SeoulSoxFan said:
How is that possible? My knee was the size of a volleyball for almost a week after minor meniscus surgery.
Patriots/NFL Injury Thread
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How is that possible? My knee was the size of a volleyball for almost a week after minor meniscus surgery.
bsartist618 said:
I tweeted back to Doug and he dryly says: "He wasn't moving well." so there's that.
Well, certainly not every meniscus surgery is the same, in terms of the extent of work that is done and how quick you can rehab it. Also, you can be pretty sure he's been getting therapy and treatment almost round-the-clock since his surgery. That goes along way towards bouncing back quickly after a procedure like this. That being said, I'd be surprised if we see him back anytime before the Browns game at the earliest.bsartist618 said:
From Reiss:
He notes separately that Hightower also missed the second half, which may or may not have been injury-related.
He notes separately that Hightower also missed the second half, which may or may not have been injury-related.
Cannon worries me - if you go out in the first quarter with an ankle and don't come back, it's usually worse than just a sprain - could be an Achilles or a fracture.Super Nomario said:
Blount no doubt has a concussion - he was knocked unconscious by that hit, that's a concussion.
Dennard at least tweaked his post-op knee, wouldn't be surprised if he missed the next week or two.
Not sure about Dopson, Sopoaga or Hightower, didn't see if/when they were injured or if that was just a coaches' decision
I didn't really notice Svitek after he replaced Cannon, which is a good thing, but I really hope Cannon is Ok. If Blount is out next week with a concussion I guess that leaves Vereen and Bolden left at the RB position.
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4753993/picked-up-pieces-from-2nd-quarter-review-31
Reiss highlights the final plays before Hightower, Sopoaga, and Dennard left the game if anyone wants to take a look.
Reiss highlights the final plays before Hightower, Sopoaga, and Dennard left the game if anyone wants to take a look.
Super Nomario said:
I'm not sure where Reiss gets the idea that Hightower was dealing with something because he didn't look right. That looked like the stiff lumbering Hightower we have seen all season. At this point he is a poor man's Brandon Spikes.
The only one that seemed to leave due to injury was Dennard, the others weren't needed since the Pats were not focused on stopping the run at all.
j44thor said:
Reiss might very well be suggesting something based on what he's seen/heard but can't fully report. He does that a lot but it's hard to tell when we're getting Reiss covertly reporting things and Reiss talking out of his ass.
I thought Hightower looked much worse than he has earlier in the season, and BB apparently did too because that's the first long term benching Hightower's had as a Patriot.
EDIT: I was actually thinking Hightower was hung over or had a concussion or something of that sort: he just looked lost, lazy and slow rather than just his normal slow.
Dogman2 said:
If he's just going to eat his way out of the league then yeah. Can't they get him a nutritionist/person trainer? He doesn't look anything like the guy they drafted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KevyJyNu8U
The 2011 version is thinner and more athletic. 2013 looks like he's towing 2011 around behind him. He even looked good in the beginning of 2012.
I'd like to keep Spikes anyway. I don't think he'd be that expensive.
Shaliza Manza Young tweeted this weekend that he's lighter than he was last year. I have no idea if he's heavier or lighter-he looks the same to me.phragle said:
It's possibly that he's slowed down but not that I can tell. I frankly think the bigger problem is that a 4.68 forty (which is what he had at the combine) looks fast against Arkansas and Ole Miss and slow against NFL offenses, particularly in coverage.
I am also dubious about how many players have the cardio to do a lot of running/pass coverage at 260 pounds or more.
Shelterdog said:
No way in hell is that true. I'd bet everything I have on it. Someone may have told her that, but I don't buy it.
Actually maybe that's not quite right. Fat is lighter than muscle so maybe it's true that he's lighter if he exchanged muscle for fat. He may not technically be heavier, but he's certainly fatter, slower, and plays heavier.
Shelterdog said:
I see thicker and less defined arms as well as a slightly visible belly that he didn't have in college.
Shelterdog said:
I don't really care about that. There are plenty of good linebackers in the NFL that run around 4.68s. I know you like Lavonte David, I do too. He's a stud, and he's only 235 pounds, but he ran a 4.65. Lawrence Timmons ran a 4.66 (hand timed) at the same weight. Navorro Bowman ran at least (hand timed) a 4.70 at 242 pounds. And hand timed are usually a little faster than official combine numbers like Hightower's 4.68. I can probably find 30 other examples too.
