manxman2601

The numbers say he's pretty good at it.



Von Miller: 86 total pressures on 436 pass rush attempts or a pressure every 5.06 pass rush attempts.

Dont'a Hightower: 14 pressures on 65 attempts or a pressure every 4.6 attempts.


Giving Hightower the same number of attempts as Von Miller would give him 93 pressures and 20 sacks for the season.


Now I'm not saying that Hightower could ever be a better pass rusher than Von Miller and he clearly benefits from a small sample size but I do believe he's a better pass rusher than people think. He's got a very powerful Bull rush and has surprising closing speed when he blitzes.

We absolutely need to get more pressure on the QB but I believe that rather than signing Freeney or drafting a rusher, we should look to see what we already have in house in Hightower.

Marqui

Blitzing from the LB spot and rushing as a DE are 2 completely different things. Hightower is a very good blitzer but he's not a great pass rushing DE.

signbabybrady

Simple answer: Yes

We need to start generating pass rush from everywhere in the front seven.

I dont think he should ever be attacking at the rate of Miller for two reasons different scheme and different position.

I think given that we had 2 big contributors in the front 7 as rookies probably limited some of the things they were willing to dial up.

But Give both Hightower and Jones this offseason to get their bodies right for their roles and to continue to learn and there is no reason not to think that these guys will be better and get to the QB more next season.

This is one of the reasons I would be OK with using most of the cap on retaining Talib and the others as this team can bank on vast improvement based on the number of key first, second, and third year players on this team that retention and continued continuity are more important than trying to plug a few holes.

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SwedishPat

I would like to see how he does with some bull rushing up the middle. Right now we need more pressure up the middle, and if Hightower could use his strength there then that would be good. The problem right now though is that we are a bit short on coverage linebackers, if you rush Hightower then you need to trust Spikes even more in coverage and that is not perfect.

manxman2601

I actually think Hightower would be an improvement on Ninkovich or Cunningham or Scott in the sub package. But even as a blitzer, we should be blitzing him more often.

patsfan-1982

like others have said he's not a true pass rusher he's a good blitzer and he's pretty good in coverage...Hightower is what BB hoped he was geting when he sighed AD a few years ago a all around LB that is not great at one thing but pretty good at everything

patsfaninpa

He's not very good in coverage. In fact, he's a much better pass rusher than coverage linebacker. He doesn't play well in space. He's outstanding at the LOS and point of attack. I feel he's ideally suited for LDE. He's about 270lb. He ran mid 4.6 when he cut weight for the combine and doesn't play that fast.

BradyManny

Yes, I thought so all year. He's effective as a pass rusher, including - but not limited to - blitzes.

I'd like to see him, Mayo & Spikes all spend more time blitzing.

Our nickel needs improvement, and it starts at safety (upgrade over Gregory) - but the next step is getting an LB that can cover. You hate to take two of your stud SEC LBs off the field in any situation, so maybe the answer might be using Hightower at DE in pass rush situations more often.

signbabybrady

3/4ths of your DL including both DE spots are pretty well set in stone with Jones, Vince, and Ninko. Who what where do you move someone to put Hightower at DE?

I am OK if you are suggesting using Hightower occasionally at DE to spell Jones and Ninko and/or as a gimmick shifting one and/or the other into DT for a play here there.

But I think mixing in more traditional zone blitzes with Ninko and Jones dropping into coverage and the LBs blitzing should be something we do alot more as we have the athletic ends to play in space a little we should be playing off that.

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Sciz

He should rush move, but I don't think he's the kind of guy who can line up at DE and repeatedly beat an OT.

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