Where is Cunningham in terms of being the answer...

[Keegs]

he is the answer. he's a rookie, of course he's not going to be perfect.

but wait and watch.

 

[stinkypete]

Cunningham's been up and down but in my book has performed better than the '08-'09 options. He's seen time in pass rush, run and coverage situations and hasn't been beaten badly. He seems to get in the area of the QB pretty often.

You can't tell with these position changes. Ware and Merriman had double digit sacks as rookies, while it took Shaun Phillips and Tamba Hali years to develop into stars at their positions.If we're seeing the best of Cunningham now, he's a decent rotational OLB and far from a liability. If he improves at the expected curve, he's a solid every down 'backer.

Me, I'd still draft a pass rusher if the opportunity presented itself, and I expect one to be taken at least in the first 3 rounds, but I don't feel like it's the kind of need that it was a year ago.

 

[dliverey]

He has not been able to wrap up all that well. If he did he would have at least 8 sacks(I rewatched all of the games and counted them). He has a pretty good shoulder lean when turning the corner on his speed rush and he does well with the bull rush by getting under the OL pads. He needs to get better with hand fighting to keep the OLmen hands off of him.

He is the total package in the sense that he can play in space, rush the QB, and play the run effectively. As everyone else has said he should improve significantly next season.

I am very impressed with Moore. He has had quite a few QB pressures over the last 2 games as well as his 2 sacks. Moore plays the run pretty well also.

 

[Keegs]

He has not been able to wrap up all that well. If he did he would have at least 8 sacks(I rewatched all of the games and counted them). He has a pretty good shoulder lean when turning the corner on his speed rush and he does well with the bull rush by getting under the OL pads. He needs to get better with hand fighting to keep the OLmen hands off of him.

He is the total package in the sense that he can play in space, rush the QB, and play the run effectively. As everyone else has said he should improve significantly next season.

I am very impressed with Moore. He has had quite a few QB pressures over the last 2 games as well as his 2 sacks. Moore plays the run pretty well also.

This is one big thing that i noticed too. He seems to let the QB sneak away from his sacks too often.

are you counting 8 ADDITIONAL sacks he should have? Or 8 total?

i can think of at least 4 sacks that he had the QB wrapped up and let him go.

 

[D-Money]

His teammate Carlos Dunlap is on a tear right now with the bungles.He was picked after him.Dunlap was an over-achiever but he had tons of potential.

 

[BritPat]

I think Cunningham is having a very very promising rookie year. Granted he's no Roidman or Ware, but he's now a starter in one of the most complex defensive schemes in the league and he's just 14 games into his rookie year.

He's being over-shadowed by McCourty and the Twin TErrors (and rightfully so), but don't sleep on him.

 

[PatsFan2]

Jermain Cunningham needs to learn how to wrap up he has missed atleast Fives Sacks because of that.

 

[TheBaronPatriot]

I think he's done quite well judging by the fact we never hear about him making mistakes or see him getting shaken by rbs or burned by TEs in coverage.

That being said I think he sometimes gets physically outmatched by the biggest/strongest/most athletic O linemen (tackles) when his initial pass rush is mitigated. Others have mentioned increasing his bag of tricks or counter moves is going to be important for him. But more so for me will be increasing his playing strength and first step quickness.

The experience (play recognition/instinct) is going to help with quickness/reaction times as will specific workouts but once he builds some NFL caliber muscles his initial hand punch or contact with tackles is going to be much more effective. Sending an OT off balance with a stronger punch even for a split second coupled with better secondary moves should allow him to not only get to the QB more often but also hold on and finish the play (as several posters have alluded to his letting QBs escape him). As well as make his counter moves more effective.

I look at some recent examples of rookies that have had immediate impacts as rookies and two shinning examples are Cushing and Mathews. I think both those guys did roids but the point is they were physically ready to handle NFL tackles at 22-23. For those that don't juice up or are physical specimens that muscle adjustment period takes times and I think 96 is going to get there and produce for us at a consistent level for some time to come.

 

[Kasmir]

He has not been able to wrap up all that well. If he did he would have at least 8 sacks(I rewatched all of the games and counted them). He has a pretty good shoulder lean when turning the corner on his speed rush and he does well with the bull rush by getting under the OL pads. He needs to get better with hand fighting to keep the OLmen hands off of him.

He is the total package in the sense that he can play in space, rush the QB, and play the run effectively. As everyone else has said he should improve significantly next season.

I am very impressed with Moore. He has had quite a few QB pressures over the last 2 games as well as his 2 sacks. Moore plays the run pretty well also.

He needs to work on upper body strength this offseason. It's not just sacks he's missing, it's also some tackles and some struggles playing off blocks. The goods thing is that he already has speed and quickness; strength can be developed.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

We've been able to get a lot more pressure on QBs this season. Cunningham has certainly helped. He caught my eye against Baltimore when he had Oher so worried he got a few false starts. He's better than what we've had the last few seasons (not TBC but everyone else); that may or may not mean a whole lot.

It's a shame he doesn't tackle well when he does roast his blocker. How he didn't sack Flynn on that one play Sunday still amazes me. One guy in the bar I was in said Cunningham was the best linebacker in the game without arms.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

I think he's done quite well judging by the fact we never hear about him making mistakes or see him getting shaken by rbs or burned by TEs in coverage.

That being said I think he sometimes gets physically outmatched by the biggest/strongest/most athletic O linemen (tackles) when his initial pass rush is mitigated. Others have mentioned increasing his bag of tricks or counter moves is going to be important for him. But more so for me will be increasing his playing strength and first step quickness.

The experience (play recognition/instinct) is going to help with quickness/reaction times as will specific workouts but once he builds some NFL caliber muscles his initial hand punch or contact with tackles is going to be much more effective. Sending an OT off balance with a stronger punch even for a split second coupled with better secondary moves should allow him to not only get to the QB more often but also hold on and finish the play (as several posters have alluded to his letting QBs escape him). As well as make his counter moves more effective.

I look at some recent examples of rookies that have had immediate impacts as rookies and two shinning examples are Cushing and Mathews. I think both those guys did roids but the point is they were physically ready to handle NFL tackles at 22-23. For those that don't juice up or are physical specimens that muscle adjustment period takes times and I think 96 is going to get there and produce for us at a consistent level for some time to come.

Cushing was definitely on some good juice. Mathews is probably just on speed or some nice combination of speed and other hard stuff.

 

[The Scrizz]

Jermain Cunningham needs to learn how to wrap up he has missed atleast Fives Sacks because of that.

Of course one of those was a blatant face mask by Sanchez, but in general I agree.