New article on D-Rob

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php...lRUV5eTcwMTg0ODgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

Sunday, November 12, 2006

By RANDY LANGE
STAFF WRITER



FOXBORO, Mass. -- It was a positive observation about how he's made that much publicized transition to nose tackle.

Dewayne Robertson took it as a dare.

"I think everybody, like you are, the media, everybody tried to make it an issue, what position I was going to play," Robertson said. "I always feel pretty good, pretty sure of my ability. So I'm good."

That's just the point. Maybe it's his natural talent, maybe his dedication to technique, maybe the chip on his shoulder. But Robertson is playing, well, good these days.

Further, if the Jets show a sudden growth spurt in how they're defending the run out of the 3-4 in the second half of this season, D-Rob will be one of the players leading the improvement.

Today's game with the Patriots at Gillette Stadium will provide a timely test of that theory. The Jets come to Foxboro with the NFL's No. 30 run defense, and one reason for that low ranking is what the Patriots' Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney did to the Jets in their September home opener.

With center Dan Koppen and guard Stephen Neal leading the charge in walling off Robertson and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, the Patriots ran for 147 yards, with 104 of that plus two touchdowns coming as they built their 24-0 third-quarter lead.

Robertson wasn't offering predictions for the rematch, but he's bullish on how he and his teammates have been playing.

"I'm pretty comfortable, pretty confident in what I'm doing and what they're asking me to do," he said. "The numbers aren't showing it, but we've been getting better in our run fits, doing the things we're supposed to do, playing blocks the way we're supposed to play them. Everybody's just getting better at being where they're supposed to be."

Some fans, in the absence of great plays and the stats to back them up, will remain skeptical that the 315-pound Robertson and the Jets are improving, and will insist he is more suited to the 3-technique tackle he used to play in the 4-3 than to 3-4 nose, usually manned by 350-pound wide bodies.

But comparing the first quarter of the season to the second quarter show Robertson's emergence. His first sack, his first forced fumble and his first three quarterback hits all came in Games 6-8, and the per-carry average through his gaps -- the "A" gap when he's head-up on the center -- unofficially has dropped a full yard, from 4.8 in the first four games to 3.8 in the last four.

Then there are the Robertson testimonials. Coordinator Bob Sutton said he's "really done an outstanding job adapting to playing a different position than he's played before." Coach Eric Mangini has called him "a powerful guy, a strong guy." One person on the team said, "He's been our best defensive player. He's kicking butt."

Guard Brandon Moore hasn't gone up against Robertson since training camp, but he sees enough from the day-after highlight videos Mangini shows the team and the occasional glance at the defense from the sideline.

"The nose tackle can get kind of lost in the middle of the 3-4," Moore said. "But Dewayne's a beast out there. It's not only tackles, it's blowing up gaps, disrupting. I think he's big enough. He's not 400 pounds like Ted Washington, but I don't think you need to be to play this defense."

Robertson is not one to put a target around the No. 63 on his back, but he's a player Jets fans will want to follow this second half, whether he's at nose, 3-4 end (as he was for 10 plays at Cleveland) or inside rusher in the nickel front. He holds a big key to the defense's performance in the last eight games of its first season under Mangini.

"I like Dewayne a lot," end Kimo von Oelhoffen told "Jets 24/7." "He's got a purpose, and he's playing good football right now. Very good football."

"I'm just looking forward to the second half of the season," Robertson said.

E-mail: lange@northjersey.com

 

Both starting DE's and Hobson, that would be my guess. Oelhoffen was terrible and Shaun Ellis pathetic, getting blocked by TEs. Barton is playing real well right now and while Vilma hasnt been flashy he shoes progress and he's around the ball a lot.

 

You're a joke. You havent even read the damn article right? Oh well, maybe you should become our new headcoach. Obviously you know our players better than they do. hmy:

 

WTF? Damn, you make no sense. :rofl:
The coaching staff, the players, opposing coaches, the journalists...they all are saying the same thing: Robertson is playing real well. So please forgive me for not caring about what a couple of D-Rob haters in here say. :up:

 

Yes, and thats obviously why the journalists come up with those type of articles. Because they dont want to throw him under the bus.
Whatever, im outta here. Its so useless to talk to you two guys. Read the article over and over again and enjoy it. Im pretty sure you will. Im outta here. :beer:

 

Sigh. Yes, and the coaches, players, journalists and non-robertson haters obviously dont watch him play at all. It just gets better and better.