Joe Person's latest article. Decent Read on Robert Lester.

[top dawg]

Joe Person wrote a pretty good "fluff" piece (as so many of you call it) on what I will refer to as Alabama's "forgotten man" during this year's draft, Robert Lester.  Admittedly, I haven't watched any Lester YT vids, nor did I read any scouting reports on the kid, but it seems we have a possible diamond in the rough.  There may be an extremely loose comparison to the situation of A.J. Klein, in that Lester purportedly lacks some of the speed and/or athleticism that others at his position may have, but he has a good football IQ, great instincts, and the necessary "game speed" on the field to compete. Lester also has that championship pedigree, which is one of those intangibles which may be invaluable in his development as a pro. His size makes him very appealing, and he is very familiar with our divisional opponent, Julio Jones.  Here are a few excerpts:

 

 

 

Lester and his agent, Pat Dye Jr., had about 45 minutes to sort through 11 or 12 free agent offers. They picked the Carolina Panthers.

If Lester’s showing at the team’s three-day minicamp is any indication, it was a decision that could prove to be mutually beneficial.

 

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/22/4123612/undrafted-alabama-safety-robert.html#storylink=cpy

 

Lester had calls, and chose us (maybe because he's looking to play. But that's a good thing).  He wants to play here. And, the Panthers wanted Lester also.

 

 

 

Dye said the Panthers were the only team to request a formal interview with Lester at the combine. According to Dye, Carolina’s scouts and coaches were impressed with his knowledge of the game.

“They told me that in that interview he absolutely blew them away in terms of understanding the game, understanding schemes and knowing what everyone’s doing,” Dye said. “They said that was so important in their defense, that the safety be knowledgeable."

 

 

 

 

Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Lester’s experience with the country’s preeminent college program should help him.

 

“It means that he’s been in big situations before,” Rivera said. “You know that his transition should not be as hard. It should be a relatively easy transition for him.”

 

 

 

 

“The great thing about those Alabama kids is there’s nothing too big for them. They’re used to playing in stadiums bigger than the NFL,” Dye said. “Is there anybody better prepared for the NFL than guys who played for Nick Saban – physically, mentally, emotionally and just football intellect?”

 

Although Chico and Dye are speaking in theory and general terms, It seems to me that they are banking on the fact that Lester's experience at Alabama will translate well to the NFL. Moreover, being that G-man basically lauds his own ability to root out talent, hopefully Lester will be the specific answer to our problem at safety.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Huddler]

Should be easy to play behind our front 7

[CardiacCats]

i could definitely see him making an impact next year

[89 Bottom Line]

Lester has a huge oppurtunity to be a steal as a udfa. Hopefully he will work out for us. Either way he is already better than Nak.

[The Golden Child]

I wish death upon Joseph Person.

[PhillyB]

good.

[EMSMedic79]

I usually disregard just about everything Joe Person says.....but yes I agree Lester was a good pick up and could prove to be the steal of the draft.

[jasonluckydog]

I thought Joe just posted on twitter, didn't know he could write decent articles,,,,

 

 

[CatMan72]

Wouldn't be surprised to see him win the SS job... as the article pointed out he was knocked mostly for his 40 time which wasn't that much slower than Vacarro and faster than Cyprien. 

[SCP]

I hope he wins the job. I do not want to see Nakamura lined up 58 yards behind the LBs ever again. I was all fired up about Naka when we signed him. "Oh he was mentored by Ed Reed!!1!!" I said. Fool. Naka is hot garbage. Hopefully Lester or Mitchell bring their A games and beat out that scrub and give us some respectability in the back end of our D.

[TheRumGone]

Lester picked us I would imagine because there is an open competition for a safety spot. Not sure of the other teams that called, but he has a better chance of not getting cut and getting tossed around from team to team.

 

With that said I've watched YouTube clips of him (yes i know its youtube) but what i found was he took some really awful angles. I mean REALLY bad. Coachable.  The good thing about him is he just seems to make plays, he was always in on the action and never gave up. He rarely misses tackles and he seemed to be a leader on the field. He's a big, physical guy. And apparently is very football savvy.

 

He could be a steal as everyone else has said, but i'm not holding my breathe. Best of luck to him.

[Razeyfingers]

Most of the things I heard about him in the negatives were mostly mental things which like Rum says are very coachable and Gettles seems to like those kind of players. You would think its pretty tough for a rookie safety to digest a new "everything" though. I hope Lester is gonna be a good backup behind someone this year and the skill set he has sounds good, but I couldnt possibly say he's gonna be any better than Nakannastartnomore.

 

Safety is a tough spot to learn respectively as well. For now, Ill bet on Mike Mitchell in a heartbeat. Look at how aggressive he was already at camp.

[TheRed]

Low risk/high reward player, I think the guy makes some contributions this season.

[MadHatter]

As some in here have already pointed out, Lester went undrafted for a reason. Other than running a 4.6 (which isn't bad), Robert takes horrific angles at times, lacks athleticism and explosion, possesses stiff hips, weak man-to-man technique and manages to have mental breakdowns in coverage against good QBs.

His positives give me hope however (size, good football IQ, leadership qualities, solid zone coverage, ballhawking ability, etc).

Agreed.

He def has weaknesses and may not be ready yet. But, most of his issues can be coaches. Kid is a winner and has potential.