Flugel Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 http://mvn.com/outsider/2009/03/nfl-outsid...-cleveland.html Interesting article on why the Browns draft Maualuga I enjoyed that article Legend! Thanks for sharing it. - Tom F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Masters Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Aaron Curry has had ONE DOMINAT YEAR, Rey has had 4. One dominant year? 2007 (Junior): Second team All-ACC linebacker as a junior ... Earned second team All-America honors from CollegeSportsReport.com ... Was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week after the North Carolina game when he had seven tackles and two interceptions including an 84-yard return for a touchdown ... Earned the ACC Defensive Back of the Week award for his efforts against NC State (8 tackles, 1 interception, 57-yard return for a touchdown) ... Tied an NCAA record for the most interception returns for touchdown in a season by a linebacker with three ... Owns the school records for interception return yards in a season (226) and career (256) ... His 84-yard interception return for a touchdown against Army (Sept. 15) ranks as the fourth-longest in school history ... Led the Deacons with eight tackles and also had a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown ... Second on the team with 99 tackles ... Team leader with 13.5 tackles for loss ... Also collected three sacks during the season ... Picked off two passes vs. North Carolina (Oct. 27) ... Finished tied for 13th in the ACC in tackles with 99 ... Ranks 10th in the school record books with 29.5 career tackles for loss ... Had three games of 10 or more tackles including 11 vs. Boston College (Sept. 1), 12 vs. Navy (Oct. 20) and 13 vs. Vanderbilt (Nov. 24) 2006 (Sophomore): Started all 14 games at outside linebacker ... Ranked 42nd in the ACC averaging 4.9 tackles per game ... Ranked second on the team with 83 tackles ... Tied for fourth on the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and three sacks ... Broke up three passes and intercepted one ... Forced two fumbles ... Made a season-high 10 tackles at Maryland ... Recorded multiple tackle for loss games against Connecticut and North Carolina ... Intercepted a pass in the ACC Championship Game and returned it 30 yards. 2005 (Redshirt Freshman): Named second team Freshman All-American and to the ACC All-Freshman Team by The Sporting News ... The team's fifth-leading tackler (45) ... Ranked third on the team with 7.5 tackles for loss ... Finished fourth on the team with five pass break-ups ... Played in all 11 games and started the final 10 ... Claimed a starting role in the second game of the season and never let go ... Had four solo tackles in his career debut against Vanderbilt ... Tallied four tackles at Nebraska, including one for loss, and a pass break-up ... Posted one tackle for loss against East Carolina ... Made four tackles in the Maryland game, including one for loss ... Blocked a punt against Clemson and made three tackles ... Had his most productive game at Florida State with seven tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and two pass break-ups ... Posted five tackles in the Boston College game with a pass break-up ... Had seven tackles, including two for loss, and a pass break-up against NC State ... Tallied a tackle for loss at Duke ... Made six tackles at Georgia Tech ... Finished the season with two tackles against Miami. Seems like a guy that just kept getting better and better. For Rey 2007: Maualuga returned for his second season as USC's starting middle linebacker as a junior in 2007 and led the team in tackles. Overall in 2007 while appearing in all 13 games (starting all but the Notre Dame game, in which he was limited because of a hip pointer), he had 79 tackles, including 10.5 for losses of 40 yards (with 6 sacks for minus 32 yards), plus 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception (returned for 19 yards) and 3 deflections. He was named to the 2007 Phil Steele's All-American third team, Collegefootballnews.com All-American honorable mention, Pro Football Weekly All-American honorable mention, All-Pac-10 first team (for the second year in a row), Collegefootballnews.com All-Pac-10 first team, Phil Steele's All-Pac-10 first team and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 second team. He had 4 tackles versus Idaho, 6 tackles (including 1.5 for losses) at Nebraska and 6 stops against Washington State. He then had a game-high 10 tackles (1 for a loss) at Washington, a game-high 10 tackles (with a sack) against Stanford, 4 tackles at Arizona, 3 tackles (including 2 sacks) at Notre Dame, 11 stops (1 for a loss) and a fumble recovery at Oregon, 5 tackles (including 1 for a loss) and a deflection against Oregon State, 5 tackles at California and 3 stops at Arizona Stae. He had a game-high 8 tackles and a deflection against UCLA. Against Illinois, he had 3 sacks among his 4 tackles and added an interception (returned 19 yards to set up a USC TD) and a forced fumble to earn Rose Bowl Defensive MVP, ESPN.com All-Bowl Team and CBSSportsline.com All-Bowl Team honors. 