Date Archives June 2013

Mirror Images: Vernon Davis and Patrick Willis

June 29, 2013 0 Comments read Players, Tight End

Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis mirror images? Easily. Photo by Jason Ku.

I can’t think of an easier Mirror Images tandem than teammates. Cian Fahey profiled Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu. I’m following suit with a pair of 49ers with freakish athleticism and great versatility.

It’s only natural to me that two of the best all-around athletes with great scheme versatility – Vernon Davis and Patrick Willis – are mirror images. The fact that they have sometimes been limited by system changes and happen to be teammates only reinforces my point.

If I were feeling particularly wild I could throw Navarro Bowman into the equation and create a three-way, fun house mirror. But I don’t want to disorient anyone.

Let’s address one point right away: The interaction between an inside linebacker and tight end isn’t as frequent as say an outside linebacker or tight end or a safety and a tight end, but the comparison works from a pre snap perspective. The offense is accounting for the middle linebacker and the defense is accounting for the tight end. So these two positions might not face each other, but they are the positions their teammates have to account for every down.

When a team has a tight end or inside linebacker with the versatility to excel in every facet of the game, it places tremendous pressure on their opponents during the pre snap phase of a play. Because both players present mismatches, it’s not just a matter of getting into the best possible alignment to neutralize them. Individual players still have to execute against them and as we know, it’s easier said than done to win snap-to-snap battles with Davis or Willis.

I’ve said this before, but I think Vernon Davis is the best tight end in football. Rob Gronkowski is the more popular choice and as an athlete at the tight end position he’s in the conversation with the Davis. However, I think the Patriots have been the best in the NFL at showcasing the tight end position as a primary statistical weapon. It may not be a popular opinion, but I think Davis or Jason Witten could have thrived as much as Gronkowski if Bill Belichick and company somehow acquired either one.

Davis makes these two teammates look good a lot more than you think. Photo by Football Schedule.

Davis has 4.3-speed, receiver’s hands, and the body control of a vertical threat and can get open as an in-line tight end, H-back, slot man, or split wide from the formation. He also possesses the acceleration, strength, and agility to make life miserable for the back-seven of a defense as a ball carrier. You may not see Davis hurdling opponents in the open field, but that’s because he’s quick and agile enough to defeat defensive angles without resorting to these tactics.

Willis mirrors Davis’ athletic prowess on defense because of his terrific sideline-to-sideline range. He can stop plays up the middle or on the perimeter. Just like Davis, Willis has the explosive strength and quickness to disengage from opponents early and find the open area to make the play. Willis is also just as adept as a 3-4 inside linebacker as he is a 4-3 middle linebacker. Although he hasn’t had to do so, I think Willis could be a fine outside linebacker if called upon.

The reason is that the 49ers linebacker also has the athleticism, field awareness, and skill to blitz the quarterback. Willis has shown in the past that he’s a most disruptive presence when the team has opted to employ interior perimeter pressure with an inside linebacker. We don’t see this often from Willis, because his skills in coverage are in greater demand for the schemes used in San Francisco.

At times during his career in San Francisco, Davis also been limited by scheme. Mike Martz did not employ an offense that minimized the receiving skills of the tight position and it meant the team’s best weapon – apologies to Isaac Bruce during that time – was used in pass protection. Davis is a fine run and pass blocker, but you don’t ask a thoroughbred to be a plow horse if you have a stable of capable plow horses that can’t run.

Even if Davis and Willis aren’t always posting the box score stats that match their potential, both players are integral parts of the 49ers’ success because their presence makes life easier on teammates to excel. When called upon, they can also dominate an opponent with game-changing plays.

Whereas Roethilsberger and Polamalu are the ultimate improvisers that require schemes to bend to their will in order to maximize their prowess, Davis and Willis have become great team players who fit anywhere and everywhere. The scary thing is that I still don’t think the 49ers have exploited their full potential.

Reads Listens Views 6/28/2013

June 28, 2013 0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

Views

Now here’s a wrestling take down.

A fake, a leap, and a suplex. That’s a display of beauty.

Thanks

Glasco Martin. Trey Watts, Damien Williams, Brandon Oliver. Lache Seastrunk. Antonio Andrews. I’m knee-deep in 2014 running back prospects lately. The RSP Writers Project is slow going right now, but still chugging along. And Cian Fahey has done some nice work with three pieces for our Mirror Images series.

I just wrapped up a series called Prove It that will be at Footballguys in the coming weeks. I’ll also be increasing the frequency of my posts at the RSP as we roll through the month of July.

Maybe I’m not supposed to say it, but physical, mental, and emotional fatigue hit me last month. Happens to everyone at some point. Fortunately, it feels like I’m emerging on the other side of it and expect to be ready for another big year of football. I appreciate the dozens of notes of thanks I’ve received from 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio subscribers this month.

If you haven’t purchased the RSP before, you’re getting something that is worth more than the hype I give it. I hate hype although I have to do more of it because I do believe in the work and apparently so do my subscribers. Download the 2013 RSP and see for yourself. You get pre-draft and post-draft rankings, analysis, play-by-play notes, and tiers along with hundreds of pages of play by play notes all organized in a manner that’s easy to find the information you’re seeking.

Best of all the RSP donates 10 percent of each purchase to Darkness to Light, an organization whose mission is to prevent sexual abuse in communities across the United States through training of individuals, companies, and civic organizations. Buy the 2013 RSP here.

Listens

[youtube=http://youtu.be/YfAOtYPMoRc]

First heard Surreal and DJ Balance watching a Greg Little highlight. Yep, this is how I get my pop culture nowadays – and I’m often years behind the times. Better late than never.

Football Reads

Coaching and Philosophy Changes – Jason Wood brings it with an informative read that profiles the 37% turnover rate in NFL coaching between 2012-2013. I think this should be a primer for every football fan’s preseason.
Reading the Defense – A column chock full of good IDP information by Jene Bramel.
The Four Noble Truths of Fantasy Football – Davis Mattek gets philosophical and you get a dose of perspective.

Views II

[youtube=http://youtu.be/4awVqRr1eCo]

It’s funny because it looks like the kids are really scared this dude is a zombie, but I’d bet most of these kids are really scared that some violent and mentally ill dude has escaped from a psychiatric ward – an more realistic thought and equally dangerous as a zombie.

The stupidity is where this guy is conducting this prank. White, black, or brown, one of the unwritten rules of cruel irony in the United States when it comes real estate is that some of the worst neighborhoods in any town are along a street with the name Martin Luther King.

If you grew up on MLK, you probably saw enough to learn that you don’t take shit off anyone. So it comes as no surprise to me that this guy winds up with a gun in his face and getting chase out of a park fearing for his life. If there were a film crew within the kids’ sight, I think we’d see a different

These kids aren’t wildlife or reacting “savagely” to the man’s behavior. In fact, I don’t think this actual “wild animal” below is any more savage than these kids for not wanting this woman to invade its space. Sometimes what we think is civilized behavior is completely unnatural.

