Defensive Tackle/3-4 Defensive End

Mississippi State

6-4 298

Draft board overall prospect rank: #13

Draft board defensive tackle rank: #1

Overall rating: 88 (Solid 1^st round pick)

40 time: 4.79

Games watched: LSU/Mississippi State, Mississippi State/Wake Forest 

Positives

·         Great athlete

·         Mature pass rusher

·         Good size (6-4 298)

·         Excellent 40 time (4.79, 1.64 10 yard split)

·         Agile and quick

·         Good change of direction

·         Did very well in The Combine’s agility drills

·         Can line up inside and outside

·         Would be a natural fit as a 5-technique in a 3-4

·         Long arms (34 ½ inches)

·         Good hand use

·         Deep repertoire of pass rushing moves

·         Stout at the point of attack

·         Good strength (30 reps of 225)

·         Powerful

·         Holds up against the run

·         Could probably add 15 pounds comfortably

·         Explosive

·         Great motor

·         Great in space

·         Good technique

·         Good chase and pursuit

·         Versatile

·         Moves like a linebacker (almost run back a fumble for a touchdown this season)

·         Productive 2011 season (56 tackles, 14.5 for loss, 5 sacks)

·         Played elite competition in SEC

·         Makes impact plays

·         Impossible to ignore on tape

·         Special teams ability (4 blocked kicks)

Negatives

·         Only one year of strong production

·         No years of elite production (Marcell Dareus, Nick Fairley, Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy all had more productive seasons than him)

·         Only average against the run

·         Can get overpowered by bigger interior linemen

·         Doesn’t take on a lot of double teams

·         Only 2 career forced fumbles

·         Still a bit raw

·         Suspended for Memphis game for violation of team rules

NFL Comparison: Darnell Dockett

After Dontari Poe’s amazing Combine, a lot of people called him the best defensive tackle in this draft class and mocked him 9^th to Carolina, who really needs a defensive tackle. I didn’t mock him to Carolina, instead putting Fletcher Cox there after his underrated Combine. The 6-4 300 pound Cox ran in the high 4.7s and had a better 10 yard split than Poe and was much better in the agility and change of direction drills than Poe. Cox was the more productive player in a much tougher conference and he had much better change of direction and quickness, whereas Poe is more straight line fast.

The consensus has caught up to this. Cox is now seen as the top defensive tackle in this draft class and 9 to Carolina is now his floor. Tampa Bay at 5 and St. Louis at 6 could be interested and if he slips past them, Philadelphia will be working the phones to move up to 7 to grab him ahead of Carolina. He’s not quite on the level of guys like Marcell Dareus, Nick Fairley, Ndamukong Suh, and Gerald McCoy, but he’s a good 2^nd tier tackle who would be a good value from 9-15.

The first time I saw Fletcher Cox, I didn’t know a whole lot about him, but I couldn’t help but notice him on tape and he looked like a potential first round pick. I didn’t think he’d declare early, but when he did, I did some more work on him and gave him a top 20 grade, moving him up to now 13^th on my board after a strong Combine. He’s still a bit raw and he only has 1 year of good production, but he’s got all the tools, a great motor, and he’s already a very mature pass rusher with a good combination of speed and power moves, as well as good technique.

I compare him to Arizona’s Darnell Dockett. Dockett went in the 3^rd round in 2004 and, while Cox will definitely go much higher Dockett has well exceeded his draft range as he’s become one of the better 5-techniques in the NFL. He also has experience in a 4-3 as a defensive tackle. The 3 time Pro Bowler has 34.5 sacks in 8 seasons (9 in 2007) despite being a bit undersized (6-4 290). Cox can play either of these positions and should be an above average starter like Dockett. I expect him to have an immediate impact as a rookie.

 

 

19. CB Prince Amukamara A

How did Amukamara fall all the way to New York? Well, teams reaching for quarterbacks early had a lot to do with that. The Giants aren’t complaining as they get a top 10 talent at 19 and it’s not as if he doesn’t fill a need. They got burned deep by Green Bay late and they don’t have a true #1 shutdown cornerback like Amukamara can become. Besides, in a pass heavy league, there’s no such thing as too much cornerback depth.