2006: Maualuga started most of 2006 at middle linebacker as a sophomore and proved to be an impact player. Overall in 2006 while appearing in all 13 games (he started all but Arkansas, Oregon State and Notre Dame), he had a 78 tackles, including 5 for losses of 17 yards (with 2 sacks for minus 8 yards), an interception, 3 deflections and a forced fumble. He made the 2006 Pro Football Weekly All-American honorable mention, Collegefootballnews.com Sophomore All-American first team, All-Pac-10 first team, ESPN.com All-Pac-10 first team, Scout.com All-Pac-10 first team and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 second team and was 1 of 10 semifinalists for the 2006 Butkus Award. He had 6 tackles at Arkansas, then a game-high and personal-best 11 tackles (1 for a loss) versus Nebraska, 4 tackles, including 2 for a loss (with a sack), and an interception at Arizona and a team-best 9 tackles with a deflection at Washington State. He added 5 tackles and a deflection against Washington, a team-best 8 tackles against Arizona State, 7 stops at Oregon State, 5 tackles (0.5 for a loss) at Stanford and 6 stops and a forced fumble against Oregon. He made 4 tackles (0.5 for a loss) against California, 3 tackles and a deflection against Notre Dame, 7 tackles (with a sack) at UCLA and 2 stops versus Michigan. 2005: Maualuga was an effective and often-used backup middle linebacker and key special teams player as a first-year freshman in 2005. Overall in 2005 while appearing in 12 games (all but Hawaii), he had 37 tackles, including 4.5 for losses of 23 yards (with an 8-yard sack), plus he had 2 forced fumbles, 2 deflections and an interception that he returned 9 yards. He also returned 1 kickoff for 7 yards (7.0 avg). He had a team-best 9 tackles (1 for a loss), 2 forced fumbles (both recovered by USC to set up touchdowns) and 2 deflections against UCLA, 6 tackles (with the sack) and the interception at California, another 6 stops against Washington State, 5 tackles versus Stanford, 3 stops (2 for losses) against Arkansas and another 3 versus Fresno State. He made a tackle and returned a short kickoff 7 yards against Texas. He made the 2005 Football Writers Freshman All-American first team and Scout.com Freshman All-American first team. He won USC's John McKay Award (most competitive spirit). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Nice back and forth between Alo and Flugs, two of my favorite posters. Much thanks for all of the knowledge the two of you provide. Also, I'm loving Alo's videos. Greatly appreciated! Beanpot Thanks Beans! Aloy is as good as it gets whether we agree on Rey or not. We're not here to agree on everything anyway - and it makes for interesting conversation sometimes. He's alot like you are - if I'm gonna debate him I better have a good Joe Friday in me or I'm in trouble. - Tom F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sony Reed Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 One dominant year? 2007 (Junior): Second team All-ACC linebacker as a junior ... Earned second team All-America honors from CollegeSportsReport.com ... Was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week after the North Carolina game when he had seven tackles and two interceptions including an 84-yard return for a touchdown ... Earned the ACC Defensive Back of the Week award for his efforts against NC State (8 tackles, 1 interception, 57-yard return for a touchdown) ... Tied an NCAA record for the most interception returns for touchdown in a season by a linebacker with three ... Owns the school records for interception return yards in a season (226) and career (256) ... His 84-yard interception return for a touchdown against Army (Sept. 15) ranks as the fourth-longest in school history ... Led the Deacons with eight tackles and also had a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown ... Second on the team with 99 tackles ... Team leader with 13.5 tackles for loss ... Also collected three sacks during the season ... Picked off two passes vs. North Carolina (Oct. 27) ... Finished tied for 13th in the ACC in tackles with 99 ... Ranks 10th in the school record books with 29.5 career tackles for loss ... Had three games of 10 or more tackles including 11 vs. Boston College (Sept. 1), 12 vs. Navy (Oct. 20) and 13 vs. Vanderbilt (Nov. 24) 2006 (Sophomore): Started all 14 games at outside linebacker ... Ranked 42nd in the ACC averaging 4.9 tackles per game ... Ranked second on the team with 83 tackles ... Tied for fourth on the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and three sacks ... Broke up three passes and intercepted one ... Forced two fumbles ... Made a season-high 10 tackles at Maryland ... Recorded multiple tackle for loss games against Connecticut and North Carolina ... Intercepted a pass in the ACC Championship Game and returned it 30 yards. 