Watch our future ILB, Dont'a Hightower (Alabama)

[Dee Dub]

Nice! You sold me..Wonder where he'll end up. Top 10?

I'll take that Aussie punter from LSU too...

No, Hightower right now is maybe a back end of round one or possibly an early second rounder. He is a force however right now he is one dimensional. If you noticed last night on passing plays he was on the sideline a lot.

Dub, I didn't watch the whole game, but I saw Hightower in coverage many times and he looked very good. He also looked pretty good rushing the passer. I think he would be a great compliment to Timmons.

I agree. Think about this...if we had Hightower versus the Broncos I'd bet that it would be Timmons who shadows Tebow and not Polamalu. The fact that Hightower is a legit run stuffer I think this frees up Timmons to do more of what he is best at.

[steelblood]

[quote=Dee Dub]

Nice! You sold me..Wonder where he'll end up. Top 10?

I'll take that Aussie punter from LSU too...

No, Hightower right now is maybe a back end of round one or possibly an early second rounder. He is a force however right now he is one dimensional. If you noticed last night on passing plays he was on the sideline a lot.

Dub, I didn't watch the whole game, but I saw Hightower in coverage many times and he looked very good. He also looked pretty good rushing the passer. I think he would be a great compliment to Timmons.

I agree. Think about this...if we had Hightower versus the Broncos I'd bet that it would be Timmons who shadows Tebow and not Polamalu. The fact that Hightower is a legit run stuffer I think this frees up Timmons to do more of what he is best at.[/quote:1ywmho8p]

Hightower does not need to be a 2 down run stuffer for us. He is smart enough for short area coverage and (he proved last night against Hurst) that he is a legitimate power pass rushing DE in nickel situations. In fact, he is big enough to be an interior pass rusher on 3rd and long. Hightower could play all three downs.

However, I'm not sure he is a great value pick at 24.

[feltdizz]

I wouldn't get too excited about any Alabama defensive players during last nights game. That wasn't an offense they were up against last night...

[Lebsteel]

I wouldn't get too excited about any Alabama defensive players during last nights game. That wasn't an offense they were up against last night...

So the Tide was the best defense in CFB because they didnt play any good offenses this year?

[bvillesteel]

I wouldn't get too excited about any Alabama defensive players during last nights game. That wasn't an offense they were up against last night...

That's funny because a lot of what they saw last night was what we had problems with on Sunday. Hightower is a beast and would be the best possible replacement for a player in Farrior who has clearly lost it. I dont know if anyone looked at the kid Gentry but I liked what I saw last night. He blew up the line a couple times yesterday.

[Dee Dub]

Here is the latest from Scouts Inc. on Hightower...

ILB Dont'a Hightower
The more I watch Hightower, the more impressed I am. His size (6-3½, 260) and power between the tackles are second to none, and his thick base and instincts allow him to control things inside and stone ball carriers at the line of scrimmage.

Hightower's overall bulk -- some scouts believe he's gotten up to 270 pounds -- raises concerns about his range, but he did show versatility against LSU by putting his hand on the ground and using a good inside move to get to Jefferson and strip the ball away on a key fourth-down play.

While he could stand to slim down a bit and gain some quickness, Hightower's instincts, physical play and ability as a stack-and-shed defender at the point of attack give him a chance to move from the early-to-mid second round into the later part of the first if he enters the draft as a junior. The Giants and Ravens (who might be in the market for the heir apparent to Ray Lewis) are possible late-first landing spots, while the Panthers could possibly add Hightower early in the second.

[BigRob]

Here is the latest from Scouts Inc. on Hightower...

ILB Dont'a Hightower
The more I watch Hightower, the more impressed I am. His size (6-3½, 260) and power between the tackles are second to none, and his thick base and instincts allow him to control things inside and stone ball carriers at the line of scrimmage.

