Senior Bowl notes

[Guest Aloysius]

Some of the things I noticed watching the game tonight:

• -

Rey Maualuga looked great tonight. On his best play of the night, he took on a block by an offensive lineman, then was able to shed it just in time to strip the ball from RB Cedric Pearman with his left hand. On his second best play, he correctly read the screen and absolutely crushed Kory Sheets for a TFL. And on the one that impressed me most, he showed signs of selflessness when teammate Clay Matthews shot the B gap instead of setting the edge. Maualuga raced outside to cover his teammates' mistake, which showed that Rey was playing team defense, not merely lining up hits for the highlight reel.

 

- Larry English was mostly handled by Michael Oher. Though he once got some inside pressure with a nice spin move, English wasn't able to beat Oher with outside speed or a straight bull-rush.

 

However, English was a disruptive force in the run game. He pushed back TE Anthony Hill on the running play in which Scott McKillop got a TFL; had McKillop not been there, it would have English's big play (it's okay, English celebrated like it was his). Later on, he moved down the line and cracked FB Quinn Johnson, knocking the big fullback out of the play and putting English in perfect position to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage. Though he gave up contain on Jennings' long run, his play against the run at DE may make him an intriguing option for Tampa 2 teams as well.

 

- Tennessee DE Robert "William" Ayers used speed to get around athletic OT William Beatty and pressure the QB. Later, Beatty blatantly held/choke-holded Beatty, which would have nullified a big play had Rhett Bomar's terrible throw not already nullified it.

 

Ayers also used a nice inside move to get past OT Xavier Fulton for a sack. And late in the game, Ayers got past Phil Loadholt to get a sack/forced fumbles that resulted in a TD for the South.

 

Coming into this week, Ayers' rush abilities were so undervalued that some scouts were wondering if the 6'3", 273 pound defensive end should pack on some weight and play 3-4 DE. Now, he's looking like one of the top strongside 4-3 DE prospects in this year's draft.

 

- Brian Cushing was a mixed bag tonight. He showed strength and toughness in knocking down OG Andy Levitre, but then overpursued and missed the tackle. On another play, he was able to reach RB Cedric Pearman, but Pearman was able to slip out of the tackle.

 

I don't think it's a coincidence that both of those plays happened when Cushing wasn't playing in his traditional over the TE role. To me, he just looks like a guy uncomfortable playing anywhere other than on the TE or OT's outside shoulder. That makes him more of a fit at OLB, whether it's in a 4-3 (at SLB) or a 3-4.

 

- NC State RB Ande Brown had a much bigger night than his rushing stats (10 rushes, 26 yards, TD) would indicate. Those stats were influenced by a lot of those carries coming from behind the scrubbier o-lineman on the South squad. And when those scrubs were in, he made the most of his time by taking a short screen 35 yards.

 

When the o-line made holes for him, he showed a nice burst out of the backfield and gained nice yardage. In fact, his nice 9 yard carry set up Rashard Jennings' big run. And when they weren't, he displayed patience waiting for one to develop hole, as he did on a 4th and 1 during the 4th quarter.

 

- Speaking of Rashard Jennings: he'll get a lot of attention for that long run, but the most impressive thing he did tonight was deliver a big hit on Larry English midway through the 1st Quarter. After his initial cut block slowed English enough for QB John Parker Wilson to get outside, Jennings got up and deliver a stunning blow to English as he was chasing the QB. It looked to me like something Hines Ward would do 20 years downfield or Rey Lewis would do to a fullback carrying the ball near the sideline; Jennings looks to be a good fit for AFC North football.

 

That said, Jennings didn't look to be as willing a hitter on special teams. But if we end up drafting him to be our feature back, chances are he won't be splitting wedges anytime soon.

 

- USC DT Fili Moala pushed Max Unger into the backfield. On the next play, Moala knocked down Alex Mack, then chased the play and a tackle on the opposite side of the field. This guy's got the size and athleticism to play 3-4 DE. As I've written before, character/effort will be the big concern about him.

 

- Safety Patrick Chung got knocked back when trying to tackle LSU RB-FB Quinn Johnson. The play crystallized concerns about Chung: he's a fiery player and a hard-hitter, but will he be physically outmatched at the next level? Though he made a nice tackle on Clemson RB James Davis near the goal line, he may struggle making that tackle against bigger backs.

