Well, in all the usual excitement over the newbie Phins, it would seem no one has mentioned how JT has been playing at his new position on the strong side. I've rewatched the Panthers game (JT left late in the second qtr) and so far JT looks "okay" it appears in the preseason they have JT playing more of a "contain" OLB than an up the field type of passrushing OLB at 9:25 in the first Qtr for example, the gap opened to the Qb but JT stayed home and tried to tip the pass. JT did play in a 4 point stance on obvious pass rushing downs, which keeps him on the field. They also occasionally flopped sides with JT and JP. JT did tally two hits on the Qb, one was nice after a cut block by Te King where JT went down on all fours and still popped up and hit the Qb Moore. Alright JT left with about 4 minutes to go in the first half. My take on JT is he still is quite athletic as in he leapt over a down offensive lineman pursuing the ball, and he also knows how to clog a "open" throwing lane, and he probably gets after the Qb better from a 4 point stance than standing up. So what say you? BTW one of the real issues in that game was coverage, or lack thereof, no passrush had time to reach the Qb, the receivers were to open.
I thought JT looked good but I think he is not going full tilt just yet which is fine by me. Come regular season, JT is going to unleash on Sam Baker and Tyson Clabo.
To tell you the truth, JT's game on the strongside may not be what we are all used to being "JT's" he may be more of a throwin lane clogging/pursuit type of OLB. He did some great stuff though, he got low coming around the edge and was just a bear to deal with, Te King ended up having to cut block him to try and slow him down. to me, he still has over half a tank full, maybe 3/4th's a tank, he was leaping downed offensive lineman in pursuit, so he's not some plodder.
Well, that's what is funny Padre. JT has been setting the edge really good. He looks like Roth out there. Just kidding. It's not exactly what we might have expected up to this point, but he's been real solid in that regard and we could really use that now given the uncertainty with Roth. I knew he could do that and has done that before, but when you think of JT, you picture him rushing and crushing the QB. It's kind of reassuring to know that he can still set the edge at a high level. IMO. I'm sure the sacks and the edge rushing pressures, etc, will come in do time. For the most part the preseason schemes are vanilla, so to speak. They're also probably trying to pace him as not to burn him out, so he can stay fresh throughout the season.
I agree. I don't think we are necessarily going JT from when he won DPOY but I think he is going to be real good. I really like what I have seen from the OLB's this preseason in general.
look for special pass rushing packages utilizing Taylor, Porter & Wake to be initiated by the beginning of the regular season
This may sound funny Sceeto, but I sort of expect Q Moses to take over the Rothian battering ram mode and for JT to roam and free lance. I did notice JT still sort of plays low, when he comes around the corner he is sort of squatted down a bit, he did not do that in DC from the stuff I've watched from his time there. In DC though, he did tip 10 passes, I expect at least that, maybe more from him this season.
Yeah. Totally. Normally, I'd say that as well. but he was really setting the edge surprisingly good, IMO. Really good. I remember him forcing more than a couple of runs to the inside. Even the announcers(Griese or Moore or whomever)pointed that out as well. Not that that means everything, obviously, but it was hard to ignore. Like I said before, the sacks and opportunities will come in time....I hope.
I've been leasantly surprised by JT against the run thus far. This regime is pushing him (in a good way) to be a better all around player. Also, his experience on that side in Washington helped, as he was at LDE and playing against O-linemen from an end spot. At least standing up at SOLB he has more of a chance to use his agility. I imagine that with the way Wake runs the arc from a down position, it could be nice to see Porter at ROLB, JT at LOLB on passing downs with 3 down linemen inside them: LDE - Wake (next to JT), DT - Starks, LDE - Merling/Langford/McDaniels (next to Porter). Then you have Sean Smith and Will Allen at corner, Vontae as Slot Corner. Culver and Wilson back at Safety and Bell as shallow safety/nickel linebacker. That Set-up would rush the passer like crazy, penetrate, have GREAT hitting ability, and coverage ability. Boys, our third down defense will be much better this year.
Our pass rush and LB core is going to be night & day better than last year. We have not seen yet what JT can do at this position, we will see some JT/JP/CW packages on passing downs. And I think Crowder and Ayodele could be very solid for us this season. In their 2nd year in Pasqualoni's D, a lot of our D players are going to improve knowing the schemes better and Pasqualoni will be able to roll out some more innovative schemes, especially with all the new tools he's got (JT, CW, Sean & Vontae, Gibril, McDaniel).