2005 (Redshirt Freshman): Named second team Freshman All-American and to the ACC All-Freshman Team by The Sporting News ... The team's fifth-leading tackler (45) ... Ranked third on the team with 7.5 tackles for loss ... Finished fourth on the team with five pass break-ups ... Played in all 11 games and started the final 10 ... Claimed a starting role in the second game of the season and never let go ... Had four solo tackles in his career debut against Vanderbilt ... Tallied four tackles at Nebraska, including one for loss, and a pass break-up ... Posted one tackle for loss against East Carolina ... Made four tackles in the Maryland game, including one for loss ... Blocked a punt against Clemson and made three tackles ... Had his most productive game at Florida State with seven tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and two pass break-ups ... Posted five tackles in the Boston College game with a pass break-up ... Had seven tackles, including two for loss, and a pass break-up against NC State ... Tallied a tackle for loss at Duke ... Made six tackles at Georgia Tech ... Finished the season with two tackles against Miami. Seems like a guy that just kept getting better and better. For Rey 2007: Maualuga returned for his second season as USC's starting middle linebacker as a junior in 2007 and led the team in tackles. Overall in 2007 while appearing in all 13 games (starting all but the Notre Dame game, in which he was limited because of a hip pointer), he had 79 tackles, including 10.5 for losses of 40 yards (with 6 sacks for minus 32 yards), plus 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception (returned for 19 yards) and 3 deflections. He was named to the 2007 Phil Steele's All-American third team, Collegefootballnews.com All-American honorable mention, Pro Football Weekly All-American honorable mention, All-Pac-10 first team (for the second year in a row), Collegefootballnews.com All-Pac-10 first team, Phil Steele's All-Pac-10 first team and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 second team. He had 4 tackles versus Idaho, 6 tackles (including 1.5 for losses) at Nebraska and 6 stops against Washington State. He then had a game-high 10 tackles (1 for a loss) at Washington, a game-high 10 tackles (with a sack) against Stanford, 4 tackles at Arizona, 3 tackles (including 2 sacks) at Notre Dame, 11 stops (1 for a loss) and a fumble recovery at Oregon, 5 tackles (including 1 for a loss) and a deflection against Oregon State, 5 tackles at California and 3 stops at Arizona Stae. He had a game-high 8 tackles and a deflection against UCLA. Against Illinois, he had 3 sacks among his 4 tackles and added an interception (returned 19 yards to set up a USC TD) and a forced fumble to earn Rose Bowl Defensive MVP, ESPN.com All-Bowl Team and CBSSportsline.com All-Bowl Team honors. 2006: Maualuga started most of 2006 at middle linebacker as a sophomore and proved to be an impact player. Overall in 2006 while appearing in all 13 games (he started all but Arkansas, Oregon State and Notre Dame), he had a 78 tackles, including 5 for losses of 17 yards (with 2 sacks for minus 8 yards), an interception, 3 deflections and a forced fumble. He made the 2006 Pro Football Weekly All-American honorable mention, Collegefootballnews.com Sophomore All-American first team, All-Pac-10 first team, ESPN.com All-Pac-10 first team, Scout.com All-Pac-10 first team and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 second team and was 1 of 10 semifinalists for the 2006 Butkus Award. He had 6 tackles at Arkansas, then a game-high and personal-best 11 tackles (1 for a loss) versus Nebraska, 4 tackles, including 2 for a loss (with a sack), and an interception at Arizona and a team-best 9 tackles with a deflection at Washington State. He added 5 tackles and a deflection against Washington, a team-best 8 tackles against Arizona State, 7 stops at Oregon State, 5 tackles (0.5 for a loss) at Stanford and 6 stops and a forced fumble against Oregon. He made 4 tackles (0.5 for a loss) against California, 3 tackles and a deflection against Notre Dame, 7 tackles (with a sack) at UCLA and 2 stops versus Michigan. 