I think that you all have taken for granted how good DBrick was this year playing the hardest (certainly most important position on the line). He started every game; basically had no penalties. Unless you grade him out in the film room -- its almost impossible to know if how good he was. Ill just assume the fact that he had no penalties and that pennington played the whole season that he did a great job. Id give him an A-/B+. I think it is very hard to know how good linemen are -- its easier to know how bad they are.
i watched him alot and played OT and DT/NG. not making myself sound like mel kiper or anything but i nitpicked cuz i can recognize good and bad play. D'Brick is horrible at the point of attack, which is why hes not that good of a run blocker. He doesnt engage as combative as someone with his athleticsm should. He at times can be overpowered and taken out of position. But at the same time some of this is countered by the fact that D'Brick is amazing at keeping himself in front of his defender. which is what makes him a good pass protector. Either way he needs to maintain a playing weight of 300. at least. the athleticism is there, he just doesnt seem to play aggressive. now what you brought up is a very valid point though in that hes never really costed us any bonehead penalties which says alot for him being a rookie. hes got PLENTY of room to improve. but hes got the tools to do it. lets just see how he develops.
I think a D is a fair grade for Schlegel based on this season, eventhough I firmly believe that he is a future starter at LB. However, there is not evidence on which to base statements to the effect that he doesnt have the tools to play pro-football. Everyone wants to point out his mistakes in his limited playing time in the season and in the preseason. Most base their evaluation on three plays: 1. His slip in coverage in the preseason game at Washington. He fell down, hard to tell if he would have been their in coverage or not. My memory is that he had covered the same guy, on the same route, really well a few snaps earlier. 2. His PI penalty in the preseason Washington game. It wasnt that he wasnt there, he just didnt turn his head. Rookie mistake. 3. The onside kick v. Greenbay. If Schlegel doesnt hit the guy (which by the way is the right play) he recovers 10 yds further up field than Greenbay eventually got the ball. His hand inadvertantly contacted the ball. Much more experienced guys in ST and on D made the same mistakes and had the same penalties called on them, only Schlegel was villified for them. The revolving door at LB this season was a myth. When did Vilma get rotated out? That left three guys to compete for one position -- Barton, Kassell, and Schlegel. Schlegel had tougher competition for playing time than any other rookie.
You guys are insane, your saying Schlegel is a D/F after one season. I hope you realize how many players take more then one season to develop into solid players from scrimmage. I keep saying this but no young player every starts at ILB in a 3-4. Show me a 3-4 team in the nfl that has a player with less then 2 years experience starting inside? It's just such a unique position because inside of attacking the ball, your job is to run north into a gap and take up space. So to judge him at this point is moronic. I honestly don't know if he's going to be a good player but at this point wouldn't you give Mangini and Tannenbaum the benefit of the doubt? In two or three years we can look back at this draft and really analyze it.
1a. D'Brickashaw Ferguson - C- 1b. Nick Mangold - A 2. Kellen Clemens - N/A 3a. Anthony Schlegel - D 3b. Eric Smith - B- 4a. Brad Smith - A- 4b. Leon Washington - A 5. Jason Pociask - N/A 6. Drew Coleman - C 7. Titus Adams - N/A
My grades: Ferguson: B- Had a great first half of the year where he learned from his mistakes and was very consistent. He hit a rookie wall in the second half..but didnt get discouraged. I believe he has a very bright future when he adds some strength and improves his technique. Mangold- A+ Ya cant ask much more of a rookie center.Not only did he make all the line calls w/ very few mistakes, he limited individual mistakes and on top of that made some GREAT blocks. Is a future pro bowler no doubt. Clemens- C Was pretty good in TC and preseason. At this point is difficult to grade as he is a developmental prospect at this stage. Schlegal- C- Another developmental prospect. May have been taken acouple rounds too soon. I believe he will end up being a good short yardage/run stuffing type ILB who will provide leadership and quality special teams play. It is up for debate whether that sort of player is worthy of a 3rd round pick. E. Smith- C+ I'm alil biased as im an MSU fan..but his play on ST and in the dime packages late in the year excites me. he really made strides and is alot faster than he was made out to be around draft time. At the very least he is a great situational/special teams player...w/ a chance to replace Coleman at FS. B. Smith B Really...what more can you ask of a 4th round pick in his 1st year who is making a drastic transition in positions? Was a great gadget/playmaker who is only gonna get better when he learns how to run better routes. May be the future #1 WR for us. L. Washington B Again, what more can you ask of a 4th rounder in his first year? Proved to be a great situational playmaker who, long term will be our version of Kevin Faulk but even MORE playmaking ability. Jason Pociask- Inc. IR all year impossible to grade. Drew Coleman- C Was never really that impressive despite starting early in the year. Has decent feet/speed and can be physical. I don't see him as more than a nickel back long term..although Mangini has a track record of turning players like this into solid players. Titus Adams INC.- Had a very good TC...and barely missed the final roster. Made the PS and I had some hopes for him come next year to make the team and contribute...than the Giants scooped him up.