52. DT Marvin Austin B

Another pick hailed as a steal, I’m not so sold that is the case. I was never sold on Austin as a first round pick. I had a high 2^nd round grade on him, so this is still a good value, but defensive tackle wasn’t a huge need. They’ll still find a role for him because he can get after the quarterback.

83. WR Jerrel Jernigan C-

Some people had a 2^nd round grade on Jernigan. I had a 4^th. Given that, I see this as a reach at a position that wasn’t a huge need. Even if Steve Smith leaves, they still have Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham as starters with sold depth behind them.

117. OT James Brewer A

Everyone expected them to take an offensive lineman at 19, but when Amukamara fell to them, they had no choice but to pull the trigger. That was obviously the right move and, even better, they were able to get a steal on a tackle here in the 4^th.

185. OLB Greg Jones A

How the hell was Greg Jones still around in the 6^th? He was my highest rated prospect for several rounds. This is the steal of the draft and Jones also fills a need for the Giants and can play inside and outside. I think they got an above average starter in the 6^th round. That’s pretty good.

198. S Tyler Sash A

Even though they added 3 safeties last offseason (Chad Jones, Deon Grant, Antrel Rolle), they still gave up a bunch of big plays. Chad Jones got hurt and his career is in jeopardy. Deon Grant is old. Antrel Rolle is overpaid and could actually be cut in a cost cutting move. Sash is a great value at this point.

202. OLB Jacquain Williams C

I didn’t have Williams in my top 300, but he does fill a need.

221. RB Da’Rel Scott A

Another major steal. I had a 4^th or 5^th round grade on Da’Rel Scott and he also fills a need for the Giants. Ahmad Bradshaw is an injury prone, fumble prone free agent. Brandon Jacobs doesn’t have much left. Scott could end up being the next late round/undrafted running back to have a major impact down the road.

Overall:

Every pick of theirs wasn’t perfect, but they got at least three major steals with Amukamara at 19, Greg Jones at 185, the steal of the draft, and Da’Rel Scott at 221. They also got nice steals with Tyler Sash at 198 and James Brewer at 117 and all 5 of those picks filled needs. They also didn’t have any bad picks and they got an excellent haul of talent out of draft weekend. That’s what an A draft looks like.

Grade: A

 

Debate the Jacksonville Jaguars offseason needs in The Football Fan Forum 

2010 Preview:

I don’t know how a team makes themselves worse in the draft, but, at least in the short term, they did. Tyson Alualu could be a solid starting caliber player in the future, but for now, he’s a downgrade over veteran John Henderson, who was cut when they drafted Alualu. Their pass defense was atrocious last year on all levels. Their corners couldn’t cover, their safeties couldn’t cover, they had fewer sacks as a team than some individual players had. Aaron Kampman helps, but this is still going to be a very poor defensive squad unable to contain the pass.

Offensively, they should once again be just so so. Maurice Jones Drew is still a monster of a running back, but he was last year and that didn’t help them make 8+ win. It won’t this year either with all of the other teams in the NFL, for the most part, getting better this offseason, unless David Garrard has a great year at quarterback.

Projection: 6-10 4th in AFC South 

Power Ranking: 23 

Last Season: 7-9

Grade:

#10 DT Tyson Alualu (California)

This has to be the most head scratching draft pick I’ve ever seen. I scratched my head so hard when I saw it, that I scratched a hole right through my scalp. The only possible explanation for why the Jaguars would have taken a late 2^nd round prospect at 10 is that they reached an agreement with his agent that they would make him the 10^th overall pick if he agreed to not demand 10^th overall pick money. The Jaguars are in that dire of a financial situation. However, if they were in that dire of a financial situation, why didn’t they just take Tebow. He would have been less of a reach. He would have helped them more than Alualu. And he would have sold tickets. How is Alualu going to help them sell tickets? Who wants to spend money to see Tyson Alualu? The Jaguars may have effectively doomed their team into backruptcy. I can see it now, the 2012 Los Angeles Jaguars (of Anahiem).

Grade: F

#74 DT D’Anthony Smith (Louisiana Tech)

Well, at least they’re consistent. They drafted a 3^rd round caliber defensive tackle in the 1^st and they took a 3^rd round caliber defensive tackle in the 3^rd. Is Gene Smith so lazy (or so demotivated by Jack Del Rio) that he can’t even bother to take another position. This is the 3^rd straight year they have drafted the same position back-to-back with their first 2 picks and defensive tackle wasn’t even a need heading into draft day. What are they going to do about their awful pass rush and their completely inability to stop anyone through the air? The only reason this isn’t another F is because Smith somewhat fits the draft range.