2005: Maualuga was an effective and often-used backup middle linebacker and key special teams player as a first-year freshman in 2005. Overall in 2005 while appearing in 12 games (all but Hawaii), he had 37 tackles, including 4.5 for losses of 23 yards (with an 8-yard sack), plus he had 2 forced fumbles, 2 deflections and an interception that he returned 9 yards. He also returned 1 kickoff for 7 yards (7.0 avg). He had a team-best 9 tackles (1 for a loss), 2 forced fumbles (both recovered by USC to set up touchdowns) and 2 deflections against UCLA, 6 tackles (with the sack) and the interception at California, another 6 stops against Washington State, 5 tackles versus Stanford, 3 stops (2 for losses) against Arkansas and another 3 versus Fresno State. He made a tackle and returned a short kickoff 7 yards against Texas. He made the 2005 Football Writers Freshman All-American first team and Scout.com Freshman All-American first team. He won USC's John McKay Award (most competitive spirit). Masters are you saying that the competition that Curry played against in the ACC was the same that Rey played against at USC What about the Big games that USC and Rey played on National TV where he made big plays and game changing plays What big games has Curry played and dominated in? Rey has been considered a high 1st round pick for the past seasons, before this last season Curry was thought of as no more than a 2nd or 3rd round pick Everybody has there favorite and while most people want to point out the things that Rey does not do well, how come we don't hear about the things that Curry does not do very well, take a look at the Bowl game against Navy and Curry did not look very impressive and there were a few other games early in the season that Curry did not look that great and its not like Curry did not have other talented players on that Wake Forrest defense and you can't compare the competition that Wake Forrest played compared to the top teams USC plays. IMO I just feel that Rey will be more of a impact player in the NFL than Curry and what team that drafts Rey might be looking at the Defensive Rookie Of The Year, and I am not taking anything away from Curry who I feel will be a good solid player but I feel Rey will be a Pro Bowl type player for many years and a intimating force in the middle of the field and make the players around him better players, he will raise the intensity of the other defensive players around him like Ray Lewis in Baltimore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Masters Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Masters are you saying that the competition that Curry played against in the ACC was the same that Rey played against at USC What about the Big games that USC and Rey played on National TV where he made big plays and game changing plays What big games has Curry played and dominated in? Rey has been considered a high 1st round pick for the past seasons, before this last season Curry was thought of as no more than a 2nd or 3rd round pick Everybody has there favorite and while most people want to point out the things that Rey does not do well, how come we don't hear about the things that Curry does not do very well, take a look at the Bowl game against Navy and Curry did not look very impressive and there were a few other games early in the season that Curry did not look that great and its not like Curry did not have other talented players on that Wake Forrest defense and you can't compare the competition that Wake Forrest played compared to the top teams USC plays. IMO I just feel that Rey will be more of a impact player in the NFL than Curry and what team that drafts Rey might be looking at the Defensive Rookie Of The Year, and I am not taking anything away from Curry who I feel will be a good solid player but I feel Rey will be a Pro Bowl type player for many years and a intimating force in the middle of the field and make the players around him better players, he will raise the intensity of the other defensive players around him like Ray Lewis in Baltimore. If you watch Pac-10 football, then yes I am saying that. In the PAC-10 there is USC and then no one (other than the one team that always finds a way to beat USC). Rey played on USC. He's got Mays, Cushing, and Clay playing there, along with several other great players each year. Because there isn't anything Curry doesn't do well. He can play inside and outside, cover, stuff the run, and rush the QB. He's the complete package and his game tape shows that. While USC game tape shows you Rey over persues, has trouble in coverage (unless simple zone), and his own coaches pull him off the field in passing downs. He also isn't a unanimous best LB on his own team. Wake played Ol Miss (bowl team), FLA St. (bowl team), Clemson (bowl team), Maryland (bowl team), Miami, BC (bowl team) and Vandy. Not exactly a cup cake schedule and compition there. Seeing as how all those teams will be sending players to the NFL I fell Rey will not