How is Malik Hookers tackling?

[ColtsBlitz]

I've only seen one game and parts of others. Every chance he has to tackle he makes it is what it looks like to me. He had a key tackle on Breida that saved a TD. The one on the 9ers TE was excellent, just stopped him too late. I thought it was way overblown and I've only seen proof to back that up. 

[mikey287]

Has anyone made a form tackle this year, including Hooker? Most of our guys just fly up and try to torpedo a guy by leaping into their thigh shoulder-first...I would chalk it up to certain players just being poor tacklers, but since everyone does it, I assume it's just poor coaching. Sorry, I know that's a subject for every other thread...

[Steamboat_Shaun]

51 minutes ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I've only seen one game and parts of others. Every chance he has to tackle he makes it is what it looks like to me. He had a key tackle on Breida that saved a TD. The one on the 9ers TE was excellent, just stopped him too late. I thought it was way overblown and I've only seen proof to back that up. 

 

It hasn't been the huge issue that people made it out to be when he was drafted, but he hasn't exactly been the next coming of Kam Chancellor either.

[Flash7]

I'm assuming that the reason this question is being asked relates to Hooker's pre-drat assessment. Thankfully, his tackling has been good and it does not seem to be an issue.

[will426]

4 minutes ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

It hasn't been the huge issue that people made it out to be when he was drafted, but he hasn't exactly been the next coming of Kam Chancellor either.

Him and Kam can't even be in the same sentence lol. geathers is Kam like hooker you would try and compare to Thomas? But obviously  Thomas is the better tackler. I will say he's made a lot of Touchdown saving tackles when he's the last man to beat and he's willing to tackle which is a plus..if only Morrison and Bostic can tackle and WRAP up then we would see hooker covering more 

[Lucky Colts Fan]

55 minutes ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I've only seen one game and parts of others.

 

33 minutes ago, mikey287 said:

Has anyone made a form tackle this year, including Hooker? Most of our guys just fly up and try to torpedo a guy by leaping into their thigh shoulder-first

 

I mentioned this awhile back, Hooker has a tendency to turn his head AND go low when tackling the ball-carrier, especially near the sideline.

 

He makes the tackle, but he'll be lucky not to catch a knee to the back of the helmet the way he is making tackles.

 

10 minutes ago, will426 said:

But obviously  Thomas is the better tackler.

 

Hooker should emulate Thomas when tackling.  As much as I love Bob Sanders, launching your body like a torpedo instead of wrapping up and tackling is a good way to shorten your NFL career.

[will426]

Just now, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

 

I mentioned this awhile back, Hooker has a tendency to turn his head AND go low when tackling the ball-carrier, especially near the sideline.

 

He makes the tackle, but he'll be lucky not to catch a knee to the back of the helmet the way he is making tackles.

 

 

Hooker should emulate Thomas when tackling.  As much as I love Bob Sanders, launching your body like a torpedo instead of wrapping up and tackling is a good way to shorten your NFL career.

 you're def right about that I like that he's made the tackles that he's had to make though so far he's not missing them even our corners tackle great well not Melvin..it's really the Inside backers who can't tackle for anything 

[Boiler_Colt]

He's been adequate that's about it. Just needs to work on wrapping up like most of our team does. If he had stopped Kittle just short of the goal line on 4th down it would have added to his growing cult status around here but credit Kittle for powering through it.

[ColtsBlitz]

32 minutes ago, Boiler_Colt said:

He's been adequate that's about it. Just needs to work on wrapping up like most of our team does. If he had stopped Kittle just short of the goal line on 4th down it would have added to his growing cult status around here but credit Kittle for powering through it.

I thought he got there in time and made the stop initially. It was the extra effort by Kittle that got him in. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

So far Hooker has been Good IMO on a scale of Average, Above Average, Good, Very Good, Great. He has held his own, guy is a rookie so he isn't going to become Ed Reed over night.

[BR-549]

6 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

So far Hooker has been Good IMO on a scale of Average, Above Average, Good, Very Good, Great. He has held his own, guy is a rookie so he isn't going to become Ed Reed over night.

Yeah I think so too.  He certainly has not been a liability.... particularly as far as tackling goes and has been pretty good in other responsibilities too.

 

 

[BR-549]

25 minutes ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I thought he got there in time and made the stop initially. It was the extra effort by Kittle that got him in. 

Thats true and that is where the "extra effort" of Hooker should have kicked in too... a battle of will so-to-speak.  But Im not mad at him for it.  He will get it at some point.

[Mister P]

A hell of a lot better than D.Butler's tackling.

[adamthyst]

I think he's doing good enough, but of course, he's a rookie, so it's not going to be perfect. Give him some time to bloom into something special.

[lance_m8]

He has played in a handful of games let the kid grow before we worry about any part of his game he is already one of the highlights of our Defense in his rookie year in year 3 he will be the best FS in the AFC if not the league

[BlueShoe]

3 hours ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

It hasn't been the huge issue that people made it out to be when he was drafted, but he hasn't exactly been the next coming of Kam Chancellor either.

 

I agree. Hooker's strength is at free safety - ball hawking skills. He needs to get low to tackle, and to be honest I would rather he do that so he doesn't get injured. 

 

He is a true center fielder, and it doesn't make much sense to play him close to the line of scrimmage very often.

[will426]

8 minutes ago, BlueShoe said:

 

I agree. Hooker's strength is at free safety - ball hawking skills. He needs to get low to tackle, and to be honest I would rather he do that so he doesn't get injured. 

 

He is a true center fielder, and it doesn't make much sense to play him close to the line of scrimmage very often.

