Why Shaquem Griffin will Make Roster, Where he Could Play

TreeRon

Active member
Joined
Nov 5, 2017
Messages
1,612
Reaction score
9
I would not be surprised if in the long run he ends up as free safety.
I agree.
 

AROS

Administrator
Administrator
Moderator
Joined
Feb 23, 2007
Messages
18,946
Reaction score
7,622
Location
Sultan, WA
Yep Safety seems to be a logical position for him. Time will tell.
 

scutterhawk

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
9,798
Reaction score
1,742
Really good instincts with that kind of speed & power?, yep--> Safety seems like it would be a great fit for him.
Says that he hasn't yet arrived + feels like he still has a lot to prove :stirthepot:
 

sdog1981

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
3,367
Reaction score
240
TreeRon":2kvhqhwo said:
I would not be surprised if in the long run he ends up as free safety.
I agree.


No, he will never play FREE safety. He would play STRONG safety around the box.
 

FinNasty

New member
Joined
Nov 25, 2012
Messages
230
Reaction score
0
The further away you move him from the ball and LOS... the bigger mistake you’re making. Use his speed to attack, not chase...
 

Spin Doctor

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
5,229
Reaction score
2,144
FinNasty":2578qu58 said:
The further away you move him from the ball and LOS... the bigger mistake you’re making. Use his speed to attack, not chase...
I agree with this sentiment, Griffin also doesn't have any experience as a DB, and he has proven to be a dynamite linebacker. He is the type of guy that can go sideline to sideline, and also be a threat as a pass rusher. If he had an extra hand, I bet you he would have been a top ten pick. In training camp and the preseason game against the Colts he demonstrated that he had another trick up his sleeve, pass coverage.
 

Seafan

New member
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
6,093
Reaction score
0
Location
Helotes, TX
DB is not a natural position for him. Defensive Line in the American Athletic Conference is a long way from safety in the NFL.

Using him at Will makes sense. He's too small for LEO. He's Malcom Smith without any LB experience.

I'm not saying he couldn't be a strong safety in the future. He has some things that Irvin didn't. He's really smart and he's relentless. I love that Norton, Wagner and Wright are his teachers. He's got a really good chance to be successful.

The Seahawk romantic wants to see him replace Kam in the new LOB. I wouldn't bet against him but can he master LB this season?
 

Fade

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
5,454
Reaction score
2,988
Location
Truth Ray
He was a stand up rushing end on the LOS in college. The Seahawks are doing the smart thing, and putting him 5 yds off the LOS with his smaller size, and placing him at Will.

Placing him at SS is too different at this juncture. Will is the perfect spot for his skillset, he doesn't have to take on as many blocks as the other linebackers, and gets to use his sideline to sideline speed. SS requires more backpedal, and DB techniques, stuff he would need to learn. He can start right now at Will.

Leave him at Will.
 

jammerhawk

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2007
Messages
10,138
Reaction score
1,752
His speed is something you want to get on the field. It is noticeable when you watch him play. Do agree with those who say keep him at WOLB as he has no experience playing S.

As far as his highest and best use I’d trust the team and coaches to play him at the position where he can be best used. It will interesting to see if the team sees a position change for him going forward, but somehow I doubt it.
 

FinNasty

New member
Joined
Nov 25, 2012
Messages
230
Reaction score
0
Spin Doctor":x6m6nv6z said:
FinNasty":x6m6nv6z said:
The further away you move him from the ball and LOS... the bigger mistake you’re making. Use his speed to attack, not chase...
I agree with this sentiment, Griffin also doesn't have any experience as a DB, and he has proven to be a dynamite linebacker. He is the type of guy that can go sideline to sideline, and also be a threat as a pass rusher. If he had an extra hand, I bet you he would have been a top ten pick. In training camp and the preseason game against the Colts he demonstrated that he had another trick up his sleeve, pass coverage.

He actually was a Safety/DB all his life up until the last 2 years when we converted him. That’s why he is so good in coverage for a LB. That said, he’s a difference maker around the LOS. He’s unique as a LB, with crazy speed, ferocious, instinctive pass rusher, and the ability to cover like a DB, even slide out to the slot based on offensive personnel/formation.