be an impact player at the next level. Especially in a 3-4 D. He'll be a solid MLB, make a lot of tackles, but he won't light it up. He will have as many big wiffs as he'll have big hits. He also won't see the field on passing downs in the NFL. I also don't buy he will be a leader in the NFL, which makes zero chance of being like Lewis. The players around him make him better, not the other way around at USC. To me, Rey is a solid LB, and I'd certainly use a late 1st or early 2nd round pick on him. He can play right away, so he has value. But not in the top 10. I'd take Cushing over him all day if you made me choose between the two USC LBs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Wake played Ol Miss (bowl team), FLA St. (bowl team), Clemson (bowl team), Maryland (bowl team), Miami, BC (bowl team) and Vandy. Not exactly a cup cake schedule and compition there. Seeing as how all those teams will be sending players to the NFL I fell Rey will not be an impact player at the next level. Especially in a 3-4 D. He'll be a solid MLB, make a lot of tackles, but he won't light it up. He will have as many big wiffs as he'll have big hits. He also won't see the field on passing downs in the NFL. I also don't buy he will be a leader in the NFL, which makes zero chance of being like Lewis. The players around him make him better, not the other way around at USC. To me, Rey is a solid LB, and I'd certainly use a late 1st or early 2nd round pick on him. He can play right away, so he has value. But not in the top 10. I'd take Cushing over him all day if you made me choose between the two USC LBs. - Masters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think BOTH kids are terrific in their own way. If I THOUGHT we had a legit shot at drafting Curry at #5 - I might have dedicated a thread to him. The reason I did this one up is because Rey is often described by the casual fan as a liability against the pass so I thought I'd dig a little. And you know what? It only took a little. All of the more POPULAR pass rushing LBers at USC never strung together 6 sacks in any 1 season the last 4 years and none of them came close to his # of INTs in that span. Since they are out on the edge, SOMETIMES they got walkoff responsibilities in the flats so I was expecting to see more than the sum of 1 for Matthews and Cushing. One of the coolest highlights I saw of Lawrence Taylor was him snagging an INT in the flats and taking it 97 yards for a score. There's your Christopher Columbus of the OLBer position the way EVERYONE dreams it up in the 3-4. Perhaps the BIGGEST thing speaking highly of Rey isn't what was said by his coaches BUT their desire to keep him on the field on 3rd downs during the 4 years. Rey makes ALOT of his highlight reel hits on pass plays so I at least see why Kenny Norton and Pete Carroll loved him in there. It's nice when the opponent thinks he's a badass that wants to HURT them in the middle. Teams have to account for that. That's called presence and it's exactly what we don't have. For what it's worth, ILBers usually just have hook zones so they're not usually going to be known for being on the hip in coverages. One of my FAVORITE ILBers ever was Chris Spielman who used to get PISSED when his team took him out on passing situations/downs. That happened in Buffalo AND Detroit. Never meant he wasn't a good ILBer. As for Curry, he reminds me more of Clay Matthews than Clay Matthews III does. I think he can do everything extremely well. Clay Matthews' greatest asset was his first step brilliance that's usually handed down from God above more so than coaching. It's a blend of instinct and intelligence. When I see highlights of Curry it's usually a diagnosis at the snap where he's making plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. While I see gradual improvement from D'Qwell, I'd PREFER to see him making more plays at or behind the line of scrimmage like Curry does. Just as Clay could play inside or outside - Curry has that same type of flexibity that scouts want. I don't think the conferences they played in will HURT either kid moving forward. - Tom F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Masters Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 I think BOTH kids are terrific in their own way. If I THOUGHT we had a legit shot at drafting Curry at #5 - I might have dedicated a thread to him. The reason I did this one up is because Rey is often described by the casual fan as a liability against the pass so I thought I'd dig a little. And you know what? It only took a little. All of the more POPULAR pass rushing LBers at USC never strung together 6 sacks in any 1 season the last 4 years and none of them Since they are out on the edge, SOMETIMES they got walkoff responsibilities in the flats so I was