I am not sure how bulking up from 220 lbs to 240 will help him take on blockers better when the blocker weighs more than 300 lbs. It's Telvin's speed and agility that frightens them and he knows how to use it.
His issues right now is misreading plays and bad tackling. He's not being trucked by RBs because he's too light.
It's 2014, he's the prototype of the LB of the future. The 250 lbs thumper LBs era has been over for a while now.
Quote:I am not sure how bulking up from 220 lbs to 240 will help him take on blockers better when the blocker weighs more than 300 lbs. It's Telvin's speed and agility that frightens them and he knows how to use it.
His issues right now is misreading plays and bad tackling. He's not being trucked by RBs because he's too light.
It's 2014, he's the prototype of the LB of the future. The 250 lbs thumper LBs era has been over for a while now.
Uh.. 20 lbs of muscle can make a huge difference as to how well you can take on someone.
Quote:When he's too quick for the OL to even touch him like in the cleveland game :
http://www.gfycat.com/MeekBiodegradableAmericanbittern
He should never be put in a phone booth. When he has space, he can and should stay light and fast.
He's a LB not a safety. He needs to be able to play more physical otherwise he will be stuck in his limited role where he can play in space.
The defensive system is meant to put the Will in space and Bradley wil scheme it that way more and more as Telvin gets more snaps. He really is fine at his weight in that context. He's protected by Roy Miller and Red Bryant. This is not an old school D.
He has other issues like play recognition and tackling technique. Weight is not one of them, especially at the cost of his speed.
Quote:I know he's a rookie, and they do have him play in certain packages but with all the flashes this guy has shown why isnt he on the field more?
You probably will see him on the field more over the rest of the season. The guy's still pretty undersized, they need to get him into the off season program and put about 15 or 20 lbs on him. Also he needs to gain some experience, he is athletic as all get out but makes more than his fair share of mental errors. Long term, he should be a good player assuming he can stay healthy.
Quote:The defensive system is meant to put the Will in space and Bradley wil scheme it that way more and more as Telvin gets more snaps. He really is fine at his weight in that context. He's protected by Roy Miller and Red Bryant. This is not an old school D.
He has other issues like play recognition and tackling technique. Weight is not one of them, especially at the cost of his speed.
6-3 218 is too thin for even Bradley's scheme. That's 3 inches taller and only 1 lb heavier than our starting SS.
Bryant and Miller can only protect him so much especially considering Bryant plays on the strong side in front of the sam or otto LB not in front of the wil.
No matter how well he is protected from the o-line, he will still have to contend with lead blockers like FBs and H-backs and right now he is physically outmatched and a liability against formations that utilize those players.
Mike peterson was 6-1 225. He started his career playing weak side and then played middle for us. I think telvin can develop into a good weak side backer for us. The job of our dline is to eat the blockers up so out linebackers can come up and tackle. Telvin just needs to tackle better and make the right gap reads. OTTO/SLB is where a bigger LB is needed. About Ahmad brooks size, like someone else said in another thread.
Seattle is struggling to stop the run right now, not because of their small linebackers, but because they lost both Mebane and Red Bryant.
Quote:Mike peterson was 6-1 225. He started his career playing weak side and then played middle for us. I think telvin can develop into a good weak side backer for us. The job of our dline is to eat the blockers up so out linebackers can come up and tackle. Telvin just needs to tackle better and make the right gap reads. OTTO/SLB is where a bigger LB is needed. About Ahmad brooks size, like someone else said in another thread.
Big difference between 6-1 225 and 6-3 218.
8 lbs on a much smaller frame equals a lot more power.
The jags want him to gain weight. His off season training was designed around him gaining weight. If it wasn't important they wouldn't be asking him to do this.
It's not like he is being asked to get to 240, but he needs to be at least 10 lbs more than where he is at or he will be a liability on running downs.
He will need at least another full off season to get where he needs to be. Next year I expect to see him take over the will spot full time.
