How a player goes about being a non-vocal team leader? Kinda like a stealth preacher? Undercover politician? "I'm leading my team to the greatness, but shhhhh ... no one must know! "
If you have to start a sentence with "as the leader of the team .... I...." you are not a leader. not a good one anyway. LeBron James is the same way.
If I understand the 3-4 scheme correctly, that's exactly how is supposed to be, the DL ties up the oline and it frees up the LBs to make plays and get to the QB. He showed he was capable of it, why not just let him do what he is good at, every linebacker can't be good at everything, they would be HOF material if that were the case. I just want to see him get a chance to play under Greene and at his natural weight which allows him to stay fast and agile.
Inexperienced, but has received more reps recently with Q out. We should hope to see a lot of him this Saturday. All of the young guys are dropping passes, but Stewart is a freak with the ball in his hands.
The d-lineman open up 1 on 1 match-ups and can create a unblocked defender. Someone's gonna try and pick that player up. However, if you can't win your matchup consistently, well ...
The jets are sorely lacking a pass rushing LB, Jenkins is being praised for setting the edge eventhough he is not a very good pass rusher, so Jenkins gets first team reps because he can set the edge? That's important, but as everyone says, it's a passing league, what good is it going to do the jets defense to have a guy who can set the edge against the run but can't get to the QB? That's more of an advantage for an offenses than to have Mauldin out there who is capable of getting to the QB and the QB knowing he can get to him. I'm not saying he shouldn't be cut if he is injured and jets feel they have enough depth at the LB spot, but if he can get healthy for the last 2 games I would like to see him play as a pass rusher at his natural weight under Greene's tutelage. I would be upset if he is let go and flourishes with someone else because the jets gave up on him to quickly.
He is in year 3 coming off a disappointing season,off season arrest and missing practice and games while others at his position are showing potential. If the decision comes down to him and a guy who is younger,more time on his contract and has been available it's going to be an easy decision. Reality of the league
I will say this again because my Dr says its good for me to let it out------> I am not now nor have I ever been excited about this group of Linebackers ! The achilles heal of this defense will be these linebackers , none of them can rush the edge and Im not sure if any can cover a TE let alone a RB out of the backfield . I don't care how good the front 3 or 4 are and how improved the secondary is , these linebackers will kill us , not to mention that this defense along with the LB s will be on the field an awful lot !
Okay, there ya go. I kinda thought that in watching his presser. Even tho I think he's bright, he's still a kid a has some maturing to do. It's perfectly natural for a young guy putting on weight, but he's prolly not the type that will ever be fat.
C, I know you said you don't care how improved the secondary is but that is going to be a big help in controlling te's .
Maudlin is a tweener through & through.You see his first step,burst & even his hitting ability at his size & you think he can be a great weakside 3-4 OLB.But he struggles w anything involving hands on him both run blocks & passing.He doesn't set the edge w any consistency nor does he have a counter move in the pass rush if his first step or initial bend don't do the job. Youd think that counter moves could be taught at the pro level.The more of these unrefined athletic front 7 types we see coming out of college the more it becomes abundantly clear that tangible arsenals of different ways of getting past blockers is something not to be taken lightly in pass rushers. Pad level,first step,hand placement & leverage can all be improved & refined w coaching. & while utilizing countermoves are a focal point most guys don't suddenly find that skill set. Still he can at least provide some burst in his rush & make a QB step up a time or 2.His ultimate undoing may end up being his inability to set the edge.He never gets the proper leverage & lacks the violent hands to disengage.He really has no position in a base 3-4 or 4-3 for that matter.Perhaps weak side DE in a 4-3 under??
I know the secondary being improved will help and that still remains to be seen FJF , we have to see these guys in September playing together. You can put a Safety on a TE if need be or possibly a corner but ohhh these linebackers ,That said I just do not believe in this linebacker group , I don't believe any of the hype until I see it on the field . Mauldin has been talked about but has not impressed me, Demario Davis and Lee do not make me feel warm n Fuzzy . Jenkins and the rest don't make me a believer, some say Kevin Greene will coach these guys up yada yada but even if Greene is an incredible coach ( which also remains to be seen ) he can only do so much , these guys have to have some talent or ability for a coach to work with,,,,maybe I am wrong but I expect the worst .
I like Jenkins, I think his floor is Bryan Thomas, I'll take that out of a third all day. Donahue intrigues me and the rest are kind of bleh. Although Martin has had a good camp and was a stud Saturday night. We'll see. Weak at lb isn't the worst thing in the world in today's game.
So checking my twitter feed and saw that hack and petty received practically all of the reps today. This is prep day for giants on Saturday,you would think, if mccown was starting he would get some reps.
Maybe they're going to start McCown and let him get his reps during the game? This whole "QB competition" feels like they've been winging it the whole time. It's making Bowles look extremely incompetent (even more than he has already).
Or there's a witch hunt for Bowles because he's not well liked. Hes damned if he do damned if he don't. He gives McCown reps it's because he doesn't care and he's not trying to give Hack and Petty time or a chance to start here (which BTW is normal to do when your team likely will suck that year...Feed the vet to the wolves until you feel the young QB is ready). Now it comes out that Petty or Hack are getting the reps with the first team now he doesn't know what he's doing (which is exactly what half the fan base wanted anyway...) So which is it?
The backups have to get some type of reps, it's the only chance their going to have, once season starts it's going to be Mcown. I don't think this makes TB look bad, he's a goner after this season if the team shows no sign of an upward trend. Nothing else needs to be said about TB, the product on the field during the season will either vindicate him or indict him.
The optimist in me says Bowles decided that mccown being better isn't the same as mccown being good and is going with young and bad over old and bad.
