Quote:
Originally Posted by Shep  Maualuga was a beast last year. Saw an ESPN piece about how he was underappreciated but not by the Bengals defensive coaches who fully understand how integral he was to their incredible year on defense. The piece said he did what he did at USC -- take on and blow up linemen and fullbacks -- and people who don't know better just look at tackle stats.
I think to get a full grip on his impact on the Bengals, you can start by looking at their improvement on defense from the year before. The piece said he didn't have Matthews or Cushing's gaudy stats but he may have meant as much or even more to his team.
So yeah... I think the Browns would REALLY love to have Rey-Rey about now. If Gocong does his job as good as Rey, Ryan will spot himself. |
First off, I gotta applaud Alo for worrying about character concerns. Rey gotta DWI which is inexcusable for a millionaire who has the cake to pay people to do his driving if/when he's gonna be partying. That's the maddening stuff people had issues with about Rey pre-draft. I don't think TALENT was ever his issue. I was absolutely goo goo eyed about his talent.
If we're just talking talent alone - you gotta watch some of that piece the NFL Channel did on the Bengals training camp & preseason last year. Coaching staff jaws were bouncing off the floor when they saw what an animal he is.
When it comes to LBers - I look for 5 things:
1) WHERE are they making the majority of their tackles instead of how many tackles they make.
2) How often are they defensing passes vrs tackling guys catching passes in their zones (high quantities of that can mean their area of the field is a bullseye to an opposing OC). Seems to me one of the college highlights I saw the most of Rey was him being in the right zone depth (meaning instinctive read) and him taking a slant pass INT more than 50 yards the other way for a score vrs Ohio State. He's got all the goodies an NFL team doesn't have to waste any time coachign up. Kind of like the Brandon Spikes kid BB drafted in spit of the 5 flat forty time. If you play the LBer position with instincts - you're gonna look quick on film so teams will never know what your top end speed is. Did BB give the first rat about the 40 time? Hell no - his diagnosis goodies are all there on film showing him as a guy that plays quick at the front end of plays.
3) Do they CLOSE running lanes by coming forward to blow up the OG or lead back? If they're not coming forward - they're not SEALING the running lane. This unselfishness doesn't always present itself in the form of tackle volumes. Tell you what though - I'll guarantee alot of FBs lose their ambition/will when they get violent flipper from Rey with all 260 pounds behind it. He's vicious when somebody liek Cris Collinsworth is talking about how much his role was missed when the Bengals played the Jets without him on that last game of the year. Collinsworth spoke of Rey's willingness to blow up lead blockers.
4) Does this LBer make it happen when we ask him to blitz. In other words, do tiny RBs stop him in his tracks? Or does he render the little backs blocking useless at that cause much like a REAL deal does more often than not? I'm not even talking about sacks as much as I am seeing the right LBer hurry a throw. Before the second part of last year - I saw very little success in our LBers forcing early throws. When Benard and Roth entered our active lineup - I thought this changed for the better. I also thought our inside stunts IMPROVED when Bowens went inside. It sure seemed like he stopped ALOT of short yardage plays at the right spots; and I saw him forcing some QBs to throw the ball before they wanted to even if didn't fully translate into a QB sack per say. I didn't see enough of Rey to know how he did on blitzes. I did see enough of Ray Lewis to understand NOBODY from Tur-Telle Smith at FB to any of RBs were gonna block him well enough on the blitz to prevent him from making our passers throw the ball before they wanted to.
5) Presence. Presence says if you're gonna come to my area of the field you're either gonna pay the price, feel me in a violent collision capable of jarrign footballs loose or you're gonna worry where I am at all times. Rey and Ray have this. We're still looking for the right inside presence. I promise you when we have it - nobody is gonna care to count how many tackles our ILBer makes. Who here confused Wali Rainer with Pepper Johnson or Mike Johnson?
Biggest concern right now? If D'Qwell can't answer the bell, Chris Gocong and Titus Brown seem far more impressive than Eric Barton and Kaluka Maiava. If Titus isn't seasoned enough - other options would be moving Fujita inside OR playing Trusnik there. I think Trusnik might be the most overlooked and underrated defender we have. The reason I say this is I see him reading pass faster than alot of LBers. And BECAUSE of this - it's kind of nice to get a 6'4" fame to the hook depth on time; especially if/when he can gets longer arms up there to defense passes. Don't underestimate the ability to diagnose and read pass quickly. People have been throwing all over our inability to get our LBers to the right zone depths on time. This 1-2 steps late all the time could freakin KILL us if we don't have anyone playing with an ounce of instinct. I won't be surprised of Veikune gets CUT. This statement isn't as bold as people think it is. Wimbley plays for the Raiders today because after his rookie year - teams demanded that he cover the flats just as much as he rushed the passer. Guess what? He had the instincts of a raccoon crossing the highway at nighttime so teams started to run and throw at the side of the field he lined up on. Guess what? The found enough reason to keep doing it. These LBers that are out there thinking instead of playing iwht instinct are the square pegs we're tryign to mold because of what ROUND they came from. Screw that - they either have it or they don't.
It seems that you are unregistered. Please register with us by clicking here.
09-04-2010
I expect to see him do next to nothing this year, just as he did last year.
Linear Mode