Grade: D

#143 DE Larry Hart (Central Arkansas)

It’s bad when you use the 143th pick on a player I’ve never heard of. I’d estimated there are about 450 players in this draft class that I have heard of and this guy was not one of them. Per ESPN, he is an undersized defensive end from a small school. They don’t even have any stats from him because no one cares. He fills a need, but how much help is a guy who isn’t very good.

Grade: F

#153 DE Austin Lane (Murray State)

Lane was a 4^th round prospect so getting him in the 5^th is good, but is Gene Smith incapable of not taking the same position twice in a row. This is the 5^th time in the last 3 years he has doubled up on the same position with two back to back picks and the second time he did it with defensive ends.

Grade: A-

#180 RB Deji Karim (Southern Illinois)

Karim is good value at this point and can serve as a backup to Maurice Jones Drew as Rashad Jennings, apparently, was not living up to their standards.

Grade: A

#203 CB Scotty McGee (James Madison)

Finally they focus on the secondary, but McGee should not have been drafted. He’s not worthy of being drafted. He’s a solid kick returner, but won’t help their secondary at all.

Grade: C

Overall:

The Jaguars have effectively screwed themselves over with this draft. They barely upgraded anything. There have been teams that drafted badly this year that only got upgrades at low value positions, but this team didn’t even do that and they didn’t fix their #1 need, selling tickets. The Jaguars had a league low 1 sellout last year. They probably will only have one more next year and that’ll be week 1 when Tim Tebow (who they should have drafted) and the Broncos come into town. They may get another one if the Colts come to town and the Jaguars are playing well (as was the case last year), but this team probably won’t play very well next year.

Grade: F

Key undrafted free agents:

CB Chris Hawkins (LSU)

C John Estes (Hawaii)

OLB Kyle Bosworth (UCLA)

WR Chris McGaha (Arizona State)

OT Kevin Haslam (Rutgers)

FB Jason Harmon (Florida Atlantic)

Positions of need:

Defensive End:

Their secondary got torched every single game last season and I mean every single game. Part of that blame has to fall on their weak cornerbacks, but part of that blame also has to fall on their defensive lineman. In fact, considering their d-line’s 14^{sacks last season, I’d say more of the blame must be placed there. Derrick Harvey led the team with 2 sacks. This is pathetic, especially for a team that is two years removed from using their first two picks on defensive ends to rush the passer. Derrick Morgan should be heavily considered at 10, assuming they don’t trade down, more on that later.}

Signed Aaron Kampman, Drafted Larry Hart (#143), Drafted Austin Lane (#153)

Cornerback:

Of course, when you are as bad as the Jags were against the pass last year, you also have to blame some of the cornerbacks, though they weren’t helped out much by their defensive line. Derex Cox is nothing but a nickel corner in this league and needs to be moved to that position, instead of starting cornerback, ASAP. If they don’t trade down from 10, in state cornerback Joe Haden could be a possibility.

Drafted Scotty McGee (#203) 

Safety:

Again, you can’t just blame the cornerbacks. They traded for Gerald Alexander in the offseason, but he didn’t do much. He really struggled against the pass this year. He could be upgraded.

Defensive Tackle:

They looked better against the run late in the season, but they have yet to find a true replacement for Marcus Stroud since they traded him to the Bills a few years ago. They might use a mid round pick on some depth, at least, at the position.

Drafted Tyson Alualu (#10), Drafted D’Anthony Smith (#74) 

Quarterback:

