AJ Hawk is average and you don't love him....
Originally Posted by El-Ka-Bong:
I'd love an average defense
I just want one that knows how to tackle
Originally Posted by El-Ka-Bong:
Originally Posted by JJSD:
The good news is that X4 has its boogey man for the offseason.
Not Capers (you moron).
AJ Hawk is the boogeyman
They know how to tackle; they're just not in the right position to tackle.
Originally Posted by Boris:
I just want one that knows how to tackle
I want one where everyone knows their assignments.
agree hungry. guys have to know their role.
i think aj hawk is extremely football intelligent and understands capers defense the best of any player on the roster. i'd love to hear about him organizing an off-season defensive school. can't be a coach or it will be considered an ota. everyone keeps stressing that we need more talent, but knowledge of the schemes and assignments can easily make up for that.
Originally Posted by beef:
everyone keeps stressing that we need more talent, but knowledge of the schemes and assignments can easily make up for that.
Disagree.
Knowing the scheme doesn't make up for missed tackles.
Knowing the scheme doesn't make players faster and better able to cover and/or catch ball carriers before they go for a big gain.
Knowing the scheme doesn't help pass rushers get past OLmen in one on one situations and get to the QB.
Knowing the scheme doesn't make players faster
Disagree.
Knowing the scheme DOES make you play faster because you can react without thinking as much.
Think about AJ Hawk chasing down RBs, TEs and Keapernick, he supposedly knows the scheme as well as anybody, but he is still too slow.
Brad Jones, veteran player, never heard any complaints about him not knowing the scheme...still too slow.
Foot speed is relative.
You're telling me the rookie A.J. Hawk reacted to offensive schemes as quickly as the veteran A.J. Hawk does now?
No, I'd agree with your point if it were only the rookies who looked slow out there.
I am disagreeing with the premise that "knowledge of the schemes and assignments can easily make up for that" (lack of talent)
I don't think a lack of knowledge of the schemes and assignments is our problem at ILB, where IMO, our speed gap is greatest. I don't think more coaching and learning of the scheme is going to make our ILBs fast enough to catch and cover the RBs, TEs and QBs that have been out running them in the past.
AJ Hawk can know the scheme better than Capers and Dick Lebeau combined but it is not going to make him able to catch and tackle Keapernick when he sprints out into the flat.
I never said they weren't slow, I agree Hawk sucks.
I never said that experience makes up for slow foot speed or lack of talent.
All I said is that a veteran will recognize/react to a play faster, which will put him in a position to make the play a little quicker than a less experienced player. What he does once he diagnoses a play is up to the individual, he either misses the tackle like an A.J. Hawk or blows up the play like an NaVarro Bowman.
Originally Posted by Hungry5:
I want one where everyone knows their assignments.
Bingo. I think this is what makes them seem so slow as a group overall. They're indecisiveness is effectively slowing them down on the field. Good 40 times are really nice if you have that god-given ability, but playing with 100% confidence in your assignment/role on a given play is probably a lot more important, I'd wager.
I'd like to see a coach who a) wouldn't call defenses in which not everyone knows what his role is, and b) who can teach everyone exactly what their role is and how to execute it, defensive play by defensive play. Okay, so maybe we don't have an outstanding athlete at every position; show me a team that does. What the better teams do is make sure their guys on the field are assignment-sure and understand not only the play called, but the roles of the guys around them.
No one has outstanding athletes at every single position; coaching can help make up for a lack of athletes. I don't think we have that bad of talent, but I do think our D players don't have a good understanding of the plays called and/or their role in those plays.
I do think our D players don't have a good understanding of the plays called and/or their role in those plays.
If that was the case, Capers and the rest of the defensive coaches should be fired.
This is the NFL. If you can't explain and teach your scheme to the players you have no business being there. No way MM or TT should put up with that.
No one knows the real reason, but I would venture a guess that some of these younger guys who play, haven't fully prepared themselves for knowing the scheme, position, etc. Every player isn't an ARod or Hawk, etc.
It seems TT puts a premium on football knowledge, but IMO it's no different when your studying for a test. You skim over things you think you know, but when your tested, you didn't get a perfect score, because you missed some nuances or facts. The tests are taken on Sunday, and some of the players get a C/D/F, and the fault isn't necessarily the teacher, it can be the student, for not putting the time in to study.
If Hawk is the shining example of "a guy who knows the defense plays better..."
Originally Posted by PackerRuss:
No one knows the real reason, but I would venture a guess that some of these younger guys who play, haven't fully prepared themselves for knowing the scheme, position, etc. Every player isn't an ARod or Hawk, etc.
The two guys I thought would have the biggest jump in 2013 (McMillian and Terrell Manning) fit this description. I thought both of them were going to contribute and lift the defense. Boy was I wrong.
Sounds like MM is finally asking the same questions a lot of us have asked all year. It's about time. It also sounds like MM is saying to Capers, "You better be better this year or else." I would have said that last year. It sounds like MM is going to take a stronger look and hand in the defense. Finally.