I hope some of u guys watched that SEC championship game because brandon spikes was SICK. He was consistently getting by andre smith on when he was pass rushing. He can power through and shed blocks. There was one play in particular where he threw andre smith to the ground. He looks to me like a perfect 3-4 ILB. The only thing i can really complain about is maybe he doesn't have top-notch speed IMO, but he makes up for it with his instincts. I hope we can get him. Imagine the interior of that defense with Spikes, Harris, and Jenkins?
It's not really Andre Smith's job to block Spikes on pass plays...but anyways, I did see Spikes throw Smith to ground, after Smith took him out of the play. It still showed he has a lot of strength. He also showed some skill in pass coverage and he made some nice reads, but I didn't see much from him in this game. I didn't see what you are talking about - Spikes was invisible for most of this game - Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram had great games running the football against this Florida defense. I saw Spikes make a great hit on a receiver to force an incompletion, and I saw him throw Smith to the ground. I also saw Mark Ingram run virtually untouched on his 2 yard score early in the second half. You know why, because Smith got into the second level and took out Spikes. That's not really a huge knock on Spikes though, because Smith is the game's best lineman.
I see what ur talking about in terms of him not making a ton of tackles, but i was just looking at more his skill set and how it would translate. To me i was just impressed at how he held up against blockers for the most part, and also he seemed like he's got good instincts to me.
I agree that he would be a great fit inside in a 3-4 defense. I love Spikes as a prospect, and he may be around when it's our time to pick. I just didn't see much from him TODAY against Bama.
Cody is a nose tackle. He's not supposed to make a ton of plays. The Tide held the Gators running backs to like 80 yards or something like that - that's very good. Tebow willed Florida to a win in that game... Spikes made like one or two plays. Neither guy stood out...
Total rushing yards for Florida: 142 yards. You can't leave out Tebow just because he's not a RB - most of his rushing yards came from QB draws up the middle where Mt. Cody was supposed to prevent that. Cody didn't even play 50% of the defensive snaps - he doesn't have the endurance to do so.
1. Cody is injured, and Bama was lucky to have him against Florida. I think he missed 4 or 5 games with a severe ankle injury. He showed great toughness going hard on almost every down he played on -- putting close to 400 pounds on a bad ankle must be tough. 2. The Gators averaged about 248 yards per game on the ground - I know they didn't have Harvin...but still. The Tide nearly cut that number in half. I don't really want to have to go this far into it but you're wrong about Tebow getting most of his yards up the middle - Left: 22, Middle: 11, and Right: 14 -- this shows he actually got the least amount of his 57 rushing yards up the middle. Cody must have clogged some lanes, huh? 3. Cody isn't supposed to prevent that - he's supposed to draw double teams, which he did every time he was on the field...by drawing double teams, he provides space for his linebackers to roam and make plays. Rolando McClain was the only Bama linebacker making plays in space. 4. Cody probably shouldn't go in the first round because of his weight, but he's a hell of a player for his size. I would love to see him as a Jet, but not as a first rounder. 5. Don't knock Cody on his endurance - he's listed at 380 - Kris Jenkins leaves the game a lot to and he's about 30 pounds lighter.
Spikes still held his own though. I would to see him on the jets. As for NT, I'm kinda leaning towards Raji over Cody. Raji I think is the more polished of the two and would make for a great backup to Jenkins.
