The nose tackle is a crucial component to the success of a 3-4 defense. A nose tackle that can control the point of attack will allow other players on the defense to shine, and allow some more creativity from the defensive coordinator. One of the more skilled and widely recognized 3-4 defenses in the NCAA is that of the Alabama Crimson Tide. While the thing people tend to focus on most with this defense is the defensive backfield, mainly due to Nick Saban’s expertise, Alabama’s recent nose tackles have also been at the forefront of discussion. We can start by looking at Terrence Cody, whose massive size and potential left many draft fans mesmerized. Following Mount Cody, was Josh Chapman, who was of a much different mold. In scouting circles, the most common way to refer to Chapman was as a fire hydrant. He only stood at 6 feet tall, Keep Reading…

Julio Jones had a big day in the Atlanta Falcons 30-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The star receiver caught 5 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was a long bomb in which Jones roasted CB Nnamdi Asomugha. In looking beyond the stat sheet however, Julio Jones was a crucial element to two other touchdowns, both of which occurred in the first quarter. You may be thinking I’m talking about a big block that sprung a long touchdown run given Jones’ reputation as a devastating run blocker, but I’m not. As a matter of fact, Julio didn’t touch anything on either play, nor was he designed to get the ball. However, a combination of Jones’ presence and Dirk Koetter’s creativity resulted in the Falcons opening up a lead that the Eagles never even threatened.

The first play came on 3rd and 7 with 6:42 left in the Keep Reading…

Physical freaks are exciting. When you read about them, you begin to imagine how good they’d look in your team’s uniform with just a bit of NFL coaching and refinement. On an annual basis, CBS reporter Bruce Feldman puts out his “Freaks List”. Some of these players are actually on the field forces, and some are simply putting up legendary numbers at their school’s weight room. Regardless, it’s something that generates discussion, fuels the imagination, and it at least piques the interest of even the most staunch “all I care about is the tape” evaluators. Most of these guys won’t live up to the dreams we all have for them, but for every prospect that doesn’t quite live up to expectations, another one rises to prominence.

Enter Ezekiel Ansah. The 6’6 270 pound Senior DE from BYU who goes by “Ziggy” seems to be making a tremendous push up draft boards as Keep Reading…

There are some guys who just don’t deserve to fall on draft day. It seems like anyone who has ever watched some film on a guy, knows he’s a bona fide stud, yet he still finds a way to take a tumble. Now, I’m going to take the injury factor out of consideration here. There’s just too much information we could never possibly know about this, and it’s often a valid reason for a player falling. Another potential reason for a fall is character issues, but that’s a controversial issue even amongst arm chair GMs, and not one worthy of getting in to in this article.

However, there are two other cases that seem to occur too frequently, and it results in some really good players sliding down boards. One of these reasons is the “small” misnomer. It’s true that some guys just don’t have the size to play like Keep Reading…

In this post, I wanted to take a break from analyzing players in their rookie season. I wasn’t really sure exactly where I wanted to go with this article, so I just spent much of my “film time” this week going through all the games, and seeing what stood out to me. On this week, and well, almost every week, it was the Seattle Seahawks defense. Now, we’ve all had it forced down our throats recently just how good this unit is. The praise is well deserved. I’m not going to be talking about the recently made popular “Legion of Boom” defensive backfield of Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Brandon Browner, and Richard Sherman like you may be expecting. I’m not even going to feed you more on how big of a Bruce Irvin fan I am.

What I do want to do is give recognition to DT Brandon Mebane. I’m not sure Keep Reading…