and athletic, but their basketball dreams never panned out.
The talent pipeline is there.
End Zone Jump Ball/Fade Routes
The first way a 7-Foot Leaper could be used is in red zone situations where he could be split out wide in isolation against a corner or safety.
The average height of an NFL corner is about 5-foot-11, making them shorter than most basketball point guards.
Just for reference on the height disparity between a 7-Foot Leaper and the average NFL corner, here is 6-foot-11 Kevin Garnett standing next to Flip Saunders, his 5-foot-11 coach.
Here is 6-foot-11 DeAndre Jordan standing next to Chris Paul, his 6-foot point guard.
Now, the 7-Foot Leaper wouldn’t be used as an every down receiver. There would be too many concerns about learning the position and effectively playing it, let alone the potential for a major knee injury if he ran traditional routes.
This specialist would only appear in red zone packages within the 10 yard line where he would either box out a smaller defender in the end zone, or get an alley-oop jump ball to go up and over the top.
Just watch 6-foot-11 GIannis Antetokounmpo throw down this vicious alley-oop dunk and explain how a 5-foot-11 NFL corner is breaking up that pass in the end zone.
Red zone jump balls to a 7-Foot Leaper would be unstoppable if he became a specialist in running these limited routes and catching these customized passes.
Blocking Field Goals
The other play the 7-Foot Leaper could be used on is blocking field goals.
For the Panthers, guys like Star Lotulelei, Kawann Short, and Vernon Butler can collapse the line of scrimmage, then the athletic big man comes in from the second level to get a hand on the ball.
Sure, it’s not easy to block a field goal, but having a guy like KG, DeAndre, or Giannis could only help, especially on longer kicks where the ball is driven lower over the line of scrimmage.
Plus, the presence of the 7-Foot Leaper could potentially get in the head of the opposing kicker. He may feel just a bit more pressure to loft the ball higher off the ground than normal, forcing a miss.
Many NFL games come down to a field goal.
Having a specialist like this could lead to a block or force a miss that wins a game.
Hail Marys
Some NFL games also come down to Hail Marys.
A 7-Foot Leaper could be used to both catch Hail Marys on offense and bat them down on defense. Hail Marys normally come down to timing, boxing out, and high-pointing the ball. Basketball big men specialize in these things.
Just watch this video of DeAndre Jordan blocking shots and tell me he couldn’t help bat down a Hail Mary pass.
I’ll take a 7-Foot Leaper in every Hail Mary situation.
The Ultimate Specialist
While every spot on a 53-man NFL roster is important and none can be wasted, I don’t see having a specialist like this as a luxury. I see it as a situational advantage.
Red zone situations happen every game. Splitting a 7-footer wide against a corner or safety would be a laughable mismatch.
Field goals happen every game. If a specialist like this could block a couple of field goals or force a couple of misses every year, these plays could be the difference between winning and losing a few games.
Specialists are nothing new in the NFL. Long snappers like J.J. Jansen perform just one vital, unique task.
A 7-foot Leaper would be a specialist who could fill three important roles – red zone threat, field goal blocker, and Hail Mary dominator.
I’d rather cut the 53rd man on the roster to open up a spot for a situational beast like this.
Sometimes a team just needs a big idea to gain an advantage that wins a game.
A 7-foot Leaper could be the biggest advantage of them all in specialized situations.
Why not try it?