Lol, maybe move him to strong safety, that would be worth the hit highlights
Quote:Big difference between 6-1 225 and 6-3 218.
8 lbs on a much smaller frame equals a lot more power.
The jags want him to gain weight. His off season training was designed around him gaining weight. If it wasn't important they wouldn't be asking him to do this.
It's not like he is being asked to get to 240, but he needs to be at least 10 lbs more than where he is at or he will be a liability on running downs.
He will need at least another full off season to get where he needs to be. Next year I expect to see him take over the will spot full time.
That is true, didn't really think about the height as much. What makes telvin a potentially special player is his speed. As long as he can add the strength without losing the speed, like Denard did, then he can reach the expectations he's getting.
Quote:That is true, didn't really think about the height as much. What makes telvin a potentially special player is his speed. As long as he can add the strength without losing the speed, like Denard did, then he can reach the expectations he's getting.
This.
Let me add that he's listed as having started 3 games (out of 10).
He's never going to be the type of LB who excels at taking on blocks and winning those battles. He's an instinctual run and hit LB who can cover with the best of them. I agree he needs to get stronger though and maybe beef up to 225 - but functional strength is more important than weight IMO. He needs to find that balance in strength/weight/speed that will keep him on the field for all three downs. But it will be a mistake if he does anything in the offseason that takes away from his speed. You don't diminish an elite skill for the purpose of becoming average in another.
With that said, I still think that for the rest of the season, he should be seeing 50+ snaps per game and a variety of game situations.
IMO Telvin has exceeded expectations this year. The guy was a 5th round pick and he has been a solid contributor this year. He may be light for the position but he has been a solid contributor on both defense and special teams. The guy is a baller who raises his game when the lights go on. He has been a solid nickle backer. In the modern NFL a nickle backer is very important due to the volume of plays run in that scheme.
To me this kid has real potential. He seems to really love the game and strives on competition. I'm not sure what type of player he will ultimately develop into but he sure is fun to watch.
Quote:IMO Telvin has exceeded expectations this year. The guy was a 5th round pick and he has been a solid contributor this year. He may be light for the position but he has been a solid contributor on both defense and special teams. The guy is a baller who raises his game when the lights go on. He has been a solid nickle backer. In the modern NFL a nickle backer is very important due to the volume of plays run in that scheme.
To me this kid has real potential. He seems to really love the game and strives on competition. I'm not sure what type of player he will ultimately develop into but he sure is fun to watch.
Well, Telvin only fell to the 5th round because he and other Florida State prospects (Timmy Jernigan, Christian Jones) failed drug tests, and also because NFL teams avoid LBs who weigh less than 230 like the plague. Gus Bradley's defense is just a "hybrid" defense with a lot of roles and substitutions so his scheme is more suited to players who aren't prototype sized. He has 2nd/3rd round instincts and 1st round athleticism but teams were worried about him staying out of trouble, and they were worried he wouldn't be able to bulk up enough to translate to the bigger, stronger NFL. But since he has stayed away from the weed and put football first in his life, I think we got ourselves a steal.
As far as the argument going on whether it's his size or diagnosis of blocking schemes that's keeping him limited to the nickel package -- I think it's both. He is well above average at playing zone coverage against the pass, probably already our best LB in space, and that's what makes him a valuable draft pick -- but he needs a lot of work against the run. He is too easily erased from the play once he gets blocked, and that has to do both with his size and he also needs to improve his block shedding technique. Fact of the matter is, if there's one thing we can be happy about as Jags fans (besides the Cincy game) it's our run defense and there was no reason to rush Telvin into bulked up "base" packages when Geno Hayes and JT Thomas are already solid run enforcers. Of course now that Watson is cut and both MLB's are hurt, now we don't really have a choice. But having an every-down LB who is easy to block = teams are gonna run the ball to that LB's side all day and pick up 4-7 yards whenever they want. It can affect a defense's productivity a lot more than people realize, on defense you're only as good as your weakest link, so yes it IS necessary for Smith to bulk up a bit if he wants to see the field more down the line.