File under ‘stupid humans’.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/8wGbCNDw-m0]

Non-Football Reads

Wells Fargo Typo Victim Dies In Court – Guy loses everything due to bank typo. File under ‘Scary-true’.
Terrance Blanchard Turns a Tragic Champion Into An Opera Hero – Emile Griffith was a welterweight champion who killed a man in the ring who mocked his closeted sexuality.
Three Former NSA Employees Praise Edward Snowden – File under ‘believe what you will’.
John Cusack: The Snowden Principle – File under ‘celebrity bully pulpit’.

Views III

When society becomes too superficial.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/s2eDj39q0Fo]

H/T to Sigmund Bloom

Views IV NSFW

[youtube=http://youtu.be/mKQs-jDI7j8]

Whether he’s really onto something or you enjoy the mere fact that he raises questions, I miss George Carlin. Thanks for reminding me, Bryan.

Walk on The Wildside: Hernandez, Deen, Paulette, and Orcas

June 27, 2013 0 Comments read Walk on the Wild Side

Author’s Note: This is not safe for work.

I’m not a preacher, a politician, or an executive. I don’t say all the right things. It definitely applies here.

Let’s start with Aaron Hernandez’s arrest on first-degree murder chargers? Do you really need to read a Hallmark card from a people-pleasing columnist who dresses in a suit and writes (in boxers) to tell you the obvious?

We should all pray for the Lloyd family for their loss. We should hope that if Hernandez is found guilty that justice is served. And we should praise the New England Patriots organization for taking a tough stance on their former player regardless of the outcome of the trial because his numerous brushes with the law were a distraction and bad influence for the team.

Did you really need me to write all that? Would you have not felt that way if Suit Man didn’t say it? Do you need instructions on how to live like a human being? Does it make you feel better?

It doesn’t do jack for me, but we all know folks who need some operating instructions. While it depresses me that this is the case, I’m sure there are plenty of people who see my ignorance on display in other aspects of life and grow more despondent.

I guess we’re all in the same boat.

The most selfish reason I’m sad about Hernandez is that we’re watching a human being put his special talent in jeopardy. Hernandez has the skills to lead the NFL in receiving as a tight end. If the conditions were right for him to get fed the ball as the primary option in New England, he could have had 100-plus receptions, 1200-plus yards, and 10-plus touchdowns.

Every football man with a clue that I’ve read, listened to, or interviewed loved Rob Gronkowski, but they lit up when talking about what Hernandez brought to the Patriots. Most prominent among them were Greg Cosell and Bill Parcells. Other than Hernandez, I’ve never seen a tight end who could play running back and get the perimeter, run through a linebacker or safety, get separation against a press corner, and then juke him to jelly after the catch.

One of the most beautiful things to witness in life is to watch a human being perform at his best. It’s why wasted talent angers me. I’m not including the person with great talent who opts not to use it because he or she doesn’t love the field where this talent is applied. That’s a reasonable choice.

There’s still an arraignment ahead for Hernandez and likely a trial. There’s a lot more to learn about the Lloyd murder and Hernandez’s involvement. But there’s another thing tangential to this case that saddens me and it got me thinking of a variety of seemingly disparate news items that share a common link .

We’re going to see another tatted-up professional football player of color on camera 24/7 about something that has nothing to do with the NFL or the color of his skin, but many in this country will make it so. You don’t think so? You’re probably seeing things from a guileless and ignorant perspective.

We're ready to go deeper than the Cliff's Notes when it comes to the race discussion. Photo by Jen Waller. — We’re ready to go deeper than the Cliff’s Notes when it comes to the race discussion. Photo by Jen Waller.

Let’s talk Paula Deen.

I’ve lived in Georgia for 33 years. I’ve been to Savannah numerous times. I grew up in Atlanta while it was transforming from a southern city to a northern city located in the south. It hasn’t completed the transition just yet, but just know that if you think you’ve been to the south because you’ve visited Atlanta then I need to tell you that what you got was the Cliff’s Notes version with key pages torn out.

But this isn’t just about the south. I remember the first time I heard the word nigger and it wasn’t from some stars and bars-waving, tobacco-chewing, southern Baptist. It was from a Genesse-drinking, stars and stripes-waving navy veteran, and blue-collar Jew from Cleveland, Ohio.

In fact, I heard the word nigger a lot more in Cleveland, Ohio before I was 10 years-old than I did my next 10 years in Atlanta. Hell, take some areas of Pennsylvania, New York, or Boston and have the people trade clothes and accents with your favorite, hateful southern stereotypes and you’d never be able to tell them apart.

We could have a game show. Dick Clark would have been the perfect host.

This scene from Gran Torino was as true to life of my experience growing up in the north as anything I’ve ever read or seen in fiction or film [Idiot-Proof Warning: This scene is not safe for work viewing]

[youtube=http://youtu.be/VXD8yOxIPB0]

This kind of racism is not a regional thing. But there is a desire by many to always point to the south as the only place in our country where we have a race problem. If that’s what you think, you don’t truly know a person of color or you’re walking around with your hands shielding your eyes.

“The difference between the north and the south,” as one of my teachers told me over 25 years ago, “is that you can see the ignorance and hatred coming from a greater distance. I’d rather live where I can see my enemies coming.”

I didn’t want to believe him, but my time in the south has taught me that this region is often guileless about racism. Deen’s description of her great-grandfather’s reaction to his slaves being set free and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ analysis of the situation is spot-on:

Perhaps it expects that they will be savvy enough to not propose Sambo burgers or plantation themed weddings. But this is an embarrassment at airs, not the actual truth. When you watch the video above, note the people cheering and laughing. For those without video, here is what was said:

“Between the death of his son and losing all the workers, he went out into his barn and shot himself because he couldn’t deal with those kind of changes,” Deen said at a New York Times event. Deen, owner of a restaurant empire, asserted the owner-slave relationship was more kinship than cruelty

“Back then, black folk were such an integral part of our lives,” said Deen. “They were like our family, and for that reason we didn’t see ourselves as prejudiced.”

She also called up an employee to join her onstage, noting that Hollis Johnson was “as black as this board” — pointing to the dark backdrop behind her. “We can’t see you standing in front of that dark board!” Deen quipped, drawing laughter from the audience.

At the same event, Deen at one point described race relations in the South as “pretty good.” “We’re all prejudiced against one thing or another,” she added. “I think black people feel the same prejudice that white people feel.”

Here is everything from Civil War hokum to black friend apologia to blatant racism. And people at a New York Times event are laughing along with it.

This morning, I showed this video to my wife. My wife is dark-skinned. My wife is from Chicago by way of Covington, Tennessee. The remark sent her right back to childhood. I suspect that the laughter in the crowd was a mix of discomfort, shock and ignorance. The ignorance is willful. We know what we want to know, and forget what discomfits us.

