no he's a stiff and doesn't have the instincts are shiftyness to play linebacker. put twenty pounds on him and play him at nose, seriously
when the media wasn't praising mario i knew what to expect. the guy's weakness at end was lack of moves, you think he's going to transition to linebacker. its silly
We can't give him, oh... I don't know, just spitballin' here, two - no: three more preseason games? Maybe... hmmmm... 25-ish more days of practice? Again, I'm just randomly making up a timeframe here........
so did anyone watch the fourth quarter. number 18 and number 50 were killing it. number 18 looks like the third receiver, i know it was against scrubs, but he looked like a number one against them
Well, 2 more games. You know starters don't usually play that 4th preseason game, though Mario could use the work.
Well since you said so, I guess I won't cut him on Madden. What do you mean give him more time? I'm not cutting him or advocating cutting him. I said I have concerns about his speed at linebacker. That's not a technique issue, it's a speed issue. I then predicted that based on that he won't be long for this system. That's not unreasonable Ric. The Texans didn't need their White Knight on this one.
#18 is Lestar Jean. He was rated as the best undrafted player by a lot of the people that rate such things. You're right, he looked really good. #50 is Bryan Braham, the kid from West Texas A&M that got caught growing mushrooms. In my mind, he's small for his position, and would get exposed against first-teamers, but I'd bet that he at least makes the practice squad with a mandate to bulk up.
Just in time to throw a fat offer to the currently franchised Haloti Ngata. Tell me any 3-4 defense regardless of their views of a nose tackle woudn't want that guy.
Braham does need to add some weight and strength but i think he can certainly be a special teamer. Maybe if he stops shrooming he could add some weight
I don't watch a lot of Monday Night Football since the Texans are rarely on, so I need some help. Does Jon Gruden love on all the teams the way he does the Texans? Last night he sounded to me (again) like a man who wanted to make it clear he'd love to coach this team. He praised the offensive coordinator (not Kubiak lol) and the QB coach. He praised all the hard workers we have. He even went out of his to praise Wade Phillips. I think Gruden wants to coach here and would keep Knapp and Wade.
Many may disagree, but I am not convinced our offense is perfect or needs minor improvement. If we continue to fall flat in the first half, that will be a problem. Putting up the most points and exploding only in the second half wont win us too many games. I just hope its not a continuous and or carry over problem from last year. That being said, I definitely saw some "swag" in our defense yest. It looked like the players are enjoying the new system. Thank god football is back....
I read what you said; I'm suggesting two series in the first preseason game on the backend of a shortened offseason in which he switched positions is probably premature to be worried about him not being "long for this system". They were playing a base defense with two key starters out; another LB (plus a safety) making a smiliar position switch and a rookie starting along the DL. Speed might be an issue, sure. And there's always room for concern. But it's REAL early.
Short answer is yes. Bill Simmons has joked a bit the last year or so on how Gruden is so effusive with his praise. Agreed.....but the absence of Joseph and Cushing had zero bearing on what was seen last night. He wasn't misjudging and hesitating because Joseph wasn't at corner. He simply was not able to make quick reads and shed run blockers. He's completely overwhelmed right now. No one has said that it can't work and we should pull the plug immediately. Everyone's expressing a valid concern - he has to make drastic improvements in the next 3-4 weeks. The Mario we saw last night was an out and out liability against the run and teams will gleefully exploit that in the regular season. I'm pessimistic that he will get there but won't rule it out just yet. It won't be critical against Indy....but we can't trot him out at WOLB against Reggie Bush and the run-oriented Dolphins in week 2 unless Mario gets it down. Maybe Wade has to consider reworking his scheme and letting Mario be in a 3 point stance with Manning coming forward behind him. Maybe Reed starts to shine a little more and Rick Smith answers the phone if some 4-3 NFC teams start calling. It's a tricky situation. Hopefully things work out.
And yet, the defense on the whole looked great, the other guys that switched positions looked fine, and the rookie starter was nothing short of fantastic. Mario Williams was abysmal and a glaring concern. Kareem Jackson level concern. Honest question, scale of 1-10, how confident are you that Mario will succeed in this scheme as a WOLB by week 3? This is where I give them a super-sized hall pass. Two series, missing Foster and Johnson. Schaub doesn't always come out of the gates hot and (IMO) depends on his receivers. The system looked fine - the boots were working great. Even if it is the offense of last year that was prone to getting gummed up, the presence of this defense (if last night was a real indicator) over last year's will mean a bump in scoring. Better field position, turnover opportunities, etc.
dude, he can't play linebacker. its not about not be able to read schemes, its about not being able to move
Note to Coach FixIt: Mario Williams is NOT the second coming of Demarcus Ware. The defense did look better but that was to be expected given where they finished last year. I mean, when you are dead last your only direction is up. The Jets were simply pathetic at picking up the blitzing LB but that's Rex "My You Have Nice Feet!" Ryan's problem. I noticed that when they split out Mario to play LB, they are vulnerable to a quick slant or dump off pass to the area he just vacated. I saw this happen a lot last year with the Cowboys. Also, as time passes and you see more of FixIt's defense, you will be able to better spot where the rush is coming from which was a major issue up here in Dallas last season. But overall, I can see FixIt's defense improving their standings to at least the mid to upper teens which would represent a dramatic turns of events.
His lateral movement has me really concerned. I think he can play the blitzing part of the linebacker position and if Ryans and Cushing are both healthy and effective they can mask his deficiencies, but his speed alarms me. I mean the defense being new has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. Did anyone else see the play I'm referencing? Mario was engaged with a blocker and the RB bounced to the outside. Mario disengaged and tried to move laterally to go after the RB but he went right by him and Mario tried to pursue. He ended up just coming to a jog because he didn't have the speed to be involved in the play. That is my concern. It's not technique. It's not a "new system." It's making plays as a linebacker when the other team gets the ball past the line of scrimmage.
