It's between Delmas and English for me at this point. Given that I've seen much more of English than I have of Delmas, I'll accentuante the positive for 51.
- There has been a lot made of the 10 yard split lately on this forum. They say English tested poorly. While I think that the 10 yard is important, as a guy who played the position, I feel that his hangclean in more indicative of his explosion. Looking at the film, English has a hangclean of easily 315. Football players know an explosive player when they see one. English is highly explosive off of his plant step.
-When you rush, there is a very overlooked attribute. The snap jump. It's not necessarily the abilility to read the snap, more so the tendency to be coiled when the snap will come. It is the dicipline to stay coiled when there is a hard count, it is the awareness to explode on a sound snap. English displays an outstanding snap jump.
- Second in the rush is rushing with your arms. Watch the guys run the 40. What is the first thing they do? They pump their arms like hell. Watch a guard take a bucket step and pull to the outside. What do they do? They rip their bodies open with their outside arm. Watch a linebacker drop into a hook to flat. They rip their hips open with their arm. This is also critical to rushing. English replaces his down hand with his foot, delivers a pop with his free hand and churns the down hand to deliver an effective second movement. Running, pivoting and rushing with proper arm technique is critical to being an effective football player. English does this better than any prospect in the draft.
- How does the player play with his hands? English is probably the best motor-based technician in the draft. He doesn't have the longest arms in the world, but he does not allow blockers to reach his breast plate or shoulder pads. When you play linebacker, you are first coached to defend your breast plates and shoulderpads like they are your life. If a lineman locks into your plate, he can jam the v into your throat and steer you wherever he needs you to go with minimal hand usage. You must have very quick hands to effectively disengage blockers. More important than a swim, a rip, a cabbage patch (yes, that is an actual term for a move), the defender must keep hands off of his chest and shoulders. Swims, rips and the like are countermoves to disengage a defender that has already defeated you on the initial contact. English rarely allows hands in his pads.
- Lateral agility is the greatest skill a linebacker can posess. When scraping and filling against the run, the linebacker must keep his shoulders square to the LOS, defend blocks with his hands, and finally scrape towards the hole to seal and finish. This is accomplished through a wide base akin to a boxing stance, quick lateral slide steps and finally an explosive plant towards the ball. English played in a very zone-heavy conference. Watching him play against playside outside zone from the 2-point, he keeps his shoulders square, recognizes the primary cut and penetrates the hole. In that sentance, I gave the most glowing recomendation I could have given. Defending outside zone from OLB in a 2-gap scheme is really, really hard. You cannot give up gap integrity, you have to have one step flow to the ball (again, retaining gap integrity), recognize the primary cut and explode through the hole to the ball carrier. English does this at an extremely high level. Looking at my notes, English has roughly 80% of his TFL's against outside zone. Huge conversion point there.
-Finally, closing speed. Does the player resemble a heat seeking missle when closing to the football. When playing linebacker, you seldom see a clear path to the ball carrier. When you do, it is usually because you have fought through your blocks and are in the correct position. This moment of recognition is milliseconds. If you show any hesitation or trepidation, the blockers will reach you and you will be washed. It is critical to hit any daylight with vengance and speed that few tailbacks posses. It is two steps to the ball and arrive in bad temper. Explode through the balls of the feet, through the glutes, the quads, the hips, drive with your arms, take one plant step to coil your hips and explode and drive through the ball carrier. Hell, even youtube clips show English closing on the ball carrier with staggering speed and ferocity.
English has all the tools to be an elite linebacker in this league. He can play the 7 tech, SILB and due to his rare fluidity, he can contribute in passing sets as well. Hyperbolic accentuation of the positive. The viagra of the fanboy.
