mackenzie45220
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2012
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(continued)
8. The vertical jump and the broad jump is very underrated for offensive linemen, and the bench press is a bit overrated. A common flaw of collegiate linemen, especially in run blocking, is a tendency to lean on their hands. A lineman who leans on his hands will have so much forward momentum that a simple swim move will result in a linemen just falling way past his target. Any NFL defensive lineman can beat a guy who leans on his hands. Run blocking most be done with your legs. You have to explode and keep them churning. There are two causes for a guy who has a problem with leaning on his hands; simply poor fundamentals or a lineman who is top heavy. Some guys lean on their hands because all of their strength is in the upper body, which is a major red flag. The vertical jump and broad jump can give you an idea if a lineman's tendency to lean on his hands is a result of an imbalanced build or just iffy fundamentals. It's a very good measure of lower body explosion and power for offensive linemen. Take Nate Solder for example. He only did 21 bench reps at the NFL combine, below average even when you account for his length. And he was a mediocre run blocker at the collegiate level, prone to leaning on his hands. But, at 319lbs, he had the 3rd highest vertical and broad jumps at the 2011 combine among offensive linemen, and his vertical remains the 8th best by an offensive lineman since 2011. Bill Belichick got him to stop playing high, and, now, he's an above average run blocking (and pass blocking, although that's a little more unrelated) NFL tackle despite the fact that he is no stronger than the guy who did 21 bench reps at the 2011 combine. Yet Matt Kalil, who has been a solid pass blocker but a very disappointing run blocker thus far in his career, had 30 bench reps at the 2012 combine, yet he had a terrible 27 inch vertical.
9. The center's main job is quarterback of the offensive line. He makes all the line calls. If someone is left unblocked, the center misread a blitz. When you are scouting centers, look for that closely.
10. I'm all about hand usage for defensive linemen, as it gives them a chance to make penetration with their head up and see the ball much better. In addition to proper fundamentals and obviously long arms, it's important that a defensive lineman has very quick hands that act like knives and not sledgehammers. This makes Ra'Shede Hagemann overrated; many taller linemen tend to have slow moving arms, and have less potential with hand usage than the mere length of their arms suggest; long arms doesn't necessarily mean good hand usage in the same way that players with longer arms don't translate to steals in basketball. Tall, long armed players just aren't as quick. Shorter players tend to be quicker. The ideal combination, really the best indicator of a guy with the potential to be great with his hands, is not long arms, but long arms relative to height. If you are 6'3 and have the arm length of a guy who is 6'6, you have all the quickness of a guy who is 6'3 but still the length advantage necessary for effective hand usage, and the lack of height gives you better leverage (the low man wins in football). Aldon Smith is a solid example of a guy who is disproportionate, 6'4 with 35 3/8 inch arms. For the sake of context, the distance between my shoulders is 13 inches, and I'm 5'6. Let's assume the same distance for Aldon Smith. That gives a wingspan over 7'0. And his hand usage is incredible.
11. The most common type of sleeper is an athletic, instinctive 4-3 weakside linebacker that falls due to a lack of height. Their skills are often perfectly suited to 3-4 inside weakside linebacker, like NaVorro Bowman, Daryl Washington, Lawrence Timmons, and Jerrell Freeman. Bobby Wagner and Lavonte David also fit the mold, but they also could play in a 4-3.
12. Pattern read coverage is something worth knowing about.
13. Let's assume that if a corner under 5'11 is gaining first or second round consideration, he is athletic enough to stay with anyone. The easiest way to tell if he can have success in man coverage in the NFL if he can breakup hitch route or a slant route. It's theoretically impossible, because no matter how close the corner is to the receiver, the ball is in between the receiver and the quarterback, and the corner has shorter arms than the receiver, and the receiver is closer to the ball than the cornerback. There is no possible way for the corner to touch the ball. But the Ronde Barbers, Alterraun Verners, and Jason Verretts of the world break up this pass by slashing the wrists of the receiver with impeccable timing (which can't be taught), not so early that a pass interference is called, not so late that the receiver makes the catch, trying to tear apart the hands of the receiver who is trying to make the catch, and, as you wrap your arms around the receiver's torso, refuse to let him get away, so that in the event you just can't break up this pass, you still prevent any yards after the catch. The undersized corner that can do all of this is nearly impossible to find, but they always make the pro bowl.