I also thought he played well in the beginning of the his rookie year. Before he hurt his hamstring there were a couple games there where he looked like one of the best players on the field. So I think he's had a little success in the NFL. He just hasn't been the same player since then. I think the problem isn't a 4.68 40 at 265 pounds, it's a 4.85 40 at 280 pounds.
I am not sure if I thought it, posted it or read it....but at one time I thought Hightower could be what we all thought Adalius Thomas would be.
Instead he is (has) becoming what he was.....
Products of their environments? (Baltimore and Bama)
Terribly dissapointing...
At least we haven't heard of any attitude problems yet.
Instead he is (has) becoming what he was.....
Products of their environments? (Baltimore and Bama)
Terribly dissapointing...
At least we haven't heard of any attitude problems yet.
Hightower plays on the FG block unit, and he was on the field for Denver's last extra point late in the fourth. That points to a benching, though it could be a tweak or something that impedes his effectiveness but isn't serious.Shelterdog said:
Super Nomario said:
The PFW guys claim they saw him do something to himself on the long screen pass, limp off, come back limping, and then get scorched shortly thereafter by Tamme. I didn't see that on TV but who knows, maybe you can see it on the all-22.
j44thor said:
No, they (and in particular Andy Hart) already think he's a slow, shitty bust of a pick, they think they saw him get hurt.
EDIT: I looked at the coach's tape and he definitely limped at the end of the long screen play but only a little bit. He stayed in the game, looked particularly terrible for the rest of the drive, and didn't play again. My guess is he got Wally Pipped a bit with a minor injury.
EDIT: Also I tweeted Doug Kyed to see if he thought Hightower had gained weight (I said "A friend think s he's gained a ton of weight and it's closing in on 275 or 280" and he responded "not a chance. He was 265 the last time I asked him, which was a couple month ago. Doesn't look like he's put on any weight." So at least two beat guys don't see the chubbification of Hightower.
Reiss reports former Jets training camp fodder OT/G Patrick Ford is in Pats locker room and assumed signed. Depth move with injury to Cannon.
@MikeReiss Former Eastern Kentucky OT/G Patrick Ford was in the Patriots' locker room today. Assuming he has signed on with Patriots' practice squad.
@MikeReiss Former Eastern Kentucky OT/G Patrick Ford was in the Patriots' locker room today. Assuming he has signed on with Patriots' practice squad.
Shelterdog said:
Don't care at all. From two writers Hightower says he's the same weight? Well no shit. Why he would out himself and say he's Kate Uptoning himself right out of the league?
I also want to reiterate that the gross weight increase isn't the issue. My issue is that he's clearly regressed, and that to my eyes he's also in worse shape physically. He can be the same weight but in much worse shape.
However 265 is still too big for a true LB, but that's a different topic.
phragle said:
This doesn't sound right to me. The weight, nutrition, and health monitoring programs in the NFL are too good. Don't you think that players' health (including weight) are monitored on a weekly or even daily basis. If Hightower put on such a drastic amount of weight it was most likely per the request of the Patriots coaching and fitness staff.
Edit: I agree that he looks slow and unathletic
Don't care at all. From two writers Hightower says he's the same weight? Well no shit. Why he would out himself and say he's Kate Uptoning himself right out of the league?
I also want to reiterate that the gross weight increase isn't the issue. My issue is that he's clearly regressed, and that to my eyes he's also in worse shape physically. He can be the same weight but in much worse shape.
However 265 is still too big for a true LB, but that's a different topic.
Honestly you're too stupid and stubborn to engage with.
How so? The only stupid brought to this party was by you right above with an inaccurate and unprovoked attack.
It's not complicated. His play and speed has regressed, and he looks puffier. I think that's related.
It's not complicated. His play and speed has regressed, and he looks puffier. I think that's related.
How so? The only stupid brought to this party was by you right above with an inaccurate and unprovoked attack.
It's not complicated. His play and speed has regressed, and he looks puffier. I think that's related.
Because you don't have the magic power to judge nfl player's conditioning levels by looking at how jacked their arms are.
It's not complicated. His play and speed has regressed, and he looks puffier. I think that's related.
Because you don't have the magic power to judge nfl player's conditioning levels by looking at how jacked their arms are.
