@MichiganPacker - Gary.... He ran out of gas due to lack of conditioning as the season wore on. He rehabbed the knee. But this off-season. He's already talked about working on conditioning.
I got Gary approaching Defensive player of the year status
11/06/2022
It's easy to forget it was only 15 months ago when he blew out his knee.
@FLPACKER posted:Biggest thing I see on defense is a lack of "football IQ". We have some great athletes, but other than Alexander (when motivated), we don't have players with that "it" factor, the ability to anticipate rather than react, which leads to big plays.
Charles Woodson might have been the best football player I've ever seen in terms of football IQ. It's almost like he can see the All-22 in his head while the play is going on and instinctively react based on that.
As a basketball coach, you can probably think of examples like this too where some guys just have an almost unbelievable ability to see the whole floor. I remember being at a basketball camp in the 80s with some counselors that had played pick up games with Magic Johnson. They said if they weren't looking at all times you risked getting hit in the head with a pass because he knew his teammates were open before they did. They described him as essentially seeing an image of where all 10 guys were on the court in real time.
Charles Woodson, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Rod Woodson, and Tyron Mathieu are all football examples of this.
Wayne Gretzky always talked about passing the puck to where a guy will be, not where they are. In soccer, the player who scores gets all the glory, but it's the player who gets the ball through nine other people and puts it on the foot of the forward to tap it home or in a place where a scorer prefers to take their shot who really makes the play.
^^^I have it on good authority that Quay cannot ice skate.
@MichiganPacker posted:You'd live with some missed tackles if he made more plays like the pick 6 against Dallas. For a guy with his physical tools, he just doesn't make enough wow plays over the course of his career. Mainly because he has hands of stone and plays the ball in the air as poorly as any otherwise good athlete I've ever seen.
He can’t tackle and he can’t play the ball over his shoulder. Those are fundamental skills for a safety.
Yeah but he runs 4.3.
The league is littered with Safety's that are out there making "business decisions" and not tackling. You can hardly blame them....the rules are geared towards protecting and helping the offense. Back in the 80's and 90's WR's didn't dare cross the field or get destroyed by a safety. Now you get a "defenseless receiver" flag if you blow a snot bubble on them from 5 yards away.
He sure looked plenty fast enough on that Interception return in Dallas
Savage with Pettine looked more like Maryland Savage then he did with Barry.
@H5 posted:
Savage with Pettine looked more like Maryland Savage then he did with Barry.
Agreed.
And pre-concussion Savage also looked more like Maryland Savage than the Post-concussion Savage.
@Iowacheese posted:What can be - Unburdened by what has been.
what is who
@El-Ka-Bong posted:what is who
That depends on what is is.
whichever injury it was with savage, the spirit of the matador entered him
I think we can do better, wouldn't break the bank or anything for him
@Tdog posted:the spirit of the matador entered him
Haha C-Dix?? Making business decisions?
Carved out himself a career with the Pack/Bears/Skins and Raiders
At the ripe old age of 31 he is now Alabama's Director of Player Development.
He could've been a really good Safety....instead he chose to collect a paycheck and coast his way into his current job. Such as life.....
Will Savage follow in his footsteps? I'm all on pins & needles
@Boris posted:He sure looked plenty fast enough on that Interception return in Dallas
Not really. Lotta green grass in front and behind him when he caught it. And unfortunately if the only time we see his top end speed is when he makes an INT, those days are few and far between.
I don't recall the last time I saw him fly over to the opposite side of the field to make a play and though "where did he come from?!".
@DH13 posted:Not really. Lotta green grass in front and behind him when he caught it.
Re-watch the play.....he outran everyone on the field.
I'm not saying the guy is a good Safety or even taking up for him....He does have the one thing you cannot teach, speed...whether he uses it or not out there on the field is entirely up to him.