Brownfan80

Not to pick on the guy, but I've noticed something about him in the past two weeks. The guy is slow. Not just for a safety, but slow for a football player.

Against the Jets, on the long TD we gave up on his side, he got outrun by Colvin in persuit. A LB, and a big one at that, outrunning a starting Safety in the NFL.

Then against SD on the long Tomlinson screen I saw him running EVEN with Jarvis Green. Now granted, Jarvis is considered a pretty speedy guy for his position, but he plays on the DEFENSIVE LINE. And Hawkins was merely keeping pace with him in full on persuit mode.

Now, this is not a panic thread, as we've clearly done pretty well with Hawkins in there.. but this is just a note that if Hawkins takes himself out of position, be prepared for a long play because he simply doesn't have the speed to get back into position and make a tackle. This is one of the more concerning issues with our personnel when you consider the team we're facing.

Fast WRs, Fast TEs, and fast HBs.

Hawkins will have to play a much better game this week if we want to prevent the dreaded 'big play'. He's good when he's in position, which is why he's not a risk as long as he doesn't do anything wrong. When he screws up, he's simply too slow to fix it.

patsox23

I agree. As well as Hawkins has played since he arrived, he needs to do a better job, especially with angles, given his lack of elite speed. The larger sample size suggests he's just had a couple of poor games, with an uncharacteristic lack of discipline.

Brownfan80

True, it's just a spot of concern when you consider that he's allowed to big plays to his side in consecutive weeks in the playoffs with an explosive offense coming up.

Hawkins has been a lifesaver since he arrived. But it'd really help if we could avoid a field position changing/point allowing big play this week, and Hawkins, IMO, is the weakest link when it comes to that.

Hopefully he watches a ton of film and knows where to be and when to be there. He'll need that kind of performance this week.

zippo59

Maybe you're right but what doesn't make sense to me is that Hawkins used to play cornerback. CB's have to be the fastest players on the defense. Even if Hawkins isn't a burner he would have to be faster than a speed rushing defensive lineman to survive as long as he did at cornerback.

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Brownfan80

I don't know.. maybe he's hurt. Or maybe he's lost several steps in getting a little older.

But the video doesn't lie. Against the Jets he was getting outrun at full tilt by Colvin and against the Chargers he was merely keeping pace with Jarvis at full bore.

Now, I guess you could question if he was running full speed, but the question then would be : Why isn't he running full speed when he could still impact the play?

But I'd rather believe that he's just slow than believe that he's jogging when he could still impact a play.

zippo59

It's something I'll keep an eye out for.

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"What Tom Brady just did gives me goose bumps."-John Madden after final drive in SB 36


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