 

- You have to love Pitt LB Scott McKillop. He got low to get around center Antoine Caldwell to make a TFL. He also raced over and caught Andre Brown for short yardage on what otherwise would have been a 10 to 15 yard gain. And he chased down receiver Mike Thomas, showing good speed for a guy said to be too slow to make it in the NFL.

 

However, there were also signs that McKillop wouldn't be a fit in a 3-4 defense. Louisville OC-OG Eric Wood spun him around and threw him down on one play, showing that McKillop lacks the strength to stack and shed like a 3-4 ILB.

[Guest Aloysius]

A few more:

• -

Antoine Caldwell did a great job on QB John Parker Wilson's TD run. He helped the OG push back Raji, then got to the next level and blocked LB Zack Follett out of the play. However, Caldwell also gave up a sack to DT Mitch King.

 

King was surprisingly disruptive in the run game for a guy his size (6'2", 275 lbs.). He's going to be a nice rotational player for a 4-3 team. With a little more bulk, he could be a nice 4-3 UT.

 

- Safety David Bruton got beat deep by Quan Cosby, but the pass was slightly overthrown.

 

- CB Alphonso Smith was beat on crossing routes by bigger receivers early in the game, but he also jumped a route and would have made an interception had his normally stellar hands not malfunctioned.

 

- Safety William Moore continued his suckage, taking a bad angle on Jennings' long run. He then left the game with an injury.

[Solon16]

you were not as impressed as I was on peria jerry from Ole miss....I thought all the guys from Ole miss stood out. No mention by you or the announcers about Jerry's play...

[Guest Aloysius]

No, I was impressed by Jerry, who had a sack and a tipped pass. I was also impressed by what he did during the week...and what I saw him do during his senior year.

 

But there was a limit to how many guys I could write about, and Jerry got the short stick because he's not at all a fit in a 3-4.

[Riffer X]

Good stuff as always Al, no NFL Network here.

[Flugel]

Some of the things I noticed watching the game tonight:

• -

Rey Maualuga looked great tonight. On his best play of the night, he took on a block by an offensive lineman, then was able to shed it just in time to strip the ball from RB Cedric Pearman with his left hand. On his second best play, he correctly read the screen and absolutely crushed Kory Sheets for a TFL. And on the one that impressed me most, he showed signs of selflessness when teammate Clay Matthews shot the B gap instead of setting the edge. Maualuga raced outside to cover his teammates' mistake, which showed that Rey was playing team defense, not merely lining up hits for the highlight reel.

 

I believe you are describing the same ideal instincts I spoke of in December about Rey. I was going to say - that looked like the Rey kid I saw as a junior. When you think about Rey's highlights - what is the common thing you always see him associated with? TURNOVERS. How many times have you seen his INT for a TD vrs Ohio State? Now, one of his All Star game highlights is the turnover he caused. Guys that hit hard are more apt to cause fumbles. Try to think of how often you've seen D'Qwell Jackson hitting someone so hard they fumbled in the last 3 years. It's hard to cause fumbles when you're always grabbing ankles. That said, Jackson is at least consistent at tackling people so that's not the problem. I'd just like to see a force/presence on our inside especially when Shaun Rogers leaves the field to catch his breath. I'd also like to see us causing more fumbles than we have. You need X-factors to accomplish that and we just don't have any X-factors beyond Rogers at this time.

 

Just out of curiosity, didn't former USC ILBer Jack Del Rio coach the team Rey played on? I've got a sneaky feeling that's where Rey ends up especially since Del Rio and Mike Peterson didn't see eye to eye very often last year. I think the MAIN reason Rey doesn't have enormous tackle volumes is because it wasn't as necessary from a defense that caused alot of 3 and outs. USC is known for jumping out to overwhelming leads and turning opponents into be 1 dimensional. That being the case, you're gonna see Rey sitting in alot of hook zones watching Clay Matthews harassing opposing QBs. He's either going to be clapping at sacks or doing what he did to Ohio State with end result of a "sic em Clay!" You're just not gonna find insane tackle volumes when you're one of 4 NFL draftworthy LBers competing for tackles on a limited # of running plays. If that's not enough - they had 2 incredible Safeties that played like LBers as well. There's a tremendous amount of footspeed on that USC defense so we need to be cognizant of that instead of holding it against Rey.