The Jaguars #1 need this offseason, regardless of position is to figure out some way to sell more tickets next year and that, unfortunately, may mean they draft Tim Tebow. I say unfortunately on many levels. Its unfortunate for the Jags because quarterback isn’t a huge need. Its unfortunate for David Garrard, who doesn’t deserve to lose his job. Its unfortunate for Tim Tebow who would likely be started from week 1 to sell tickets. If this happens, he will fail. I am a huge Tebow supporter, but he is not NFL ready right now. I believe he can learn to be in a year’s time, but not if he starts week 1. However, Tebow to Jacksonville looks pretty inevitable and pretty necessary and for this reason they may trade down. There is no need to take Tebow at 10, not because he doesn’t deserve the slot per se, but because the market for him isn’t very big in the first round. The only other 1^st round team I can see taking a shot at Tebow is Minnesota and they don’t draft until 29. However, the Jags can’t pass him up at 10, because there’s a very good chance that he isn’t there when they draft in the 3^rd round, which will be the next time they draft. So, I believe they should either trade down from 10 to the mid 20s, Philadelphia might be looking to move up to take Derrick Morgan, and secure a 2^nd round pick to help their defense in the process, or, they should trade their 3^rd round pick, their 4^th round pick, and a future 3^rd rounder to move up to the top half of the 2^nd round to take Tebow. There is a decent shot he is still there in the top of the 2^nd and doing this would allow them to get that big time defensive prospect to help their defense, like Derrick Morgan or Joe Haden.

Wide Receiver:

Torry Holt was recently cut and now they need a replacement opposite Mike Sims Walker. They drafted 2 wide receivers in the mid rounds last year, but if they aren’t sold on either being future starting material, they could target one in free agency this year, though I doubt they can target one through the draft because of their lack of picks.

 

Free agents:

RB Allen Patrick 

WR Torry Holt- signed with Patriots, 1 year 1.6 million

WR Troy Williamson (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1 million

OT Tra Thomas- signed with Chargers 

G Kynan Forney- resigned

C Dennis Norman

DE Reggie Heyward

DT Atiyyah Ellison (restricted)- resigned

DT Montavious Stanley- signed with Dolphins

DT Rob Meier 

DT John Henderson- signed with the Raiders 1 year

OLB Brandon Iwuh- signed with Bears 

OLB Clint Ingram (restricted)- not tendered, signed with Saints

MLB Tim Shaw (restricted)

Offseason moves:

Jaguars cut DE Reggie Hayward

Jaguars acquire G Justin Smiley from Dolphins for 7th-round pick

Jaguars waive RB Allen Patrick

Jaguars sign OLB Teddy Lehman 

Jaguars cut DT John Henderson

Jaguars withdraw tender from OLB Clint Ingram

Jaguars sign MLB Freddie Keiaho

Jaguars cut OLB Brandon Iwuh

Jaguars cut DT Montavious Stanley

Jaguars acquire MLB Kirk Morrison and a 5th-round pick from Raiders for 4th-round pick

Jaguars trade DE Quentin Groves to Raiders for a 5th-round pick

Jaguars sign DE Aaron Kampman

Jaguars sign WR Kassim Osgood

Jaguars re-sign G Kynan Forney

Jaguars re-sign DT Atiyyah Ellison

Jaguars tender OLB Clint Ingram

Jaguars sign TE Ernest Wilford

Jaguars re-sign WR Troy Williamson

Jaguars cut WR Torry Holt

Jaguars cut DT Rob Meier 

 

 

I’ll have my NFL Draft Grades up by the end of the weekend, but first I want to talk about a few trades (involving veterans), that happened on draft day.

Deal for Raiders: The Raiders haven’t had a good quarterback since Rich Gannon. Jason Campbell gets a bit of a bad rep around the league, but when it comes down to it, he has had a different offensive coordinator every year he was a starter except for one, he played two years in a west coast offense that he didn’t fit in, he’s a former 1^st round pick, and he had his best statistical season last year, despite being sacked 43 times. He fits the Raiders’ offense much better and the Raiders’ offensive line, as miserable as it was last season, will probably be better in the future with draft day additions of Bruce Campbell and Jared Veldheer, so it’s not unlikely that he improves upon his 64.5% completion percentage, 20 touchdowns, 15 picks, and 7.1 YPA from 2009 in 2010 and beyond. The Raiders need someone like this. If their defense plays well next year, they could win 6-8 games and more in the future in Jason Campbell really works out.

Grade: A

Deal for Redskins: A 2012 4^th rounder? Really? What does that help you with? The NFL might not even exist in 2012 (hopefully it does). Of all the teams getting pennies on the dollar for veterans this offseason, this might be the worst.

Grade: D

 

By Kevin Harrison

Depressed.  Disgusted.  Disappointed.  Those are three D’s I got right now.  That’s a lot more D than the Jets had last night in the first half. 

Championship Games don’t come around often.  There was well over a decade wait between the Mud Bowl and the Debacle in Denver. Then, we had to wait over a decade again for the collapse against the Colts.

