Hightower Regression

[cstjohn17]

Lot of missed tackles today, not just him.

 

[RayClay]

With Mayo, the Pats didn't have the best coverage LBs. Losing Mayo, they lost the qb of the defense and the fastest of the three.

Unfortunately, unlike what some here think, you don't replace your most experienced lb with a rook or FA. Hightower is taking the bulk of that leadership responsibility which means, even though they are blending in Collins and Fletcher more, they can't afford to have Spikes the only experienced lb or the coverage lb which means hightower is going to get stuck in tough coverage sometimes as he leads the team in tackles and QBs the defense.

 

[Brady6]

Dont'a has definitely not made the leap this year. He flashed his rookie year with some plays, in which I thought he would carry into this season while transitioning into a solid player. He is sooo slow, and a major liability in coverage.

As a first round pick is he doing anything that an UDFA couldn't do?

The problem is it is impossible to determine if Hightower has progressed or regressed this season because he has played a totally different role. Last season he was the SAM in a 4-3 and the WOLB in a 3-4, this season he is the WILL in a 4-3 and the WILB in a 3-4. He is also playing the coverage weak-side LB (cover) in the sub packages instead of the strong-side LB (underneath/blitz) which he played last season.

Hightower played one the best games he has played this season in my opinion, if you want to focus on one play in which he was covering player he never should have been covering that’s your decision. If you want to point at the LBs who let us down today it would be Spikes who didn’t register so much as an assist on the stat sheet, or Fletcher and Collins who had 2 tackles each all game. A thread for the LB who had more than double the tackles of all the other LBs on the team combined today seems way off.

If you moved Chandler Jones to 3-4 NT his 2nd year leap would look just like Hightower's.

 

[ausbacker]

He's 15-20lbs too heavy? That's the only thing other than Mayo is not there I can think of.

This adequately describes my feelings towards Hightower's struggles. He's simply too big to be doing what he's asked to be doing. He looks to be a lumbering oaf out there, not the dynamic playmaker that Alabama had.

 

[reflexblue]

This adequately describes my feelings towards Hightower's struggles. He's simply too big to be doing what he's asked to be doing. He looks to be a lumbering oaf out there, not the dynamic playmaker that Alabama had.

BUT he weighed 270 while at Bama. Maybe hes hurt or maybes because hes the qbing the defense he thinking to much instead of just reacting.

 

[BKBroiler]

Scott Zolak (amongst others) has been saying this for weeks and I think he is 100% correct: Hightower is still learning Mayo's position. Last year Hightower was ok to slightly above average in pass coverage. This year, he played similarly until Mayo got hurt. Now with Mayo out, he has different coverage responsibilities and seems to be a step behind since he isn't instinctively reacting yet. That split second of reacting later is causing him to be out of position, which he then isn't able to overcome with speed because of his size.

I think we saw a step in the right direction today though. Despite the TD catch, he played better in coverage, seemed to play more physical, and was in on more tackles than usual. Hopefully he continues on this trajectory next week as Rice will be a handful in coverage.

 

[Keyser Söze]

He never turns and looks for the ******* football. Just waits for the WR to catch it, beyond annoying.

 

[BKBroiler]

Hightower played one the best games he has played this season in my opinion, if you want to focus on one play in which he was covering player he never should have been covering that’s your decision. If you want to point at the LBs who let us down today it would be Spikes who didn’t register so much as an assist on the stat sheet, or Fletcher and Collins who had 2 tackles each all game. A thread for the LB who had more than double the tackles of all the other LBs on the team combined today seems way off.

If you moved Chandler Jones to 3-4 NT his 2nd year leap would look just like Hightower's.

I would need to look at the tape again, but I don't think you can use tackles to evaluate Collins's play today. If I remember correctly, he covered Clay multiple times throughout the game. Since Clay touched the ball once, naturally Collins wouldn't have many tackles.

 

[Brady6]

I would need to look at the tape again, but I don't think you can use tackles to evaluate Collins's play today. If I remember correctly, he covered Clay multiple times throughout the game. Since Clay touched the ball once, naturally Collins wouldn't have many tackles.

I am not putting it on Collins but I do think that Spikes not even registering an assist is unacceptable. He is a 4th year player and he is going the other way as a player. Last season he forced 5 fumbles and was one of the most feared run stoppers in the NFL, this season he hasn’t forced a fumble and is inconsistent on a week over week basis.

Collins played ok in coverage made 1 really good play but other than that the LBs were unimpressive outside of Hightower who had a solid overall game.

 

[Brady6]

This adequately describes my feelings towards Hightower's struggles. He's simply too big to be doing what he's asked to be doing. He looks to be a lumbering oaf out there, not the dynamic playmaker that Alabama had.