Maybe he looked better at the beginning of last year, but he wasn't playing in passing downs then either. Spikes was in over him in the nickel pretty much all last year.phragle said:
I'm not a big college football fan, so I don't totally get what Hightower is supposed to be. His Combine profile compares him to Brandon Spikes, says he "doesn't quite possess the speed to be a true sideline-to-sideline inside backer," and lists as a weakness that he "struggles to maintain coverage in man." That's consistent with what I've seen. I don't understand why that package is worth a first-round pick in 2012. Denver was in 3 WR for 99% of the game Sunday, and 3 WR are the norm now over FB. A LB who can't cover half the field is barely even a two-down player anymore.
I guess he's versatile, but from what I've seen Hightower can play 4-3 MLB or OLB, 3-4 ILB or OLB, maybe even 4-3 DE ... but I'm not sure he's good at any of them. Someone made the Adalius Thomas comparison upthread, and that seems apt to me.
Shelterdog said:
It's not magic. Fatter people tend to have fatter body parts, and the arms are the only thing exposed enough to judge. Everyone can see that you're being purposely obtuse.
Super Nomario said:
That's incorrect in the first three games that I'm talking about before he hurt his hamstring. Weeks 1-3 Spikes played 136 snaps and Hightower player 137.
Super Nomario said:
Hindsight is 20-20 of course, but I think everyone felt he could be a better, more well-rounded version of Spikes. A little more athletic, intelligent, and versatile, and not as crazy. I think Alabama did a great job at disguising he weakness, but I also think he's less athletic than when we drafted him, and now his weaknesses are much harder to disguise. He was pretty much a go-forward linebacker. Meaning blitzing, pass-rushing, and run stuffing he could do, but when he had to drop into coverage or play man he was exposed. Alabama kept him moving foward as much as they could, even playing him at DE a lot. He only dropped into zone when he had to, and they avoided man coverage on backs and even TEs as much as possible. He really never had any business being in man coverage, and he has less now I think.
Super Nomario said:
If he's as physically slow as I think he is right now it's not surprising.
Eddie Jurak said:
No, I don't think so. He was officially 249 at the combine and I don't think he ever got much bigger than that. There were rumors that he slimmed down this offseason in attempt to be a quicker and more complete 3-down LB. I think it's worked (a little).
Hightower was a guy who I thought could keep offenses honest because he was suppposed tk be able to do everything even if coverage was his weakness. Is he blitzing? Is he going to drop back in coverage? We shouldn't run a draw play with Hightower in, etc. Instead offenses might not know what he is going to do but might not care anyway given how he has played. I watch college ball and thought he'd be at least an excellent 2 down linebacker. What happened to his football instincts? His short area speed when closing in on a runner? It's not like he played easy competition at Bama.
Hightower wasn't on the injury report today, but I took a look and I see the same thing. Moreover, I don't think he was that bad before that drive - he had the nice tackle on Welker (with Collins) to stop Denver's first drive, his middle blitz contributed to Chandler Jones' key sack that held the Broncos to a FG, and he made a few plays in the run game. But Ball was his man on that 31-yard screen, and he got burned by Tamme on the TD. I suspect they gave him a few series off so he could walk off his limp and then liked what they were getting from Fletcher and decided to ride the hot hand.Shelterdog said:
If Hightower was benched, it was either for the screen he screwed up or for something in the running game. Other than the Tamme play, he was only in coverage on the TE maybe once or twice, and Fletcher only covered the TE on one or two plays as well. There were some zone plays where they might have picked up a crossing TE, but Hightower / Fletcher were playing weakside LB. When it was man coverage, it was almost always Collins / Spikes on the TE. I'm curious as to whether Collins' expanded role was in anticipation of Julius Thomas playing, and then when Virgil Green (career: 13 catches) was in there they decided to go with Spikes. Late in the game, Jacob Tamme started carving up the D and Collins re-appeared.
BTW, Dobson is hurt (missed practice today). Cannon and Hoomanawanui also did, unsurprisingly. Sopoaga and Hightower were not listed on the injury report. Four of five CBs (Arrington, Cole, Dennard, Talib) were limited. Chris White (limited, back) was the other new addition.
True. I guess it would be more accurate to say he never beat out Spikes for nickel reps; at best they shared.phragle said:
I guess I have two reactions to this. 1) How much of Hightower's struggles are playing out of position at OLB? If he could be playing the Spikes role, would that play to his strengths and weaknesses better? 2) If you already have Spikes, why use a first-round pick on what you project as a "better, more well-rounded version?" It's not like Spikes is 31 and they need a replacement for when he retires.phragle said:
Check this out, it is the NFL.com evaluation of Hightower. All of those weaknesses really translated into his NFL game.
