LB class might be best in years

You really think that? Have you watched him play?

Rey Maualuga has some of the best instincts I've ever seen in a linebacker. The guy just has a nose for the football. He doesn't have top end speed, but he's great in space and he hits to kill. I've watched him since he was a freshman for the Trojans, and he's developed into the star that everyone hoped he would be.

He's one of the better athletes on a team stacked with them. He can run with most tight ends and backs. The stuff that he does wrong in coverage is mental - which can be coached up. He has awesome range in the middle on most passing plays...sometimes he just cheats up during play-action. That just shows that he can be over aggressive at times.

Rey Rey is one of the most intense and physical players that I have ever seen. He stands out on a defense basically built entirely of five star prospects. He's got freakish athleticism for a linebacker and there's still so much potential to tap in to.

I think it's crazy that you think he's not well rounded - he does it all, and he does it all well: He can get after the quarterback, cover over the middle, and most importantly he just flat out makes plays sideline to sideline.

I see him being a lot like Patrick Willis in the pros - a guy that flies to the ball on every play and punishes the ball carrier.

AJ Hawk and Derrick Johnson were great college linebackers and both guys should have stellar NFL careers...but Maualuga is a different type of player, and I honestly believe he's a better prospect that either one of them.

 

I'd say the opposite.

He can hit like a motherfucker though.

I'd take Spikes, Sintim, Herzlich, and a few other guys who aren't as physically talent (McKillop for starters) over him.

Right now, Rey Rey couldn't hold Johnson or Hawk's jocks as a prospect. He's not even David Harris as a prospect IMO.

It's not that he's a best prospect, but I can't agree with 90% of what you've written about him. Physically he's a beast, but he's got to refine his game before I put him in the Willis/Hawk/Johnson class as a LB prospect.

 

I'm not trying to say you don't, but I watch a lot of USC games and Maualuga is always around the ball. He reads the run and pass better than most, if not all linebackers in college.

The only guy I'd consider taking over Maualuga is Herzlich, who I've been talking up for a couple of weeks.

Spikes can read the quarterback well, but he seems lost at times.

 

We're gonna have to agree to disagree, because I don't see the kind of awareness in Rey's game at all.

The best game of his career was and is still that Rose Bowl game against Illinois. If he could play like that every week, then he'd be my favorite prospect in this draft.

Dude isn't near as controlled as you're suggesting, instinctual as you're suggesting, and he's certainly nowhere near the prospect you're suggesting...by that I mean he's not an elite LBer prospect like Hawk and Johnson, two guys who had great mental AND physical games coming out.

He'll probably go mid-first based on talent and pedigree alone, but personally theres just guys I like better in this draft. At least right now.

 

Actually...he's probably going to go in Top 5 because basically everyone but you sees this guy as the next great, young linebacker in the NFL.

How can you say he's not instinctual? He makes the calls for a defense that's allowed 10 points or less in 10 of 12 games this year. I know he's got a shit load of talent around him and a bunch of great coaches, but Maualuga has a lot to do with USC's defensive dominance.

He leads the best defense in the whole country in tackles with 73 total. He's also second on the team in interceptions (2). He's the heart and soul of the Trojan's defense and he proves it game in and game out.

You'll probably try to say THIS isn't a big deal, but Rey Maualuga won the Bednarik Award - making him America's BEST defensive player. This shows that college coaches, sportscasters, and writers across the country felt Rey Rey is the best.

Hawk and Johnson didn't win it. Like I said earlier, I like all these guys and I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but I think Maualuga is just special.

In my eyes, Patrick Willis is the best linebacker in the NFL right now...and it's going to stay that way for a long, long time. Maualuga can play on his level.

I didn't try to say Maualuga was controlled. He's over-aggressive at times...that can be coached. Sometimes he bites on play-action - that will come to him over time. He makes the majority of his reads faster than some NFL linebackers. It seems like he's an NFL star playing at the college level.

For you to say you'd take a guy like Scott McKillop over Rey Maualuga is flat out ignorant at this point.

You can try to say he's not an "elite" linebacker prospect like Hawk and Johnson, but I'm never going to be with you on that. I guess you're used to that though.

 

Stating it as a fact that I seem clueless of doesn't actually make it true.

And no way this guy is a top 5 pick in the draft if it happened tomorrow. He's still got a whole offseason to go through. Can he go top 5? Sure. Will he? Probably not.

He makes the calls, but so does Cushing.

And everyone has alot to do with USC's defensive dominance, because a defense is a unit. The fact that he plays around so much talent allows him to roam free and do his thing. He's very physically gifted and it gives him the ability to make plays. BUT when he has to play with a little more control, can he do it?

Well he's the MLB so I expect alot of tackles. INT's are nice, but doesn't say much beyond he got 2 INTs.

And the rest is just cliche.

And thats very good, and yet another reason he'll go in the first round. In the top 5? Nope. Will that get him considered in the same class of prospect as Johnson/Hawk? Nope.

He probably is. Dude's size and nastiness scream elite LBer, but I'd still like his offseason to go right before I call him a top 5 pick.

Of course Rey can, its the question of whether he will that I'm thinking about.

Well I'm going to sit and watch some USC from what I've got left over from this season. I've got the game against UCLA and Notre Dame to look at...since we've started this debate I've went and read a bit about his character and I like what he has to say.