 

The thing about Rey we may lose sight of is that he already plays in a 3-4 coached up by a former NFL DC/Head Coach. He'd come out less freaked out about going to a 3-4 than other kids needing to transition into a 3-4 and understanding it every step of the way. He comes already trained, which means more immediate impact and playing with instinct.

 

There's ALOT of sexy picks for us right now. Here's a small list of first round guys I wouldn't have ANY complaints about:

1.) Aaron Curry - Love the highlights and the type of flexibility he offers a team

2.) Percy Harvin (for an offense that can't find the endzone - a TALENTED 4.2 forty is a nice freakin compass. I'm not deferring to the bandwagon he'll generate at Indy. Why let this kid go to a team with a winning record?)

3.) Michael Crabtree - Forget Skip Bayless' Beware the Ides of April speech about him. He's just crabby. The hole in Texas' season has a Crabtree in it.

4.) Knowshon "Shonuff" Moreno - posts great numbers in a conference that stockpliles the NFL with starting defenders.

5.) Rey Maualaga - Seau's Jr with a Polamalu hair doo? Who gives a rat - he's an All American that looked the part yesterday. If you need turnovers - they're all over his resume.

6) BJ Raji - He didn't punctuate a GREAT week of Senior Bowl practices at game time. That said, I caught his Bowl Game here in Nashville and he's everything they advertise. We currently don't have a draft pick that worked on our dline and that's because our scouts sucked. If they don't understand the 3-4 you can't expect the players to be up for the task. This kid could fit either scheme IMO. We could play him inside our outside. I'll guaranteee you Shaffer couldn't block him.

- Tom F.

[Guest Aloysius]

Here's how I'd sum it up: Maualuga looked like Aaron Curry last night. His forced fumble reminded me of this:

 

 

And his blown up screen play looked a lot like this:

 

 

The problem is that Maualuga can also look like Andra Davis at times (the Oregon State game, the first half of the Rose Bowl).

 

As for linking him to the Jaguars: it's a possibility, but the Jags just gave LB Daryl Smith a 5 year, $25 million contract extension. The plan is for him to play ILB, but they could move him back to Will if they fall in love with Maualuga.

[Guest Aloysius]

And then you read reports that Rey was more interested in what he could do at night in Mobile than knowing what he needed to do in practice, and you start hating Rey all over again...

[Guest Aloysius]

No way he's an option at 5. If we trade down? Maybe.

 

And Grossi's wrong about Curry. I expect he'll quietly walk that one back over the coming weeks.

[Flugel]

Here's how I'd sum it up: Maualuga looked like Aaron Curry last night. His forced fumble reminded me of this:

 

 

And his blown up screen play looked a lot like this:

 

 

The problem is that Maualuga can also look like Andra Davis at times (the Oregon State game, the first half of the Rose Bowl).

 

As for linking him to the Jaguars: it's a possibility, but the Jags just gave LB Daryl Smith a 5 year, $25 million contract extension. The plan is for him to play ILB, but they could move him back to Will if they fall in love with Maualuga.

 

Are you criticizing Rey or complimenting him? You just did a complete 360 on me. Now, you think he's another Andra Davis? If we got as many turnovers out of Andra like USC got out of Rey - we wouldn't be looking for an upgrade. Trust me! I think you're taking an exception to the rule with Rey and making it the rule. The same thing can be said about Curry when Navy avoided him all game long. You're not gonna find a plethera of highlights for him in that game because a team RESPECTED him enough to avoid him. They weren't dumb like Clemson and Virginia. Would it be fair on my part to make that the rule and say I didn't see a #5 overall pick because of 1 matchup with Navy? That doesn't make him Andra Davis either.

