Malik Hooker

[EastStreet]

30 minutes ago, DougDew said:

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.

A good DL let's a FS break/hawk when pressure starts to get to the QB. He has to hold his zone longer (like you say, sit back) just like a CB hs to hold his man if in man coverage.

[CR91]

54 minutes ago, Freenyfan102 said:

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.

 

Your evidence is a broken play where Watson was flushed and made a hell of a draft? You wanna go back to last year when he was healthy and had the best passing rating. QB didn't have any success throwing his way.

[Freenyfan102]

1 hour ago, CR91 said:

 

Your evidence is a broken play where Watson was flushed and made a hell of a draft? You wanna go back to last year when he was healthy and had the best passing rating. QB didn't have any success throwing his way.

Last year does not mean crap this year means everything and this year he underpreformed

[CR91]

Just now, Freenyfan102 said:

Last year does not mean crap this year means everything and this year he underpreformed

 

This year we were also riddled with injuries on the line. Sheard, Autry, Turay, Lewis all missed time. If you actually understand how a cover 2 defense works, you would know why that impact not only Hooker, but our entire secondary.

[a06cc]

1 hour ago, CR91 said:

 

This year we were also riddled with injuries on the line. Sheard, Autry, Turay, Lewis all missed time. If you actually understand how a cover 2 defense works, you would know why that impact not only Hooker, but our entire secondary.

I urge you to watch film of Turay. He is going to really get it going next season. 

[CR91]

58 minutes ago, a06cc said:

I urge you to watch film of Turay. He is going to really get it going next season. 

 

Never said anything about Turay. I thought he was looking like a menace before he got hurt. It was unfortunate.

[a06cc]

14 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

Never said anything about Turay. I thought he was looking like a menace before he got hurt. It was unfortunate.

I know you didn’t say anything bad about Turay. For joy I was telling you to watch. You are correct about him being a menace especially that KC game. Was getting all sorts of pressure until his injury. 

[CurBeatElite]

On 2/14/2020 at 6:14 PM, Matabix said:

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

 

In 2018, teams definitely were avoiding him.  In 2019, he got targeted slightly more, but for the most part I don't think he's a guy that teams are 'picking on.'  I thought he played more physically last year, and think he can be a very good (at worst he's slightly above middle of the pack, at best potentially top 5 FS in the NFL).  We need to address other issues on this team and everyone's play should improve.  IMO, Hooker's nowhere near one of our biggest problems on the team and not one we need to target fixing anytime in the near future.

 

On 2/15/2020 at 1:48 PM, Chloe6124 said:

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.

 

Kenny Moore is a very good slot CB, but I really don't think he's that great on the outside.  I have a hard time ranking him our 2nd best D player.  

 

I'd say after Leonard, it'd go something like Houston, Walker and then Moore.  I think we have a couple other guys that'll also surpass Moore next year with more time to develop (Okereke, Ya-Sin, Turay if healthy are three that come to mind).

 

On 2/15/2020 at 2:06 PM, 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.

 

If we had a higher scoring offense and we improved our DL, it'd really help our DBs.  I always say Mathis and Freeney, if they get into the HOF, should thank Peyton for allowing them to truly be pass rush specialists.  Neither of them were very good against the run, Freeney was actually fairly awful against the run... but our O scored so much back then, we could make other team's O one-dimensional and just allow Freeney and Mathis to pin their ears back.  If our O wasn't so good back then, I have a hard time believing Freeney would have had as many sacks as he had... he had one job and that was to get the QB because we rarely had to worry about being run on.  Either way, even if our O doesn't significantly improve, we need to improve the DL and be able to get much more consistent pressure on the other QB.

[EastStreet]

7 hours ago, CurBeatElite said:

If we had a higher scoring offense and we improved our DL, it'd really help our DBs.  I always say Mathis and Freeney, if they get into the HOF, should thank Peyton for allowing them to truly be pass rush specialists.  Neither of them were very good against the run, Freeney was actually fairly awful against the run... but our O scored so much back then, we could make other team's O one-dimensional and just allow Freeney and Mathis to pin their ears back.  If our O wasn't so good back then, I have a hard time believing Freeney would have had as many sacks as he had... he had one job and that was to get the QB because we rarely had to worry about being run on.  Either way, even if our O doesn't significantly improve, we need to improve the DL and be able to get much more consistent pressure on the other QB.

Yup. Poorly performing units have all kinds of trickle down impacts. And you're spot on about Mathis and Freeney, especially Freeney. Which is why I'm so big on both iDL and QB. Upgrading both could significantly impact both their sides of the ball, and the other. Those two position needs are miles above everything else (assuming AC comes back). IMO improving both could put us right back in the mix to compete.

[ty4atd]

He was average this season but very good the year before if he can stay healthy he's a high end fridge probowl FS  

[Dogg63]

Hooker has been named to the 'All-PFF Era NFL Prospect Team' (along with Nelson) as two of the best players PFF has ever scouted coming out of college.

 

https://www.colts.com/news/quenton-nelson-malik-hooker-pro-football-focus-all-pff-era-nfl-prospect-team

[Valpo2004]

I think he's underrated personally.  Maybe not elite but an above average player.

 

Even with his draft position, he was selected in the middle of the first round, not the top.  Everyone is expecting pro-bowls, but only 10 players in the first round of his draft have gone to a pro-bowl.  7 of them where drafted above him.  One of those guys is a rather IMO undeserved Mitch Trubinski (Yeah that guy has been to a pro-bowl.  Mostly because a bunch of people ahead of him didn't want to go.)

 

Everyone just wants too much out of him because he was a first rounder and he can't win.  

 

Player 1 - 49 Combined Tackles - 32 Solo 17 assists 2 sacks 4 passes defensed, 2 interceptions.  

Player 2 - 51 Combined Tackles - 30 solo 21 assists, 3 passes defensed, 2 interceptions

 

One of those players made the pro-bowl this year.  The other is Malik Hooker.  

 

Hooker is quickly becoming the most underrated player on our team because everyone seems to have an illogical bias against him.

 

There is this thing about him staying healthy too.  He missed 3 games this year, 2 last year, granted his rookie year saw him on IR after 7 games.  But if you just look at the last 2 years missing 5 games is not that bad.