His full eval which has also proven to be very prescient.
On top of that he doesn't fit with this current scheme (perhaps because Wilfork is out?).
His full eval which has also proven to be very prescient.
Basically he is a weaker version of two guys with a similar skill set, although one was a spectacular bust, Rolando McClain and Brandon Spikes but he has a much higher ceiling. Lower floor than Brandon Spikes though (not pre-draft Spikes but actual NFL player).
On top of that he doesn't fit with this current scheme (perhaps because Wilfork is out?).
Super Nomario said:
Hightower's versatility certainly makes his job more difficult because sometimes he has to play in less than ideal roles, but he had the best chance for success early this season when Mayo was healthy, and he didn't even play well then. If he took over all of Spikes snaps and assignments he'd get burned less but I still don't think he's going to be a good player unless whatever is wrong is fixed. It's night and day between the guy we saw flash in 2012 and the guy we've seen since. At first we were thinking Derrick Johnson/Brian Cushing, but now Rolando McClain.
Super Nomario said:
Sure. I don't think there there is any one major reason, but many little ones.
- I don't think BB looks at things in a vacuum.
- He understands there are going to be injuries and contract disputes. Hightower is insurance for that.
- Spikes wasn't that good until 2012 when we found out he could blitz, and by then we already had Hightower.
- Purely speculation but I don't think BB likes Spikes very much and I don't think Spikes will be back next year.
- Chandler Jones was a raw upside player from the Big East - a pretty risky pick.
- Hightower is nearly the opposite. Hedged his bets?
- BB likes linebackers and he likes run stoppers. Hightower is both.
Smart list. As far as drafting him with Spikes around, according to everything I've read (particularly in Holley's "War Room") Belichick and his staff rank every prospect and free agent by (among other things) their fit on the team in comparison to players already present, not simply "Best available."phragle said:
I'll add: Lack of genuine alternatives. After Hightower was taken (1st Round/Pick 26) the other LBs taken nearby were:
- Nick Perry, Packers (1/28): A college DE converted to OLB, has Hightower's size. Haven't watched him play much, but he's been hurt a lot.
- Courtney Upshaw, Ravens (2/35): Hightower's college teammate hasn't set the world on fire in the NFL and lacks Hightower's size.
- Mychal Kendricks, Eagles (2/47): At 6'0" probably too small for Belichick. He's been a solid but unspectacular starter, apparently.
- Bobby Wagner, Seahawks (2/48): Again, at 6'0", 234 lb probably too small for Belichick, but this is the one that hurts; Wagner did his best Tedy Bruschi impression last year, playing almost every down and ranking as the best rookie LB in the NFL in 2012. Has a high motor, has great football IQ, etc.
Overall, though, it's hard to say Hightower was clearly an inferior pick to any of the obvious options. Wagner's the best of the bunch right now, and may have been eliminated by his size.
I think your analysis of the other options is right. My issue is with taking a LB in the first place, at least the kind of linebacker Hightower is (as opposed to a coverage guy, which we still need). We could have taken a DT instead, knowing Wilfork's age and Love / Deaderick's JAG-ness, and we might not be stuck playing two UDFAs there. We could have taken a WR, knowing Welker's impending FA status, and eased him in instead of trying to integrate two rookies. We could have taken a CB (we ended up getting lucky with Dennard in the 7th). We could have taken an interior OL.dynomite said:
Super Nomario said:
I admittedly don't follow college football at all, but was hoping for Harrison Smith there. Sounded like a good fit, and he seems to have done well for himself. However, that would mean McCourty sticking at cornerback, right?
I heard that the Patriots FO wanted Bobby Wagner badly but he was taken right before their first second round pick. If you buy that it further indicates Hightower was picked as a upgrade or replacement to Spikes.dynomite said:
Regarding your list, Wagner weighed in at an official 241 pounds which while smaller is probably just big enough for BB. Perry is pass rusher, and you left off Lavonte David but at 233 probably was too small. He'd still look much better on this team than Tavon Wilson.
Super Nomario said:
I think the main thing is that he was going to be a upgrade on Spikes, but since we picked him Spikes has only played better and he has only played worse. At the time I think pretty much everyone liked the pick. If he was Brian Cushing instead of Rolando McClain are we even talking about this? Definitely not. So I think the issue is the total failure to develop rather than the fit.
