McLendon Out For Monday Night, McCullers To Start At Nose

Hope the young man does well,

 

I'm surprised he's starting, maybe he's progressing nicely.

 

ohhhhhhhhh finally !!!!!

 

This is good news. Push the pocket.

 

Casey Hampton was listed at 6-1 and 325. He was at least 350. McCullers is 6-7 and 350 +/-. With a good weight training program, just how much bigger could he be and potentially more powerful than Casey?

At 6-7, is he too tall to play nose tackle?

 

From what I heard he is good at plugging up the holes, but he has another problem. Forgot what it was. Either way I am excited to see what he can do. We need a big powerful NT! Even though McClendon has done well.

Oh yeah Thomas is fat

 

His biggest problem is remembering to get low enough so that he can use his height in leverage against the OL. The plus side is that he knows this and the coaches do as well and have been working with him on it. He is definitely a guy who can crash the center and push him into the guard allowing for someone else to shot the gap and get to the QB or RB.

 

agreed, staying and playing low as he tires has been his problem. hopefully they have rectified this. that's what they said they had been working on with him and that was his downfall out of college I remember. I hope he does well. maybe draft Shelton from Washington to have a great one two punch? hmmmm?

 

This could turn out good for the Steelers .. Mclendon was concussed and now a shoulder injury. Seems like he might have issues staying on the field. Big Dan has had a few snaps this year and has looked good. Not great mind you. He is indeed a work in process. Raw talent but none the less there is alot of talent in a big bruiser like Dan at NT. Not necessarily Casey Hampton but he could be a few years from now.

Wishing Big Dan all the best ..

 

the problem is that cam thomas is healthy

 

I thought the same of McClendon. I don't want anyone to suffer a career ending injury but how many guys got their big break from it

 

I am with you I don't like Thomas at all as a DE . Maybe we should put them both at NT at the same time , line one up on 1 shoulder of the center and 1 on the other...

That reminds me of a crazy DL I coached against they stacked NT'S the down guy was huge and the one behind him was fast it was hell on the OL to know which gap the #2 NT was taking....Hell they even stacked the LB on certain blitzes , very confusing A gap pressure....

 

Unleash Mount McCullers!!!

 

I prefer Thomas on the bench or unemployed. .... says a lot that Thomas is not the starting nose in McClenden's absence

 

Fixed that for you.


Is Tuitt healthy? I think this could be a significant game more for him than for McCullers. With Thomas playing NT, this is the time for Tuitt to make some noise...

 

We drafted mcCullers in the 6th round, he was projected to be a 2-3 round pick, here is his scouting report:

The North Carolina prep began his college career at Georgia Military College in 2010, weighing nearly 400 pounds when he arrived on campus. As a freshman, he appeared in eight games and had 27 tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks with four passes batted, one interception and one forced fumble. Became a top junior college recruit in '11, recording 37-9-2 in 10 games. Transferred to Tennessee in '12 and won the starting nose tackle job in camp, registering 39-5.5-1 with one pass batted, one forced fumble and one blocked kick in 12 games (seven starts). Started 12 games in '13 and had 33-4.5-.5 with one blocked kick. Did not run at the NFL Scouting Combine because of a strained right hamstring.
[h=3]ANALYSIS[/h][h=4]STRENGTHS[/h] Rare size with vines for arms, an enormous wingspan and exceptional mass to occupy space and hold up multiple blockers -- has clear two-gap potential. Looks every bit the part with a relatively lean build for a 350-pounder -- carries his weight well with some muscle definition and good overall body thickness. Can overpower zone blockers with sheer size. Very durable and has not missed any games to injury throughout his career.[h=4]WEAKNESSES[/h] Lets his pads rise (first move is up), gets outleveraged and does not hold his ground as well as a man his size should. Gets turned out of the hole and sealed. Duck-footed short-stepper with limited play range -- does not make plays outside the box. Average body power to roll his hips and generate torque. Limited pass-rush potential (confirmed by 1.5 career sacks) -- is late off the ball, does not collapse the pocket and stays blocked too long. Must improve his hand use to disengage. Exited high school pushing 400 pounds and weight has fluctuated in the past.[h=4]DRAFT PROJECTION[/h] Rounds 2-3

 

I prefer Thomas at nose also...for any team other than us. LOL! I am looking really forward to the game though. I actually wound up with tickets and I really want to watch him play. If he can show as much power in this game as he did against the Texans it could really help our d line.

 

Hopefully he really gets up for this game since it's gonna be sort of a homecoming for him.

 

Cam't Thomas is, dare I say it, soft. It just seems to me that he gets pushed around and manhandled by single blockers. For those of you that watch more game film than I do can you confirm that for me? Is he really as bad as he looks?

As for McCullers, his scouting report above tells me that he has the raw talent to succeed and all he needs is to be coached up. Coach Mitchell does a pretty good job of that overall. I look forward to seeing what he can do Monday night. He's shown flashes this year and I've seen him get good penetration and push the pocket at times.

And for for crying out loud, MORE TUITT AND LESS CAM'T!

 

I saw one play in one of the games recently that sums up Cam Thomas to me. While the rest of the line and LB's were going all out trying to get to QB Cam barely engaged his man barely gave any effort because he knew he wasn't a focal point on that play and gave the least amount of effort possible.

 

Yep. Phoning it in.

I'd be genuinely interested to know what the coaches say about him behind closed doors. I mentioned this in the Mauro thread - sure, he'll be more polished and have more of all-round game than an UDFA, but are the coaches really sold that he's the best person to have in there? Or are they living with their contract mistakes? Does he fit well with what they want to do on D, and just not execute? Or are they talking about how early they can get Tuitt in?