I was just watching the highlight video of Anthony Schlegel at http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/nyj. Now I know that the draft experts have him to slow, and not athletic enough... and I know that it is a highlight reel and they need to be taken with a grain of salt.... But The thing that impressed me the most is how he tackles. He has great form. He doesn't hit you with a shoulder and hope that you fall down. It seems that he always wraps you up and brikngs you down. If he can get his hands on you, you are going down. And as far as slow and not athletic, he seems to have great football speed. Who cares about 40 speed. Its probably only applicable to WRs and CBs anyway. He seemed to be able to close on the ball carrier, and that's what we want in a LB. my 2 cents.
He was second on the team in tackles. That would be hard to do if the ball carrier is able to get past or around you because you're slow or non-athletic since that's what ball carriers do, avoid would be tacklers. Zack Thomas, Vrabel, and Bruschi, do they have good 40 speed? Or are they able to diagnose the play , take good angles, and make the tackle? Maybe they have good acceleration and good football speed.
at first i was one of those guys wondering who the hell schlegel was a why we wasted a pik on him. I now realize y we drafted him, Becaus he hunts wild boar with a knife. this guy is just a smart sound player who might be the toughest guy on our team(even tho hes a rookie). I like his chances to work his way into the starting lineup by mid-season
Actually, I think Mangini will start him day 1 next to Vilma as the other ILB inthe 3-4, at least on 1st and 2nd downs.
It's pretty clear to me that Mangini was looking for his Thomas, Vrabel, Bruschi type when the Jets made this pick. Now, the trick will be to not put those expectations on Schlegel's shoulders until he's begun to show signs of fulfilling them. The best thing that could happen for the Jets and Schlegel next season is that he gets the job done inside and everybody forgets he's there. Then in a season or two we could start talking about what a quiet force he is in the middle of the Jet's 3-4. That's how Thomas, Vrabel and Bruschi got their reps.
The one thing I noticed in most of his tackles is that he leaves his feet and tries to pull down the ball carrier and he doesn't run through tackles. None of his hits on the video were bone jarring except for the one on the pass play. This could just be only the ones on the video but in either case, he will need to work on that because people like Corey Dillon or Daunte Culepepper can't be dragged down they need to be hit and tackled down. Maybe it comes from diving on wild boars and dragging them down. I don't think he will this year but he will definitely contribute.
He tackles like he does, IMHO, from his previous wrestling experience. It really seems like if he gets a hand on you, you're as good as down. Bone jarring hits are one thing, and have their place in the game, but sound tackling technique is so much more important.
That is exactly what I was going to contribute to this post as well. The way he tackles does concern me because there are definetely going to be bigger qbs and hbs in this league that are not going to go down by you wrapping and trying to swing them to the ground. A lot of the times he had the position and momentum to tackle into the guy and he chose to take his side and swing him down. I think that is something that is coachable and something he will be able to learn because there is no doubt that his toughness and heart is there.
I don't know why people keep on commenting on his good form tackling. From what I understand you are supposed to pop the ballcarrier, wrap up, and drive down with your feet. Schlegel does not tackle this way in his highlight film. He seems to rely on his brute strength to hang on to the ballcarrier and if his momentum is not enough to bring down the ballcarrier, he tries to pull the ballcarrier down with his back muscles while he is hanging off the ballcarrier on the ground. If it works for him in the pros, fine, but I can see some problems there if he is not strong enough to do this at the next level. He did set some sort of world record for deadlift though. So, he could possibly still be strong enough to use this way of tackling.
That is just it, he doesn't have sound tackling technique. His technique is perfect right up through contact. But after contact it is almost like he goes limp and then just hangs on.
He looks like a great tackler and doesn't seem to have any trouble tracking down the RB's. We shall see.
I Think The Jets Need A Clause In His Contract So He Doesnt Hunt Boars! This Would Make Kellen Winslow Jr Seem Smart "jets Lose Lb For Life When A Wild Boar Disembowels Him"