 

Andra Davis was never a first round talent like Rey and Curry are. You and I have zero to do with their draft value. However, I have Curry #1 and Ray #5 in my sexy picks. I've enjoyed all your footage of Curry and that's shown me things like instinctly fast, hard hits, and prying footballs loose. LOVE that plus he's an REALLY good open field tackler. What can't be UNDERVALUED in this discussion is that Rey comes USED to an NFL 3-4. Even better is he earned consensus All American honors in that system taught by a former NFL DC and Head Coach. It's taken a guy like D'Qwell Jackson about 3 years to get comfortable with his transition so this DOES matter for that very reason. The reason I won't rank Rey higher is because of the off the field character issues I've read about. I think he's got the talent. No 2 USC Games look alike. One week Cushing is the star. Another week Clay Matthews steals the show. Another time it's their No-name LBer inside; but make no mistake that Rey earned his reputation. He just had to compete with 10 guys that will be NFL draft picks for tackle frequencies and highlight reels. How many other college teams can lay claim to something like that? Anytime we've ever added defensive draft picks from USC's LBer corps - we've never been sorry.

 

Did you hear Curry's interview on ESPN radio yesterday? Sounded like a GREAT kid with ALOT of good qualities to offer a team. I think we have to prepare for the reality that Curry may go before we pick Aloy. Our inside could use a presence that packs a punch especially when Rogers needs to get off the field and get out of oxygen debt. Jackson can keep grabbing ankles and we'll let Rey do the hitting.

- Tom F.

[Geech]

Skip Bayless...

 

- Tom F.

 

Who the hell listens to that dipshit, anyways?

 

-Al

[Guest Aloysius]

Are you criticizing Rey or complimenting him? You just did a complete 360 on me. Now, you think he's another Andra Davis? If we got as many turnovers out of Andra like USC got out of Rey - we wouldn't be looking for an upgrade. Trust me! I think you're taking an exception to the rule with Rey and making it the rule. The same thing can be said about Curry when Navy avoided him all game long. You're not gonna find a plethera of highlights for him in that game because a team RESPECTED him enough to avoid him. They weren't dumb like Clemson and Virginia. Would it be fair on my part to make that the rule and say I didn't see a #5 overall pick because of 1 matchup with Navy? That doesn't make him Andra Davis either.

My recollection is that Oregon State ran at Rey Rey in that game, and with some success. I re-watched it just to key on him: he was absolutely horrible.

 

Which is my point: Rey is maddeningly inconsistent. Sometimes he's on Curry's level, others he's getting pushed back by lineman and running himself out of plays.

 

Did you hear Curry's interview on ESPN radio yesterday? Sounded like a GREAT kid with ALOT of good qualities to offer a team. I think we have to prepare for the reality that Curry may go before we pick Aloy. Our inside could use a presence that packs a punch especially when Rogers needs to get off the field and get out of oxygen debt. Jackson can keep grabbing ankles and we'll let Rey do the hitting.

Not at 5. Way too much of a risk.

 

I just go back to the reports that he cared more about planning his nightlife in Mobile than making sure he knew what to do at practices. Once you give a guy like that top 5 money, what do you think is going to happen?

[damajuki]

I've been pondering this Curry v. Rey thing all day and here's my bottom line:

 

The Browns cannot afford another bust and therefore, they MUST take Curry if he's available.

 

Curry already is showing signs of being prepared to be a PROFESSIONAL football player, a guy who understands that there's more to being a top-5 pick than money or playing time.

 

Rey, on the other hand, just continues to act like an immature young man who PLAYS football.

 

That's a huge difference between two guys who are the same age and at the same life-changing juncture and their actions so far speaks volumes about how each of them is likely to handle the seismic life-shift that's about to hit them.

 

We simply cannot afford another bust and so Rey is not the guy for us. Behold the ugly truth:

 

Since the Return, we've had 5 busted first-rounders (Couch, Brown, Warren, Green, Faine [busted with us]), 2 first-rounders who were slowed by injury and are beset with ego in K2 and BE, and 1 first-rounder who has barely played in BQ. In 10 years, the only first-round player of DEFINITIVE value for us is Joe Thomas.

 

That's PATHETIC and it has to stop this year.

 

We need not just great players, but foundational players, and as many as possible. Let's start with Curry and go from there.

