The comp for Severson is up the road in Cleveland. Severson is the Jameis Winston of offensive defensemen. Much like how Winston can look incredibly talented on one play and look like the dumbest guy in the league on the next, Severson can make a beautiful pass on one play and then a bone headed play on the next. You will never win with Jameis Winston as your quarterback. In Famous Jameis’s best season he throw for 5,109 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also threw 30 interceptions and the Buccaneers finished 7-9.
jameis is a unicorn in that he is bad in a uniquely interesting way.
severson isn't a unicorn because there are a lot of other defensemen who are good 90% of the time but make
BIG mistakes that make you pull your hair out (vince dunn and mike matheson come to mind)
i don't think severson has as much raw talent as the two guys i just mentioned, but i don't think the lows are nearly as low as matheson's were in florida, or dunn's in st. louis. those players need two things to succeed:
- the right team situation
- trust from the coach that the good will outweigh the bad (or ugly)
severson's deployment his last season in new jersey (when he was incredibly effective) had him carrying the third pair nominally, but with second-pair ice time. that could be his role next year, provided they two guys on the back end – a righty to pair with mateychuk on the second pair, and a low-event lefty to pair with severson on the third pair.
Daniel Jones is the comp for Provorov. He was a disappointing high draft pick (Jones was 6OA, Provorov was 7OA). He then played reasonably well in his contract year and actually got the Giants into the playoffs. (Some credit must go to Saquon Barkley.) The Giants stupidly gave Jones a big contract and then almost instantly regretted it when he regressed to his normal self the next season.
baker mayfield is the better comp for provorov.
high draft pick in a loaded draft, picked by a team that wore orange, had an electric start to his career and then tapered off. ends up getting moved and then re-establishes himself, is clearly a good player but not a franchise building block.