Quick College Note
Posted: November 3rd, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 16 Comments »Boston College plays Florida State tonight on ESPN at 8pm
I’ve talked a lot about BC’s MLB Luke Kuechly. Check him out if you get a chance. Only a Junior, but he’s a tackling machine. #40.
Another reason to love the kid…you know how we do well with players who went to Cincinnati (Cole, Celek, Kelce)…Luke is from Cincinnati. Maybe that would translate over and he could be our first star LB since the Middle Ages.
Luke isn’t a dynamic athlete. Don’t look for highlight plays. Watch for tackles and instincts.
Highlight plays? Im not looking for a forced fumble just yet, how about we learn to stop the run . A tackling machine works for me, actually it works perfect. I think i found my 2012 draft mancrush in Kuechly.
I can see why you think Kuechly would fit on the Eagles. I just saw him fail to shed a block as a guy ran by him for a TD.
Kidding. But aren’t you a little worried he’ll have his worst game tonight? Like when you show a friend something funny you found on the internet and they just sit there with a blank look secretly wondering why they’re friends with you?
EDIT 1: He did just have a nice ST tackle.
EDIT 2: Nearly recovered a fumble.
EDIT 3: Nearly recovered another fumble.
Who has friends???
Tommy, any reason why we have such succes with players from Cincinnati?
Great question. Overachiever types that have great work ethic, some talent, and are very coachable.
I understand both Cole and Kelce, both undersized when they came out but work perfect for the Eagles scheme
Kuechly did have a FF on the first series. He’s made a handful of tackles.
Luke did get walled off by the LT on FSU’s TD run.
Luke just made an amazing fumble recovery on a hustle play 40 yards downfield and just inches away from the sideline. The officials made a questionable ruling and called it a non-fumble.
@Tommy. You mentioned earlier that you feel guys like Zach Brown and Burfict will likely go higher than Kuelchy. While I understand that Luke is less athletic, he’s not a stiff. He’s a purer LB than other LB who will declare in the draft. We talked about how poor 4-3 LBs are at the beginning of the year to rationalize how bad Fokou/Matthews/Chaney looked to start the year. Given that, I can’t see why teams wouldn’t put a premium on a character guy like Kuelchy.
To put it into perspective, Sean Weatherspoon went 19th overall to the Falcons in 2010. While Sean never shuts up on the field and was athletic for Missouri, he’s not Brown/Burfict athletic. I think Luke goes in the 15-25 range. At least, IMO.
Doesnt it depend on how many linemen emerge between now and the draft? It always seems like QBs, O-line and D-line goes faster then all draftnicks expect
I can’t take a player seriously if the defense they play for is routinely demolished.
It just goes to show how little impact a supposedly “stud” MLB can have on a defense. Boston College’s defensive line is woefully outmatched and despite having a playmaker MLB, they give up a ton of points.
Compare that to the impact a beastly DT has on a defense. Whenever I watch Penn State and Devon Still is on the field, PSU’s defense invariably either pressures the QB or forces a negative play in the passing/running game. When Still leaves play, running backs seem to break free into the second level with ease.
If I had my choice of Kuechly or Still in the first round, I’d take Still every time. The trick is to find a playmaking MLB in the 2nd or 3rd round, and spend the 1st round pick on more important positions. The Eagles could have done this in 2010 when they had a shot at both Sean Lee in the 2nd round and Navarro Bowman in the 3rd round. If they want to do the smart thing this year, they should not spend the first round pick on a Kuechly or a Burfict but instead wait to see if someone like Don’ta Hightower or Zach Brown or someone else decent is available with one of their 2nd round picks.
Are you saying we shouldnt have drafted Nate Allen? ohh btw your guy Sean Lee is injuried and missed tackle against the Eagles last game, while Allen did a good job and is healthy
Conceptually, I agree with what you’re saying: Build on the lines. However, our DL is playing very well this year + we have a supposed elite DL coach. Doesn’t that mean we’re better off taking a sure thing at LB who’s a tackling machine and developping DL later? No DE we draft is beating out Cole/Babin/Graham/Tapp. A DT could beat out Landri/Dixon/Laws for #3 if he’s a machine (Laws is a UFA, Dixon on IR).
We could go Kuelchy in RD1 + Worthy with the Cards 2nd rounder.
I don’t know that Tommy or any of the rest of us considered Kuechly a 1st round pick. Mel Kiper does though, but Mel has a lot more 1st round picks than any football team.
Tommy filled us all in on why the Eagles didn’t draft Bowman (who I wanted too) and it makes sense. I’m glad that he has been able to stay clean enough to have a promising career.
Tommy, what are your thoughts on the standout linebacker on the other side (the winning side!) of last night’s game — Nigel Bradham.
Highly-touted recruit leading the team in tackles and has been starting since his freshman year. NFL body and measureables. Physical but can get out-of-control (penalties, prone to getting suckered on misdirection). Coming downhill, he gets there fast and with violence. Would seem to have the tools to excel in coverage, but I don’t have a real read on his coverage skills. Might be helped by playing in front of defensive line that has been dominating the last two years.
Do you see him as 4-3 MLB? What round?
Tommy:
I’ve included this comment here, rather than “know the enemy,” because I’m just getting caught up on your posts . . . and time waits for no man.
I responding to your article on the Eagles’ running game, and LeSean McCoy specifically,
I’ve been suggesting P_P_K that McCoy is the closest thing the NFL’s had to Gale Sayers in 40 years. (Barry Sanders had moves and spins. But in terms of lateral cuts that turn vertical in 1 step, I think McCoy’s better. In fact, Sanders was usually removed on short yardage plays.)
Here’s a link to some Sayer’s highlights.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d80747eb6/Top-Ten-Elusive-Runners-Gale-Sayers
It’s eerie how much he and Shady resemble each other, even holding the ball out like a loaf of bread.
The one difference: Sayers seems to have had more straight-line.
Re: Morton’s comment that he’d shy away from high profile college defensive players on bad defensive teams.
Patrick Willis dominated at Old Miss. I saw him against LSU his last year — in a game LSU, behind Jamarcus Russell, won by 40 points or so.
You didn’t need to be an NFL scout to know that Willis was dominant. Even though the Rebels’ defense was a joke.
He just had no help.
Which reminds me of how, in 1974, the Dallas Cowboys started to game-plan for Bill Bergey.
In the first game that season, on MNF, the Eagles upset the ‘boys 13-10. The key play was a 96-yard fumble return by Bird Lavendar after Bergey dismembered RB Doug Denison from the ball at the Eagles’ 1-yard line.
Bergey finished with something like 18 tackles.
Anyway, after that game, ‘Boys coach Tom Landry decided to use a little misdirection to force Bergey to hesitate for an instant and let the Cowboy lineman get on him and tie him up in traffic. The Eagles, back then, had no one to compensate for Bergey.
Is there any doubt Bergey was one of the most dominant MLBs of any era? (I think he’s been terribly shortchanged by the HOF voters because of how bad the Eagles were.)
Nonetheless, Bergey — by himself — could not make the Eagles defense any good. It took Vermeil, the Swamp Fox, and some good drafting.
This is not to say the Birds should burn a No. 1 pick on an LB. Only that a Patrick Willis-type shouldn’t be judged by the performance of 10 guys who’ll never sniff an NFL training camp.