SomersetHawk wrote:SharkHawk wrote:I don't see Ziggy playing much DT unless he bulks up. He's an outside player. He has incredible leg strength and a frame that CAN bulk up. The question is if he'd need to do it. I think you stick him at DE and he will be a holy terror. No need to use him as a hybrid. If you put Jason Jones at DE full time, he wouldn't do 1/10 of what Ziggy did this year in college (yes, I know... college and the NFL are different). I just don't see the comparo, except that they are both tall and strong. Ziggy reminds me of Bruce Irvin, but stronger. Just a super elite athlete that is wicked fast. I think he'll put up combine numbers like Vernon Davis and teams will see "pure DE" when drafting him.
I was just giving a comparison in the context of the players we have, and though I'll admit I couldn't find any tape of Jones, their physical similarities are freaky, Jones is 6,5 and was 273lbs, with a 4.76 40 time out of college. Ansah is 6,5 270lbs with a 4.74 40 currently listed, though I'd expect him to run in the 4.6's. Of course, they are different players still.
It's interesting you liken him more to Irvin, I trust your opinion and have enjoyed your updates throughout the season, so much so that I was really hoping Van Noy would end up a Seahawk this year after watching his tape (will have to wait til next year). It's also funny that he pretty much shares a lot of Ziggy's tape too, cause he's everywhere on it.
I just thought Ansah was more versatile than Bruce; on a few occasions in Ansah's tape, when he's put in the middle (almost always in a 4) he's been double teamed a lot (and I even saw him triple-teamed on at least one play), and this obviously frees up some room for the other guys to get to the QB, or even Ansah himself (but I doubt it's that 'easy' for him in the NFL). He's also better against the run than Irvin, and that's for a guy that's played very little football! If we were to draft him, he'd no doubt get more time than Irvin has done up until now and this is for a guy that's just going to keep developing.
I've only seen tape of course, and you get to see a lot more of him, but what role would you see him playing on our D, and is he the type of guy you think we should for in the first? (bias aside)
I can totally see what you're saying. I think Ziggy has what it takes to play anywhere. I think it is kind of like Kam in that you COULD play him at LBer and it was discussed, but why do it? He's a great safety. I think Ziggy will be so impressive at DE, that they will stick him there as a 4 down player. He can block kicks on 4th. I think he can hold the run, he can create pressure with a 2 man front. It's amazing. So yeah...he could play anywhere, but teams seem to like guys that specialize in a way.
The difference physically is that Ziggy is built like a TE with skinny (but muscular) track runners legs. Jones has legs like tree trunks, which makes him probably a bit better inside. I think Ziggy has the workrate and strength to hold his own with any lineman in the NFL personally. He owned everybody he played in college, including some really excellent linemen at Utah and Notre Dame.
I can see your point and that his value is that he can come in and play. He's raw, which means you can move him around.
His 40 time is impressive, but his 200 is 21 seconds. I've seen the dude run track. It's messed up. It's like watching Usain Bolt run in Chris Clemons body. Yeah, seriously. I watched the guy run the 200 and was like "Man... that's messed UP. He's a freaking freight train." I saw him play special teams last year and was like "YIKES!!!! THE guy runs like a gunner and is built exactly like Jevon Kearse or Bruce Smith!!!!!!". I am so hopeful that he does well at the combine and kicks butt in the NFL. It would be a wonderful story.
I think Van Noy could be a very realistic target for us next year, because I know personally and for a fact that Pete knows him VERY VERY well and watches him. He knows what Kyle's up to, and I think the Hawks will keep radio silent on Van Noy next draft, just like they did on Russell in this past draft.
Can you imagine Van Noy and Kam both rotating between OLB and Safety giving different looks and one of them blitzing off the edge? It would be lethal. I think the reason they never gave Kam looks at LB this year, is because they realized after camps they didn't have anybody that could slide into safety effectively. There was talk of Winston Guy doing it, but then he fell out of favor over his drug test and practicing, and so I think they'll look at it again. Basically you have 2 LBers out there that are also DB's, but you disguise which is which through who you decide to blitz. That is how the "Lobo" (which as I've said before was designed for Urlacher) was used. BYU does that same thing with Van Noy now and calls him the "Cougar" (for obvious reasons). But he's doing exactly what Urlacher did in college. He has the option (basically he's like a "read/option" defender) that can make a call and blitz, or make a call and switch and cover, or make a call and play as an OLB. It's really a cool system in college, and I think Pete knows it pretty well due to his connections (he's pretty connected to the BYU guys through Sarkisian, and has been around the coaches and done clinics together and such). I think he'd love to roll out the weird 3-3-5 that Patterson (now at TCU) Rocky Long (now at SDSU) and Bronco Mendenhall (at BYU, came from New Mexico with Urlacher) have created and how they use that guy. Kam could be that guy. A player like Van Noy could be that guy. Earl could be that guy. In fact.... all three could, and then THEY are directing what is happening and the OFFENSE has to react. It isn't the other way around.
That is why Urlacher was such a unique talent coming out of college and I think Van Noy is too. I think Ansah is unique due to his size, speed, strength, and learning curve. He's picked up more football in a season and a half than most defensive linemen do in their lives. The reason for the Bruce comparison was sheerly because he has WR speed, yet is a big guy. Bruce isn't huge... but he's a bit bigger than about every WR that's ever lived.
