Slimm's 2019 Linebackers (seniors)

[ckparrothead]

I kind of like Joe Dineen a lot better than a lot of these guys.

I mean, I can see he's not the type of player that teams would fight each other to get hold of, but he's a good football player and he moves well. Tackle machine.

 

[j-off-her-doll]

I kind of like Joe Dineen a lot better than a lot of these guys.

I mean, I can see he's not the type of player that teams would fight each other to get hold of, but he's a good football player and he moves well. Tackle machine.

Think his speed prevents him from having much success, but if he runs in the 4.6's, I think you'll see him shoot up a lot of boards. He definitely has a knack for finding the ball, though.

 

[ckparrothead]

Think his speed prevents him from having much success, but if he runs in the 4.6's, I think you'll see him shoot up a lot of boards. He definitely has a knack for finding the ball, though.

I don't know what he'll run but I see athletic maneuverability in him. He's not a tank, he runs and moves around and changes direction out there. He's got a loose athleticism to him.

Sometimes you're just impacted by something you can't put a finger on, and I can still remember the loudest god damned "CLACK" I've ever heard at Shrine practice on what otherwise seemed like a pretty normal thud situation in practice, one where the running back wasn't the one lowering the boom, it was purely from the linebacker and it was a function of his entry force. I think the guy has explosive qualities.

 

[ckparrothead]

Wow, Slimm, I am smitten with Houston OLB Emeke Egbule.

Does any LB/OLB prospect in this draft play with the same amount of heavy-handed pure strength he does?

His speed is being underrated. On a big long TD run by the 5'9" & 200 lbs Day 2 RB prospect Darrell Henderson, Egbule came from the other side of the formation and ran stride for stride with Henderson in the open field. Even the DBs were falling off but not Egbule.

I think if Egbule had more reps as a pass rusher, he'd be valued a lot more highly by a lot more people. Big time arrow up, IMO.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Wow, Slimm, I am smitten with Houston OLB Emeke Egbule.

Does any LB/OLB prospect in this draft play with the same amount of heavy-handed pure strength he does?

His speed is being underrated. On a big long TD run by the 5'9" & 200 lbs Day 2 RB prospect Darrell Henderson, Egbule came from the other side of the formation and ran stride for stride with Henderson in the open field. Even the DBs were falling off but not Egbule.

I think if Egbule had more reps as a pass rusher, he'd be valued a lot more highly by a lot more people. Big time arrow up, IMO.

I've always felt like he was a very quality player. I think everything about him is probably underrated by most.

 

[ckparrothead]

The more I look, the better he is. He's just not productive because of how Houston used him. They didn't have him rushing the passer nearly as much as Tyus Bowser. They actually had him out in the flats a lot, playing slot, wrecking screens and covering short zones.

But I have not seen a single tight end win a single rep against him. I'm not sure I've even seen an offensive lineman win a single rep against him in run blocking. When they got into goal line against Arizona, there was zero question which side of the line of scrimmage Emeke Egbule was going to be playing on, or whether the guy trying to block him (even a right tackle) would be going forward or backward. Backwards. Always backwards.

They put him as a down lineman next to Ed Oliver, lined up in a 3-technique on goal line. You know how weird that is?

This is a 6'3" & 240 lbs linebacker who plays from a stacked position on some downs, a Slot lined up against wide receivers probably half the time. Usually on these goal line short yardage plays, you're moving everyone inside-out. You stick extra big boys on the inside, have the big boys they displaced playing the edges, maybe trade a DB for a LB, a CB for a S, etc.

You would not usually see your SAM come down and be a 3-technique with his hand in the dirt, WIN the hand and strength battle against the Left Tackle, get his hips inside the B-gap and establish himself on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

This entire Goal Line series is pretty nuts. You can watch the four-play sequence here.



Emeke Egbule (OLB #8) starts out playing LOLB, bullying the Arizona Right Tackle into the backfield. Then he spends two plays lined up as a 3-technique over the Left Tackle, sheds the block and gets into the B-gap. The first of the two snaps he does so with a little more authority than the second. Then he's back to playing LOLB, this time over a TE, treating the poor guy as if he weren't even there.

Guy with that sort of strength can also play in space, snags some interceptions, breaks up passes in the passing lane, etc.

I think he has to compare very favorably with Dont'a Hightower.

 

[j-off-her-doll]

Josh Allen is a legend.

 

[ckparrothead]

Justin Hollins ran a 4.51 at 6052 & 248 lbs.

Emeke Egbule ran a 4.66 at 6020 & 245 lbs.

I thought Egbule was a lot faster and more athletic than people were giving him credit for being and that turned out true. I did not realize Justin Hollins could run like THAT.

Both of these guys would have discrete roles in Miami's new defense under Brian Flores, and they should really be looking at taking one of them. They could each play similarly to Dont'a Hightower or Kyle Van Noy.

 

[j-off-her-doll]

Justin Hollins ran a 4.51 at 6052 & 248 lbs.

Emeke Egbule ran a 4.66 at 6020 & 245 lbs.

I thought Egbule was a lot faster and more athletic than people were giving him credit for being and that turned out true. I did not realize Justin Hollins could run like THAT.

