Spikes / Hightower

[patsfan-1982]

I think they been playing a lot of nickel and hightower has been pretty good in coverage this year and Mayo should never come out of the game so spikes has been the odd man out

 

[RI Patriots fan]

"Dont’a Hightower’s top-notch job in man coverage should be one of the top storylines of the young season. The second-year linebacker had a notable play covering Doug Martin down the field, but cameras didn’t catch many other times when Hightower had his receiver locked down early in the game."


Brandon Spikes Shines Against Run, Dont?a Hightower Flashes Coverage Skills in Film Review of Patriots-Buccaneers | New England Patriots | NESN.com




"Hightower has built on a solid rookie campaign with four really good games this season. He had 60 total tackles last year, and has racked up 24 takedowns in just the first four games this season, putting him on pace for
96. Throw in his impressive play against the pass, and the Patriots have a burgeoning star to go alongside fellow linebackers Brandon Spikes and Jarod Mayo."


Read more at New England Patriots: Dont'a Hightower Impressing In Second Season



I'm not exactly sure who you're watching, but Hightower is far superior to Spikes while defending the pass (in fact, Spikes can't even play during passing downs) and pretty darn good against the run too.

 

[ahmed]

Hightower has been really good this year. He improved every aspect of his game. Spikes is really really good and it's a shame he's not fast. In fact, he has best instincts in the team and would have been a hall of fame level player if he had the speed.

 

[VrabelJr]

On both please don't match either in space with a RB or decent TE its painful to Watch. I like LB's who can generate a pass rush and thats not Hightower. He's a meh all around player who doesn't do anything great.

So you like LBs that are DEs?

 

[hwc]

I believe that with the complexity of the modern NFL game and the short preparation time, you probably can't overestimate the role of player group packages. By assigning players to one package or another, you let them focus much more prep time on specific roles. If one LB is on the pass package and another is on the run package, their playing time will be determined by the relative use of those packages...

----

As for signing Spikes to an extension....

After he blew off the offseason program Foxboro this year (to stay in Miami where the corrupt pee collector could be bought off), there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of the Pats offering him a big contract or maybe even any contract offer at all.

 

[Dragda]

I love Spikes and Hightower. I think Spikes plays they way you want a linebacker to play. That said, he has a hole in his game and you can game plan around him. Pass when he's on the field or leave him a hole to run through and direct the run play away from him. He isn't quick enough to change direction and make a play in the backfield. If the play if right in front of him, though, he'll blow that up. He also reportedly has good instincts.

I'd like to see Spikes always blitz just to keep him out of coverage, but that would make us predictable and you can't have that. BB can scheme around Spikes weaknesses, but so can the other team.

Hightower is a better all-around LB because he is versatile which BB loves.

 

[Harrisoned!]

I would like to see how Hightower does against Graham. Obviously any player is a at a disadvantage when playing a guy like Graham, but at 6-4, 270 pounds, I think he can really cause problems for Graham at times off the line. Graham is not used to dealing with guys like that; most of the time he is on a "cover" LB that is 230 pounds and shorter than 6-4, or is against a nickel corner/safety that weighs 60 pounds less than him.

That said, without bracket help, Graham will toast him past 10 yards, but I highly doubt we expect to cover Graham with a single guy most of the time anyways.

 

[Froob]

If only there was a way to combine them. Spikes with speed would be a hall of famer.

 

[JackBauer]

I would like to see how Hightower does against Graham.

I read this and immediately thought you were nuts. But in context with the rest of your post it actually makes sense

 

[captain stone]

If only there was a way to combine them. Spikes with speed would be a hall of famer.

Hightower with speed would be good too.

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

Yep.

I made sure to make note of that during the gameday thread. He's shedding blockers at a near elite level right now. Had he not made that play, the RB had tons of space to make a play down the field.

Right. Hightower was my binkie in last year's draft. Everything else was gravy for me knowing we had drafted him. Needless to say, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Still, I often can't help but to wonder what he'd be like if he had Bruschi's motor. I see him take too many plays off.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I would like to see how Hightower does against Graham. Obviously any player is a at a disadvantage when playing a guy like Graham, but at 6-4, 270 pounds, I think he can really cause problems for Graham at times off the line. Graham is not used to dealing with guys like that; most of the time he is on a "cover" LB that is 230 pounds and shorter than 6-4, or is against a nickel corner/safety that weighs 60 pounds less than him.

That said, without bracket help, Graham will toast him past 10 yards, but I highly doubt we expect to cover Graham with a single guy most of the time anyways.

The only thing Hightower can do with Graham is to keep him from getting off the line, after that he cannot run with him and Belichick isn't going to put him in a situation where he is completely overmatched. I think they have Talib lock down Colston and use Collins and Mayo underneath with Graham and with McCourty and Gregory helping over the top, at which point Sproles becomes the big problem. Going to be a tough test for this D, especially without Wilfork and Kelly.

 

[Joker]

They score, we score...last score wins...seems the only way the game stays on even ground. If they are catching everything and the Pats are dropping everything,we lose...big.

 

[supafly]

They score, we score...last score wins...seems the only way the game stays on even ground. If they are catching everything and the Pats are dropping everything,we lose...big.

Interesting to see that the Saints actually are allowing about the same number of points and yards that we are, and even less first downs.

Everyone keeps pointing to their 5.4 ypc rush defense, but they may not be taking into acct that that's on an average of 20 rushes a game for 109, which ours are 28 rushes a game for 116. Obviously that leads to a lesser ypc average for our defense, but they are actually allowing less rushing yds per game than we are--and about the same passing yds, actually a little less.

The bottom line is that this Saints team is pretty good on both sides of the ball and will present an enormous challenge on Sunday. The only good thing that I see is that they are playing in back to back weeks away from home, and have been historically less potent away from the dome.