Malik Hooker

[a06cc]

I’ve seen tons of mentions. I decided the start a thread. What are your personal remarks about him? 

Personally he has to stay healthy. He wasn’t full healthy when returning from that meniscus tear. I’m hoping to see more from him with an improved front four. 

[Smonroe]

People want to judge him based on expectations for a high 1st round pick.  That’s all well and good, but we really just need to judge him as a player.  Once you’re in the NFL, where you we drafted has no bearing on your play on the field.  
 

As you said, his main issue has been with injuries.  He didn’t have a particularly good year, but none of us are privy to his responsibilities in the scheme.

 

All that said, he’s been a serviceable S, probably grades out to a C or C+ in MHO.

[Shadow_Creek]

This is his break out year for sure. Hes got to stay healthy though or he will be replaced.

[EastStreet]

If we get a decent 3T, and aren't bottom 1/3 in pressures, he'll look great.

Needs to stay healthy though.

[CR91]

Hooker imo is a top safety in this league for what we ask him to do within the system. The problem though is playing cover 2 leaves you in a zone and when you can't leave that zone, you'll get beat if there is no pressure. When Hooker is left to roam, there's no one better

[aaron11]

i heard an announcer say Colts play the most cover 2 in the league.  he did what was asked of him for the most part, didnt see many targets this year 

[Thunderbolt]

Looks like a bust to me. No tackles in the last game. That's embarrassing.

[CR91]

13 minutes ago, Thunderbolt said:

Looks like a bust to me. No tackles in the last game. That's embarrassing.

 

You obviously have zero football knowledge if that's how you grade a bust

[DonnieDarko1023]

I think if he can stay healthy (much seems like a big if) he can be one of the best safeties the team has ever had......has Ed Reed like qualities as far as tracking the ball in the air and making plays.....would probably make more plays if the Colts are able to apply more pressure and play more Cover 3 with him at the top of the defense 

Just now, DonnieDarko1023 said:

I think if he can stay healthy (which seems like a big if) he can be one of the best safeties the team has ever had......has Ed Reed like qualities as far as tracking the ball in the air and making plays.....would probably make more plays if the Colts are able to apply more pressure and play more Cover 3 with him at the top of the defense 

 

[1959Colts]

He still seems to be still making a living off of the hype.

[WoolMagnet]

13 minutes ago, 1959Colts said:

He still seems to be living off of the hype.

I do that in every relationship i enter.

smoke & mirrors baby!.....till they figure you out that is. 

[throwing BBZ]

Never has one man done so little and received so much praise.

I am down on him becase he is so rarely where the ball is. 
It seems he has no clue of tendencies. A low football IQ is what it looks like.

[ProblChld32]

17 hours ago, a06cc said:

I’ve seen tons of mentions. I decided the start a thread. What are your personal remarks about him? 

Personally he has to stay healthy. He wasn’t full healthy when returning from that meniscus tear. I’m hoping to see more from him with an improved front four. 

Hooker is a man above average Safety , he’s had to battle through injuries which are a knock against him. And I personally think the defense we switch to is not his strong suit. He excels as a dingle high safety , cover 2 is not putting him in the best position to make plays.

[Jdubu]

16 hours ago, EastStreet said:

If we get a decent 3T, and aren't bottom 1/3 in pressures, he'll look great.

Needs to stay healthy though.

I agree, we get 50% better in pressuring the QB from our dline and this defense, and Hooker, look tons better. When we get either Brown or Kinlaw in the draft or Jones (insert FA DT), this defense will do so much better. 

[EastStreet]

23 minutes ago, Jdubu said:

I agree, we get 50% better in pressuring the QB from our dline and this defense, and Hooker, look tons better. When we get either Brown or Kinlaw in the draft or Jones (insert FA DT), this defense will do so much better. 

Yup. A 3T makes the whole engine run faster. Not really just a 3T, but a pass rush in general.  I think our DBs (and LBs to an extent) will benefit bigly and we'd see so much more hawking than simply hanging on.

 

I also think upgrading at QB will be a huge boost to our D. Our D benefited so much from getting up on teams, and making them one dimensional. That simply didn't happen in 2019.

