Rob Ninkovich Appreciation Thread

dales804 said:

Maybe Jarvis Green? Similar size.

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Not close in technique and explosion. La'Roi Glover and John Randle are the best comps, obviously he hasn't reached their level.

everlong said:

He sighted Bavaro and Gronk

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"He cited Bavaro and Gronk."

I post this out of love, not out of hate.

fourhour said:

Matt Light was talking about Nink's contributions this year on the Hillman Show Monday morning.

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Damn, should've read "yesterday morning, not this year"!

dales804 said:

I was just looking for that thread! Search function isn't working too well, though.

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Someone here knows who it was that labeled Nink the worst starter in football, I just can't recall right now.

mayoclinic said:

According to Chris Price, Ninkovich leads the Pats with 31 QB hurries and 16 QB hits.

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...r-qb-9/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

It's OT to this thread, but Jamie Collins has 15 pressures and 6 hits, and Dominique Easley 7 pressures and 2 hits. I think those numbers are impressive given Easley's limited playing time and injuries, and Collins' other roles. I think that those will be our 2 most explosive guys down the road.

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A different type of explosiveness but I'd include Hightower in that list.

everlong said:

I can't remember who said it on the radio but they made a point that Bill has the eye to reincarnate players of the past with new guys. He cited Bavaro and Gronk but Nink and Vrabel is the easy one. Collins is turning into Carl Banks although Banks was outside in a 3-4 there are similarities. I can't think of a player Bill's had like Easley.

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In that case I'd like to see some LT reincarnation too (without the cocaine/practice issues). Then again a player like LT wouldn't fit into the "team" defense (and I love this defensive unit).

VrabelJr said:

I don't know if one exists already, but there should be one. He's a really, really great player and he's having a pretty awesome year. Look at his stats:

52 tackles, 42 of which are solo
8 sacks from the LDE position
One INT (could be two!)
5 Tackles For Losses
And about a million QB pressures/hits - I don't subscribe to any fancy pants statistics website anymore so I can't tell you this exact number.

He seems to always make the plays we need when we need them. And his 42 solo tackles lead me to believe he's stopping plays dead in their tracks. It's pretty nuts that he's continuing to get better going into his 30s. What an awesome Patriot Rob Ninkovich is.

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So glad to see this - I think there's been one of these in the past

But as I was enjoying that rout how could you not appreciate that amid all the talk about BB the bad GM from earlier in the season, here you have a largely unheralded under-rated guy who even a lot of Pats fans just said "meh" when he was originally signed and even re-signed (though I think by 2013 most of us were pretty pleased to see him signed to an affordable extension)

He was always that versatile smart player that Belichick valued - perhaps more valuable to the Patriots than he'd be to any other team

Well deserving of an appreciation thread!

I love what Ninko brings as a linebacker and run defender, but I still wait for the day when he is upgraded. I know I will catch some flak over this, but considering that he never leaves the field, he simply doesn't get enough sacks/pressure for my liking.

I loved what we did with him last game and if we used him like this more frequently I would never complain about him. He dropped into coverage at times, rushed from the inside, etc. I love him on the field but having him rush from the edge 24/7, especially against quality tackles, is a waste of his overall game.

If Ninko can teach others what he knows, he could be an elite coach when he decides to hang them up.