14. In terms of thoughts on scheme, I've always been a defensive guy first. My ideal defensive scheme: the ultimate hybrid defense. When there are less than three receivers on the field, a 4-3 defense. A classic 4-3 pass rusher as the weakside defensive end. A guy like Muhammad Wilkerson or Red Bryant playing strongside defensive end, big for a defensive end and could play 4-3 tackle in a pinch, also should be able to two gap when necessary. A 0 technique who basically acts like a nose tackle, a two gap type guy over the center, think Daniel McCullers. Having a guy who can two gap is invaluable in my mind. A weakside 3 technique, undersized and quick as possible, good pass rusher, Warren Sapp, Geno Atkins, Dominique Easley, etc. A strongside linebacker with incredible versatility. Can cover ground like nobodies business and really great pass rusher, tall enough for tight ends. Von Miller, Clay Matthews, Tamba Hali, Jamie Collins in two years, Bruce Irvin if you're desperate. A typical 4-3 middle linebacker, although must be 6'2 or taller, and a typical 4-3 weakside linebacker. When moving to the nickel, sub out either the nose or the strongside end, whichever one is more tired at the moment, and have the other one play the nose. Maybe sub out both if they are both tired (more common than you think) and you are nearly sure it will be a pass, bring in a backup, but play him at the strongside one technique, not a 0 technique. Move the strongside linebacker to strongside end. In short, it behaves like a 3-4 in the nickel; sub out a defensive lineman to conserve stamina and move a linebacker to defensive end, except the 3-4 moves both linebackers to defensive end in order to create a 4-2-5. And you have some two gapping going on against the run to keep numbers in your favor. And it lends itself to conserving stamina, because it behaves like a 3-4 in nickel packages, subbing out a defensive lineman and moving a linebacker to defensive end. In short, it is cross between my two favorite defenses; the hybrid 4-3 that has some two gapping of you guys and the Seahawks, combined with the substitution patterns of the Broncos, who sub out a defensive lineman and put Von Miller's hand in the dirt in a 4-3.
15. If I ever become an NFL GM, I'm going to sign a 7 footer and use him for one purpose: blocking field goals. Remember, he won't get just 7 inches higher than, say, a guy who is 6'5. His arms will also be longer. The height plus the arm length is a difference in standing reach of at least 10 inches, maybe more.
8. The vertical jump and the broad jump is very underrated for offensive linemen, and the bench press is a bit overrated. A common flaw of collegiate linemen, especially in run blocking, is a tendency to lean on their hands. A lineman who leans on his hands will have so much forward momentum that a simple swim move will result in a linemen just falling way past his target. Any NFL defensive lineman can beat a guy who leans on his hands. Run blocking most be done with your legs. You have to explode and keep them churning. There are two causes for a guy who has a problem with leaning on his hands; simply poor fundamentals or a lineman who is top heavy. Some guys lean on their hands because all of their strength is in the upper body, which is a major red flag. The vertical jump and broad jump can give you an idea if a lineman's tendency to lean on his hands is a result of an imbalanced build or just iffy fundamentals. It's a very good measure of lower body explosion and power for offensive linemen. Take Nate Solder for example. He only did 21 bench reps at the NFL combine, below average even when you account for his length. And he was a mediocre run blocker at the collegiate level, prone to leaning on his hands. But, at 319lbs, he had the 3rd highest vertical and broad jumps at the 2011 combine among offensive linemen, and his vertical remains the 8th best by an offensive lineman since 2011. Bill Belichick got him to stop playing high, and, now, he's an above average run blocking (and pass blocking, although that's a little more unrelated) NFL tackle despite the fact that he is no stronger than the guy who did 21 bench reps at the 2011 combine. Yet Matt Kalil, who has been a solid pass blocker but a very disappointing run blocker thus far in his career, had 30 bench reps at the 2012 combine, yet he had a terrible 27 inch vertical.
9. The center's main job is quarterback of the offensive line. He makes all the line calls. If someone is left unblocked, the center misread a blitz. When you are scouting centers, look for that closely.