expecting to see more than the sum of 1 for Matthews and Cushing. One of the coolest highlights I saw of Lawrence Taylor was him snagging an INT in the flats and taking it 97 yards for a score. There's your Christopher Columbus of the OLBer position the way EVERYONE dreams it up in the 3-4. Perhaps the BIGGEST thing speaking highly of Rey isn't what was said by his coaches BUT their desire to keep him on the field on 3rd downs during the 4 years. Rey makes ALOT of his highlight reel hits on pass plays so I at least see why Kenny Norton and Pete Carroll loved him in there. It's nice when the opponent thinks he's a badass that wants to HURT them in the middle. Teams have to account for that. That's called presence and it's exactly what we don't have. For what it's worth, ILBers usually just have hook zones so they're not usually going to be known for being on the hip in coverages. One of my FAVORITE ILBers ever was Chris Spielman who used to get PISSED when his team took him out on passing situations/downs. That happened in Buffalo AND Detroit. Never meant he wasn't a good ILBer. As for Curry, he reminds me more of Clay Matthews than Clay Matthews III does. I think he can do everything extremely well. Clay Matthews' greatest asset was his first step brilliance that's usually handed down from God above more so than coaching. It's a blend of instinct and intelligence. When I see highlights of Curry it's usually a diagnosis at the snap where he's making plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. While I see gradual improvement from D'Qwell, I'd PREFER to see him making more plays at or behind the line of scrimmage like Curry does. Just as Clay could play inside or outside - Curry has that same type of flexibity that scouts want. I don't think the conferences they played in will HURT either kid moving forward. - Tom F. Great stuff Tom. I think all 3 kids out of USC, and Curry will be find success in the NFL, it's just the level of it, where you take them, which is ultimately what you pay them from the get go. When looking at bang for my buck at #5, only Curry is worth that to me. If I am in the top 20, it's Rey and Cushing, and I favor Cushing for his versitiltiy. If you are a 3-4, your asking Rey to play the roll of the banger and you don't pay a ton of cash to a guy to ram his head into the walll over and over. I did like your comment about LT, and when I read that the first thing I thought of was Curry. Those plays are what he has done in college. The kid tied an NCAA record for the most interception returns for touchdown in a season by a linebacker with three ... Owns WF school records for interception return yards in a season (226) and career (256). That's quite a showing for an OLB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted April 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 Great stuff Tom. I think all 3 kids out of USC, and Curry will be find success in the NFL, it's just the level of it, where you take them, which is ultimately what you pay them from the get go. When looking at bang for my buck at #5, only Curry is worth that to me. If I am in the top 20, it's Rey and Cushing, and I favor Cushing for his versitiltiy. If you are a 3-4, your asking Rey to play the roll of the banger and you don't pay a ton of cash to a guy to ram his head into the walll over and over. I did like your comment about LT, and when I read that the first thing I thought of was Curry. Those plays are what he has done in college. The kid tied an NCAA record for the most interception returns for touchdown in a season by a linebacker with three ... Owns WF school records for interception return yards in a season (226) and career (256). That's quite a showing for an OLB. Thanks Masters. Some very good points. I'd LOVE to get Curry at #5 but since that's the case, count on him going anywhere between #2 and #4. I hear what you are saying about the banger thing because a guy like Katzenmoyer whom I adored at Ohio State got the career ending neck injury from too many of those collisions over time. I just HATE the LBing I've seen in Cleveland the last 5 years so I can't help myself with contemplating what it would be like to have a strong presence at ILBer for a refreshing change. Human nature is to want what you don't have. I said this in another post earlier in the year and it might be a little corny. To me - Rey is a MOOD. I go right back to what made me say WOW 4 different times the first game I saw him play. He was absolutely KILLING the guy with the ball. This guy had such forceful collisions that footballs were being jarred loose. I don't think I've ever had the same first impression from another defensive player. So what's this MOOD thing I speak of? My favorite team has lacked an impactful defensive player