[rich4eagle]

A few more:

• -

Antoine Caldwell did a great job on QB John Parker Wilson's TD run. He helped the OG push back Raji, then got to the next level and blocked LB Zack Follett out of the play. However, Caldwell also gave up a sack to DT Mitch King.

 

King was surprisingly disruptive in the run game for a guy his size (6'2", 275 lbs.). He's going to be a nice rotational player for a 4-3 team. With a little more bulk, he could be a nice 4-3 UT.

 

- Safety David Bruton got beat deep by Quan Cosby, but the pass was slightly overthrown.

 

- CB Alphonso Smith was beat on crossing routes by bigger receivers early in the game, but he also jumped a route and would have made an interception had his normally stellar hands not malfunctioned.

 

- Safety William Moore continued his suckage, taking a bad angle on Jennings' long run. He then left the game with an injury.

 

Great job on the analysis...............fucj the NFL Network however.........no disrrespect but since I saw nothing and I value my view way more than even the experts...............I am clueless about this years draft and usually I got the formula but am remiss.....for now

[OconRecon]

Clay Mattews props

 

that "other" USC 'backer — Clay Matthews — also made heads snap back on the field and turn off it. And it's not just because of his lineage (son of Clay Matthews and nephew of Bruce Matthews). He made enough of an impact that many believe he'll be a first-day pick even though he's a former walk-on and a one-year starter.

[Flugel]

My recollection is that Oregon State ran at Rey Rey in that game, and with some success. I re-watched it just to key on him: he was absolutely horrible.

 

Which is my point: Rey is maddeningly inconsistent. Sometimes he's on Curry's level, others he's getting pushed back by lineman and running himself out of plays.

 

 

Not at 5. Way too much of a risk.

 

I just go back to the reports that he cared more about planning his nightlife in Mobile than making sure he knew what to do at practices. Once you give a guy like that top 5 money, what do you think is going to happen?

 

This should be really easy then - what more interested LBer outplayed Rey at the Senior Bowl? I didn't see one and neither did you. So where's the validity in saying Rey was more interested in nightlife than football? You make Rey sound like he didn't care about his performance. What's so wrong with just wanting to be 22 year old college kids and checking out the nightlife AFTER they did their job at the Senior Bowl? Football players work their tails off and any kid going to the NFL as a rookie hasn't stopped with pedal to the metal since football began in July. It'll go throughout January, February and March and then minicamps start in April and they'll join offseason workouts for their new NFL teams in April and attend all the minicamps the next couple months.

 

Therefore, understanding what's in front of them the next 2-3 months - they might as well bond and celebrate now while they still can. You make it sound like Rey was the only kid with a social life urge. Guys going to the Pro Bowl party all week long from what I've read and heard.

 

If I asked Ken Norton Jr or Pete Carroll should the Browns draft Rey at number 5 overall - you make it sound like they're gonna tell me we had trouble keeping him interested in football because he really aspires to be the next Mike Tyson. I HOPE that's wrong because the kid is talented and trained to kill in the 3-4.

 

Every year before the draft seedy reports get escalated like the one that told us Adrian Peterson's arm was about ready to fall out of his shoulder socket for good if he doesn't have a season ending surgery before his first game. Guess what? A gem like that guy didn't get picked until #7 overall. And why? Some knucklehead had an inaccurate scoop. Rey's prolly not from your side of town but if we START setting up contract incentives with weight clauses and performance incentives like successful teams do - we just might make it happen. Courtney Brown was an alter boy that said "please give me my paycheck" and "Thank you" upon receipt. The trouble is alter boys don't win football games. Mean basterds do! If Curry is picked ahead of #5 and we need a LBer, I hope our braintrust dots every i and crosses every t in research. I'm tired of looking at this weak LBer Corps. This 3-4 has been brutal to watch the last 4 years. Get LBers or deep 6 the freakin 3-4.

- Tom F.

[Guest Aloysius]

This should be really easy then - what more interested LBer outplayed Rey at the Senior Bowl?

On the first two days of practice? Plenty of LB's were better than him.

 

And your timeline is inaccurate.

 

The typical explanation for his poor performance early in the week was that he hadn't hired an agent, so he didn't know what he was getting himself into. That may be true, but the report I was referring to had him talking to a reporter about what he could do at night before the week of practices began. Surely he could have spent some of that recreation-planning time either hiring an agent or finding out for himself what he'd be doing in practice.

