NFL.com only credits him with one tackle the entire game. I didn't notice, but my guess would be that, because San Diego was throwing a ton, it made more sense to have Guyton (the better coverage LB of the two) on the field instead of Spikes.
NFL.com only credits him with one tackle the entire game. I didn't notice, but my guess would be that, because San Diego was throwing a ton, it made more sense to have Guyton (the better coverage LB of the two) on the field instead of Spikes.
Exactly what it was. SD threw the ball a lot more than they ran it, especially once they fell behind. Spikes plays more in running situations, while Guyton is out there during passing situations. This is because of Spikes lack of speed, I believe. Guyton did look terrible out there today, he is pretty slow too getting to backs out of the backfield.
Spikes is a situational guy like Guyton only the inverse. When Spikes was on the field he was quite noticeable, ya just had to look a little closer. He was the reason Mayo had lots of tackles in the run game. Just the Mike doing his job blowing it up for the Will. He was outstanding.
Exactly what it was. SD threw the ball a lot more than they ran it, especially once they fell behind. Spikes plays more in running situations, while Guyton is out there during passing situations. This is because of Spikes lack of speed, I believe. Guyton did look terrible out there today, he is pretty slow too getting to backs out of the backfield.
For a guy who was the fastels lb at the 2008 combine. Guyton ran a sub 4.5 He looks slow as molasses the last few weeks. He's got to be injured. He looked very quick on that int week 1 where he cut underneath receiver for int and took it all the way. Fletcher looked better in sub-packages.
I don't think Spikes plays in our nickel/dime packages. He's a run-stuffer. And, doing it well.
For a guy who was the fastels lb at the 2008 combine. Guyton ran a sub 4.5 He looks slow as molasses the last few weeks. He's got to be injured. He looked very quick on that int week 1 where he cut underneath receiver for int and took it all the way. Fletcher looked better in sub-packages.
I don't think Spikes plays in our nickel/dime packages. He's a run-stuffer. And, doing it well.
I agree Spikes' job is to stop the run, not to be an impact defender in defending the pass. He is having a great rookie season.
I'm not sure about the injury theory for Guyton. From what I can remember Guyton was like this last year as well, very slow in covering RBs out of the back field. I agree Fletcher has looked very good the past few weeks.
Tough to say since he is only a rookie and how he will develop, but as of now he is only fit to be a run stopping ILB because of his speed would be a liability of passing situations.
Depends on the type of scheme they are running in sub, but in general it is a speed thing. They're going to have to matchup on tightends and backs in sub and guyton/mayo/fletcher are much more physically suited to this. It's a situation where Spikes' ability to sift through traffic, accelerate, and thump are not needed. Sub sets typically involve playing in a lot of space which he isn't suited for. He can always get in there and play the Mike in sub and man his zone which does play to his vision and anticipation but in man coverages and picking up guys that cross the zone he just doesn't have the athleticism. I did see him getting reps in the 15 nickel last week, but he was used as a blitzer exclusively.
I don't see the problem. Guyton was the starter opposite Mayo last year. It was hoped that ILB play against the run would be much better with Spikes playing against the run. In that regard, the rookie has exceeded the expectations of almost everyone so early in the season.
Guyton's role is what it was when Bruschi was here, an ILB for coverage downs as needed. He's been reasonable in that role.
Fletcher has looked good. If he ends up taking reps from Guyton, that's fine.
The bottom line is that the team has improved. It is does not mean that Guyton (and Banta-Cain) are all of a sudden injured or poorer players because they are playing less. We simply have better options in certain sitautions. That is great news for the patriots!
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