I'm sure we all saw his Special Teams hit, but did he have any playing time on Defense. Anyone know how many games he's been active this year?
He is really slow, and I know early in the year he was having a lot of trouble adjusting. He will work hard, but I don't know what his limits are. It's good to have guys like that around. -X-
If you want more on Schlegal, here's a pretty good read from yesterday's Star-Ledger: http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/11647804213640.xml?starledger?spj&coll=1 JETS CONFIDENTIAL Wednesday, November 29, 2006 BY DAVE HUTCHINSON Star-Ledger Staff Rookie Finally Gets A Chance To Shine It took 11 games but there was finally an Anthony Schlegel sighting last Sunday against the Houston Texans -- and what a sighting it was. Schlegel, a third-round pick out of Ohio State who had been deactivated for the first nine games, absolutely annihilated Texans kickoff returner Dexter Wynn with a highlight-reel hit. "It was fun," said Schlegel, an inside linebacker. "Football is fun. I was fortunate that everybody did their job and I was in the right place at the right time." The drafting of Schlegel in the third round appears to be the only mistake made by new general manager Mike Tannenbaum in the April draft. At the time, many draft experts felt the pick was a "reach," meaning the player didn't deserve to be picked that high (76th overall). Most third-round picks play immediately, at least on special teams, and when Schlegel couldn't crack the special teams lineup, the experts appeared to be right. The Jets liked Schlegel's intangibles -- team captain at Air Force before transferring to Ohio State, where he was also a team captain -- but those intangibles weren't enough to get him on the field. Worse still, the Jets cut second-year linebacker Ryan Myers early in the season and signed linebackers Ryan Riddle and Cody Spencer off the street -- and both played over Schlegel. Undaunted, Schlegel continued to work hard and is now carving himself a niche on special teams. On Sunday in Green Bay, he'll see his pal, Packers rookie linebacker A.J. Hawk, taken fifth overall. Another Ohio State linebacker, Bobby Carpenter, was a first-round pick by the Cowboys last April. The knock on Schlegel is that he's slow, has poor lateral movement and is a liability in pass coverage. The Jets, however, still feel the 6-1, 251-pounder is a good fit in their 3-4 defense because he's tough and smart. "It's just going out there and doing your job," said Schlegel, who used to hunt wild boar. "When you get the opportunity to make a play, you have to made a play. ... I've just tried to show the coaches I've been improving, that I belong and can contribute."
He didnt look slow to me on Sunday. If he was slow he wouldn't have been in position to make the tackle on the play referenced in the story above. Also, if you watch the first kick off of the second half you'll see him shed his block, read where the return man was going, move at an angle to intercept the return man and put the first lick on him. The "he's slow and struggles with lateral movement" stuff comes from the draft scout reports. Most 3rd round LBs do play on special teams -- but then again since most teams dont play a 3-4 and keep 9 LBs, most of them dont have as much competition. Most 3rd round LBs do not play on defense right away unless there are injuries in front of them.
i know he doesn't have a good 40-time or great measurables, but I think he has decent game-speed which may translate well as an ILB in the 3-4. cheers
Most of you already know this story, but for those who don't, this guy showed up on our radar when the Jets were watching game film of AJ Hawk. As they're looking at Hawk, Schlegal kept on showing up in every play, either making tackles or assisting. It was like, "Hey, who is this guy? He finds the ball on every play... he's always around the ball-carrier!" I'm the first one to admit that the 3rd round might have been a bit of a reach, but only time will tell that whole story. I really like Schlegal.... stay tuned.
It also comes from his play in the preseason. He looked very limited and stiff while dropping into pass coverage. Hopefully he can gain some experience which can offset his physical limitations - but if he still looks like what he did in preseason - I'd prefer he stick to special teams.
The thing I like about Schlegal, and I've read this before, is that he thinks football is "fun." He annihilates Texans kickoff returner Dexter Wynn with a highlight-reel hit, flattens him like a pancake, makes the crowd go, "Ooooohhhh," and then says it was "fun." You gotta love this guy.
I'd like to see him get some PT on defense. From what I saw of him on the highlights after the draft he reads the plays real quick.
I love how these writers think they have any idea what they are talking about. Only 45 guys suit up and we have plenty of other middle linebackers. MLB in a 3-4 is a very difficult position for any player to learn much less a rookie. You never judge a draft for 2 or 3 years to get a feel for all of the picks. I'd be shocked if he wasn't started at MLB next to Vilma next year.
A few things to add to my previous post. 1. The closest NFL players come to replicating a 40 yd dash in a game is on kick off coverage. They pretty much run straight down field, unimpeaded from the 30 to about the opponents 40 or 35 (at that point many are picked up by the coverage team). If you want to measure Schlegel's speed against his team mates watch this weeks 1st and goal with Mike Tannenbaum on SNY. They break down two kick off team plays. The first one is of one of McCarrens ST tackles. The Jets are kicking off from the right to the left and McCarrens is the last guy at the bottom of the screen. Schlegel is the guy lined up just above him. From the overhead coaches cam shot you can see that McCarrens doesnt put too many steps between himself and Schlegel before Schlegel is engaged by two Texans blockers leaving Mc free to continue on. The second kick off they show is the one in which Schlegel makes his hit on the return man. Again you can see Schlegel sticking with the coverage team (a few guys have a yd or two on him but remember there are two WRs and several DBs on the kick team). He shucks the first blocker and meets the ball carrier right at the edge of the blocking wedge. His game speed is fine. 2. Schlegel looked bad on two pass plays -- the one where he fell down and the one where he looked awkward committing the PI penalty. No doubt his coverage skills needed some work and I assume that is one of the weaknesses in his game that he has been working on. 3. Schlegel is not the son of the Animal. Thats current tOSU MLB James "the Animal Jr." Laurinitis. 4. Jets beat reporters know surprisingly little about what actually goes into the coaches decision making. In the story above Hutch implies that after Myers was cut Riddle and Spencer were brought on because Schlegel couldnt play. The real facts are that Spencer was seen as an uprgrade over Myers on ST and that Riddle was brought in because they thought he might be able to add some depth at the OLB position played by Thomas.