 

And on your comparison of the Senior Bowl to the Pro Bowl...come on! Do you really believe those two are at all comparable?

[Solon16]

I've been pondering this Curry v. Rey thing all day and here's my bottom line:

 

The Browns cannot afford another bust and therefore, they MUST take Curry if he's available.

 

Curry already is showing signs of being prepared to be a PROFESSIONAL football player, a guy who understands that there's more to being a top-5 pick than money or playing time.

 

Rey, on the other hand, just continues to act like an immature young man who PLAYS football.

 

That's a huge difference between two guys who are the same age and at the same life-changing juncture and their actions so far speaks volumes about how each of them is likely to handle the seismic life-shift that's about to hit them.

 

We simply cannot afford another bust and so Rey is not the guy for us. Behold the ugly truth:

 

Since the Return, we've had 5 busted first-rounders (Couch, Brown, Warren, Green, Faine [busted with us]), 2 first-rounders who were slowed by injury and are beset with ego in K2 and BE, and 1 first-rounder who has barely played in BQ. In 10 years, the only first-round player of DEFINITIVE value for us is Joe Thomas.

 

That's PATHETIC and it has to stop this year.

 

We need not just great players, but foundational players, and as many as possible. Let's start with Curry and go from there.

 

 

ANd if Curry isn't there...like Most think he won't ????????

 

[ballpeen]

If he isn't, he isn't. We then move on to the next highest player on out board...if that is rey....great...but he he is the #12 guy on our board, I don't think we reach down.

 

We can us a DB,OL,RB,WR,DL....all of those positions need to be addressed as well.

 

Whatever we do, we need a safe, solid pick. A guy who can come in day 1 and start for this team. If whoever we pick in round 1 isn't starting opening day, I will view it as a blown pick or sorts(i will say if it is a RB, he doesn't have to be the "starter" but he has to be in a pretty serious rotation from the beginning"

[Flugel]

Sobo's "different dude" opinion on Rey is valid and shared by others. It doesn't seem to affect the way he plays, which is balls to the wall, fast and malicious... but others have said he doesn't come off like he's all there.

 

Yet, that said, he was considered a team leader at USC with a lot of "fire." So, you know... he's complicated (!).

 

Has anyone ever read about LT showing up hungover and drunk less than 2 hours before openning kickoff? Do you think Parcells and BB made exceptions for LT? Why? When it came time to play ball BOTH Parcells and BB got put on the map because they had LT. Parcells has gone on record about how important that guy was to alot of coaching careers.

 

Now there's a high maintenance theory that says they should have cut LT's ass. BUT there's also the side of it that when you go into a gridiron brawl - he's your warrior. Ray Lewis wore an orange prison uniform but LOVED football.

 

What we're getting down to here is when it's time to kickoff does this guy LOVE football? When I'm saying WOW and seeing footballs jarred loose my only answer is "Hell yes!"If our GM is better than our last one, there's goign to be a contract incentive list laced with performance incentives like body weight maintenence, etc. I'm always reading about OTHER teams doing these incentives. Trouble is we get the John Hancock on alot of overpaid free agents and they feel they already earned their signing bonus and current salary. No incentive here.

 

Like Solon, I've got a feeling one of the 2 teams before us not thinking QB takes Curry. I have other sexy picks listed on offense BUT we have a 3-4 full of LBers without X-factor. Don't understand that and can't.

- Tom F. (This is the time of year where teams want an Peterson to fall from rumors and a Russell to rise with rumors - just remember that with all the "one scout says" reports. Minnesota landed a pretty good RB from that stuff right?)

[Guest Aloysius]

In today's PD, Grossi says Curry probably plays OLB, which surprised me. Also quoted Mayock as saying it's the deepest draft for 3-4 pass rushing OLBs in memory.

Grossi's wrong about Curry. I expect he'll quietly walk that one back over the coming weeks.

...here's Tony:

 

Some believe Curry fits better as an inside linebacker in the 3-4. I would definitely consider him, along with USC's Rey Maualuga and perhaps some others. I'll have a better feel for it after the NFL combine in Indianapolis later this month. I would not pick a cornerback at No. 5.