There is a secret at the core of our nation. And those who dare expose it must be condemned, must be shamed, must be driven from polite society. But the truth stalks us like bad credit. Paula Deen knows who you were last summer. And the summer before that.

Such a tough subject. Deen’s behavior infuriates me, but I don’t think the response by her employers is the best one for our society. I agree with Al Sharpton, Bill Maher, and Pastor Gregory Tyson, Deen should not have been fired from her TV jobs for her remarks.

Most corporations with an employee who displays this behavior are sent to sensitivity training. I think Deen should have been offered the same opportunity as a condition for employment. Suspend her, require her to undergo training, and give her an opportunity to develop greater understanding about the world rather than her insulated ideas about people of color.

Don’t take her job. Years ago, this might have been the brave thing for a corporation to do. Now, I think it’s the easiest.

[Updated Thought]: Now that I’ve seen the full extent of the charges against Deen and her brother, I’m more ambivalent about the reaction of her media employers.

Paula Deen, while planning her brother’s wedding in 2007, was asked what look the wedding should have. She replied, “I want a true southern plantation-style wedding.” When asked what type of uniforms the servers should wear, Paula stated, “well what I would really like is a bunch of little n*ggers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around;

Black staff had to use the back entrance to enter and leave restaurant;

Black staff could only use one bathroom;

Black staff couldn’t work the front of the restaurants;

Brother Bubba stated his wishes: “ I wish I could put all those n*ggers in the kitchen on a boat to Africa”;

Bubba asked a black driver and security guard “don’t you wish you could rub all the black off you and be like me? You just look dirty; I bet you wish you could.” The guy told Bubba he was fine as is;

Bubba on President Obama: they should send him to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so he could n*gger-rig it;

He shook an employee (Black again) and said” F your civil rights…you work for me and my sister Paula Deen;

Paula’s son Jaime’s best friend managed the Lady & Sons restaurant. He threatened to fire all the ‘Monkeys’ in the kitchen. When Paula found out…she slapped him on the wrist and suggested that the employee visited Paula’s $13,000,000 mansion so he felt special and could be massaged.
– See more at: http://www.blacklegalissues.com/Article_Details.aspx?artclid=7dfdbe0461#sthash.aXj8rwFV.dpuf

If I heard that an employee engaged in this type of behavior, he would have been subject to far more discipline and training than what Deen did with her employees because I know that the entire company would be liable for this behavior if I didn’t. More over, preventing this behavior in the future for the benefit of employees and customers is the most important thing.

However, it doesn’t change my perspective that some of this behavior can have been handled in a more proactive constructive way before they evolve into situations like these where ignorance is not only unchecked but encouraged. If Bubba Deen’s behavior is truly a reflection of Paula Deen’s viewpoint then she deserved her firing – especially if their rules violated the civil rights employees.

Still, there an aspect of cowardice with how our society has gotten to a point where we have a much more open environment to address the subtlety of these issues but we still overreact with broad strokes. It’s one of the things that liberals are the most guilty of doing and I think corporations succumb to this pressure because it’s about short-term revenue.

It also further alienates the person for his or her ignorance when we need to embrace them and give them a chance to learn things they truly didn’t realize.

Ignorance is the root of hate, but one can be ignorant and have good intentions. But there’s so much shame with the word “racist” that we fail to address the bigger problem ahead for our society: How to alleviate the pervasive ignorance of racism without shaming them as hateful people.

It’s an ingrained problem with our society and where the north and south may differ is that there seems to be more guileless racism down here.

Two years ago my wife, a dark-skinned woman whom Jene Bramel has nicknamed “Paulette” – worked for a global firm with branches in Athens and another in Gainesville. She had this conversation during a business lunch with colleagues from both branches – both white women. “B” is the white woman from Gainesville who never met my wife. “A” is my wife’s white co-worker from Athens. “C” is another black woman mentioned during the conversation:

B (Gainesville employee speaking to my wife): After speaking with you on the phone I was surprised when A told me you were black because you sounded like you were white. We could tell you were raised right. I mean really there are black people and there are niggers.

P (My wife): I completely agree with you and in the spirit of team alignment, let me give you some advice. Do not ever in life ever make that statement to another black person, ever. You are correct about my upbringing, which is why I have not kicked your ass.

B (Slack-jawed): What do you mean? I’m just saying you and C (another black employee) are different.

P: No. Your perception of black people is what’s different. C and I are normal black people. Because you don’t know that, you’re the only nigger at this table.

B: What? I’m white . . .

P: Nigger means ignorant, love.

B: I’m gonna look that up (looking it up on her iPhone) . . . Damn, it does!

P: It’s ok, I’m still going to have lunch with you even though you’re a nigger, because you’re different.

These women weren’t hateful; they were ignorant. And as much as I’d like to label them as such, they aren’t the gap-toothed, redneck, southern stereotypes, either. I’ve had similar conversations about the word nigger with people equally ignorant as these Georgians and they lived in Cleveland, Denver, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

Unfortunately, when these guileless racists see people of color who they can relate to, they see them as exceptions to the subconscious rules that they have learned from mass media and older generations of family and friends – people who had limited or no exposure to black people. If they had regular interactions it wasn’t beyond the accepted social interactions of the Pre Civil Rights Era where it was dangerous for most people of color to act anything less than subservient around white people for fear of the impunity with which white people could respond.

If you’re a minority in the U.S., odds are you’ve had to develop a level of awareness of how to deal with this ignorance. It becomes attuned to a degree where you can sense an awkward, inappropriate, or even dangerous situation brewing. If you’re not a person of color; a Jew or Muslim; or a homosexual, then it’s probably more difficult to understand because you didn’t have to read the subtleties of this behavior and respond. Of course, if you were raised with an alcoholic, you probably learned to read the signs of something bad brewing. It’s a similar thing.

White people have this danger-response mechanism, but I think our white-majority society has warped the collective mechanism. My wife often jokes that white society is often so out of tune with the danger-response mechanism that it extends to how they approach wild animals – especially those in zoos and aquariums. She shares a story about a trip to Sea World:

I took Chandler and her friend to see Shamu. One of the tricks featured the whale swimming around the pool for a lap or two and then emerged from the water and landed on a platform near the front row. He then “smiled at the audience.” He did that once and then the trainer tried to get Shamu to go to the next trick. Shamu jumped into the water and swam off. The trainer joked that Shamu wanted the trainer to chase him. The trainer tried to corral the Shamu and the killer whale continued to swim away from him and hop back on the platform and smile while slapping his tail into the water.

The first time it happened, I thought it was part of the show. The second time, the trainer looked a little bit concerned. The third time, Shamu jumped into the water the opposite direction of the trainer and it was clear he was not listening to the trainer at all.

