Jones, Hightower and Dennard make second year leap.

[woolster22]

Hightower looked like a man among boys at times last week. One play in particular, he absolutely leveled martin as he was attempting to get out into aroute. Reminded me of Willie beating the bejesus out of Faulk in the super bowl. Not only that, but he did a respectable job one on one with him all day. Sure martin had a step on the wheel route, but how many lb in the league can say they can keep up with him step for step?

 

[Gronkandez]

and who was the Pats fan who told all of you that Hightower was covering TE's all over the field in practice as well as RB's and looked fantastic this year during preseason?

Who???....ME.....Joe E. Kerr..that's who...now you know

..please send all donations and marriage requests to I.M. Shakey @legpullers.com

FWIW the muscle hampster beat Hightower in coverage a few times, the only reason it didn't result in big plays is the hamster is short and Freeman was the QB. Bad matchup for him, but still I worry about his coverage ability and speed.

 

[Marqui]

FWIW the muscle hampster beat Hightower in coverage a few times, the only reason it didn't result in big plays is the hamster is short and Freeman was the QB. Bad matchup for him, but still I worry about his coverage ability and speed.

By "a few times", you mean once?

 

[patchick]

Dennard is a CB2 with CB1 coverage ability, he just doesn't have the size of a CB1.

We're so thankful he punched a cop, ran a mediocre 40, and is a shade under 5'10.

Yep, Dennard has less than an inch over the likes of Jonathan Wilhite and even Ellis Hobbs. Isn't it funny how we stop talking about "smurf dbs" when the short guys are actually good at football?

 

[kudzif]

Dennard the jury is still out.
C Jones looking promising, but how the heck can anyone say Hightower has made some year 2 jump.Let's deal with fact's not what we hope will happen.

 

[Kontradiction]

Dennard the jury is still out.
C Jones looking promising, but how the heck can anyone say Hightower has made some year 2 jump.Let's deal with fact's not what we hope will happen.

You don't value pass coverage over the middle too much, then. Surprising, considering we're not that far off from the 2012 season.

 

[ausbacker]

Dennard the jury is still out.
C Jones looking promising, but how the heck can anyone say Hightower has made some year 2 jump.Let's deal with fact's not what we hope will happen.

How do you propose that we deal with the facts when you haven't put forward any? Through Week 3, from what I have observed, Jones, Hightower and Dennard all look to have improved on their 2012 form. How much have they improved? We shall see over the next month.

 

[jsull87]

•Jones could be considered a DPOY candidate if he continues his current play over the entire season, he has been the best player on the field the last 2 weeks in my opinion, on the season he has 14 tackles, 3 sacks and 1 stuff.
•Hightower has really come into his own, with Von Miller drugged out Hightower could potentially become the best 4-3 OLB in the NFL, on the season Hightower has 15 tackles and 1 stuff.
•Dennard has been very impressive in my eyes, with the exception of the difficult reception Williams made 1on1 with him on Sunday Dennard has shut down his opponent, on the season he has 8 tackles, 4 pass defends and 1 interception.

Belichick really struck gold with these 3 selections, getting a top DE, OLB and CB out one draft is unparalleled.

Love the enthusiasm... but lets temper those DPOY and Hightower being the best 4-3 olb in the league. Especially when Mayo is the other OLB across from him and has played just as well if not better.

The DPOY talk is a bit off seeing as Houston has 7.5 sacks already through 3 games and Sherman / Watt have et al have all had strong starts to the year.

I think both have started the year nicely tho and am hoping for the best.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

•Jones could be considered a DPOY candidate if he continues his current play over the entire season

Whoaaaaaa. Stopped reading right there. Slow down with that. It's only been 3 weeks....

 

[MrNathanDrake]

Collins Hightower Mayo will be awesome in the future.

Collins hasn't proven anything yet.

I will miss Spikes if he's gone after this year. While Hightower and Mayo are stable, steady players... Spikes is the emotional spark plug and one of the hardest hitters in the league.