Quote:Well, Telvin only fell to the 5th round because he and other Florida State prospects (Timmy Jernigan, Christian Jones) failed drug tests, and also because NFL teams avoid LBs who weigh less than 230 like the plague. Gus Bradley's defense is just a "hybrid" defense with a lot of roles and substitutions so his scheme is more suited to players who aren't prototype sized. He has 2nd/3rd round instincts and 1st round athleticism but teams were worried about him staying out of trouble, and they were worried he wouldn't be able to bulk up enough to translate to the bigger, stronger NFL. But since he has stayed away from the weed and put football first in his life, I think we got ourselves a steal.
As far as the argument going on whether it's his size or diagnosis of blocking schemes that's keeping him limited to the nickel package -- I think it's both. He is well above average at playing zone coverage against the pass, probably already our best LB in space, and that's what makes him a valuable draft pick -- but he needs a lot of work against the run. He is too easily erased from the play once he gets blocked, and that has to do both with his size and he also needs to improve his block shedding technique. Fact of the matter is, if there's one thing we can be happy about as Jags fans (besides the Cincy game) it's our run defense and there was no reason to rush Telvin into bulked up "base" packages when Geno Hayes and JT Thomas are already solid run enforcers. Of course now that Watson is cut and both MLB's are hurt, now we don't really have a choice. But having an every-down LB who is easy to block = teams are gonna run the ball to that LB's side all day and pick up 4-7 yards whenever they want. It can affect a defense's productivity a lot more than people realize, on defense you're only as good as your weakest link, so yes it IS necessary for Smith to bulk up a bit if he wants to see the field more down the line.
That was just an absolute pleasure to read.
Quote:Well, Telvin only fell to the 5th round because he and other Florida State prospects (Timmy Jernigan, Christian Jones) failed drug tests, and also because NFL teams avoid LBs who weigh less than 230 like the plague. Gus Bradley's defense is just a "hybrid" defense with a lot of roles and substitutions so his scheme is more suited to players who aren't prototype sized. He has 2nd/3rd round instincts and 1st round athleticism but teams were worried about him staying out of trouble, and they were worried he wouldn't be able to bulk up enough to translate to the bigger, stronger NFL. But since he has stayed away from the weed and put football first in his life, I think we got ourselves a steal.
As far as the argument going on whether it's his size or diagnosis of blocking schemes that's keeping him limited to the nickel package -- I think it's both. He is well above average at playing zone coverage against the pass, probably already our best LB in space, and that's what makes him a valuable draft pick -- but he needs a lot of work against the run. He is too easily erased from the play once he gets blocked, and that has to do both with his size and he also needs to improve his block shedding technique. Fact of the matter is, if there's one thing we can be happy about as Jags fans (besides the Cincy game) it's our run defense and there was no reason to rush Telvin into bulked up "base" packages when Geno Hayes and JT Thomas are already solid run enforcers. Of course now that Watson is cut and both MLB's are hurt, now we don't really have a choice. But having an every-down LB who is easy to block = teams are gonna run the ball to that LB's side all day and pick up 4-7 yards whenever they want. It can affect a defense's productivity a lot more than people realize, on defense you're only as good as your weakest link, so yes it IS necessary for Smith to bulk up a bit if he wants to see the field more down the line.
He needs more upper body strength to keep the blocker off his body so he can shed him. If the blocker is able to push his way into his chest then he is beat. The offensive guy will be able to control him like a blocking dummy.
Well he's starting this week.
It'll be JT Thomas at MLB.. Geno at "Otto" and Telvin at WLB.
Quote:Well he's starting this week.
It'll be JT Thomas at MLB.. Geno at "Otto" and Telvin at WLB.
The colts running game is in a bit of disarray so that could bode well for him.
They might be forced to throw at him. We'll see if he can make Luck pay.