I looked at the girls and said, “Shamu is not doing okay today. It’s time to go.” We were sitting in the front row and I was not in the mood to have a killer whale that was off his medication land on my head because he was tired of his trainer. When I dragged the kids out of there, I looked behind me and noticed two other black couples had done the exact same thing. We exchanged a nod of acknowledgement kept it moving.

What we’ve since learned about Orcas in captivity is that it’s a lot like being locked up in a Supermax prison. They go crazy.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/8OEjYquyjcg]

But race has often warped everyone’s danger-response mechanism. Just as some white people see a black teen in baggy jeans and an over-sized t-shirt and sense danger, my wife gets on edge when she sees a white teen in an Abercrombie t-shirt carrying a backpack.

It’s white kids from privileged backgrounds that make me nervous! If a black kid has an anger problem and his mom pisses him off, he’s probably going after his momma. If a white kid with an anger problem has his momma piss him off, he blows up a school or a movie theater!

My wife and daughter encountered three white kids dressed like this at the mall a couple of years ago as they all entered an elevator. One of the kids was holding a backpack with both hands in front of him. Without saying a word, my wife and daughter got off the elevator before the doors closed and left the mall. Is this any different from the white woman who suddenly locks her car door in the parking lot of a grocery store after she sees a black teen walking across her path?

What about caramel-skinned NFL player with tattoos like Colin Kaepernick? I have to think the Hernandez trial will reinforce the guileless ignorance that the 49ers QB was on the receiving end of this summer.

I was that white boy. She was that black girl. For reasons good, bad, or otherwise, we’re all warped by race in this country. The question is how do we have the conversation without hatred or shame?

The good thing is that more and more of us are managing to do so.

Vonta Leach and Red Bryant: My Amish Electricians

June 27, 2013 0 Comments read Players

Bryant brings a lot of horsepower to his unsung role. Photo by JC Winkler.

By Cian Fahey, Pre Snap Reads

Editor’s Note: A game I’ve been playing in my head in recent months is to take an offensive player and find his mirror image on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. For example, Joey Galloway and Darrell Green were stylistically mirror images of each other. Both had amazing speed that sometimes overshadowed their underrated displays of craft at their respective positions over the course of lengthy and productive careers. Now I’m putting it on the blog and having some of my friends play.

It’s no secret that everyone loves superstars. Even as kids we’re brought up to worship the superstars on our father’s favorite team. Instead of getting jerseys with the name of the long-snapper or the punter, we get the quarterback or running back’s jersey. Our eyes naturally follow the football, so it makes sense that we would naturally follow the guys who are carrying it.

More than maybe any other sport, football emphasizes the importance of those without the ball. Everyone has some level of association with the ball or puck in soccer, baseball, hockey and basketball, but in football there is a different breed of talent on the field from week-to-week. In football, some of the most important players on each snap are players who don’t touch the ball. There are even some who will never touch it even once during careers that span more than a decade, yet those same players can make it to the hall-of-fame.

Often, it’s those guys who are actually more interesting than the superstars. Although, that may be just because there is a certain niche to appreciating what a guy like Vonta Leach or Red Bryant does from play to play.

Leach you will likely know. He was recently released by the Baltimore Ravens after a few seasons of excellent lead blocking for Ray Rice. Leach is by far the best run-blocking fullback in the NFL and his consistency playing to an elite level is simply outstanding.

Yet, he was just released? Released by one of the most well-respected general managers in the NFL? That doesn’t really make sense on the onset. Leach is the Aaron Rodgers of fullbacks, him being released is the fullback equivalent of the Green Bay Packers releasing their star quarterback?

This is the negative side of being a superstar. The shadow it casts over the reputations of those who don’t get the same headlines. Being a superstar isn’t really about being a good player, it’s more about your reputation. That’s not to say that Aaron Rodgers isn’t both elite and a superstar, but rather to point out that Vonta Leach can still be elite and not a superstar.

Imagine Leach as the Madden Cover model. If you truly can he's a superstar. If you can't but know he's excellent then he's just an elite player. Photo by Jeffery Beall. — Imagine Leach as the Madden Cover model. If you truly can he’s a superstar. If you can’t but know he’s excellent then he’s just an elite player. Photo by Jeffery Beall.

Leach was released, primarily for financial reasons and because they like one of their younger players who is also cheaper. However, Leach being released is more about the positional value of the role he plays. He and Red Bryant aren’t superstars because of the era they play football in. Both are elite pieces either for or against the running game. As I’ve already said Leach is the best run-blocker in the NFL, he punishes tacklers and keeps them away from the back he is chauffeuring, but Bryant is there to counter that by swallowing up offensive linemen.

Bryant is the rare run-stuffing 4-3 defensive end specialist who is still a starter. Unlike a Demarcus Ware or Von Miller, Bryant doesn’t get sacks, he has two in his whole career, he doesn’t fit the mold of your expectations for an orthodox edge-defender in today’s game(a Jason Pierre-Paul or Aldon Smith type). Instead, Bryant is a former defensive tackle who didn’t look to lose weight when he moved from the interior of the offensive line to the edge.

You see, Bryant and Demarcus Ware actually have a lot more in common than one would think. They are polar opposites, but both are specialists in their crafts. While Ware is racking up sacks, Bryant is shutting down rushing attempts to his side of the field on almost every single snap. Both beat double teams, but for different reasons and both are elite players, even though only one is a superstar.

Leach and Bryant are decidedly unsexy. At least, according to the accepted definition of sexy they are. Yet, there is nothing sexier than winning and both players contribute massively to their team’s success with their outstanding levels of play. Not to mention, both players have that intimidating level of toughness that helps them create an aura of leadership on the field.

Because this is an era of football when passing records are falling faster than the quarterbacks of the 2012 rookie class, Vonta Leach can be cut by a Super Bowl winning team and Red Bryant will never get the credit he deserves from the mainstream media despite the growing clout of his Seahawks. In a way, both must feel like Amish electricians, they can be as talented as they like, but job security and mass appreciation is always going to be a pipe-dream.

You won’t see many fans in Red Bryant or Vonta Leach jerseys off the field, but you won’t see many players who play in their style or to their level of class on the field either.

Mirror Images: Darren Sproles/Charles Woodson

June 23, 2013 0 Comments read Matt Waldman

Charles Woodson still has it. Perhaps not for very long, but long enough to help my team as a veteran presence and versatile option. Photo by Elvis Kennedy.

By Cian Fahey, Pre Snap Reads

Here’s an idea. Take 11 offensive players and 11 defensive players. Whoever you want, there are no limitations to who you want to choose. Set up in whatever formations you want, run whatever plays you want, but every single play must work to the strength of every single player you have on the field. You can’t run a screen with Calvin Johnson and you can’t drop Demarcus Ware into coverage. Easy, right?

Okay, now do the same, but you have to include Darren Sproles and Charles Woodson on the field. Where do you put them? What do you ask them to do?