He's also really clutch with turnovers. Forced fumble in the last minute or so that could've gave us a miraculous comeback win over Arizona last year. He's also had a couple clutch INT's in big rivalry games against the Ravens and Jets


and while I agree that last years Draft was a huge success with Jones/Hightower/Dennard.... it could've been even better if we didn't throw away a pick on Tavon "Who?" Wilson.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Jones, Hightower and Dennard make second year leap.

Whoaaaaaa. Stopped reading right there. Slow down with that. It's only been 3 weeks....

You should of kept reading you would have seen the "if he continues" included in my statement.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Jones, Hightower and Dennard make second year leap.

Love the enthusiasm... but lets temper those DPOY and Hightower being the best 4-3 olb in the league. Especially when Mayo is the other OLB across from him and has played just as well if not better.

The DPOY talk is a bit off seeing as Houston has 7.5 sacks already through 3 games and Sherman / Watt have et al have all had strong starts to the year.

I think both have started the year nicely tho and am hoping for the best.

I only said he Jones could be potentially be considered a DPOY candidate, meaning if he continues to play at his current level he could be in the race for it along with all of the players you mentioned.

Hightower in a league with not a lot of elite 43 OLB and who knows what is going on with Von Miller has a chance to be considered one of the best.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Jones, Hightower and Dennard make second year leap.

Dennard the jury is still out.
C Jones looking promising, but how the heck can anyone say Hightower has made some year 2 jump.Let's deal with fact's not what we hope will happen.

The only jury that is still out on Dennard is the one in Nebraska courts, if you watched him play you'd see that he has consistently shut down his opponent in all 3 games.

Hightower is playing at a extremely high level a level you won't see if you rely on his stats on ESPN.

 

[twnickels2014]

Tamba Hali and Clay Matthews are 3-4 OLBs, not 4-3 OLBs. Also, I can't believe you're leaving out Mayo, who's already one of the best 4-3 OLBs (definitely top 3) in the game.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Jones, Hightower and Dennard make second year leap.

Tamba Hali and Clay Matthews are 3-4 OLBs, not 4-3 OLBs. Also, I can't believe you're leaving out Mayo, who's already one of the best 4-3 OLBs (definitely top 3) in the game.

I don't personally consider Mayo an OLB he plays WILB in a 3-4 front and WILL in a 4-3, he doesn't line up outside of the tackles very often.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

You should of kept reading you would have seen the "if he continues" included in my statement.

He has been good, but he hasn't been DPOY-good in the first 3 weeks.... so "if he continues" is irrelevant.

 

[VrabelJr]

Ninkovich has outplayed Jones so far this year.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

While I applaud the enthusiasm, I think Clay Matthews and Lance Briggs are still well ahead of Hightower, and Chad Greenway and Lavonte David are not bad.

Hightower might soon become the best in the AFC however; when you restrict the conversation to only 4-3 OLBs the primary competition would be Tamba Hali in KC. Others to consider would be Koa Misi in Miami, the Jets' Calvin Pace, the Colts' Robert Mathis. edit: scratch Pace and Mathis

Clay Matthews is a 3-4 OLB who is essentially a defensive end, dropping into coverage when the moon is blue. Living in Minnesota I can tell you that Greenway, while solid, is not playing very well right now and is getting a lot of criticism. Lance Briggs and Lavonte David, however, are two I would have to agree with as better 4-3 OLBs right now. I don't see Hightower as a natural 4-3 OLB, whereas Briggs and David were born to play that spot.

 

[supafly]

We could agree or disagree on the specifics of your statement all week long, but one thing's for sure....the second year players seem to be continuing to improve on some level, and that is what really matters in my opinion. I also believe it to be your main point.

I sometimes have mixed feelings about both Hightower and Dennard, but there's no doubt that our team is better off with them on the field, and that they have progressed from day one. I hope to see Dennard continue to improve and hold that side of the field down. If so, that would be enormous for our pass defense. Let's see how he does against top level competition over the next 3 games.

 

[AzorianPats]

Hightower as been awesome! I wouldn't label him just a 4-3 olb though. We've used so many different types of schemes, and he's moved around so often, its hard to compare him to another player. I will say whether its a 4-3 or 3-4, or he's playing outside or inside, he's playing like a beast! He's built like Willie McGinest, but plays like a mix of Bruschi and Vrabel.