Both of these guys would have discrete roles in Miami's new defense under Brian Flores, and they should really be looking at taking one of them. They could each play similarly to Dont'a Hightower or Kyle Van Noy.

Particularly like Hollins in the Van Noy role. Once people go back and watch him (get the impression that many have never really watched him), he'll start climbing media boards. Should go somewhere on Day 2.

 

[ckparrothead]

I am just catching up on Minnesota's Blake Cashman now and I have to say I am absolutely blown away.

This is one of the best linebackers in the class, period.

Watching Luke Kuechly do his work at Boston College was like this. Blake Cashman is good at *everything*. The cornering, explosiveness, acceleration, speed, sure tackling, physicality, punch, blitzing, ability to fight through bodies to get to the football, blitzing, instincts, communication, click and close, aggressiveness, feel for passing lanes...everything is really good. The only missing part of the equation is probably experience, which he will get, because he's a phenomenal player.

I suppose, if I'm nitpicking, I would say that structurally speaking he looks as if he's got shorter arms (not sure what he measured) and sometimes that makes you wonder whether he can fall off a tackle here or there in particularly challenging situations. At 6'1" & 237 lbs, I very much doubt Blake Cashman has Tre Lamar's wrap-up abilities at 6'4" & 255 lbs. But this is very nitpicky, because I've seen it happen with Cashman maybe twice. And Tre Lamar misses tackles that Cashman wouldn't, because he doesn't have Cashman's acute maneuverability.

I've watched 6 of Blake's 2018 games and have even begun some work on his previous years when he splashed onto the scene in 2016 as a walk-on (!!!) blitzing linebacker, and then earned his scholarship in 2017, earning some added linebacker responsibilities and going through a transition period learning a lot of new stuff.

I don't say this lightly, Cashman legit has me revisiting Devin White's and Devin Bush's games to make sure I'm straight on the ordering up there.

 

[goldfin17]

I am just catching up on Minnesota's Blake Cashman now and I have to say I am absolutely blown away.

This is one of the best linebackers in the class, period.

Watching Luke Kuechly do his work at Boston College was like this. Blake Cashman is good at *everything*. The cornering, explosiveness, acceleration, speed, sure tackling, physicality, punch, blitzing, ability to fight through bodies to get to the football, blitzing, instincts, communication, click and close, aggressiveness, feel for passing lanes...everything is really good. The only missing part of the equation is probably experience, which he will get, because he's a phenomenal player.

I suppose, if I'm nitpicking, I would say that structurally speaking he looks as if he's got shorter arms (not sure what he measured) and sometimes that makes you wonder whether he can fall off a tackle here or there in particularly challenging situations. At 6'1" & 237 lbs, I very much doubt Blake Cashman has Tre Lamar's wrap-up abilities at 6'4" & 255 lbs. But this is very nitpicky, because I've seen it happen with Cashman maybe twice. And Tre Lamar misses tackles that Cashman wouldn't, because he doesn't have Cashman's acute maneuverability.

I've watched 6 of Blake's 2018 games and have even begun some work on his previous years when he splashed onto the scene in 2016 as a walk-on (!!!) blitzing linebacker, and then earned his scholarship in 2017, earning some added linebacker responsibilities and going through a transition period learning a lot of new stuff.

I don't say this lightly, Cashman legit has me revisiting Devin White's and Devin Bush's games to make sure I'm straight on the ordering up there.

Im very high on Cashman, and we have talked about him in chat a lot....I would like to hear your thoughts on his Maryland tape..I am not a scout or do i watch nearly as much as you and others. Cashman flashed to me watching some games in the reg season Ohio state and someone else...But, I watched his Maryland tape, well most of it, and its nothing special at all. I'll chalk it up to gimmick offense.

 

[ckparrothead]

Im very high on Cashman, and we have talked about him in chat a lot....I would like to hear your thoughts on his Maryland tape..I am not a scout or do i watch nearly as much as you and others. Cashman flashed to me watching some games in the reg season Ohio state and someone else...But, I watched his Maryland tape, well most of it, and its nothing special at all. I'll chalk it up to gimmick offense.

Felt the same way you did. Was probably the worst of his games. Something I was noticing as I was watching is really just the scoreboard. The score got out of hand a little in that game pretty quickly. He blitzes the edge and Anthony McFarland springs open a 26 yard TD run behind him, and then a safety misses the back side fill on a zone option, Ty Johnson springs for an 81 yard TD. He's off the field for a play, some secondary players are caught sleeping as the scrambling QB hits a 54 yard catch and run TD to DJ Turner. The Golden Gophers offense was largely ineffective, then they throw a pick-6, and then another back side containment issue springs a 64 yard TD run. Before you know it, 7-0 becomes 14-0, then 21-3, then 28-10, now 35-13.

I think the scoreboard itself resulted in Blake Cashman not quite being as jazzed up for the game as he was for the other games I've seen. But it's worth noting that even a game like that for him involved excellent coverage, generally being in the right spot, using his hands well to weed through traffic, all the things that are part of who he is as a player. He just wasn't that little bit extra, and I think it's because of the combination of the game getting away from Minnesota, and the Terps doing a good job giving defenders lots to think about (hence constantly hitting these runs to the back side, etc).