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 DaneMcCloud:
I recently re-watched several games from the 2018 season and Speaks flashed fairly often but couldn't finish a ton of plays due to his lack of mobility and speed.
His instincts are there and his tackling is fine but he really needed a year to re-shape his body.
I'm not making any predictions for him but I won't be surprised if his play and contributions are greatly improved from the 2018 season due to his apparent weight loss, which should result in increased speed, endurance and agility.
It’s because he was playing OLB. The guy is a DE/DT tweener. Watching his college footage it’s pretty obvious that Sutton was clueless about how to use him. And then he got hurt. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Beef Supreme:
It doesn't speak (pun police) very highly of him if his measurables are somewhere in the neighborhood of Chris Jones and Aaron Donald but he could barely even sniff the field.
He’ll sniff the field now that he’s healthy. 2018 was a wasted year for a lot of guys including Speaks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
It’s because he was playing OLB. The guy is a DE/DT tweener. Watching his college footage it’s pretty obvious that Sutton was clueless about how to use him. And then he got hurt.
While I agree, he was not in NFL game shape his rookie season and it showed.
Judging by his weight alone, it appears he's become very serious about his NFL career and I'm excited to see how his conditioning and weight loss translates this season. [Reply]
I’m excited for Speaks this year. And the potential of Taco as well, not to mention K-Pass and obviously Clark. We have a lot of talent/potential along the DL. [Reply]
I still think Taco wins the starting job, but maybe speaks can make a push down the stretch. It's going to be a busy rotation opposite Clark. Okafor, Kpass, Speaks, and Taco. One previous starter, one high draft pick whos flashed, Then KPass and speaks who are both high draft picks, one semi proven one a complete question mark. If Spags and crew do what they did last year and play guys to their potential this could be a salty rotation. [Reply]
Is there a Kpass highlight or break down from last year? I know he wasnt a pro bowl caliber guy but he made strides. And seemed fierce when he moved inside a few times. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dunerdr:
Is there a Kpass highlight or break down from last year? I know he wasnt a pro bowl caliber guy but he made strides. And seemed fierce when he moved inside a few times.
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
It’s because he was playing OLB. The guy is a DE/DT tweener. Watching his college footage it’s pretty obvious that Sutton was clueless about how to use him. And then he got hurt.
I've hated on Speaks and the Speaks pick quite a bit, but I'll absolutely eat crow if he shows anything this year. And yes, screw Bob Sutton for how he was used. But, I will still never understand the disconnect of taking a player like Speaks when we ran a 3-4 and he had no clear cut position. Unless he was somehow capable of playing 3-4 DE? I doubt it, but something was clearly off. [Reply]
Pretty clear somebody got into his ass about how he showed up last off-season. Don't think he's getting much interior DL time since we already have at least 5 guys in that mix, but he could get some serious playing time at Strong Side DE provided Kpassagnon doesn't end up there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
I recently re-watched several games from the 2018 season and Speaks flashed fairly often but couldn't finish a ton of plays due to his lack of mobility and speed.
.
Which is why i've never left the Speaks bandwagon. For a 1st year DL he was fairly stout against the run and showed flashes as a pass rusher.
This guy seemed to be the epitome of "give him time to develop".
Hell, i thought he'd have a solid season LAST season till he got hurt. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
I've hated on Speaks and the Speaks pick quite a bit, but I'll absolutely eat crow if he shows anything this year. And yes, screw Bob Sutton for how he was used. But, I will still never understand the disconnect of taking a player like Speaks when we ran a 3-4 and he had no clear cut position. Unless he was somehow capable of playing 3-4 DE? I doubt it, but something was clearly off.
Maybe he was taken in anticipation for the change to 4-3 the following offseason. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by patteeu:
Maybe he was taken in anticipation for the change to 4-3 the following offseason. :-)
Not pretending I'm all that familiar with exactly when Speaks was drafted, and how much Sutton was involved, but Uncle Bob was a 3-4 guy. He was never going to switch over to any kind of 4-3 scheme, meaning someone had to be absolutely certain that Sutton was going to be sacked before Speaks was drafted.
Again, I'm not completely familiar with the circumstances, but I seriously doubt management knew they were firing Sutton the day they drafted Speaks.
But Maybe someone who knows the details better than me can explain what happened. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Not pretending I'm all that familiar with exactly when Speaks was drafted, and how much Sutton was involved, but Uncle Bob was a 3-4 guy. He was never going to switch over to any kind of 4-3 scheme, meaning someone had to be absolutely certain that Sutton was going to be sacked before Speaks was drafted.
Again, I'm not completely familiar with the circumstances, but I seriously doubt management knew they were firing Sutton the day they drafted Speaks.
But Maybe someone who knows the details better than me can explain what happened.
Andy Reid was quoted saying that he thought the best defense to deal with today's O's is a 4-3. And that was before the '18 season even started.
So while we don't have direct, definitive evidence that the Chiefs knew Bob wasn't long for this team, we can put 2+2 together. Veach is a "Plan ahead" guy and Reid wanted a 4-3.