So, defying the law of averages, we didn’t have to wait over a decade; the Jets were back in the AFC Championship and for their 3^rd AFC Championship Game, they only played thirty minutes of football. 

This one was much different.  The Jets were winning against the Broncos and the Colts and fell apart in the second half.  This time, they didn’t play at all in the first quarter until that last drive to get three points on the board.’

This game was a disaster from the start letting the Steelers run right down the field for an almost 10 minute, 18 play drive, resulting in a touchdown.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  They were running like the Jets didn’t even exist.  The running defense has been one of the strong parts of the team and the way we were manhandled was shocking.  Things were looking as bad as the Monday Night Massacre in New England a few weeks ago.

One of the big issues I had was deferring and giving the ball to the Steelers.  That was basically a message saying that we want the ball to start the second half because we are going to be playing from behind and want the ball later rather than now.  Why would you give the opposition the ball first when on the road in a hostile environment?  You take the ball Rex.

I’m not going to blame Sanchez on this loss.  Yeah, he fumbled the ball on a questionable call to give them more points in the first half but this guy was standing back there to try and make things happen offensively when the defense wasn’t holding up their end of the bargain.

The Eric Smith personal foul for 15 yards was a complete joke on 3^rd down.   The officials are protecting players way too much.  How is Eric Smith supposed to know that the ball wasn’t caught.  He was trying to hit a receiver to jolt the ball loose and not looking whether the ball was caught or not. That was a bad call.

I also hate the NFL rule of not being able to touch the punter.  We came so close to blocking a punt and grazed their punter’s foot.  Come on.  That shouldn’t be a penalty.  That’s like the same as a turnover.  Maybe, if anything, it could be a five yard penalty, but to call a personal foul for a play like that?  That needs to be addressed by the league.  This is tackle football; not two-hand touch.

Brian Schottenheimer needs to take a lot of credit for this loss.  We started the first drive with Santonio Holmes on the bench.  Wasn’t this the old Steelers’ Super Bowl MVP who was probably the hungriest person on the Jets and to have him on the sideline is not where you want him.

While staging our comeback at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, the Jets staged a nice long drive and got to the 1 yard line.  First of all, there was no sense of urgency when you need to get the ball back.  Second, the play calling from the 1 yard line was terrible.  Yeah, I heard that there was microphone issues in the headset of Sanchez but that still doesn’t affect how bad some of the calls were.  A rushed bad throw to Keller.  A throw that went into the opposition’s chest that should have been intercepted.  A run by LT up the middle into a pile.  It was a nice long drive that resulted in zero points.   I know we got a safety on the next set of downs when they fumbled in the end-zone but we lost the field position and lost out on 5 points (the difference between a touchdown and a safety.) But, too many running plays and way too long of a drive knowing we need to get the ball back again.  Didn’t we know that we needed to speed things up and score fast!

The Defense woke up for the second half until the Steelers final drive.  We needed to stop them and gave up two first downs.  Game over.  With the game on the line and a stop needed to get the ball back for a chance for the miracle comeback, the defense let us down. 

Dumb penalties, dropped balls, bad play calling, poor clock management, dropped interceptions, cost us dearly.  The only thing that wasn’t dropped on Sunday was the booger that Mark Sanchez smeared on Mark Brunell’s jacket.  Besides that, we dropped an opportunity at greatness.  We lost another opportunity to make it the Super Bowl.  Rex told us we were going to win the Super Bowl. After all of these magical comebacks during the year and the way we won our first two playoff games, I believed him.  When Big Ben put his knee down one final time, it was over.  The dreams had vanished.  Depression, disgust, and disappointment set in.

It’s not easy to win in Pittsburgh.  It’s not easy to get to two AFC Championship games in a row.  It’s probably even harder to get there three in a row.    It all shouldn’t have mattered if the Jets played a full 60 minutes.

Next year, Sanchez enters year three.  The team could be quite different.  I do feel good that I think we have a quarterback that should help us compete for the next several years.   But, I don’t want to just compete.  I want to finally see this team win it all.  It’s been 42 long years.  Maybe after this long, the route to the Super Bowl is not meant to be done via the road.  Maybe this team can have another magical regular season; a season that gets us the home game for the AFC Championship because playing this game four times on the road has brought nothing but frustration and second guessing.