since the day Jamir Miller tore his achilles tendon. Currently, NOBODY in our LBer Corps hits hard enough to cause fumbles. It's about time we CHANGE that complacency which our division has come to expect from the Cleveland Browns. I can't tell you when the last time one of our LBers drilled someone hard enough to pry a football loose. It's almost embarassing because that's supposed to be the nature of a 3-4 which predicates its success on the play of it's LBers. I understand Rey isn't perfect BUT if you stand him up behind Shaun Rogers - how's that CHEMISTRY lookin? Sometimes it's all about the best FIT. If Shaun is taking on all the blockers - that's a pretty good gig for a MEAN basterd like Rey. We lost 2 games 10-6 last year. Can you imagine if we had a guy like Rey getting us some turnovers on nights like that? How about just drilling some WR so hard on a short slant route that he'll never want that pattern again? That's called the presence we long for. I want those receivers crossing Rey's face as terrified as that little kid on the raft in the movie Jaws. I'm in the MOOD!!! I know alot of people are seeing #5 overall and wondering if Rey is a reach. Well, it depends. Back when Ray Lewis was coming out, he didn't get drafted until 26th or 27th overall. ALOT of people were saying he wasn't worthy of upper or middle first round. Guess what? He's only compared with alltime greats today so what did ANY of that pre-draft projecting really mean? IMO, the Browns have to do a better job of dangling performance incentives in front of their newly signed players (ie: body weight, turnovers caused, etc). I think Bryan Cox would work well with this kid as Kenny Norton did. - Tom F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solon16 Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Rey isn't perfect BUT if you stand him up behind Shaun Rogers - how's that CHEMISTRY lookin? No great MLB in my 40 years of life and to me the #1 ingredient to a strong defense and identity. I'd take him at #5 no doubt but I don't have a saY....I hope we trade down and get him but the barton deal makes it a big doubt. I wish someone would would understand that you build a Defense exactly like in Baseball....straight up the middle...NT, MLB, and safety....without those three...it's all meaningless fodor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted April 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2009 Rey isn't perfect BUT if you stand him up behind Shaun Rogers - how's that CHEMISTRY lookin? No great MLB in my 40 years of life and to me the #1 ingredient to a strong defense and identity. I'd take him at #5 no doubt but I don't have a saY....I hope we trade down and get him but the barton deal makes it a big doubt. I wish someone would would understand that you build a Defense exactly like in Baseball....straight up the middle...NT, MLB, and safety....without those three...it's all meaningless fodor. Well said. I thought the Barton signing was a wise choice since he comes from Mangini's version of the 3-4. Barton is at that age where his remaining number of starts becomes unpredictable; but he's at least stop gappage. My 2008 NFL Preview had this to say about Barton heading into last season: "the Jets have looked for replacements but he's managed to stick." He had 15 starts in 07 and I think 16 starts in 08 so like I always say: "there's something warm and fuzzy about a guy that feels he has something to prove." Not only that, BUT if the 1 thing Mangini and Kokinos worried about for Rey was pass D - it could be another reason why they have Barton here. I've gone on record that I don't agree with all that when a good number of Rey's highlight reels forcing turnovers is on pass play. In addition, he had 6 sacks in 2007 on pass plays. For some reason, nobody finds that as impressive as Cushing's career best of 4 sacks or Matthews' personal best of 4 sacks. I swim alone. This will push D'Qwell Jackson to make more stops at the line of scrimmage than in the Wali Rainer territories of 15-20 yards downfield. I saw some improvement with that in 08 but how could it NOT improve with Shaun commanding all the respect from the wide bodied blockers inside? It shouldn't have been overwhelming here. There's room for ALL 3 LBers IMO. I was always hoping D'Qwell would be more of jarring hitter causing loose footballs. He STILL has to improve that first step some to be in that right place at the right time to deliver the type of blows that seperate the football from the opponent. DQ's strength as I see it is he never gives up on a play so he's at the bottom of alot piles of hugging the ballcarriers' ankles. More specifically, a compliment like Rey is ideal here. Barton could see a ton of rotation reps - plus injury filling if need be. He may