Playing him at Safety full time though eliminates his uniqueness and value as a player. There are safeties out there like him... but no LBs.
 

Mad Dog

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 11, 2015
Messages
2,488
Reaction score
626
I picture him more as a Deone Buchanon deathbacker clone personally. A bit undersized for LB but a bit oversized for safety. So give him the tweener role. Short zone coverages, sideline to sideline run stopper, occasional blitzer.
 

Sgt. Largent

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
25,560
Reaction score
7,610
I wouldn't want to mess with Griffin and experiment with him at safety.

He's got crazy natural instincts around the line of scrimmage.........so continue to groom him to take over for KJ at the WIL LB spot where he can cover TE's, run to the ball and occasionally blitz off the edge.

In the mean time, we've got ourselves a special teams Pro Bowler who's going to be an absolute terror on special teams.
 

TwistedHusky

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Messages
6,878
Reaction score
1,046
I thought he would replace Kam at SS. But he really is not a lights out deathbacker type of hitter. (In fairness, few are).

But he is tremendously fast, chases the play down well, has tremendous instincts and tends to take really good angles.

I still think he can be a stand up pass rush threat, but he does get caught in the wash sometimes. He does a good job of navigating the trash where bodies are all over the ground though.

I suspect he can play safety but you limit his impact there.

He won't replace Kam (but who could??) but he clearly is a great choice at Will.

Again, Sample size of 1. Sure he will have some bad games too, as everyone does, but he clearly showed he is not a novelty.

He is a damn good player with a great work ethic that can play high-level football against NFL talent. He isn't just a great story (though he is a marketer's wet dream). He is a guy that can produce when you put him in there, so since he is producing at WLB - we probably should keep him there.

Weirdly he looks like he would also be comfortable at Mike and I honestly did not expect that. I would like to see more of him to see if that is just illusion or me reading his play weird.
 

Seymour

Active member
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Messages
7,459
Reaction score
22
FinNasty":k1uwxx40 said:
The further away you move him from the ball and LOS... the bigger mistake you’re making. Use his speed to attack, not chase...

You can attack from safety!!!

[youtube]N8HzPWbSimo[/youtube]
 

Sgt. Largent

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
25,560
Reaction score
7,610
Yes Griffin could probably play safety, but like I said above I think that'd be a mistake.

Dude has crazy natural instincts around the line of scrimmage, moving positions IMO would stunt those instincts forcing him to think too much because it's not a position he's used to playing.

Players like Griffin? You just wanna unleash, ball out and don't force them to think too much stunting their abilities.

Pete seems to agree, cause that's what he's doing with Shaqueem so far...............WIL and special teams, and he led the team in tackles in his first pre-season game. Don't mess with that.
 

FinNasty

New member
Joined
Nov 25, 2012
Messages
230
Reaction score
0
Seymour":2e8siv0u said:
FinNasty":2e8siv0u said:
The further away you move him from the ball and LOS... the bigger mistake you’re making. Use his speed to attack, not chase...

You can attack from safety!!!

[youtube]N8HzPWbSimo[/youtube]
Na... he's chasing the guy down right there. That's not attacking and disrupting a play... that's chasing trying to stop one.
 

Pandion Haliaetus

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2013
Messages
3,836
Reaction score
757
Warning: I really got into this.


Shaquem Griffin will make the roster because he’s a very talented, very driven, and very hungry player. He plays with 10x the heart and soul of what you could say are the more entitled, more coddled players who think or believe they can just go through the motions or just cash in without putting in the 100% dedication you need to not only be great but to survive the league.

I.e. if you put Shaquem’s passion, mindset, dedication to his craft with or without his hand into the bodies of let’s say a Harvin, or Christine Michael those guys might have dominated rather than frustrated.

Shaquem’s intangibles are off the charts, that he just makes everyone around him just as passionate and as hungry as he is. In many ways he’s not much different than a young Russ or a young Baldwin... as guys who fought through thier critics and naysayers and adverserities to become top players at there craft and for the most part have always put the team first.