[Guest mz.]

Rotoworld made a decent point RE: Curry's position in the NFL.

 

Curry has been widely mocked to the Browns, but they don't need to mess around with more potential positional problems. They need a pure 3-4 rush linebacker.

[Guest Aloysius]

The problem with rotoworld's argument is that virtually every 3-4 prospect is being projected to a position he didn't play in college.

 

College DE's like Brown and Orakpo are moving to OLB, ILB's like Maualuga haven't played 3-4 ILB full-time (and he's telling people he'd rather play in a 4-3).

 

Even a guy like Clint Sintim, who played 3-4 OLB at Virginia, has some question marks because he didn't drop into coverage as much as a pro 3-4 OLB does.

 

So I don't think the concerns about Curry playing ILB are bigger than they are about any other front seven 3-4 prospect. The guys at rotoworld don't like him as a 3-4 OLB because of his low sack totals. That's fine; I really like him as a 3-4 ILB.

[Solon16]

Rotoworld made a decent point RE: Curry's position in the NFL.

 

Curry has been widely mocked to the Browns, but they don't need to mess around with more potential positional problems. They need a pure 3-4 rush linebacker.

 

Here is my contention....why the heck do we need a rush OLB when EVERYBODY runs the freakin ball against us! Stop the run FIRST! we have wimbley and hall to rush....we have to stop the swiss cheese D against the run! JMO

[Flugel]

The problem with rotoworld's argument is that virtually every 3-4 prospect is being projected to a position he didn't play in college.

 

College DE's like Brown and Orakpo are moving to OLB, ILB's like Maualuga haven't played 3-4 ILB full-time (and he's telling people he'd rather play in a 4-3).

 

Even a guy like Clint Sintim, who played 3-4 OLB at Virginia, has some question marks because he didn't drop into coverage as much as a pro 3-4 OLB does.

 

So I don't think the concerns about Curry playing ILB are bigger than they are about any other front seven 3-4 prospect. The guys at rotoworld don't like him as a 3-4 OLB because of his low sack totals. That's fine; I really like him as a 3-4 ILB.

 

Seriously, how many ILBers with a Butkus attitude would tell you they'd prefer a 3-4? Probably 1%. That doesn't change the amt of training Rey has had in a 3-4 by a former NFL DC right? It's not a weakness Aloy - it's an advantage because Carl Banks took 3 years to get really comfortable with the NFL 3-4. And when he finally did, he was outstanding.

 

As for dropping into coverage: 2 of Rey's All American Highlights are INT returns for TDs. One was vrs Ohio State and the other looked like it was from 2007. Everytime I see a highlight of Rey - it's either a vicious hit or a turnover he was involved in. I see alot of the same goodies from Curry. Curry actually looks more agile (better hips/change of direction) and a step quicker than Rey. I get a strong impression Curry can play either inside or outside and we need that kind of player really bad for our LBer corps. I'd take Curry over everyone but I'd feel damn good if Curry was already selected in we landed rey.

 

Again, I don't think one of these guys has to suck to prefer us drafting one over the other. Bottom line is we're STILL going to need a new starting LBer in 1 of our 4 LBer spots. Reality is we don't currently have 1 LBer on our roster at this time as impactful as Rey or Curry. You don't see ANY of our LBers jarring footballs loose on collisions. You just don't. James Harrison and Joey Pottymouth had character issues; BUT it appeared their contracts were written in such a way that they had incentive to stay out of trouble and remember exactly what was making them rich. They both won Superbowls and landed in Pro Bowls while other teams can lay claim to refraining from both guys. Does anyone think Lawrence Taylor lacked enormous baggage? That's where you gotta have the RIGHT person in charge to make a Lawrence Taylor a Hall of Fame player remembered for the Giants' jersey instead of an orange prison uniform. The ONLY time that guy wasn't a train wreck was the 60 minutes he was kickin tail on a football field. EVEN the great BB and Bill Parcells accepted the baggage because there's never been a better LBer on this planet. Never! Read up on LT - your jaw will bounce off the floor in shock.

- Tom F.