You can probably rule out running the ball with Sproles, but you still have to figure out where he should line up and what route he should run. Is he best as a slot receiver? Releasing from the backfield? In a receiving position behind an offensive tackle? Behind a receiver in a bunch?

Once he’s lined up, should we run a screen for him? Use that screen as a decoy? Give him an option route in space? A quick pass in the flat so he can turn the corner in space?

What about Woodson? Let’s put him outside on a top receiver, or maybe move him into the slot to cover a quicker possession receiver? If he is in a safety position he can come up in run support or read the quarterback’s intentions though? Should we blitz him off the edge? Spy the quarterback? Put him in a zone or ask him to trail someone in man coverage?

It’s next to impossible to figure out how to best use Charles Woodson and Darren Sproles. Yet, no matter where you put them and what you ask them to do, you’re more than likely going to get something spectacular after a handful of snaps.

Woodson and Sproles have always shared a skill-set in my eyes. They don’t look anything like each other from a physical point of view. Woodson is 6’1″ and has somewhat of a lanky frame with long arms and a stretched core. Sproles on the other hand is a very compact 5’6″ without any real wingspan to speak of. What links the duo is their versatility and ability to create from anywhere on the field in any situation.

Sproles is considered as a receiving back rather than a running-back, and his usage over the years supports this suggestion, but the Saints have had great success with him running the ball since he came over from the San Diego Chargers in 2011. Sproles averaged 6.9 yards per rushing attempt during his first season and 5.1 yards per carry during his second, most recent season in New Orleans.

He’s not Adrian Peterson, but he’s also not LaRod Stephens-Howling. Sproles might not run over people often, but he uses his considerable bulk combined with his low-center of gravity to break tackles and gain forward momentum in space and at times between the tackles.

Having the ability to run between the tackles, run outside, catch passes out of the backfield, and run screens is like being a cornerback who can line up on either side of the field, in the slot, as a seventh piece of the front seven, while being able to blitz, play the run, drop into zone coverage, spy the quarterback, and play man coverage. In other words, it’s like being Charles Woodson.

Woodson has never been Darrelle Revis or Richard Sherman in their prime (that’s presuming each is at their peak now, which may be foolish to presume). He won’t lock down one receiver and allow the defense to forget about that side of the field for the day, but he will scare the life out of any quarterback that has to throw at him. Much like Sproles, it’s not the quantity of positive plays that Woodson accumulates, it’s the quality of the few that he makes that are the difference.

Every single time the Saints draw up a play for Sproles, it has the potential to go the distance to the end zone. Every time the offense falls into the trap of throwing towards Woodson, they risk seeing a defender take it the distance.

Woodson and Sproles are the NFL's version of Vinnie 'the Microwave' Johnson. Photo by Elvis Kennedy. — Woodson and Sproles are the NFL’s version of Vinnie ‘the Microwave’ Johnson. Photo by Elvis Kennedy.

Woodson has 11 career touchdowns, 55 interceptions, and 24 forced fumbles. He is a black hole on the field who is returning to the original black hole in Oakland. Big plays find their way to Woodson, just like they do to Sproles.

Of course, the players I’ve described above are not the same versions of Sproles and Woodson we’ll see moving forward. Both players are past their prime. As a running-back, even considering his limited usage, the 30-year-old Sproles will be entering the twilight of his career.

Woodson has already extended his career past the point where most consider him an impact player. The soon-to-be 37-year-old returns to the Oakland Raiders and hope to provide enough big plays to make a difference. Although both players are in decline and those plays are fewer and further between, they still strike fear into their opponents.

Dri Archer: Offensive Weapon/Caffeine Substitute

June 21, 2013 0 Comments read Matt Waldman

Dri Archer is DeAnthony Thomas without the hype. Photo by Lindsayjf91.

With an alarm clock that goes off at 4:30 am, dawn comes around fast in my household. It doesn’t help matters that I’m not a coffee drinker. But if I could watch more prospects with Dri Archer’s big-play ability, I’d have a great 5:00 am caffeine substitute.

The Kent State offensive weapon averaged 9 yards per carry (yes carry, not touch) on his 150 attempts in 2012. He was also the only player in the FBS to earn over 1300 yards rushing and catch over 500 yards of passes last year. There’s a good possibility that Black Mamba has nothing on Archer but more surrounding talent in a better offensive system.

The Go Daddy Bowl in Mobile Alabama might be one of Archer’s worst statistical outings – 99 total yards and a touchdown – but in this game Archer had one of the best non-scoring runs I saw last year. At 5’8″, 164 pounds, Archer is an inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter than Tavon Austin. Regardless of what anyone says, Austin will be a test case for smaller hybrid players. If Austin succeeds right away, Archer and DeAnthony Thomas could see their draft stock rise and we begin to hear analysts talk about skill in “pound-for-pound” terms.

If Austin’s game translates, here is a coming attraction of what Archer might bring to a pro stadium near you.

Short Area Handling + Long Speed = Instant Offense

Here’s a jet sweep in the first half of the Go Daddy Bowl where Archer gains 44 yards on one of the best individual displays of speed and agility I saw in 2012. This is a 1st and 10 at the Kent State 34 from a 1×2 receiver, 11 personnel set. Archer is the single receiver on the strong side of the formation and motions towards the quarterback, taking the jet sweep as the strong side guard and running back pulls to the weak side edge. Here’s the play and below it, my thoughts on how it unfolds.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ZfDeYl5lA?start=66&w=560&h=315]

Archer sets up his blocks with a fantastic cut inside the running back, who has to contend with an edge defender penetrating seven yards deep into the backfield. It’s not just the deep penetration early in the play that makes the ball carrier’s adjustment so impressive, it’s the fact that he has to dip inside the running back and away from the quarterback.

Avoiding one obstacle this early in a play is enough to foil most runners, but I’ve seen enough quarterback-runner collisions in my day to believe that what Archer does here is that 1 out of 10 scenario that worked in his favor. Archer then makes a second dip inside the pulling guard as he gets just outside the hash to reach the line of scrimmage.

These two cuts not only prevent a loss, but open the field for a huge gain up the hash and flat. He beats the backside defender with his acceleration is in the second level. Eight yards later, he dips outside the safety with a lightning-quick change of direction at top speed as he crosses the first down marker.

Archer beats the defensive back around the corner and reaches the 50 (16 yards into his 44-yard gain) with another secondary defender five yards down field with an angle on the runner. Archer reaches the 45, takes two steps and dips inside the corner, using his outside arm to ward off the defender.

This is a strong example of how a stiff arm can have value as either an expression of leverage or power. In Archer’s case it’s a simple tap of the flat-footed defensive back’s shoulder as he’s executing a swift cut to get behind three lineman working up field at the 40 and the stiff arm sends the defender to the ground.

