After watching this, I'm excited to see what Mingo can do with Ken Norton coaching him.

It's amazing in that we have so many exciting/intriguing pieces in this year's draft/UDFA class, along with a revamped offensive line under Solari, that what a player like Mingo could potentially bring to the team seems totally off the radar. Mingo could rejuvenate his career like Jordan did. This training camp and preseason is going be to the most interesting in a long, long time.

He's exactly what you want in a SLB in terms of his length and activity in coverage and physicality in setting the edge. It's to our benefit that such players are undervalued in today's NFL because it meant acquiring him for good value.

It would cool if Carroll and Norton could deploy more base 4-3 defense, with a SLB, who adds size and physicality to the front seven, but who can also adeptly drop into coverage.

His big weakness has been rushing the passer, which we are not relying on him for. If he blitzes occasionally, earns some snaps at LEO, and can be somewhat active in generating pressure (like Bruce Irvin did for the Seahawks from 2013-15), that would really help the defense. Irvin was never a great pass rusher either, but he was athletic enough to rush throws by generating some pressure on 3rd downs.

Why look at games he played as a pro? I decided to watch LSU games to see why he was a top 10 selection.

LSU plays a 4-3. Mock drafts suggest he should play OLB in a 3-4, but he never played LB at LSU, He was a, hand in the dirt DE. He was playing out of position. He rarely played in space at LSU but I can see the rationale. He's long, athletic, fast and weighed 240lbs.

Rotational player. He was never a full time starter at LSU. He mostly played on passing downs.

Great speed. But when he played on run downs, he will pursue and chase down ball carriers and QBs...as a DE.

I like what the Hawks are trying to do. As a SLB, he'll line up against TEs on run downs and he will win that battle almost all the time. Situational pass rusher. LEO is a great fit. He will use his speed to get around hulking OTs.

IMHO, he wasn't used correctly. He's a situational player. He'll be Bruce Irvin v2.0, who played DE at West Virginia.

It'll be interesting to see how hungry he is because I reckon he'll be pushed by Griffin for that spot. Nice to have the depth, though.

Mingo and Shaquem are not competing for the same position. Shaq will be hard pressed to find a starting spot on this team. Shaq is strictly a WLB and Mingo is the exact opposite a SLB. That being said the SLB doesn't get a great number of reps. Mingo needs to show he can rush the pass or he will be a Garvin type of player this season.

Seafan wrote:Mingo and Shaquem are not competing for the same position. Shaq will be hard pressed to find a starting spot on this team. Shaq is strictly a WLB and Mingo is the exact opposite a SLB. That being said the SLB doesn't get a great number of reps. Mingo needs to show he can rush the pass or he will be a Garvin type of player this season.

I think he means Shaquem competing for snaps at LEO. Probably not big enough to play with his hand down a lot, but maybe he could see a few snaps at LEO in sub packages (obvious passing situations). Speed kills.

Seafan wrote:Mingo and Shaquem are not competing for the same position. Shaq will be hard pressed to find a starting spot on this team. Shaq is strictly a WLB and Mingo is the exact opposite a SLB. That being said the SLB doesn't get a great number of reps. Mingo needs to show he can rush the pass or he will be a Garvin type of player this season.

I don't think they are either. I see Shaq as a "potential" KJ replacement if the Hawks decide to go in another direction at the end of his contract, which is after this year, I believe. I really like KJ and what he brings, but he'll want a big contract, which JS may not want to give him.

I'm not too sure what to think of Bark, though. I haven't really heard his name being brought up during OTAs. I'll get a better eval of him during TC and the preseason games.

Mingo has been missed used as a 34 outside linebacker. This season will be interesting to see what he can do as a pass rusher with less coverage resposablities.

I think Mingo is going to surprise a lot of people as a leo/lb hybrid. He's perfectly suited as a fourth or fifth pass rusher on clear passing downs.

Problem is, a number of teams have given him opportunities at a number of positions, and he hasn't played well at any step along the way. If you can't crack the rotation for the mighty Colts.....

So, I'm not saying he's going to succeed with the Hawks, but I think the previous teams didn't use him correctly.

Looking at the Seahawks Wire clip...why would you line up a 240lbs DE against a 325lbs OT on a run play? Or move him around and have him blitz? He's out of position. He rarely did this at LSU. And the clip shows he struggled. Why is anyone shocked?

However, looking at the clip, he excelled as an OLB in a 4-3 because he lined up against a TE and beat his man on a run play. They also highlighted his pass rush skills....as a DE.

Put him in these positions and he should play well.

The Hawks plays a heavy rotation on the DLine...and I think PC will do this again. Red Bryant, all 325lbs, was our starting DE. But he was replaced by Cliff Avril or Bruce Irvin on passing downs.

Bruce Irvin 2.0

Great athlete, poor footwork. His weaknesses can be overcome with good coaching.