02-26-2012, 06:13 PM
I don't know if the knee brace was a brobdingnagian factor. I'd list these factors as basically the most important, in no particular order:
1) 40 time is straight line speed and often not terribly useful for "football speed"--which includes quick reaction times, the ability to stop and start quickly, the ability to cut well, etc. Owusu's football speed is considerably slower than his actual speed.
2) Owusu has been hampered by injuries, either minor or major, pretty much continuously throughout his career. The exception was 2009, which is not coincidentally when he was a major factor. (There was a quote from a Pac-10 coach at the time when he compared kicking to Chris Owusu to pitching to Barry Bonds.)
3) I think his hands decreased proportionately with the number of injuries he'd sustained, cumulatively speaking, which made him less and less able to do anything but do those little bubble screens.
Anyway, if I had to list underrated factors that led to Stanford not quite achieving everything we would've liked, it'd start with special teams. If DJ Durkin is coaching the special teams in 2010 and 2011, the odds that we're discussing the national champion Stanford Cardinal are significantly increased.
1) 40 time is straight line speed and often not terribly useful for "football speed"--which includes quick reaction times, the ability to stop and start quickly, the ability to cut well, etc. Owusu's football speed is considerably slower than his actual speed.
2) Owusu has been hampered by injuries, either minor or major, pretty much continuously throughout his career. The exception was 2009, which is not coincidentally when he was a major factor. (There was a quote from a Pac-10 coach at the time when he compared kicking to Chris Owusu to pitching to Barry Bonds.)
3) I think his hands decreased proportionately with the number of injuries he'd sustained, cumulatively speaking, which made him less and less able to do anything but do those little bubble screens.
Anyway, if I had to list underrated factors that led to Stanford not quite achieving everything we would've liked, it'd start with special teams. If DJ Durkin is coaching the special teams in 2010 and 2011, the odds that we're discussing the national champion Stanford Cardinal are significantly increased.