Archer crosses behind these linemen at the 40, cuts across to the left hash at the 35, and makes a sharp cut inside the safety at the 30. If he doesn’t have to run into his wide receiver to make the cut he probably continues across the field and scores. However, the combination of his cut to avoid the corner and the flash of his teammate behind him forces Archer to cut towards traffic where there are five defenders within a five-yard radius.

As he reaches the 25 Archer is wrapped and it ends one of the best runs I’ve seen all year.

Again, I’ll recap why I loved this run and how it might give us a clue to what could make him a successful NFL prospect as an offensive/special teams weapon:

Archer has a feel for anticipating and avoiding penetration.
The ball carrier’s quickness and change of direction isn’t predicated on stop-start moves that don’t work as well in the NFL; he bends runs and accelerates through cuts, which coupled with his anticipation makes it even more difficult for backside pursuit to get easy plays when penetration alters the runner’s path.
Archer has a feel for setting up blocks and despite his electronically timed 4.28-speed, he has the patience to work behind his blockers.
Kent State’s big-play weapon plays with good pad level, keeps his legs moving, and understands the value of using a stiff arm to ward off contact as opposed to an instrument of punishment.

If not Austin, Why Not DeSean Jackson?

The Eagles receiver is 6’0″, 178 pounds and has shown he’s a capable, impact player as an NFL starter split from the formation. Archer has the fundamental skills that teams can build on when it comes to receiving: He catches the ball with his hands away from his body, and he doesn’t let impending contact dissuade him from attacking the football or break his concentration.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARPF1KIiiZ8?start=185&w=560&h=315]

I also like that there is some evidence of Jackson using his hands and feet to work free of a potential jam from Dolphins draft pick Don Jones on this play.

This 18-yard gain is Archer’s final catch of the game – 2nd and 10 at the Arkansas State 45 with 0:57 in the half from a 2×1 receiver, 11 personnel shotgun set. Archer is the slot man on the strong side at the right hash with a safety playing 15 yards off the hash and Jones as the nickel back playing two yards off the line of scrimmage to Archer’s inside.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ZfDeYl5lA?start=155frameborder=&w=560&h=315]

A second safety is in the middle of the field about eight yards off the line of scrimmage but Archer and the quarterback do a good job of reading him crowd the line of scrimmage as the pre-snap phase ends. It this safety that gives the quarterback and receiver an opening to exploit.

Archer does a fine job of using his hands to avoid Jones’ jam as he slants across the field to the opposite hash, catching the ball 12 yards to the opposite hash with his hands.

I haven’t seen enough from Archer to give a serious comparison to Austin or Jackson beyond his athleticism and open-field skill. In these respects, Archer fits within this spectrum of athlete. However, as much as I appreciate what Archer does from the backfield I can’t help but see him more as a niche player than an every-down threat unless he’s drafted as a receiver.

There’s more I have to watch before I can deliver a more definitive analysis. Still, Archer is a player who can wake up defenses and fans in a hurry and it makes him worth watching when Kent State takes the field in September.

For analysis of skill players in this year’s draft class, download the 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio.The 2014 RSP will available April 1 and if you pre-order before February 10, you get a 10 percent discount. Better yet, if you’re a fantasy owner the 56-page Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2014 RSPs at no additional charge and available for download within a week after the NFL Draft. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 apiece.

Mirror Images: Ben Roethlisberger-Troy Polamalu

June 18, 2013 0 Comments read Matt Waldman

All Pittsburgh, all the time for the former Browns scout Matt Williamson. Photo by Alex Abboud. — Big risks yield big plays – and big mistakes. Photo by Alex Abboud.

By Cian Fahey, Pre Snap Reads

Probably the saddest and most disturbing story of this off-season has been that of young Titus Young. I shouldn’t really call the wide receiver “young”, because he’s actually older than I am. But I feel there is a certain level of empathy that everyone can feel with the troubled star and his issues aren’t a reflection of youth, experience, or anything like that. For whatever reason, Young embarked on a misguided journey full of reckless actions this off-season, reckless actions that ultimately landed him in prison and out of the league.

For the moment at least, Young’s recklessness will force him to focus on fixing his life rather than concentrating on reclaiming his career. Plenty of players have proven that they can rebound from personal struggles to build a successful career. What Young has done isn’t impossible to recover from.

However, this story is not about Young. It’s about the character trait of recklessness.

Young was reckless with his decision-making both as a football player and a citizen. It’s the on-field perception of the term that interests me. Being reckless isn’t something that is supposed to be celebrated unless it’s the affable rogue in some adventure film. In today’s league it is typically associated with off-the-field decisions like Young’s or the much-maligned head shots defensive backs deliver in the passing game.

Still, there are reckless players who we celebrate. It’s the first quality that comes to mind with Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ teammates have many positive traits that are often celebrated first. Both have two Super Bowl rings, and nearly earned another. Both have a plethora of Pro Bowl trips under their belts and both have been considered amongst the best in the league at their positions for most of their careers.

Both are great individual players, but have special skills as improvisers that make fitting into a team’s structure a difficult balance for bringing out the best in these star players while maintaining team efficiency.

No season shows off the similarities between Roethlisberger and Polamalu more than the 2008 trip to the Super Bowl.

Bruce Arians and Dick LeBeau had built their offensive and defensive schemes around their two superstar players. Roethlisberger was given free rein while working under Arians. He wasn’t asked to win games in the same way Peyton Manning or Tom Brady were. He didn’t lead a high-powered offense based on precise timing that comes from spotting flaws in the game film and pitch-perfect technique.

Instead he was asked to produce a handful of big plays and clutch scoring drives when the team needed him most – often doing it in the moment.

Fewer timing routes. Less reliance on an internal clock set to unload the ball when the pocket got hot. Roethlisberger was not only allowed to extend plays and endure the punishment of the opposing defense, he was encouraged to play “backyard football”. Arians called plays, but some of the team’s most important plays throughout the season were whatever Roethlisberger and his receivers were going to create on the fly. He broke all the rules of pocket-passing and disregarded any consideration for his health behind an already questionable offensive line.

On the other side of the ball, Lebeau’s defense didn’t just allow Polamalu to freelance. He made the safety’s improvisational skill a crucial part of their overall setup. From snap-to-snap, Polamalu would either be jumping over the line of scrimmage to sack the quarterback, intercepting a pass in a position where he never should have been in the first place, or making a massive hit in the open field to prevent a big play.

Just like Roethlisberger’s (in)famous touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes Baltimore, Polamalu’s signature play came against the Ravens when he intercepted Joe Flacco for a game-sealing touchdown, sending the Steelers to the Super Bowl.

Even though Roethlisberger threw 15 interceptions to 17 touchdowns, the 2008 season was a success because the team embraced the a risk-reward philosophy that embraced the idea that they could make big mistakes if they were consistently aggressive. This approach lowers overall consistency, but demonstrated that a team could ride the ebbs and flows to a championship.