Our ILB suck that badly that's why lol  olbs. Have played great so have the line  Morrison & Bostic are making it hard for many other players and this off coverage ted plays 

[BlueShoe]

4 minutes ago, will426 said:

Our ILB suck that badly that's why lol  olbs. Have played great so have the line  Morrison & Bostic are making it hard for many other players and this off coverage ted plays 

 

I haven't seen us walk Hooker up to line very much. Yeah he has covered the slot, but Farley is who we tend to play in the box. It will be nice if Geathers comes back fully healthy. I believe Hooker and Geathers could become a dynamic duo. 

[ProblChld32]

8 hours ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I've only seen one game and parts of others. Every chance he has to tackle he makes it is what it looks like to me. He had a key tackle on Breida that saved a TD. The one on the 9ers TE was excellent, just stopped him too late. I thought it was way overblown and I've only seen proof to back that up. 

 

He doesn't have the greatest form, also seen him whif on a few tackles. He lowers his head too much and tries to shoe string tackle. He did have a Touchdown saving tackle on Breida ill give him that. He definitely needs to improveon his angles of pursuit and form all are teachable.

[azcolt]

He seems to be a young Neon Deion now, which isn’t bad for a rookie and hopefully he will improve as a tackler.

[GoColts8818]

The only two plays that stick out from Sunday as far as tackling was his shoe string tackle that saved at Best a huge gain if not a TD and then 4th down play where he met the tight end and just couldn’t keep the guy out of the end zone but most NFL safeties are going to have that problem against a tight end so I am not concerned.

 

all and all I think he has met expectations to this point if not exceeded them.

[Superman]

7 hours ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I thought he got there in time and made the stop initially. It was the extra effort by Kittle that got him in. 

 

Yeah, Hooker isn't a physical stopper, especially against a guy who outweighs him by 40 pounds. No surprise he gave up an extra yard on that play.

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

5 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

I haven't seen us walk Hooker up to line very much. Yeah he has covered the slot, but Farley is who we tend to play in the box. It will be nice if Geathers comes back fully healthy. I believe Hooker and Geathers could become a dynamic duo. 

 

Usually butler is on the field when he does if farley is on, then he is usually the one doing it. Personally I think Hooker should be playing FS only and not SS when butler is in. Also butler should be playing DB not FS. As for his tackling he doesn't have great tackling technique but I am pretty sure he has yet to miss a solo tackle in open field. He dives for the legs this is him likely adjusting to the safer option of not missing tackles.

The first tackle on that video shows it and then last play on the end shows another one. This is what he is doing to adjust so this doesn't happen

He is capable of big hits

Overall just gotta give him time to improve his technique. Much rather him tackling like this for now instead of missing tackles.

[LockeDown]

Nobody cared about Ed Reeds tackling.  Hooker is much too valuable to us.  I say Leave him in center field making QBs doubt themselves.  

[BlueShoe]

6 hours ago, Jesse Lafantaisie said:

 

Usually butler is on the field when he does if farley is on, then he is usually the one doing it. Personally I think Hooker should be playing FS only and not SS when butler is in. Also butler should be playing DB not FS. As for his tackling he doesn't have great tackling technique but I am pretty sure he has yet to miss a solo tackle in open field. He dives for the legs this is him likely adjusting to the safer option of not missing tackles.

The first tackle on that video shows it and then last play on the end shows another one. This is what he is doing to adjust so this doesn't happen

He is capable of big hits

Overall just gotta give him time to improve his technique. Much rather him tackling like this for now instead of missing tackles.

 

I mostly agree with you. As I (and you and others) have already stated, there is no doubt Hooker is a true center fielder. We don’t need him in the box, because that’s not his game. His strength is to play the ball in the air. He is a natural ball hawk. 

 

The first video wont play. It has a copyright attached to it. 

 

The second and third videos are very subjective. The second video is focused on missed tackles in college, and the third video is focused on great tackles in college. We can’t really pay too much attention to these types of videos, because we don’t get a true understanding without watching the entire game tape.

 

Using videos like those can only show the highs and the lows of a player. Someone could put together a Ray Lewis missed tackle video during his NFL career. Anyone watching would likely come away with the wrong impression. It’s kind of like rigging a test study.

 

I think we all understand that Hooker is very inexperienced. He played one year as a starter in college. What a year it was! He has flashed super star potential thus far in the NFL too.

 

I prefer that he tackles low, because I don’t want him making violent collisions on a regular basis. He is too valuable.

[lollygagger8]

I thought the hit Hooker put on that bigger TE Kittle (that looks like he's 12, and we let him catch like 10 passes in a row at the end) on the goal line was pretty good. He was giving up prob 40 lbs on the TE. Hooker lost but if somebody would've been there to help, he would've stopped him. 

[BlueShoe]

15 minutes ago, lollygagger8 said:

I thought the hit Hooker put on that bigger TE Kittle (that looks like he's 12, and we let him catch like 10 passes in a row at the end) on the goal line was pretty good. He was giving up prob 40 lbs on the TE. Hooker lost but if somebody would've been there to help, he would've stopped him. 

 

I agree. I am not really sure why we (this board) tend to focus on things such as Hooker’s tackling. Hooker’s ability to tackle is far from being worrisome to me. That said, I am game to have just about any conversation pertaining to the Colts.  

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

On 10/11/2017 at 8:09 AM, BlueShoe said:

 

I agree. I am not really sure why we (this board) tend to focus on things such as Hooker’s tackling. Hooker’s ability to tackle is far from being worrisome to me. That said, I am game to have just about any conversation pertaining to the Colts.  

It's literally one of his biggest weaknesses that's why people tend to focus on it. No it's not awful as Hooker is not an awful player, but it is still definitely something he has been working to improve and needs to continue to improve.