hoops
Tua time!
b/t looks like talent-scout has returned...hide your pelvis
Willie Parker was a physical phenom that was a backup his entire college career. Ronnie Brown was a "backup" to Cadillac Williams. He was also a physical freak.
Hell, Barry Sanders was just a backup to Thurman Thomas his first two years at Oklahoma State.
And you go ahead and tell NFL GMs that LaRon Landry sucks. See what they say.
I understand....trust me....Trent Richardson is stuck behind Mark Ingram...
I just think the attaching "freak" to a player that hasn't produced and sticking him at the top of your draft board based on that will get you a one way ticket to an ESPN chair quick, fast, and in a hurry....
Why would I ask a GM about Landry when all I had to do was watch him play? He's getting worse....he's a terrible, terrible open field tackler....worse than Sean Smith...and I'm not exaggerating...
come on slimm...that's crazy...sean smith is the gold standard for poor tackling
Gotta ask Ck because I really have been high on Ireland what is your opinion and or what are you seeing when you said? "Too bad Parcells doesn't run Miami's drafts anymore"
I will go ahead and say Thanks for your input by the way on this matter.
He also preferred Vontae Davis over Clay Matthews....obviously either would've been fine...
He also preferred Pat White over Max Unger.....Patrick Turner over Jerraud Powers, etc...
I like Spikes too....in the 2nd round.....if he prefers Spikes over McClain at #12 he's lost his mind...
I wouldn't say he does. More likely he views McClain as a late first round, early second round guy.
Karlos Dansby, after all, for all of his physical gifts, was taken at the bottom of the 2nd.
But even more likely is that Ireland might simply believe -- as at least some of us on here do -- that while McClain is an impressive prospect with a lot of good things to say for him -- Spikes is simply a better fit for us.
If Miami wants a guy to do the grunge work for the most part close to the LOS and not really expect much out of him in terms of production/impact plays, etc....they already have him in Crowder....
anyone that says McClain can't cover is immediately dismissed as ill informed by me....they simply haven't watched McClain play at Alabama, nor understand what his responsibilities were in Saban's defense.....period...
Hard to rectify these two things when you consider that Spikes had 6 ints, 1 fumble forced and 4 TDs at Florida.
Say what you want about Spikes not really playing true coverage/spying the QBs eyes. But it's hard to swallow the argument that anyone who doubts McClain's greatness in coverage is dismissed as not knowing what they're talking about by you while you simultaneously ignore Spikes' big play ability and production.
And this isn't some coy way of stating that McClain can't cover. In my opinion, he has the kind of relatively stiff hips that would normally be a liability in coverage but usually is able to balance this out with great recognition and anticipation, allowing him to get a jump on the action. You can make the argument that his ability to make up for this physical limitation would be lessened in the pros where the athletes and the technique is a quantum leap better, but I would probably argue this is splitting hairs. For the most part he is perfectly fine in coverage.
Standing 1 or 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage in a passing lane and reading the QB's eyes isn't really "coverage".....if you watched Spikes play, that's where his interceptions come from....Charlie Strong always had Spikes in a position to "rob" the QB's throw...it was designed to force the QB to most likely have to attempt the pass there...
They tried it a lot against Bama in the SEC CG this year....except Jim McElwain had Greg prepared for it....you can see several instances of it in the clips that CK provided on Spikes....
McClain got his interceptions covering a zone....downfield....not standing at the LOS or scraping a runningback coming out of the backfield.....you also have to take into the account the number of INT's McClain has caused for his teammates simply by getting his hands on and tipping so many balls in coverage....multiple...
But if stats is where you like to place the emphasis....Spikes has 14 PBU's and 6 INT's in 4 years......McClain has 14 PBU's and 5 INT's in only 3 years...