The thread was asking to grade after one season. Not potential, but performance after one season. Read the thread next time. If it was based on potential, yeah then you're right.
The guy did play poorly enough when he was in-- I saw him make mistakes on specials. Wasn't he the one who touched the onsides kick before it went 10 yards, and couldn't hold on to it? Rookie move-- Wasn't this guy supposed to be "smart, tough, and hard working" Well, I saw him get WORKED in the preseason- allowing a TD right past him, as he looked totally LOST in coverage- 2 minutes later, he had a flag thrown on him, as he botched a tackle. He sucks, and will probably never be anything more than an average ST player. I don't see how a player that fat and slow is considered to be so hard working anyway- thats just terminology people give to unathletic players- typically white guys. Well, Brad Kassel got the same review when we got hin, and I saw him make his fair share of bonehead plays as well, including letting a punt hit him in the ass, for a turnover, and biting on PA for a TD right over his head. These guys are just sloppy, and it is hard to believe they are smart and hard working when you see mental mistakes like that all season.
Its funny that you mention Tiki and Leon, because my step-father who is a Giants fan said Leon reminds him of Tiki when he had just started out with the Giants, kind of a scat back punt return kick return kinda guy, who gained weight and carried the load. Hopefully Neon Leon pans out to be the same, we can only hope right?
if schlegal is a bust after 1 year, then so was Jerricho Cotchery. I don't remember us calling his name too often in year 1. Why don't we wait until at least the end of next year before we condemn him.
Do you not read posts in the threads you contribute to? HE MADE THE RIGHT PLAY ON THE ONSIDE KICK! The alternative was to let the guy catch it after it passed ten yards. He didnt try to catch the ball he was trying to knock the Packer guy into the ball. He accidentally hit the ball while hitting the guy. HE FELL DOWN -- CAUGHT HIS CLEAT OR SOMETHING on the preseason pass play. Since you watched him so closely I'm sure you noticed that he made twelve preseason tackles including one for a loss and that on the goal line stand against the Eagles he knifed through the line, laid a big hit on the RB, and stopped him in his tracks short of the goal line. He doesnt look fat to me. He didnt look slow to me when he was among the first interior guys downfield on almost every special teams play or when he knocked the ever livin' shit out of that Houston return man. Try to know something about what you are posting about before you start typing.
all you just did was give me excuses for his mistakes. I don't care what he way TRYING to do on those plays, he messed up! As for 12 tackles, not bad if they came in 4 regular season games, but it was against a bunch of undrafted free agents who are not in the league anymore. I think one of them just delivered a pizza to my door. And lets not get excited about one big hit on a kickoff return, get real. He is lucky to get a D for a grade. Should have been a 7th rounder, and it showed. And lets get real-- the guy is slow- his 40 time was a 4.95- a few hundredths of a second faster that nick mangold. But I'm sure he plays faster than that, and stats don't tell the whole story blah blah blah. Bottom line-- if you think he was so good, why was he inactive all f ing season?
He was inactive all season because he's not a good special teams player and he's not ready to play inside linebacker in the 3-4. Do you think Ted Bruschi is fast enough to play special teams? How many years did it take Brushi and Vrabel to become top level players? You don't have a big enough sample size to analyze whether Schlegel was good or bad this year. You can't grade someone who didn't play all year. It's like going out on a first date with some girl, yeah you'll see some things you like and dislike you but you really don't know her and you need a couple more dates to decide whether she's just another girl to mess around with or someone you'd really want to date.
You are somewhat right in that- if he was a 6-7 round pick, or an UDFA I wouldn't think twice about the guy, and would like him being on our team. But you have to consider what we gave up for him. We could have had a BOATLOAD of great players with that pick- Gabe Watson, Mark Anderson, Ko Simpson, Elvis Dumerville to name a few that I was SCREAMING for.