[twfish]

1 hour ago, EastStreet said:

Yup. A 3T makes the whole engine run faster. Not really just a 3T, but a pass rush in general.  I think our DBs (and LBs to an extent) will benefit bigly and we'd see so much more hawking than simply hanging on.

 

I also think upgrading at QB will be a huge boost to our D. Our D benefited so much from getting up on teams, and making them one dimensional. That simply didn't happen in 2019.

This right here in criminally underrated 

[EastStreet]

16 minutes ago, twfish said:

This right here in criminally underrated 

Not to mention the added stress on the OL, and the keying in on the running game. Impacted every aspect of the team.

[Stephen]

Rather have  derwin james. Hooker has not lived up to my expectations.  I was hoping  he'd  be a beast like ed reed

[Jdubu]

1 hour ago, Stephen said:

Rather have  derwin james. Hooker has not lived up to my expectations.  I was hoping  he'd  be a beast like ed reed

The question is, under the exact same circumstances that Hooker operates under, would James or Reed be any different? You kind of have to have a group to play well not just one guy. Basketball, maybe one guy makes the whole difference. In football, you need several more parts to shut down offenses. Hooker needs more chaos created in front of him in order to allow him to roam free and make plays. 

[Matabix]

10 hours ago, throwing BBZ said:

Never has one man done so little and received so much praise.

I am down on him becase he is so rarely where the ball is. 
It seems he has no clue of tendencies. A low football IQ is what it looks like.

Maybe cause they know not to throw it near him. Just a thought.

[GRUMPY OLD MAN]

20 hours ago, Stephen said:

Rather have  derwin james. Hooker has not lived up to my expectations.  I was hoping  he'd  be a beast like ed reed

yes he is not living up to his hype, this position should be upgraded

 

[runthepost]

On 2/13/2020 at 7:25 PM, CR91 said:

Hooker imo is a top safety in this league for what we ask him to do within the system. The problem though is playing cover 2 leaves you in a zone and when you can't leave that zone, you'll get beat if there is no pressure. When Hooker is left to roam, there's no one better

There are plenty better than Hooker when left to roam. 

[Rackeen305]

On 2/13/2020 at 5:55 PM, Smonroe said:

People want to judge him based on expectations for a high 1st round pick.  That’s all well and good, but we really just need to judge him as a player.  Once you’re in the NFL, where you we drafted has no bearing on your play on the field.  
 

As you said, his main issue has been with injuries.  He didn’t have a particularly good year, but none of us are privy to his responsibilities in the scheme.

 

All that said, he’s been a serviceable S, probably grades out to a C or C+ in MHO.

I believe Hooker is the second best player on defense (just behind Leonard). Once healthy, he could impact games. I'm not calling him Ed Reed, but he has a bright future. It's tough that he was injured by friendly fire.

[CR91]

20 minutes ago, runthepost said:

There are plenty better than Hooker when left to roam. 

 

Care to name them

[runthepost]

3 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

Care to name them

Justin Simmons 

Minkah Fitzpatrick

Harrison Smith

Tyrann Mathieu

Marcus Williams

Eddie Jackson

Kevin Byard

[CR91]

4 minutes ago, runthepost said:

Justin Simmons 

Minkah Fitzpatrick

Harrison Smith

Tyrann Mathieu

Marcus Williams

Eddie Jackson

Kevin Byard

 

Mathieu, Byard, Jackson, Smith are all strong safeties not free safeties. Fitzpatrick I will give you. Williams and Simmons no

[stitches]

Malik tweeting about changes... no idea what this is about:

 

 

[runthepost]

3 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

Mathieu, Byard, Jackson, Smith are all strong safeties not free safeties. Fitzpatrick I will give you. Williams and Simmons no

Mathieu doesn’t play as a strong entirely. He’s in the box, in center field or in the slot. Simmons has the lowest passer rating when targeted. Lead the league with breakups and ints combined. There’s a reason why he was all pro and pff best coverage safety. Hookers rating when targeted was 123, gave up 4 TDs in his zone which were either being late or being looked off by the QB. To me when he’s free to roam he can still give up plays. Simmons eliminates plays, was thrown 23 times more and gave up 200 less yards than Hooker.
Williams- plays how we want Hooker to play. 
 