Now there will be changes if there is even an NFL season with the looming lockout.  We have four players to resign and not enough money to sign all four – Cromartie, Harris, Edwards, and Holmes.  LT and Jason Taylor are a year older.   You know Vernon Gholston will be gone.  Will Kris Jenkins and Jim Leonhard make it back from injury?  Will Kyle Wilson make it into the starting lineup?  Who knows.  It just takes one mistake.  It just takes one injury.  It just takes one bad play to make a promising season go right down the toilet.   Maybe one day this dream will be a reality; however, right now, it’s a nightmare.

http://khbirdmantalkingjets.blogspot.com/

Go back to Jets Fan Spot

 

 

This move won’t get a lot of hype, but any time you can pick up a starting caliber player in mid June for cheap (and I’m assuming cheap, because of the time of year, but I could be wrong, the specifics of the deal have not been announced yet) it’s a great move. The Raiders seem to be stockpiling players for a 3-4 defense.

Kamerion Wimbley, who they traded for in the offseason is a natural 3-4 outside linebacker. Trevor Scott, their leader in sacks last year with 7, seems like a better fit as a 3-4 outside linebacker than a 4-3 end. Richard Seymour, who they acquired at the beginning of last season, spent almost all of his career in New England as a 3-4 end. Tommy Kelly fits the 3-4 as an end as well. Their first round pick, Rolando McClain, played in the 3-4 at Alabama and seems like a player who would fit a 3-4 way better than a 4-3. Their second round pick, LaMarr Houston, can play the 3-4 end. And now John Henderson.

Henderson played his career in Jacksonville in primarily a base 4-3, but at 6-7 335, he is a prototypical 3-4 nose tackle. He was released by the Jaguars because of his salary and because, after they drafted Tyson Alualu in the first round, they no longer had need for him, but he can still play. He had 3 sacks last year (which actually led the team believe it or not, just to show you how bad Jacksonville’s pass rush was last year) while remaining very stout against the run. He’s only 31 so he’s not over the hill completely yet, and it was only a one year deal.

With all of those players I mentioned before fitting into a 3-4 system nicely, and the fact that I believe the Raiders likely are going to utilize those players in the best way possible and switch to a base 3-4, the Raiders’ defense looks like a top 12 or top 15 defense in the league next year. There are still a few questions about Jason Campbell’s leadership ability and maturity at the quarterback position, but he’s certainly a huge upgrade over what they had at the position last year. Their receiving corps show some decent young promise, their line might not be completely atrocious this year. I’m not going to go out and say this team will win 8+ games next year, but they could and I certainly would be very surprised if they had their 8^th straight 11 loss season this year.

This team is definitely in the right direction and could (gasp) make the playoffs in the near future, given how many free agents the Chargers have next off season. I realize this is more of a rant about how the Raiders have had an overall good offseason than about just the Henderson signing, but I do like the signing, assuming it means they move to a 3-4, because they got a solid starter in mid June on the cheap. Even if they stay with a 4-3, it’s still a solid move value wise.

Grade: A

 

 

Kellen Davis spent the first 2 years of his career as purely a blocker and then was moved into a more featured role last year, but because Mike Martz has no idea how to use a tight end, he managed just 18 catches. The Bears believe he can be a featured type tight end and he certainly has intriguing athleticism, but he only has 28 career catches. This deal is reasonable (2 years, 6 million with 2.7 million guaranteed), but the Bears should still bring in another tight end to compete.

Grade: B

 

 

Lardarius Webb is not a well known player, but he’s one of the top 5 cornerbacks in the NFL when healthy. ProFootballFocus ranked him 4^th among cornerbacks and 4^th in QB rating allowed among cornerbacks who played more than 75% of their team’s snaps with a 55.6 QB rating allowed. He had 5 interceptions and was one of 2 cornerbacks who played more than 75% of their team’s snaps who didn’t allow a touchdown. The Ravens were somewhat in danger of losing him with just a first round tender on him and they got a good deal resigning him for 52.74 million over 6 years. Just 27 in October, I think Webb was a better value signing than Cortland Finnegan or Brandon Carr were this offseason. The only concern is that he missed most of 2010 with an ACL injury and he has an injury history.