When he was at Alabama he played SILB or SOLB depending on the situation, he was paired with Nico Johnson and CJ Mosley who played the WILB (WILL). He was shooting gaps and blitzing at Alabama, this season he is dropping into coverage or playing a spy position. Hightower is big and explosive in short distances he does not have the sideline-to-sideline speed to do what he is doing now. Hightower is not Willis, Mayo, Kuechly, Timmons, etc. he is not the type of LB that you let roam and make plays all over the field, he is a player that should be close to the line of scrimmage and moving forward at the football.

 

[SVN]

BUT he weighed 270 while at Bama. Maybe hes hurt or maybes because hes the qbing the defense he thinking to much instead of just reacting.

He interviewed with reiss 2 weeks ago and said bill wants him to be at 270 so he is so. He will drop if asked to. We really need to stop talking about the weight of his or blame the trainers. I dont think players can maintain any weight they choose to have in a professional team. Maybe Iam wrong.

 

[condon84]

Aside from that pass TD he gave up, this was not a game that we can say he regressed. He played well defending the run and was pretty aggressive and decisive in his moves.

That pass TD was a brilliant call by the Dolphins. Knowing that Hightower was going to be isolated against their fast RB if the Pats defense played man, there really was nothing he could have done. Probably only a few LBs in the league would have been able to defend that throw.

 

[ausbacker]

BUT he weighed 270 while at Bama. Maybe hes hurt or maybes because hes the qbing the defense he thinking to much instead of just reacting.

I rarely believe the measurements of players during their college careers. Hightower looks significantly bigger now than he did when he first arrived.

Which ever way we choose to look at it, Hightower isn't playing as well as he can. That's the pressing issue at hand.

 

[Brady6]

Contrary to popular opinion Charles Clay is actually a very good player. He came in as a FB and has developed into that flex TE role. Hernandez used to make many a great LB look as though they regressed.

 

[Sciz]

He never turns and looks for the ******* football. Just waits for the WR to catch it, beyond annoying.

He's doing what he's exactly taught to do. There was a nice video that McCourty did with Curran a few weeks ago. To sum it up, most fans really have no understanding of when you're supposed to look back and when you're not.

Remember Arrington's "WTF" play where he looked for the ball and lost the WR? That's why guys are taught not to look for the ball when they're "out of phase."

 

[MTM558]

The problem is it is impossible to determine if Hightower has progressed or regressed this season because he has played a totally different role. Last season he was the SAM in a 4-3 and the WOLB in a 3-4, this season he is the WILL in a 4-3 and the WILB in a 3-4. He is also playing the coverage weak-side LB (cover) in the sub packages instead of the strong-side LB (underneath/blitz) which he played last season.

Hightower played one the best games he has played this season in my opinion, if you want to focus on one play in which he was covering player he never should have been covering that’s your decision. If you want to point at the LBs who let us down today it would be Spikes who didn’t register so much as an assist on the stat sheet, or Fletcher and Collins who had 2 tackles each all game. A thread for the LB who had more than double the tackles of all the other LBs on the team combined today seems way off.

If you moved Chandler Jones to 3-4 NT his 2nd year leap would look just like Hightower's.

This right here.

 

[supafly]

He's doing what he's exactly taught to do. There was a nice video that McCourty did with Curran a few weeks ago. To sum it up, most fans really have no understanding of when you're supposed to look back and when you're not.

Remember Arrington's "WTF" play where he looked for the ball and lost the WR? That's why guys are taught not to look for the ball when they're "out of phase."

I think that you are reminding us all of an excellent point when it comes to attempting to defend a pass. That said however, the technique that he's been using could stand to use some improvement somewhere, as there have been plenty of times now where he is absolutely useless out there in coverage.

Unfortunately we have yet to improve on our lack of coverage backer/safety hybrid from past years, and it continues to be a major weakness that is often exploited.

 

[supafly]

Lot of missed tackles today, not just him.

This is an unfortunate trend that has been occurring for awhile now. Our tackling absolutely sucks at times. Not only do we see players missing the pass, but then they can't make the tackle afterwards either. That is just unacceptable.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Dont'a has definitely not made the leap this year. He flashed his rookie year with some plays, in which I thought he would carry into this season while transitioning into a solid player. He is sooo slow, and a major liability in coverage.

As a first round pick is he doing anything that an UDFA couldn't do?

Using a 1st round draft pick on a player like this is why this D has been in suck mode for years. They already had Mayo and Spikes in that role.
Mindboggling!!

 

[reflexblue]

He interviewed with reiss 2 weeks ago and said bill wants him to be at 270 so he is so. He will drop if asked to. We really need to stop talking about the weight of his or blame the trainers. I dont think players can maintain any weight they choose to have in a professional team. Maybe Iam wrong.

I don't care about his wgt or any other players wgt, but many people are. But as long as were on the subject i think players have a hard time keeping wgt on during the season. He had nine tackles yesterday and last week he was all over the field against cleveland. And if BB wants him to play at 270 who are we to question that. BB knows what hes asking Hightower to do game to game. I try not to judge whether a player is a wast of pick or not after the third season or so. A lot of players plateu or regress in their second year (sophmore jinx) only to rebound the next year.