When Roethlisberger extends plays he exposes himself to more hits, stresses his offensive line. and tires out his receivers. He also increases the potential for turnovers. When Polamalu freelances, he stresses Ryan Clark’s ability to cover for him. His aggressive approach to tackling also yields some big misses. Since the 2008 season, Polamalu has missed close to 40 tackles despite missing the bulk of two seasons.

Roethlisberger and Polamalu are players who live on their physical prowess, natural football ability, and most importantly, game-changing plays. Without those game-changing plays, they quickly lose their luster and both players have shortened their careers with their approach to the game. Roethlisberger is just 31, but has taken the punishment of a player who is 35-36. Polamalu has missed 22 regular season starts in the past four years.

Both will go down as great players for a franchise that has more great players in its history than an egg-timer has grains of sand. Both will have strong cases for the NFL Hall of Fame even if neither actually makes it. And both have signature moments that will forever be chronicled and replayed as the years go by.

Roethlisberger and Polamalu epitomize the positive side of reckless.

Footballguys: Reinventing My Dynasty Philosophy

June 17, 2013 0 Comments read Matt Waldman

How should be invest in quarterbacks for dynasty leagues? Was the 2012 class en exception to the rule? Photo by Football Schedule. — How should we invest in quarterbacks for dynasty leagues? Was the 2012 class en exception to the rule? Photo by Football Schedule.

I’m taking a hiatus from dynasty rankings to reassess my philosophies about managing teams in these leagues. This week, I’m examining quarterback data through the lens of something I call career windows. I define career windows as a three-year period in a player’s career because that span of time is known as the average career length of an NFL player.

When we draft players we believe will be viable fantasy contributors, I think we have the expectation that their careers will have more than three years of starter production. Many players have careers three to five times longer than the average.

I think we assess a player’s talent and situation every year, but I like the idea of have some longer perspective about players at each position. I want to know the lay of the land:

If and how long I can expect to get starter productivity from players at each position.
How does a player’s draft status fit into the scope of these career windows?
Are there any basic ideas I can draw from quarterback careers to help me create a basic philosophy for rankings and ranking adjustments in dynasty leagues?

What I hope to gain from these exercises is a set of basic ideas that help me understand when I’m going with or against the grain and to make those decisions with awareness of the dynamics at play.

Tiers Defined

First, I need to establish how I define the categories I use for the position when talking about its fantasy production. Most of you are familiar with how these terms are defined, but I still need to cover my bases. I’m using a 12-team league as the standard for these tiers.

Elite – In my view, these are the three most productive productive quarterbacks in a given season.
No.1 QB (or QB1) – The 12 most productive quarterbacks in a given season.
No. 2 QB (or QB2) – The 13th through 24th quarterbacks. First-tier reserves with potential for playing time on your roster.
Bench – The 25th through 36th quarterbacks. Depth for your roster – some developmental; others emergency only.
FA (Free Agents) – Quarterbacks lacking talent, situation, and/or opportunity to prouduce in the present.

These tiers are general estimates. There are some years where four quarterbacks post elite-level fantasy production and others where only one makes the cut. I’m not using fantasy points to drive tiers because the point values have changed – especially at the quarterback position – in just 20 years. Chase Stuart posted a graph of this change, but using VBD as a more refined data point.

Here’s what the 20-year change looks like through the lens of quarterback tiers (Read the rest at Footballguys.com)

Reads Listens Views 6/14/13

June 14, 2013 0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

If you read the David Eggers book, then you know this picture. Photo by Screen Punk.

Another Friday, another Reads Listens Views. This week has its routine mix of football and non-football content. The real world content (as usual) is often so quietly disturbing that I know 99 percent of you won’t even read it. That’s okay, I share it for the handful that do because fortunately for me I don’t have to always blow sunshine up people’s hind parts.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/28DfvvfZLi0]

Some people hate covers. I’m not one of them. Sometimes you learn more about the quality of a song when someone other than the artist that introduced it to the public performs it. I couldn’t think of a better artist to cover a Sting tune than Stevie Wonder. Whether or not ballads with a bossa nova feel is your thing, I think you can appreciate the craftsmanship of the lyrics and music. On another note, if Sting is just a few years younger than my dad and looks like that, I’m getting back to doing yoga every day. Here’s Sting talking about his yoga experience just a few years after he started it.

I was planning to anyhow, but this was just another source of inspiration.

Of course musicians who make improvisation a high art form have no problem with playing covers . Here’s one of my recent favorites of one of some of the greatest modern performers at their individual instruments playing the Thelonius Monk Blues Straight, No Chaser.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/0uYDBVoUjPo]

Thank You

Normally, this is my weekly ritual to thank my readers for visiting the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog and/or buying the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication. Today, I want to thank a subset of my readers that do a lot of positive things for me – the blogging, web, and Twitter community. You have been a source of inspiration, camaraderie, and assistance since I started this blog two years ago.

Writers like Robert Miller, Doug Farrar, Chris Brown, the Dynasty League Football crew, Ryan Lownes, Josh Norris, Sigmund Bloom, Cecil Lammey, and a host of others have routinely sent people here. I don’t participate often in Twitter’s ‘Follow Friday’ ritual, but thanks to all of you who mention me in your lists. I’ll defer to Cian Fahey’s excellent list of people to follow on Twitter that even includes humorous and informative example tweets with each person he recommends (and by the way, Fahey caught me on a good day).

If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio look around. There’s a lot of work that I believe you’ll find worth the read. Here are a few suggestions:

If you’re one of the many who have bought the 2013 RSP and it was your first time, I appreciate all the great feedback about your experience reading it. If you haven’t downloaded the RSP yet, you can click these links to learn about it and the post-draft add-on. If you’re not aware, the RSP donates 10 percent of each purchase to Darkness to Light, a non-profit whose mission is to train individuals and communities on sexual abuse prevention and how to address the tragedy when it happens. I have many reasons for believing in this cause, but the Penn State scandal is a perfect illustration that a significant part of the problem are everyday people like us who make mistakes with how to handle it when it happens.

This week is going to be heavy on the ‘listens’ and ‘views’ part of this Friday ritual.

Football

I rarely get to post something that Joe Bryant writes, because he’s usually too busy running a business called Footballguys.com. However, I enjoyed his post about Bill Belichick’s handling of the post-Tebow press conference. And I agree, it isn’t that hard.
If you follow Bryant or Chris Brown then you probably saw this tackling drill, but I want to talk about it a little more. It doesn’t require me to tell you that it’s safe, teaches good form with the hips, knees head, and arms. If someone can invent or modify a ball that can change direction, it could be even better.
Beyond hats, I’m not big fan of consumer football apparel. I have a couple of jerseys and I never wear them. However, this is a good marketing concept by the NFLPA. Hopefully, they’ll put their money where their mouth is when it’s time to back up the good vibe.