Reiss:
Checking in with Dont'a Hightower
One of the unusual aspects of the New England Patriots' 34-31 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos was the in-game disappearance of second-year linebacker Dont'a Hightower. He played the first 33 defensive snaps and that was it.
Hightower appeared to be dealing with some type of physical ailment during the game, but it wasn't enough to land him on the injury report as he participated in full on Wednesday in the first practice of the new week.
"The best way to put it was that it's how things worked out -- me coming out for a series and I don't want to go too far into it," he said."But things happened during the game, I came out a series, and then the way things were working I didn't really have to go back in. Dane [Fletcher] finished the game and played a helluva game."
Fletcher added a bit more speed to the lineup in playing over Hightower, who on one of his final plays had trouble with a screen pass on third-and-20 that the Broncos converted. Hightower was pushed out of the way rather easily.
"I tried to make a play, setting up the inside guy to hit the outside guy, but the inside guy hit me and obviously threw me out. I messed up on that, misread it a little bit. Just tried to make a different play on it and split the defenders, but didn't get it done," Hightower said. "It was a really good play [by the offense]. More or less I just have to be able to take out both of those guys so hopefully my teammates can rally up and get there [and] just definitely trying to alert everyone else prior to the play."
Hightower has now played 72.4 percent of the defensive snaps this season, which is up from 51 percent last year. With Jerod Mayo lost to a season-ending injury on Oct. 13, he says, the "burden has been pushed on a lot of guys with all the injuries going around, and guys having to step up and things they haven't been doing."
For Hightower, that has sometimes meant leading the huddle and showing younger players the ropes.
"In the long run, and the reason why I love New England, I could care less about making the big play. I could care less about making the strip sack or the fumble, or anything," he said. "All those things are good, but if I can put my teammates in position to make that play, that's fine with me. I don't have to be the star. I can be the guy that everybody says ‘whatever' about, but as long as we get the W and the job done, I don't care either way."
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4754170/checking-in-with-donta-hightower?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
I read this as he's a bit dinged up, he's being asked to do a bunch of things he's not normally asked to do and that he's handling it (or trying to) like a pro. I get that people wanted him to take a leap this year—and I was one of them—and there may well be more to the story (i.e., weight, conditioning). But I think writing Hightower off as some kind of bust when he's a second year player being asked to do a ton of stuff outside of his wheelhouse doesn't seem fair.
Checking in with Dont'a Hightower
One of the unusual aspects of the New England Patriots' 34-31 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos was the in-game disappearance of second-year linebacker Dont'a Hightower. He played the first 33 defensive snaps and that was it.
Hightower appeared to be dealing with some type of physical ailment during the game, but it wasn't enough to land him on the injury report as he participated in full on Wednesday in the first practice of the new week.
"The best way to put it was that it's how things worked out -- me coming out for a series and I don't want to go too far into it," he said."But things happened during the game, I came out a series, and then the way things were working I didn't really have to go back in. Dane [Fletcher] finished the game and played a helluva game."
Fletcher added a bit more speed to the lineup in playing over Hightower, who on one of his final plays had trouble with a screen pass on third-and-20 that the Broncos converted. Hightower was pushed out of the way rather easily.
"I tried to make a play, setting up the inside guy to hit the outside guy, but the inside guy hit me and obviously threw me out. I messed up on that, misread it a little bit. Just tried to make a different play on it and split the defenders, but didn't get it done," Hightower said. "It was a really good play [by the offense]. More or less I just have to be able to take out both of those guys so hopefully my teammates can rally up and get there [and] just definitely trying to alert everyone else prior to the play."
Hightower has now played 72.4 percent of the defensive snaps this season, which is up from 51 percent last year. With Jerod Mayo lost to a season-ending injury on Oct. 13, he says, the "burden has been pushed on a lot of guys with all the injuries going around, and guys having to step up and things they haven't been doing."
For Hightower, that has sometimes meant leading the huddle and showing younger players the ropes.
"In the long run, and the reason why I love New England, I could care less about making the big play. I could care less about making the strip sack or the fumble, or anything," he said. "All those things are good, but if I can put my teammates in position to make that play, that's fine with me. I don't have to be the star. I can be the guy that everybody says ‘whatever' about, but as long as we get the W and the job done, I don't care either way."
