Originally Posted by : Overview
Speaks finished strong in his final year in Oxford, sacking the quarterback six times in the team's final six games from the defensive end position. He started all 12 games for the Rebels in 2017, posting 67 tackles, eight for loss which included seven sacks to garner second-team All-SEC by league media. The Jackson, Mississippi native and four-star recruit was a defensive tackle initially, redshirting in 2014 and then starting two of 13 games played the following year (32 tackles, 5.5 for loss, one sack, two pass breakups). Speaks played in every game again as a sophomore, starting seven, making 28 tackles, 1.5 for loss, and a sack.
Originally Posted by : Strengths
Big man with good speed and plus athletic ability
Has experience at a variety of spots along defensive line
Has size and length to play in odd or even front
Punches with good hand placement, arm extension and rolled hips when allowed to two-gap
Has attitude and edge
Flashes potential to become more proficient with hands as a weapon
Able to play ahead of move blocks and disrupt into backside gaps
Plays with plus awareness
Responds well to flow of the play
Offers a little more pass rush than expected as power end
Pairs hands and feet to help free him as interior rusher along the edge
Arm-over move has some potential
Weaknesses
Had just one season of big production
Inconsistent at leveraging gap
Plays top-heavy with high pad level
Allows blockers under his pads when attacking gaps
Hip-tightness leads to narrowing of his base
Struggles to hold ground against down blocks and can be rolled out of the gap
Has straight line speed, but lateral agility and foot quickness are average in tight quarters
Goes over the edge with emotions
Chippy hitter willing to lead with helmet when play is ending
Ejected for targeting against Kentucky and ejected against Mississippi State for two unsportsmanlike penalties
Reid says Brett Veach "wore him out" watching tape on Speaks. Watched all of his snaps from last season, says he never saw him on the ground. Compares him to Tamba Hali with size and metrics.
Originally Posted by Chief Northman:
He will be fine. He has violent hands and a lot of power. He will continue to improve and contribute. Better than KPass already.
This. His pass rush moves are getting better every game. He had decent bend and hand-use against the Pats. [Reply]
Originally Posted by chop:
I'm not taking sides on this argument, but I recall a lot of people here wanted to run Tamba Hali out of town his first year also.
Tamba had 8 sacks and an INT his rookie season. He looked very promising.
He sucked the year after we traded Jarred Allen, he only had 3 sacks that season in 2008.
To put that in perspective he had 3.5 sacks in 2016 with no knees and only starting in 2 games. [Reply]
Originally Posted by chop:
I'm not taking sides on this argument, but I recall a lot of people here wanted to run Tamba Hali out of town his first year also.
Originally Posted by chop:
I'm not taking sides on this argument, but I recall a lot of people here wanted to run Tamba Hali out of town his first year also.
He a good rookie year so I don't think so. I remember when we switched him to OLB when we switched to 3-4 and I remember people around here talking about how shitty he was going to be in that role and then he did great. [Reply]
Eh, the rookie made a mistake by trying not to make a mistake. Not unheard of. Unfortunately it was a costly one. Which usually is the best type of mistakes to learn from. You remember them. [Reply]
I have a simple solution to this roughing the passer stuff. Train the guys to just either grab their passing arm or give them a bear hug until the whistle blows.
Originally Posted by :
Even with such optimism, Veach and Reid were also realistic about their top rookie. Speaks was expected to be a project, someone who could develop while not being a starter this season. A rookie’s trajectory, though, can deviate from the original plan.
Speaks’ snap count per game has steadily increased during the Chiefs’ impressive 5-1 start. Before Sunday, injuries in the previous two games to Dee Ford and Houston, the team’s top outside linebackers, accelerated Speaks’ progression and experience. Houston missed Sunday’s game because of a strained hamstring, and the Chiefs responded by playing Speaks on 76 of the defense’s 78 snaps against the Patriots.
If Speaks continues to have positive, improving results as the season moves along, it’ll be a good indication that Veach’s gamble will prove to be a valuable one.
Originally Posted by :
One difference between Ford and Speaks is that Ford didn’t make his first career start until his 26th game, during his second season. But Ford was confident in what he had already seen in Speaks before Sunday’s game.
“Breeland is ready,” Ford said before Friday’s practice. “This is a big stage for him, and he’s ready. Experience is your best teacher. You kind of figure it out as you go, and the important thing is to not try to make big plays. Let them come to you and do what you’ve been coached to do.”
Ford and Houston have been positive influences for Speaks, a benefit that their coach, Smith, enjoys watching during practices and games. But Smith also said Speaks must be his own man instead of an impressionist. Smith has stressed to Speaks to find the correct footwork, hand-placement techniques and rush patterns that work best for him to gain leverage over opposing tackles.
“Sometimes you get in trouble when you’ve got (Justin) and Dee next to one another,” Smith said of Speaks’ learning process. “He sees Dee, and he’s copying spinning (moves). But I see Breeland like Justin. He’s a power rusher. He’s strong. Use your long arms, use youd stab-and-swipe, your jerks. He’s still coming along and figuring out who he is and he’s getting a feel for it.”
When training camp began, Reid said with glee that Speaks had just one move to get around a tackle when rushing the passer, which is typical for a player who is coming into the league and changing positions. Since then, Speaks has been determined to not give up on plays when his opponent gains an advantage after the ball in snapped. Such effort allowed him to recover the fumble against the Jaguars and create a turnover against Brady.
Last week, Speaks said he has worked to polish a multitude of moves, going from relying on only one to having trust in three various moves.
He employed all three against the Patriots, using his physical gifts and the knowledge he has learned since joining the Chiefs in April. Speaks said he succeeded at times in making Brady and Co. uncomfortable, but didn’t enough in the Chiefs’ first loss of the season.
“It felt like I contributed,” he said. “We knew they were going to attack our weak points. They got a little on us on the run. But we feel like we’ll be back for them.”
He sounds like a good kid. Cautiously optimistic he'll develop into something. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
This. His pass rush moves are getting better every game. He had decent bend and hand-use against the Pats.
Made the comment during the game that he beats his guy frequently. He's just slow so it always looks like he's a step away from contact when he gets pushed outside. That said, he's winning his fair share of battles.
Also -- he seems to recover a lot of fumbles going all the way back to the original post (which still makes me laugh). [Reply]