CrazyDave said:
I'm half watching the Hamburg/Rhein game, and i've seen at least 2 horse collar tackles with no calls. Does this rule not apply?
There is no horse collar rule in NFLE.
Zuriel Smith - Had a pretty good day despite two drops. He made a beautiful layout and fingertip catch on a go route down the sideline to put Rhein at the 1 yd line. He got open and made himself big in the back on the end zone on a QB scramble. On another scramble he was covered by the CB, but popped out and made the grab when the QB just threw the ball blindly to the outside of the CB and let Z make a play. He would have had a third TD on another sideline go if he had been more aggressive and gone up after the ball instead of letting it come to him - giving the CB a chance to make a great play. Two decent KRs. I was critical of his blocking and an apparent unwillingness to mix it up more before I looked up his measurables - 5'11" 168 smurf standard. He did have one nice block on the CB outside.
Antwann Spann - Worked his way into the nickel last week grabbing an int. That earned him more playing time this week, including being split between nickel and outside. He showed his metal by taking his 6' 185 lb carcass and making tough open field tackles on 240 lb TEs and RBs when the guys ahead of him missed - on one play coming across the field to make the tackle on the TE. He worked against former Pats Scott McCready and Ricky Bryant with good coverage. McCready made a catch against him, but was brought down immediately with no YAC. He grabbed another int and returned it for a TD to seal the win for Rhein. He did have one missed tackle, though he was being blocked at the time so it was hard to get that handhold on his 240 lb target. He works as a gunner on punts and near the outside (1 or 2) on KRs, he made a good play on one KR fighting off the block to get a piece of the return man. He made a great play on the KR immediately after his int, coming across the field to make the TD saving tackle after the KR blew by the coverage on that side - good angle and decent speed. He also was sent on the blitz for Hamburg's 4th and 10 desperation play at the end of the game, getting to the QB when the first blitzer flushed him outside (intentional grounding in the NFL but not Europe). He showed good decisiveness reading run or pass, often coming up quickly in run support like he knew what it was before the snap. Nice highlight tape to send Collier.
Nick Steitz - Needed the ice bath and a rub down after this game. He was working against a 6’ 328 DT from Grand Valley State (Keyonta Marshall - Eagles) who used the height mismatch to get under Nick's pads all game and make him battle for control. He was beaten once for a run stop at the line and a couple times by bull rushes that flushed the QB - leading to one int. Nick did well, but he needed C help much more in this game then he has previously. Nick continues to be excellent at getting to the next level and taking out a LB, and on one play took the LB out and slowed the CB who eventually made the tackle after an 8-9 yd gain. Rhein ran and threw well, so Nick held up his end of the deal pretty well for the most part. He still needs work on his cut blocks when trying to take out a DL on the backside of plays.
Look for Marshall on the waiver wire, he would be a good back-up to Vince. Another player who caught my eye - John Bowenkamp, North Dakota, 6’5†220 QB for Rhein, a Free Agent signing who was helping at the European player's special training camp throwing the ball and caught the Rhein coach's eye. He threw the int that Steitz's man caused by forcing the scramble; he moved well in the pocket avoiding the rush, just didn't see the defender undercutting the dump off man he was looking for - good read by the defense. Bowencamp also slipped on a 7 step drop and still got back to his feet and made a decent throw to his outlet receiver on the sideline for positive yardage - good field awareness. He'd make decent camp fodder if nothing else, but he has the size and pocket mobility for McDaniels to play with.