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4754170/checking-in-with-donta-hightower?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
I read this as he's a bit dinged up, he's being asked to do a bunch of things he's not normally asked to do and that he's handling it (or trying to) like a pro. I get that people wanted him to take a leap this year—and I was one of them—and there may well be more to the story (i.e., weight, conditioning). But I think writing Hightower off as some kind of bust when he's a second year player being asked to do a ton of stuff outside of his wheelhouse doesn't seem fair.
Sure, if he became a star like Cushing it would have been a great pick. Every pick would be a great pick if you get a star, but most players don't become stars. The problem was if he turned out to be just OK, he wasn't going to be that useful because they already had Spikes. To me, an upgrade there wasn't a priority compared to a half-dozen other spots. Maybe they didn't like the options at those other positions - Belichick did seem to hate this draft - but I never got it.phragle said:
As an analogy, if the Pats use their first this year on a kind of scat-back type, would you be cool with it, or would you think it was weird because they already have Vereen?
The bolded sounds to me like Belichick / Patricia were not happy with how he handled that screen play. Reading (maybe too much?) into Hightower's words, it sounds like they coach the LBs to try to blow up the blockers so another player can make the tackle, but Hightower tried to split the defenders and failed and that led to the big play. Stupid NFL Game Rewind is off right now because of the game so I can't check and see if my theory makes sense.Van Everyman said:
In all fairness SN we might object to any first round pick on an RB even if we have the 32nd pick. Change it to 3rd rounder and I think we can have a discussion. In this case I would not object to it as depth is always a good thing and backs get injured often.
The Hightower discussion is good stuff - any way one of the mods could split it out into a separate topic? I keep seeing new posts and hope I'm going to hear that Dobson's foot is OK, but it's all Hightower all the time.
This is part of my point, too. Isn't a linebacker who is only capable of limited contribution in the passing game the defensive equivalent of a RB?SMU_Sox said:
Super Nomario said:
Maybe it wasn't the best pick based on need, but I don't think it was a a bad one either. In the long term he would have directly replaced Spikes, but at the time they had Mayo, Spikes, and Fletcher as their only LBs. None of which could blitz or pass rush. So when he was drafted the one he immediately replaced was Fletcher, and he added a good amount of blitzing and pass rushing skills too.
Before the draft
Base: Mayo, Spikes, Fletcher
Nickel: Mayo, Fletcher
Dime: Mayo
After the draft
Base: Mayo, Spikes, Hightower
Nickel: Mayo, Hightower
Dime: Mayo
I'll take the after with Fletcher on the bench.
Re. Cushing: That's who Hightower played like in college, the 2012 preseason, and the beginning of 2012. Cushing or Johnson or any of the other prominent go-forward LBs in the game is who he played like. His play since then is the problem, not that he was a redundant type of player because they had Spikes already.
Super Nomario said:
This is a bad analogy because Vereen is a much better player now than Spikes was in the 2011 offseason.
Super Nomario said:
But this is a description of 2011 Spikes not 2012 Hightower. Hightower offered a lot in the passing game. It just was just through blitzing rather than coverage.
Rob Ninkovich, too, who started at 4-3 OLB in 2011 and even played there last year when Hightower was hurt. And in today's NFL, you don't even need a 3rd LB most of the time.phragle said:
"Better" is debatable. Spikes was clearly more accomplished at the same stage in their careers. I guess maybe drafting Vereen in the first place when they already had Woodhead was a pretty good analogy. Vereen stepped in this year and has done well but he basically didn't play his first two seasons.phragle said:
But this goes back to the "how are they going to use him?" question. If he's ultimately going to be a 4-3 MLB, a 3-4 ILB, or a 4-3 OLB, how many reps is he going to get blitzing? In general Belichick defenses haven't been huge blitzing Ds. The ceiling on ILBs or 4-3 OLBs blitzing is about 33% league-wide, leaving aside Von Miller. Hightower's blitzed on about 20% of passing downs for his career; did you expect that to be significantly higher? I wouldn't, personally. Unless he's a 3-4 OLB or a 4-3 DE, he's going to be dropping into coverage 60-90% of the time. If he sucks at that, he's got to be an awesome blitzer to make up for it.phragle said:
And the "where does he fit in?" question applies even more in the nickel. At Alabama, as I understand it, he often played DE in passing downs. Obviously Belichick doesn't think he can do that in the NFL. And if he's one of the two nickel LBs, he might blitz sometimes, but he's going to be in coverage a lot, either against a TE or a RB. That's a problem with Spikes, too, but it's a problem that Hightower certainly didn't solve.