Grade: A

 

Spotlight #1: FIU WR TY Hilton

Spotlight #2: Louisville TE Josh Chichester 

1^st quarter

14:53: TY Hilton with the 36 yard return. So fast. Note that it’s “TEAWHY” not “TIE” Hilton.

9:58: Louisville runs to Chichester’s side between the left tackle and Chichester the tight end and he paves the way to a 6 yard run with a nice block.

7:29: Winston Fraser with the pick six for FIU. Always something to take note of. Read the quarterback’s eyes, jumped the route and showed athleticism on the return. He’s a linebacker, but looked like a safety on that play. Undersized and still a junior, but a great play there.

6:48: Another nice run block by Chichester. Uses his long arms to his advantage in a big way.

6:14: Chichester catches the ball on a crossing route and then makes a nice open field run for a 31 yard catch.

5:57: False start by Chichester.

4:47: Chichester fails to bring in a target. It wasn’t a great throw by the quarterback, but it was catchable if he turns around faster. Bad instincts.

0:14: Chichester makes a tough catch going over the middle in coverage. Takes a shot midair, but holds onto the ball.

2^nd quarter

13:40: Chichester makes a nice catch in the back of the end zone, but isn’t able to drag his feet to stay in bounds. Tough catch to make.

12:06: TY Hilton catches the ball on a slant and then just blows past the safety and outruns the entire defense for a YAC heavy 74 yard touchdown. He’s so unbelievably fast with the football in his hands.

9:28: TY Hilton blows past everyone down the middle of the field, catches the ball in stride and scores easily for the 83 yards touchdown. Louisville is going to need to play their safeties extremely deep from now on. Hilton is just too fast.

5:49: Hilton catches the ball on the flat, able to get a positive gain, but doesn’t break it for a big gain.

1:54: Chichester wide open over the middle of the field for his 3^rd catch. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s having a nice game. He leads Louisville with 3 catches for 67 yards. He’s a big target at 6-8 240, but he needs to fill out a bit more. He’s had a few nice blocks and he’s got long arms, but he’s not exactly playing against an elite defense. Looks like a mid rounder. We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out for him, however (2 catches in the opener).

3^rd quarter

11:14: Hilton with another catch, through the seam for 16 yards. He has 4 catches for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns now. FIU has 10 completions for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns total.

9:50: Hilton with a 5^th catch, this time a short 8 yard catch with no major gain after the catch.

5:44: Hilton calls for the fair catch and then tries the return anyway for a 5 yard penalty. Complete mental lapse. He has to know better than that.

4:14: Another catch by Hilton, a 16 yard catch to give him 6 catches for 201 yards on the night. They’ve kept him from the big play in the 2^nd half, but he’s still made his impact on shorter routes.

0:35: Chichester with the 20 yard catch. He looks like a big receiver out there.

4^th quarter

12:01: Chichester with another catch to give him 5 on the night. The 15 yard catch pushes him over the 100 yard mark to 102 yards.

9:40: Hilton on the screen, goes nowhere.

0:00: Final totals for Hilton, 7 catches for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns. Louisville looked like they had no clue how to defend a deep route in the first half, but they made adjustments in the 2^nd half. Hilton was still able to make an impact. He’s extremely fast and can hurt you in so many different ways and he has surprisingly good hands. I’m not ready to call him a #1 receiver or anything, but he looks like a nice slot receiver/kick returner/punt returner who can also hurt you out of the backfield. He also had 181 yards of offense in FIU’s season opener.

As for Chichester, he showed some nice things as a blocker, but he’s still not a great blocker. He’s still mostly a big wide receiver. Remember, that was his former position. He showed some nice hands and route running going over the middle for 5 catches for 102 yards and there’s a lot of upside here with his height and arm length. He doesn’t look like much more than a mid to late rounder, however.

 

 

By Adam McFadden 

In a what seems to be a very lucky season for the Bears, one of the Giant’s top pass rushers will be out for the game this Sunday. Mathias Kiwanuka has been ruled out because of a bulging cervical disc. 

This news comes after hearing Robert Mathis has aggravated his knee and has been limited in practice. He is listed as questionable on the injury report, but is expected to play.

Any news about injury to the Giants defensive front is good news for a Bears team whose offensive line has resembled swiss cheese this season. The Bears stand a very good chance of starting the first quarter of the season undefeated.

http://www.dabearsandbulls.com/