Boring analogy, but I used to cover high school football games on Friday nights for the Dallas Morning News and later the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I've seen many levels of good and bad football. One night I had a game at Tom Bean, Texas, a bit east of Sherman. I don't remember his last name, but his name was Buddy. I think he had six touchdowns and close to 400 yards, in a game when the two teams combined for over 100 points. I was told he ran like that every week. But he went to a Juco and never really made much of himself at the next level. He was small and quick. In the fourth quarter, I was calling to check on the state record for rushing yards in a game. He had a chance to get there, mostly because it was the first time all season, when he actually got to play in the fourth quarter, because the visitors could also play, especially on offense.
The point of the story is that especially in small schools, there are lots of incredible performers for the lower levels. The teams with good coaches can really run it up. Kanak was from that kind of HS situation. When what a decade ago was called P5 schools offered a ship, it was never really based on performances. It based on projected athleticism and size. OU wasn't even offering Kanak as I recalled. But Clemson was, where he committed to DC Brent Venebles. Brent didn't want to take him for OU, because he didn't want to steal the committed recruit of his buddy Dabo. Kanak kind of begged him to. He had the size and speed of a college player, but not really reps on video where you could see how he'd play against great competition.
He's still athletic. But he never seemed to be able to handle the complexity of top college offenses like linebacker needs to. Perhaps if his mental workload is downsized, he can be a productive player. I'd think the complexity of a tight end would be tough, especially if you've been playing defense for three years. But if you don't know well what to do, you really can't do it full speed. Surely he can still be a decent special teams player. If he's going to be a potential pro player at any level, he ought to do the spectacular occasionally at some phase of college football.