Maybe I'm wrong. He's certainly talented enough to have me jump on his bandwagon again by the time the draft rolls around.

True. I was just trynna get McKillop some love. He DOES play with discipline, and he's by far Pitt's best defender who also makes reads for their D.

Yea...I am. At least you're probably right this time...minus the top 5 pick part.

 

You think you're sooooo intelligent DWare. You're such a smart guy! I *wish* I *were* you...

I don't think you could do anything to prove me wrong - so you just use bullshit sarcasm to make yourself feel like you know what you're talking about. Who cares about AJ Hawk and Derrick Johnson? We're talking about current linebacker prospects, and Maualuga is the top rated guy besides Aaron Curry.

Why isn't he going in the Top 5? ...because you say so? Scott McKillop might not even go on the first day, and you think he's a better prospect than Maualuga? Wow. ...fuckin' wow.

Give me a break man.

 

Iunno what's so crazy about me not agreeing with him being a top 5 pick. He's not right now.

But hey you're right, he is the top rated LBer after Curry. Whether things stay that way in the 4 months before the draft is is the issue...theres some good ones this year.

And do you mind not holding a grudge against some dude on the internet? It makes debating with you fucking annoying. Theres always that outside shot you just go into "ZOMG you're so mean to me" mode.

 

Ha...I knew the "ZOMG" and the "Iunno" were coming...internet lingo.

I'm not holding a grudge against you...you're just really annoying and I'm not the only one that thinks it.

You might want to go check out the Trashtalking Forum again - some people have been "crying" aout you.

 

Is it the fact that I don't care that bothers you?

I mean look at you...like a fuckin teenaged girl you couldn't even keep the debate to LBers...you have to bitch and moan about how me not agreeing with your exaggerated bullshit like theres something wrong with that. You openly admit the guy's not even the best LBer in this daft by saying he's behind Curry, yet you call him a top 5 pick...makes sense? No. Does that matter to you? Nope.

And I could probably easily start a trash talking thread about you and a few others. I just don't bother with stupid shit like that. Hell, I could run a whole thread off of this cornball, cliche, arrogant bullshit line from you: Will you do me a favor man? Please stop trying to outsmart me when it comes ANYTHING about college football." Or I could make one on being told that I shouldn't crticize another posters opinion because it's HIS opinion.

Just...chill. Seriously. Grow up. W/e you gotta do. I don't want your crap.

 

Cushing played his high school ball at Bergen Catholic great program.

 

I didn't say Maualuga was better than Curry - learn how to read - I see where Cakes is coming from when he says you need to work on some reading comprehension.

It makes perfect sense. Maualuga is the best linebacker prospect right now, besides Aaron Curry. That's what I said.

It really depends on what teams end up in the Top 5...

Oh yea, Cushing doesn't make the calls for USC - Maualuga calls audibles in the front seven.

 

I think you both need to stop being the pots that call the kettle black. Re-read my post.

And both of those guys make the calls. Rey admitted even before the season that he's quiet by nature and isn't used to a vocal role. Not to mention Taylor Mays is making the secondary calls, which I'd think is a responsibility handed to a LBer.

Rey's a very good prospect in his own right, theres no need to bump up his skills or exaggerate his placement within the prospect grading communities. Dude is going to be a sick player if he puts in the work, and by all accounts he sounds like a guy willing to do just that.

 

As a preface, I'm here because I tripped over the Trashtalk threads and went searching through recent posts of everyone involved over there to see if it has spilled into the other forums. This post tells me it has. This one clearly crosses the line and should warrant an infraction. I'm not doing that right now only because I went through both of the Trashtalk threads and this is clearly spillover. But take it as a warning to keep all of this kind of thing - i.e. personal attacks - in that thread and nowhere else. That's what that forum is for.

Also, dropping a whole bunch of f-bombs in a post may not be against the rules per se, but any mod will tell you that we get complaints about that sort of thing all the time. My own opinion is that liberal swearing in posts brings down the quality of the discussion. I've always thought of this board as better than that. Yes, I drop them occasionally myself. I'm not saying we're looking for Puritans posting here.

This is to both sides involved in the TT threads - leave it all in there and drop it down a notch here.

Thanks.

 

Rey's a freak of an athlete. I haven't seen some who brings the load on every tackle like he does in a long time. A lot of people are gonna dock him for being over-aggressive but I think that has just as much to do with the nature and philosophy of USC's coaching staff as it does with Rey himself. Both Pete Carroll and Ken Norton are high energy guys. If they had issues with Rey going for the big hit versus the sure tackle they would have corrected it by now. That's not what they preach though. They want guys who fly around on the field and make plays....not conservative stop gap type players. IMO if it is demanded of Rey (which it most likely will be in the NFL) that he play less aggressive he can do it. He's practically light years away from where he was his freshman and sophomore years in terms of over-aggressiveness. I have no doubt that he can make that extra jump in maturity once he hits the NFL.

 

i wouldn't mind either greg hardy or everette brown. despite the fact that we've invested a lot in OLBs i still hope that doesn't restrict us from drafting any one of these guys, because we really need a passrush..........

 

There is NO WAY Rey Maualuga goes top 5.

 

Cushing is the safest LB pick that might actually fall to us in round one. Draft the beast.