Non-Football

This Guy Reinvented the Wheel – I don’t know many skateboarders, but this concept has wide-ranging applications beyond the hobby. Fascinating use a cube shape to create a better wheel.

This site Invisible People is a great project where a movie director interviews the homeless in the Seattle area. Here is a very short video profile of Mark, a man probably close to my age who suffered a nervous breakdown after his wife and daughter died and when he was released from a psychiatric hospital he had lost everything. The director always asks the people he profiles to share three wishes. Most of them can barely think of more than one and often the wish is rarely about themselves.
If you’ve made it this far then you realize that my non-football links are rather depressing. This is why I love having a blog. I can’t share this stuff elsewhere without someone telling me to spout more sunshine. They can blow that sunshine where the sun don’t shine because this is real shit that we ignore all too often. This story on our prison system is a necessary read. For a less graphic, but even scarier true account of what happens when an innocent man winds up in prison – and it’s chilling as hell – read Dave Eggers’ book Zeitoun.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/8OEjYquyjcg]

Blackfish looks like a quality whistle-blower story about a common sense issue that the movie ‘King Kong’ addressed nearly 100 years ago. I loved going to Seaworld when I was growing up and seeing Shamu was a thrill. It was also a bad idea.

Inspirational

[youtube=http://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448]

Mirror Images: Maurice Jones-Drew/Ahmad Brooks

June 13, 2013 0 Comments read Matt Waldman

A game I’ve been playing in my head in recent months is to take an offensive player and find his mirror image on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. For example, Joey Galloway and Darrell Green were stylistically mirror images of each other. Both had amazing speed that sometimes overshadowed their underrated displays of craft at their respective positions over the course of lengthy and productive careers. Now I’m putting it on the blog and having some of my friends play.

Editor’s Note

When Cian Fahey asked me to contribute a couple of paragraphs about cornerback Patrick Peterson for a collaborative piece he’s writing with the likes of Eric Stoner, Chris Burke, Allen Dumonjic, and Joe Goodberry, I pulled this idea of describing Peterson through the lens Dez Bryant – a player he’s trained to face – and typed it on the page. It got me thinking pairing offensive and defensive players as mirror images would be a fun way to pass the time as my fellow writers and I wait for the car trip of our football writing lives to get to its preseason destination.

I posed the idea to Fahey and Stoner and added Ryan Riddle and Jene Bramel to the mix. There are no grand designs here; we’re just passing time and I’m keeping it a free-form process. If you disagree with the takes, have a take of your own, or want to build on the idea, post a comment or email me (mattwaldmanrsp@gmail.com).

Mirror Images: Maurice Jones-Drew/Ahmad Brooks

By Cian Fahey, Pre Snap Reads

I didn’t come to football the way most do. I grew up playing a plethora of other sports in a world where football wasn’t really football at all. In fact, it wasn’t even soccer, it was Gaelic Football. For a long time I didn’t even know the game existed, not least consider a career covering it. Yet, even though I missed out on the specific benefits that come with playing the sport from a young age, there were many lessons I learned from the other sports that translated into the next.

One of those lessons I learned as a 16-year-old. As a 15-year-old, I was fortunate enough to be part of an outstanding rugby team for 16 year olds and younger. From the first starter to the last backup, my team was littered with talented players and committed workers. We dominated our league in the same way the Patriots have dominated the regular season in recent years. However, once that season passed, our older players moved onto the under 18 team and I was elevated into a different role with six or seven others who were carrying over.

We swapped out our older, exceptional players for younger, nervous and inexperienced players. Despite having seven or eight players from the dominant team a year before, we dropped below mediocrity because of our weak spots.

After that season finished, I would forever become aware of the minor details. Minor details such as perceived role players, bench players, the impact of coaches or minor tactical adjustments. For that reason, when Matt approached me about this new series concept he had come up with, the first player that came to mind was Ahmad Brooks of the San Francisco 49ers.

Brooks is one of my favorite defensive players in the NFL. He is an outside linebacker on a defense that is often celebrated for its superstars at the linebacker position, but he is definitely not considered one of them. It was that overlooked aspect of Brooks that first linked him to Maurice Jones-Drew in my mind. Of course, being underrated isn’t enough to link two players for this series, but as the brain so often does, it was working much faster than my thoughts were.

Pocket Hercules, as Jones-Drew is affectionately known, may be significantly shorter than Brooks, but their frames are not too dissimilar and both players play with a similar physicality that permeates throughout their game. I’ve often compared Jones-Drew to a bowling ball when he is running with the ball, because he initiates contact with defenders as much as they look to hit him. If Jones-Drew is a bowling ball, Brooks is a medicine ball. Slightly bigger, but just as effective when it lands on your toe.

Neither has long speed, in the sense that they won’t sprint with the best athletes at their positions for 40 yards, but Jones-Drew is enough of a home-run hitter to make defenses quiver while Brooks has been a very consistent pass-rusher since joining the 49ers. Neither explodes off the screen as much as an Adrian Peterson or Von Miller, but both do enough to get by, especially with their all-around skill-sets.

It’s those all-around skill-sets that really makes this comparison work for me.

Brooks’ game isn’t about rushing the passer, he is a pivotal piece for the 49ers because he can balance his intensity and physicality in when taking on blockers in the running game, while still being flexible and fluid enough to drop into coverage. Is he going to slide into defensive tackle and overcome double teams like Justin Smith? No, but if you leave a tight end or fullback on him your play design will likely fail. Is he going to cover Rob Gronkowski on an island? No, but he does more than enough to excel in that area and uphold the standards of the most intimidating front seven in the NFL.

I said previously that Jones-Drew and Brooks were linked first because they are both overlooked or underrated. Jones-Drew isn’t overshadowed by his teammates, but instead by backs on winning teams such as Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice and Arian Foster. He still gets credit for his powerful running style and the previously spoken about breakaway potential, but few ever point to his incredible play as a pass-protector or as a receiving back.

The running-back position is changing in the NFL. Feature backs can no longer be just big, powerful runners, they must have that all-around game so they can be a part of the passing attack. Jones-Drew should be the player who powerful backs look to moving forward. He has proven himself in the past as a more than respectable receiver coming out of the backfield, while since 2010, he has only allowed two sacks, three hits and two hurries on 189 pass blocks(courtesy of PFF).

For me, Jones-Drew is clearly the best pass-blocking running-back in the NFL, while it’s hard to think of a player who stops the run as well as Brooks without sacrificing in other areas. These may be little things, but little things are important. You may not notice it when you’re winning, but you definitely will when you start losing. At least, I did when I started losing.

Maurice Jones-Drew and Ahmad Brooks are mirror images of each other.

Cian Fahey has written for a number of sites, including The Guardian, Bleacher Report, and Irishcentral. He is also contributing to Footballguys.com and his blog Pre Snap Reads is a growing encyclopedia of content with an emphasis on defensive backs.