Did I say they weren't mistakes? I was just correcting your assesement that they were made because he was slow and wasnt smart. As for who he was playing against in the preseason, you're probably right about a lot of them but now your making excuses for why he looked good so that you dont look like the uninformed jackass that you have proven your self to be. Further corrections which I looked up: His 40 times at Ohio State proday a 4.76 and 4.79. He does play faster and if you had watched him on Special teams you'd have seen that he was as quick down the field as any one except the gunners. His 12 tackles didnt come in 4 games they came in about 8 quarters (2 games) If you had read my previous post you'd realize that one of the reasons that he didnt get much playing time was that he was backing up Jonathan Vilma -- you know DROY and ProBowler? That he also had to compete with Barton who when healthy has been very productive and is a solid veteran and Brad Kassell a 5 year veteran who started for Tennessee last year and recorded 100 tackles. Like all those guys he came from a 4-3 system and was learning the 3-4 execept he was a rookie and they were veterans. Can you name me a rookie on the Jets who had as much veteran talent ahead of him at his position as Schlegel? The fact that he didnt dress many games for special teams was disturbing. This is why in my initial post said that a grade of D was justified. I am merely pointing out that posters like you have not seen enough of his play to fairly evaluate him and are often missinformed abou what you have seen.
1a. D'Brickashaw Ferguson - Got owned in the second gamer against Buffalo and really did look like a rookie. Funny, because this was well into the season and he started off strong. Handled Jason Taylor well twice, and Dwight Freeney. He also had some trouble against Mario Williams who he had owned in college. Needs to bulk up again and get stronger, but I still think he is an anchor and future Pro Bowler. B 1b. Nick Mangold - Wish I bought his jersey instead of Brick's. He totally filled Mawae's shows and now I am very glad we let Kevin go. I hope Nick and Brick spend their careers here. Only had trouble on a few plays in a few games but that happens to the best. A+ 2. Kellen Clemens - SO many people want him to compete with Chad next season....why? Because he has a stronger arm? He is short and we don;t know if he has the head Chad has...I want to see what he can do too, btu I am going to withhold the hype. Unknown 3a. Anthony Schlegel - I wish he played more. I am thinking he won;t ever do more than what he did this year though. I guess the scouting reports were right.....great smarts but not athletic enough. D 3b. Eric Smith - I didn't love the way he played. On Faulk's TD against us last week he was supposed to be covering the RB and was nowhere close as Faulk walked in. I don't think he can be a starter for us if we're gonna take the next step, I just don't think he has "it". C 4a. Brad Smith - I don't know why he wasn't used more. I blame the coaches not Brad...for all the faking he was involved in, we never actually used him for anything. I think he has alot of upside. I want to see him throw the ball next season. He is a weapon, lets use him and not the pretend we might use him.C+ 4b. Leon Washington - Exciting as hell to watch, but I don't know how much more upside he has. Even if we block better, he needs huge holes to be effective up the middle and was taken down easily at times. Love his speed and moves but I dont see him as a premier back. B 5. Jason Pociask - I hope that he can come in and show us something....apparently he is a good run blocker...lets hope so, we need it. 6. Drew Coleman - Will be a fill-in player for us, nothing more. Small guy, but was able to hold the fort at times....C
Considering we STILL have a need for LB- I think you are overrating all that veteran talent he was behind!! We signed 2 bums who stunk this year who got WAY too much time on the field. He was the 7th LB out of 4 starters-- I think Drew Coleman had a much harder task ahead of him to see the field considering there are 2 starting corners ( opposed to 4 LB spots) with Dyson, Barrett, Miller, and Poteat all competing. He got starts, and despite missing one key tackle, he did pretty well considering he was a 6th rounder. So there is your one rookie who had more talent infront of him. And come on man, Vilma didn't play like the ALTERNATE PRO-BOWLER he was- and we all know Kassel shouldn't be enough to keep a 3rd rounder off the field unless that guy truly sucks. Any other third rounder would have been able to crack the lineup, or at least dress for every game! The guy sucks, just admit it! yeah he ran 4.79- which is terrible- he also ran a 4.95, which is horrendous. Obviously his 4 preseason games weren't full games- I would hope he would have a lot more that 12 tackles if they were-- that is hardley an excuse for him playing good!! it takes a lot more that 12 assisted tackles in 4 preseason games to make me think a player is good-- especially when the same player has penalties on him, and lets players get in the endzone because it is 100% his fault! I have seen as much of him as anyone has, which is very little, because he didn't dress for half the season. Why would you defend this guy?