However, despite all that Shaquem Griffin could be great not because of his intangibles but because the dude can straight up ball... he was one of the most explosive and most disruptive players in college last season and possesses imo elite instincts in terms of playing through to the ball. Just great awareness and understanding and great speed and quickness to seal the deal. Close it out.

WLB is a great position for him because in Carroll’s system to my understanding it’s a position that is more read and react towards the ball carrier as well as one that reads offensive keys to defend zones. WLB typically don’t have to be the biggest or fastest but I’d say quick wits and smart instinctual football with awareness and understanding of the gap discipline as well as feeling what your teammates are doing around you is more important.

It’s likely why KJ Wright was a perfect fit for WLB despite being solid at SLB. Wright has great feel and understanding for the game... like great instincts and awareness that makes his football speed much greater than his athletic measurables. I kind of get it why his teammates nicknamed him Spider-Man... cuz he’s got that elite instinct, that Spider-sense.

It was also interesting to learn and maybe because over the last couple of years .net Xs and Os game has been lacking but at times the WLB is asked to play sort of a pseudo MLB which allows Wagner to either free lance or drop back in deep coverage to allow Kam Chancellor/SS to free lance. So that made sense to me as to why at times Wright often filled in for Wagner at MLB when Wags was banged up because at times the WLB to play MLB in certain looks. Why DJ Alexander who backed up Wright last year is transitioning to MLB or was until his injury. And why Shaquem vs the Colts at times looked like he was playing MLB because he was.

And that’s cool to know... Griffin is a WLB on the depth chart but his range, athleticism, instincts, pass-rush acumen, elite speed once he becomes more refined, more adept to what he needs to do to maximize his skillset to be more in tuned to an NFL standard he’d going to be a beast of a chess piece.

To finally ask your 2nd question as to where Griffin can play, pretty much anywhere but DT or a position that within the play-call that doesn’t ask to occupy a blocker but to finish the play, get to the ball. Whether it’s as an edge defender/ pass-rusher (rather than setter), standard OLB, pseudo MLB, money LBer aka pseudo Safety, and he should be able to much with like Irvin’s background able to become a pseudo slot CB able to run with WRs when and if opposing OCs deal a mismatch.

It kind of comes off that I believe Griffin is already going to be an HoF type talent, that’ll be up to him, but he definitely is the ultimate tweener, very capable of handling a multitude of duties if the Seahawks want him to. From what I get from Shaquem, he’s going to be the best whatever the team wants him to be. And he’s going to put in the work and time in maximizing his opportunities to help his team. If the Seahawks, just want him to focus on bejng the best WLB and Special Teamer he can be, then he’s going to do it. I don’t doubt that one bit. He’s going to take his lumps and what not and have his fair share of failures but at some point he’ll fight through everything he needs to, to be the player that he’s needs to be in whatever he is asked to do... mostly because of his love for this game. That’s crazy to me. It’s going to be exciting watching this dude play ball and it makes it so much sweeter that he gets to share it with his broham. And more importantly both brothers are going to be great leaders on this defense... sooner rather than later.
 

Seymour

Active member
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Messages
7,459
Reaction score
22
FinNasty":1inkmze2 said:
Seymour":1inkmze2 said:
FinNasty":1inkmze2 said:
The further away you move him from the ball and LOS... the bigger mistake you’re making. Use his speed to attack, not chase...

You can attack from safety!!!

[youtube]N8HzPWbSimo[/youtube]
Na... he's chasing the guy down right there. That's not attacking and disrupting a play... that's chasing trying to stop one.

Knocking the ball out at the goal line sure hell is disrupting play in this part of the country.
Defenders are always "chasing" since the other team has the ball.
:roll:
 

Tical21

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Messages
5,541
Reaction score
82
He seemed to get caught in the wash a bit on inside runs. SS might be a good fit, except we require the SS to often set the edge, which he really struggled woth at the senior bowl. He is probably in the right place. I'd love to see him at DE in passing situations, to see if he can do it. All with time.
 

Latest posts

Top