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 CasselGotPeedOn:
Has anyone done a wellness check on staylor?
I’ve said on multiple occasions that I wasn’t a big fan of the Speaks pick. Sure, I thought he’d make the roster if for no other reason than Clark and Danna are the only DE’s we have under contract for 2021. I definitely thought he’d get a year playing his natural position before they considering moving on, but apparently coming to camp in great shape was’t enough to make up for the bad impression he gave the new staff last year. I’ll eat crow on that, but I never hyped Speaks up to be anything special and am on record saying I thought Jessie Bates should’ve been the pick at the time. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
Speaks didn't even get put on the PS we put a punter on there but not him, that's a pretty serious fuck you.
I said it at the time they did it - putting him on the IR BEFORE cut day last season made it clear what they thought of him. Wait one more day and he could’ve returned that season from an injury with an 8-12 week recovery time.
They said ‘no thanks...’ and put him on the IR a day sooner and took the possibility of a return off the table. They very clearly had no use for him and it was obvious by that decision last season.
If they thought he had any value at all to this club they’d have left him a window to return in 2019. They didn’t.
Speaks sucks. Speaks has always sucked. Any assertions to the contrary have always been blind homerism. [Reply]
Originally Posted by staylor26:
I’ve said on multiple occasions that I wasn’t a big fan of the Speaks pick. Sure, I thought he’d make the roster if for no other reason than Clark and Danna are the only DE’s we have under contract for 2021. I definitely thought he’d get a year playing his natural position before they considering moving on, but apparently coming to camp in great shape was’t enough to make up for the bad impression he gave the new staff last year. I’ll eat crow on that, but I never hyped Speaks up to be anything special and am on record saying I thought Jessie Bates should’ve been the pick at the time.
I'm just giving you shit. I thought he'd make it too. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I said it at the time they did it - putting him on the IR BEFORE cut day last season made it clear what they thought of him. Wait one more day and he could’ve returned that season from an injury with an 8-12 week recovery time.
They said ‘no thanks...’ and put him on the IR a day sooner and took the possibility of a return off the table. They very clearly had no use for him and it was obvious by that decision last season.
If they thought he had any value at all to this club they’d have left him a window to return in 2019. They didn’t.
Speaks sucks. Speaks has always sucked. Any assertions to the contrary have always been blind homerism.
Also if you want a highly drafted guy that hasn't put it together yet, Taco is far more talented in the comparison. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I said it at the time they did it - putting him on the IR BEFORE cut day last season made it clear what they thought of him. Wait one more day and he could’ve returned that season from an injury with an 8-12 week recovery time.
They said ‘no thanks...’ and put him on the IR a day sooner and took the possibility of a return off the table. They very clearly had no use for him and it was obvious by that decision last season.
If they thought he had any value at all to this club they’d have left him a window to return in 2019. They didn’t.
Speaks sucks. Speaks has always sucked. Any assertions to the contrary have always been blind homerism.
And, yet, Veach saw the need to actually trade up for him. Was he really that worried that some other team was targeting him? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
And, yet, Veach saw the need to actually trade up for him. Was he really that worried that some other team was targeting him?
By his words, he thought there was a sharp drop off in pass rush talent, and if the Chiefs wanted to acquire somebody in the draft to help them in that department, it was now or never.
It's clear that he's learned his lesson from the past two drafts he's put together. Not every player will work out, and some of them may fizzle out just as quickly as Speaks did, but I think Veach is confident enough in himself now that if he perceives a particular "need" to fill a hole through the draft, he goes the other way and just trusts his own process in finding solutions elsewhere. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
By his words, he thought there was a sharp drop off in pass rush talent, and if the Chiefs wanted to acquire somebody in the draft to help them in that department, it was now or never.
It's clear that he's learned his lesson from the past two drafts he's put together. Not every player will work out, and some of them may fizzle out just as quickly as Speaks did, but I think Veach is confident enough in himself now that if he perceives a particular "need" to fill a hole through the draft, he goes the other way and just trusts his own process in finding solutions elsewhere.
Agreed. It just never made sense. To anyone. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
By his words, he thought there was a sharp drop off in pass rush talent, and if the Chiefs wanted to acquire somebody in the draft to help them in that department, it was now or never.
It's clear that he's learned his lesson from the past two drafts he's put together. Not every player will work out, and some of them may fizzle out just as quickly as Speaks did, but I think Veach is confident enough in himself now that if he perceives a particular "need" to fill a hole through the draft, he goes the other way and just trusts his own process in finding solutions elsewhere.
It should be mentioned that Veach said he wasn't a big " metric fan" and relied more on game film after he drafted Speaks.
Then every draft after that one were full of SPARQ heroes on the defensive side of the ball .
Due to Speaks inability to produce has amended Brett's draft philosophy considering accomplishments and athletic potential. [Reply]