03-09-2016, 10:57 PM
From the same link above, from Quigley:
Quote:Quigley said: ↑
38. Jesse Glass-McCasker
Ht – 196 Wt – 92
There is going to be a lot of KP talent around in the latter part of this draft who have shown glimpses of some serious talent. Picking which ones who are going to succeed and which ones are going to flop is to largely be a function of luck but get it right and the recruiters are going to look like geniuses. Glass-McCasker is right in that basket. He has the potential to be a top tier defender but the risk is high and he could just as easily bust altogether.
Glass-McCasker can play at both ends and has done this year. Personally I think this has not helped him. He is still a very raw prospect and it would have been better to settle him into one position and let him learn the nuances of that position rather than throwing him from one end to the other. I see him as a defender. He has good size already and when his frame fills out he is going to be a beast. He does not get into too many body on body contests at the moment but when he does he shows good ability to hold his position. He has pretty good hands and a nice vertical leap. He will punch but he does need to refine his decision making about when to mark and when to punch. Like many junior KPDs he does tend to go for the mark a bit more often than he should.
As mentioned above he is still a very raw player and his positioning at the back leaves a fair bit to be desired. Smart forwards would eat him up at AFL level early in his career and I see him playing a couple of years in a State league side before he develops the game sense to make use of his physical talent to the full extent. People should remember how lost Rance looked for his first 2 or 3 years before he finally got things together. Expect similar from Glass-McCasker.
Athletically there is a lot to like with Glass-McCasker. He was in the top 25% of the jumps at the Combine and was 6th overall in the agility test which is great for a big bodied defender. Being able to change direction quickly when a forward makes a move is an underrated physical trait for a defender. His 20m testing was not as good as I was expecting at the Combine but it was still pretty good. From watching him he just looked a bit quicker than he tested. His endurance is the big hole in his athletic profile and I doubt he is ever going to make a wide ranging CHB. More likely he will be a FB type. Like Rance though I think he could contribute nicely in the offensive side of the game.
Glass-McCasker runs off nicely when he gets the chance. He is nicely balanced and has a good burst of pace that surprises for defending forwards. He has a really nice long handball and is a decent kick of the ball. His kicking technique is okay and he is a bit of a feel kick. He does need to work on his weighting but he is not far away and with work in an AFL environment I think he could turn out to be a quality kick coming out of defence. He can get excellent penetration and can kick over a zone if they are a bit bunched.
He has been compared to Rance in body size and athleticism and I do think he has that kind of upside. He is well worth a punt in the second or third round.
Finals, then 4 in a row!