Hightower's overall bulk -- some scouts believe he's gotten up to 270 pounds -- raises concerns about his range, but he did show versatility against LSU by putting his hand on the ground and using a good inside move to get to Jefferson and strip the ball away on a key fourth-down play.

While he could stand to slim down a bit and gain some quickness, Hightower's instincts, physical play and ability as a stack-and-shed defender at the point of attack give him a chance to move from the early-to-mid second round into the later part of the first if he enters the draft as a junior. The Giants and Ravens (who might be in the market for the heir apparent to Ray Lewis) are possible late-first landing spots, while the Panthers could possibly add Hightower early in the second.

Man, I could see this guy going in the first or 3rd depending on how he runs. That's going to be the biggest determining factor for him.

6'3" 270 lb ILB, Holy ****!

[NorthCoast]

[quote=Dee Dub]

Nice! You sold me..Wonder where he'll end up. Top 10?

I'll take that Aussie punter from LSU too...

No, Hightower right now is maybe a back end of round one or possibly an early second rounder. He is a force however right now he is one dimensional. If you noticed last night on passing plays he was on the sideline a lot.

Dub, I didn't watch the whole game, but I saw Hightower in coverage many times and he looked very good. He also looked pretty good rushing the passer. I think he would be a great compliment to Timmons.

I agree. Think about this...if we had Hightower versus the Broncos I'd bet that it would be Timmons who shadows Tebow and not Polamalu. The fact that Hightower is a legit run stuffer I think this frees up Timmons to do more of what he is best at.[/quote:23zknqjy]

In my opinion, Timmons was a liability in the Denver game. Kudos to their staff for gameplanning. Timmons was being pushed all over the field on those run plays.

[steelz09]

[quote=NorthCoast]

Nice! You sold me..Wonder where he'll end up. Top 10?

I'll take that Aussie punter from LSU too...

No, Hightower right now is maybe a back end of round one or possibly an early second rounder. He is a force however right now he is one dimensional. If you noticed last night on passing plays he was on the sideline a lot.

Dub, I didn't watch the whole game, but I saw Hightower in coverage many times and he looked very good. He also looked pretty good rushing the passer. I think he would be a great compliment to Timmons.

I agree. Think about this...if we had Hightower versus the Broncos I'd bet that it would be Timmons who shadows Tebow and not Polamalu. The fact that Hightower is a legit run stuffer I think this frees up Timmons to do more of what he is best at.

In my opinion, Timmons was a liability in the Denver game. Kudos to their staff for gameplanning. Timmons was being pushed all over the field on those run plays.[/quote:3gm8c03r]

Timmons has never been a real good run defender. never. The Timmons man crush around here will point to his tackles in 2010 but that doesn't tell the true story.

The best run defense I've ever seen Timmons have was 1 play against Denver. He quickly diagnosed the play and tackled the running back for a loss. Granted, he wasn't blocked on the play and had clear vision to the RB but that was still a good play.

He lacks 2 key ILB attributes that don't think he'll ever get.

#1 - Shedding blocks & shifting thru the trash on the inside
#2 - vision to diagnose plays quickly on the inside

I don't really place all the blame on Timmons though. He was brought here to play a position (3-4 ILB) that I don't think he was made to play.

ILB in a 4-3. Yes.
OLB in a 4-3. Yes
OLB in a 3-4. No...we saw that first hand this year.
ILB in a 3-4. Yes but I don't think he'll ever be as successful as what he would be at any 4-3 LB position.

[Dresden]

ILB in a 4-3. Yes.
OLB in a 4-3. Yes
OLB in a 3-4. No...we saw that first hand this year.
ILB in a 3-4. Yes but I don't think he'll ever be as successful as what he would be at any 4-3 LB position.

The odd thing to me is that no one on our staff with any power saw that when he (Timmons) was an average 4-3 Tampa 2 type pursuit backer at FSU and said, "Dude,....Lawrence Timmons in the top 20 ? Uuuuh,...NO."

Would i like to disregard this ?, yes,....but it just seems to continue,.... ie: Worilds.