still have the goodies to beat out DQ and then we could be looking at DQ as our 3rd down ILBer or rotation guy spelling injury and fatigue. Anyone that was Phil's choice has a flame up their crack this year. It boils down to there better be enough giddyup to keep lit fanny in 1st gear or it's going to be "Beau knows pink slip." What might have been "yo quiero" for Opey could very well become "no quiero" for Mangini. Alot of times you hear about freelancers like a Lavar Arrington of 9 years ago or a Rey of today. These guys come out of LBer colleges where they made a name for themselves on first step instinct. IMO, this isn't something as teachable as people want to make it sound. Charles Darwin would say it's an inherent hunting skill the young man is blessed with. While Arrington didn't have the LONGEST career, he packed in a few Pro Bowls and made a big enough name for himself to where the Giants gave him one of the better FA paydays I've seen for a LBer. Unfortunately for them, Nostradamus wasn't in charge of where to place cap commitment just like he wasn't here to tell us the Bentley would stay parked. The 1 thing you CANNOT predict is what player is going to get the freaky career ending injury or turn into Chinabones like Courtney Brown did. That wasn't on any of their resumes. I can't tell you how many BIG commitments we've made that ended up on IR. I can tell you it's felt like an extended episode of General Hospital. If someone did a study of what team had the highest salaries on IR since 1999, we'd finally rank 1st at something. - Tom F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solon16 Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 ''I've got him coming so fast that when a running back sees it's Rey Maualuga, he will cut back into the rest of the defense. It looks like he's overrunning, but he's really doing what I coached him to do. I coached him to be a north-south guy.'' "Norton" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Masters Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 That really doesn't make me feel any better about him. He still ended up out of position. What RB won't cut back when a LB is clogging your running lane? It's the lack of adjustment when the RB doesn't go where Rey thinks/expects him to go that is a worry to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 That really doesn't make me feel any better about him. He still ended up out of position. What RB won't cut back when a LB is clogging your running lane? It's the lack of adjustment when the RB doesn't go where Rey thinks/expects him to go that is a worry to me. If I can step out of my manlove for Rey for 1 second. The 1 thing I read that concerns me and it has stuck with me is that for USC having such a talented defense - they've been very vulnerable to the big play. I think what happens is these guys get spoiled with all the studs surrounding them and they take risks. On Youtube video of Oregon State, there's 1 play where Rey clogged hole thinking, they got my back. Well, the RB bounced it out and Rey stayed inside after clogging the hole. NOBODY was there at home on the outside when the RB bounced it out. Other examples might be Rey going for the big hit instead of squaring up and he overruns the play. I don't think Rey was as risky prior to his final year. I think SOME of that is feeling spoiled with who is around him. The other part is him wanting to make the highlight reels. And trust me when he misses, we got him on candid camera in here. - Tom F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Masters Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 If I can step out of my manlove for Rey for 1 second. The 1 thing I read that concerns me and it has stuck with me is that for USC having such a talented defense - they've been very vulnerable to the big play. I think what happens is these guys get spoiled with all the studs surrounding them and they take risks. On Youtube video of Oregon State, there's 1 play where Rey clogged hole thinking, they got my back. Well, the RB bounced it out and Rey stayed inside after clogging the hole. NOBODY was there at home on the outside when the RB bounced it out. Other examples might be Rey going for the big hit instead of squaring up and he overruns the play. I don't think Rey was as risky prior to his final year. I think SOME of that is feeling spoiled with who is around him. The other part is him wanting to make the highlight reels. And trust me when he misses, we got him on candid camera in here. - Tom F. Great stuff Tom. It's those things that make me skeptical of Rey and why I think the risk it too high to take him at 5, or any where in the top 15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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