[CR91]

32 minutes ago, runthepost said:

Mathieu doesn’t play as a strong entirely. He’s in the box, in center field or in the slot. Simmons has the lowest passer rating when targeted. Lead the league with breakups and ints combined. There’s a reason why he was all pro and pff best coverage safety. Hookers rating when targeted was 123, gave up 4 TDs in his zone which were either being late or being looked off by the QB. To me when he’s free to roam he can still give up plays. Simmons eliminates plays, was thrown 23 times more and gave up 200 less yards than Hooker.
Williams- plays how we want Hooker to play. 
 

 

Simmons had one good season in comparison to Hooker who even in a down year was still one of the best. Look at his 2018 numbers. QBs refused to target him.

[EastStreet]

56 minutes ago, runthepost said:

Mathieu doesn’t play as a strong entirely. He’s in the box, in center field or in the slot. Simmons has the lowest passer rating when targeted. Lead the league with breakups and ints combined. There’s a reason why he was all pro and pff best coverage safety. Hookers rating when targeted was 123, gave up 4 TDs in his zone which were either being late or being looked off by the QB. To me when he’s free to roam he can still give up plays. Simmons eliminates plays, was thrown 23 times more and gave up 200 less yards than Hooker.
Williams- plays how we want Hooker to play. 
 

Comparing Fangio's 3-4 scheme  and Simmons to the Colt's 4-3 that runs more C2 zone than anyone in the league is really like comparing apples to hot peppers. 

[DougDew]

Seems like we're always saying how good he could be if something else happened.  

 

 

[EastStreet]

27 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Seems like we're always saying how good he could be if something else happened.  

It's not really an earth shattering concept to think a FS or DBs in general would perform better if we didn't have a bottom 10 pass rush. Especially in a C2 D.

[masterlock]

3 hours ago, Rackeen305 said:

I believe Hooker is the second best player on defense (just behind Leonard). Once healthy, he could impact games. I'm not calling him Ed Reed, but he has a bright future. It's tough that he was injured by friendly fire.

Based on what evidence?

[CR91]

5 minutes ago, masterlock said:

Based on what evidence?

 

Look at the 2018 season when he had the best passing rating when targeted. QBs feared throwing to him.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Kenny Moore is right up there tied with Leonard as best defensive player. I think Moore might even be more important because we have no backup. With Leonard we’ve have Okereke.

[DougDew]

1 hour ago, EastStreet said:

It's not really an earth shattering concept to think a FS or DBs in general would perform better if we didn't have a bottom 10 pass rush. Especially in a C2 D.

LOL.  And Autry would have 10 sacks if we had a better FS.

[EastStreet]

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

LOL.  And Autry would have 10 sacks if we had a better FS.

I've posted the stats before on both our OL and DL. Our OL was top 5 in giving our QB time, and he was second worst in time to throw. Our DL was bottom 10 (I think 7th) in time given. That means opposing QBs had a ton of time to sit back and pick us apart. In other words, the DBs had to hold way to long because the DL coudn't get to the QB. Those stats suggest the opposite of what you are trying to imply.

[Smonroe]

4 hours ago, Rackeen305 said:

I believe Hooker is the second best player on defense (just behind Leonard). Once healthy, he could impact games. I'm not calling him Ed Reed, but he has a bright future. It's tough that he was injured by friendly fire.

 

I'm a Buckeye and I want him to be the player we all thought he could be.  But that just hasn't happened yet.  Could be a combination of injury and scheme.

[DougDew]

20 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

I've posted the stats before on both our OL and DL. Our OL was top 5 in giving our QB time, and he was second worst in time to throw. Our DL was bottom 10 (I think 7th) in time given. That means opposing QBs had a ton of time to sit back and pick us apart. In other words, the DBs had to hold way to long because the DL coudn't get to the QB. Those stats suggest the opposite of what you are trying to imply.

By that measure, if we had a better dline, Odum would have better stats too.

 

Hooker doesn't have to hold anything, because he doesn't cover man.  With a bad dline, he just stays back there a little longer.  What you're implying holds true for a CB, not a deep zone FS.

[Freenyfan102]

He is Pagano last draft bust and Ballard first draft bust you guys tend to forget those to big pass plays against us vs the Texans was toward  hooker and he just let him pass him by.