10. I'm all about hand usage for defensive linemen, as it gives them a chance to make penetration with their head up and see the ball much better. In addition to proper fundamentals and obviously long arms, it's important that a defensive lineman has very quick hands that act like knives and not sledgehammers. This makes Ra'Shede Hagemann overrated; many taller linemen tend to have slow moving arms, and have less potential with hand usage than the mere length of their arms suggest; long arms doesn't necessarily mean good hand usage in the same way that players with longer arms don't translate to steals in basketball. Tall, long armed players just aren't as quick. Shorter players tend to be quicker. The ideal combination, really the best indicator of a guy with the potential to be great with his hands, is not long arms, but long arms relative to height. If you are 6'3 and have the arm length of a guy who is 6'6, you have all the quickness of a guy who is 6'3 but still the length advantage necessary for effective hand usage, and the lack of height gives you better leverage (the low man wins in football). Aldon Smith is a solid example of a guy who is disproportionate, 6'4 with 35 3/8 inch arms. For the sake of context, the distance between my shoulders is 13 inches, and I'm 5'6. Let's assume the same distance for Aldon Smith. That gives a wingspan over 7'0. And his hand usage is incredible.
11. The most common type of sleeper is an athletic, instinctive 4-3 weakside linebacker that falls due to a lack of height. Their skills are often perfectly suited to 3-4 inside weakside linebacker, like NaVorro Bowman, Daryl Washington, Lawrence Timmons, and Jerrell Freeman. Bobby Wagner and Lavonte David also fit the mold, but they also could play in a 4-3.
12. Pattern read coverage is something worth knowing about.
13. Let's assume that if a corner under 5'11 is gaining first or second round consideration, he is athletic enough to stay with anyone. The easiest way to tell if he can have success in man coverage in the NFL if he can breakup hitch route or a slant route. It's theoretically impossible, because no matter how close the corner is to the receiver, the ball is in between the receiver and the quarterback, and the corner has shorter arms than the receiver, and the receiver is closer to the ball than the cornerback. There is no possible way for the corner to touch the ball. But the Ronde Barbers, Alterraun Verners, and Jason Verretts of the world break up this pass by slashing the wrists of the receiver with impeccable timing (which can't be taught), not so early that a pass interference is called, not so late that the receiver makes the catch, trying to tear apart the hands of the receiver who is trying to make the catch, and, as you wrap your arms around the receiver's torso, refuse to let him get away, so that in the event you just can't break up this pass, you still prevent any yards after the catch. The undersized corner that can do all of this is nearly impossible to find, but they always make the pro bowl.
14. In terms of thoughts on scheme, I've always been a defensive guy first. My ideal defensive scheme: the ultimate hybrid defense. When there are less than three receivers on the field, a 4-3 defense. A classic 4-3 pass rusher as the weakside defensive end. A guy like Muhammad Wilkerson or Red Bryant playing strongside defensive end, big for a defensive end and could play 4-3 tackle in a pinch, also should be able to two gap when necessary. A 0 technique who basically acts like a nose tackle, a two gap type guy over the center, think Daniel McCullers. Having a guy who can two gap is invaluable in my mind. A weakside 3 technique, undersized and quick as possible, good pass rusher, Warren Sapp, Geno Atkins, Dominique Easley, etc. A strongside linebacker with incredible versatility. Can cover ground like nobodies business and really great pass rusher, tall enough for tight ends. Von Miller, Clay Matthews, Tamba Hali, Jamie Collins in two years, Bruce Irvin if you're desperate. A typical 4-3 middle linebacker, although must be 6'2 or taller, and a typical 4-3 weakside linebacker. When moving to the nickel, sub out either the nose or the strongside end, whichever one is more tired at the moment, and have the other one play the nose. Maybe sub out both if they are both tired (more common than you think) and you are nearly sure it will be a pass, bring in a backup, but play him at the strongside one technique, not a 0 technique. Move the strongside linebacker to strongside end. In short, it behaves like a 3-4 in the nickel; sub out a defensive lineman to conserve stamina and move a linebacker to defensive end, except the 3-4 moves both linebackers to defensive end in order to create a 4-2-5. And you have some two gapping going on against the run to keep numbers in your favor. And it lends itself to conserving stamina, because it behaves like a 3-4 in nickel packages, subbing out a defensive lineman and moving a linebacker to defensive end. In short, it is cross between my two favorite defenses; the hybrid 4-3 that has some two gapping of you guys and the Seahawks, combined with the substitution patterns of the Broncos, who sub out a defensive lineman and put Von Miller's hand in the dirt in a 4-3.
15. If I ever become an NFL GM, I'm going to sign a 7 footer and use him for one purpose: blocking field goals. Remember, he won't get just 7 inches higher than, say, a guy who is 6'5. His arms will also be longer. The height plus the arm length is a difference in standing reach of at least 10 inches, maybe more.
