I respectfully disagree with you on this. The pursuit and ferocity he displayed last night can be applied in a starting capacity. He's big and strong, and can only get better. I saw his face a couple of times, and he looks like a lunatic. Get this guy out there on every freakin down!
You could certainly be right, the ends in a 3-4 don't have to be superstars, and if he's going to make the leap to the starting level then this is the CS to work for as opposed to the vet-friendly MO of the last regime... but I can't get excited about players stepping it up in preseason. Most of them are playing their hearts out to make the team, but not all of them continue playing their hearts out after the season starts.
I think that a lot of people are forgetting that this is the NFL, not Madden 07--two guys don't play DE for the entire game. If Ball keeps up his level of play he's going to be a very active member of the defensive line rotation and he's gonna get a lot of time on the field.
I think Ball's size is just right (damn that dont sound right). Didnt Ellis come into the NFL at about 277-280 as a rook before Herm tried to make him into the next Warren Sapp? Ellis was very effective in the 3-4 at that weight. Its more about leverage and technique as a 3-4 DE, not neccessarily weight.
This is not a total shocker ... Dave Balls was a bigtime player at UCLA ... I'm pretty sure he set a school record for sacks, single season and career So this should not be a complete surprise ... Dave Balls has Game! PS. I know its "Ball", but Dave Balls sounds so much better! :up:
