Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

[SidSmythe]

I was thinking about the progress SMITTY has had.

I'm thinking at his age and durability, i think it was good he was injured early in the season instead of later! How sweet it'll be to have him for the playoffs on fresh legs!!

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

It might be if he comes back 100% for the playoff run. I think a bigger blessing is the fact Hood had to hit the field running. People might tag him as a bust but he is playing a complex unselfish position and that is a huge transition coming from college being a one gap penetrator. He is getting valuable snaps that can't be duplicated in practice and in my opinion speeding up his development.

[Oviedo]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

It might be if he comes back 100% for the playoff run. I think a bigger blessing is the fact Hood had to hit the field running. People might tag him as a bust but he is playing a complex unselfish position and that is a huge transition coming from college being a one gap penetrator. He is getting valuable snaps that can't be duplicated in practice and in my opinion speeding up his development.

It forced the defense to commit to getting Hood on the field as an every down player. It worked and he is doing well. I'd like to see us do the same for some other psotions on the defense like CB (Bmac).

Sometimes when you throw someone into the deep end you find out they can swim pretty well.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

It might be if he comes back 100% for the playoff run. I think a bigger blessing is the fact Hood had to hit the field running. People might tag him as a bust but he is playing a complex unselfish position and that is a huge transition coming from college being a one gap penetrator. He is getting valuable snaps that can't be duplicated in practice and in my opinion speeding up his development.

It forced the defense to commit to getting Hood on the field as an every down player. It worked and he is doing well. I'd like to see us do the same for some other psotions on the defense like CB (Bmac).

Sometimes when you throw someone into the deep end you find out they can swim pretty well.

That is definately one way to do it. Fortunately for us, he didn't drown. The one player I would like to see hit the field this year is Butler. Pure athlete who showed soemthing in the preseason against lesser competition. Dwyer would be another. Would be nice to see both log some regular season snaps to see if they could be counted on come plyoff time. I'm hoping both have helmets for the Carolina game.

[SidSmythe]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

[quote=JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

It might be if he comes back 100% for the playoff run. I think a bigger blessing is the fact Hood had to hit the field running. People might tag him as a bust but he is playing a complex unselfish position and that is a huge transition coming from college being a one gap penetrator. He is getting valuable snaps that can't be duplicated in practice and in my opinion speeding up his development.

It forced the defense to commit to getting Hood on the field as an every down player. It worked and he is doing well. I'd like to see us do the same for some other psotions on the defense like CB (Bmac).

Sometimes when you throw someone into the deep end you find out they can swim pretty well.

That is definately one way to do it. Fortunately for us, he didn't drown. The one player I would like to see hit the field this year is Butler. Pure athlete who showed soemthing in the preseason against lesser competition. Dwyer would be another. Would be nice to see both log some regular season snaps to see if they could be counted on come plyoff time. I'm hoping both have helmets for the Carolina game.[/quotex9l1eln]

I have a thing for Butler too. Love his size and what I saw in preseason ... He can't be worse than Keenan Lewis at this point.

[Crash]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

Oh FFS.....

[steelblood]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

Hood will be good. But, right now he is struggling on many plays. I rewatched the game the other day and noticed him getting pushed back way too easily. On several plays he held his ground and showed good potential. It will take time. Still, the run D was great. Keisel ran down several plays. He was a beast.

[Shawn]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

Hood shows some potential but needs to get stronger at the point of attack. I suspect the staff has him add about 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

Hood shows some potential but needs to get stronger at the point of attack. I suspect the staff has him add about 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason.

maybe we should have thought of that last offseason?

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

Hood shows some potential but needs to get stronger at the point of attack. I suspect the staff has him add about 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason.

maybe we should have thought of that last offseason?

He did.

Steelers encouraged by Ziggy Hood's improvement

PUBLISHED 4 months and 5 days ago
LAST UPDATED 4 months and 5 days ago

Associated Press Sporting News

LATROBE, Pa. -- No matter the sport, coaches often say an athlete shows the most improvement at any stage of his career between the first and second seasons.

So far, the Pittsburgh Steelers are seeing exactly that in second-year defensive end Ziggy Hood.

Hood, the Steelers' first-round draft pick in April 2009, didn't play much as a rookie while making the adjustment from a 4-3 defense at Missouri to the Steelers' not-easy-to-learn 3-4 system. Unlike many first-rounders, he wasn't expected to make an immediate impact. And he didn't.

During this Steelers training camp, he is.

"The game's starting to slow down for me," Hood said. "Everything's better. I'm learning more."

The 6-foot-3, 310-pound Hood is still playing behind Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel, but he's showing the physical side the Steelers expected when they drafted him. Coach Mike Tomlin saw that on the first day of camp, when Hood easily pushed aside first-round pick Maurkice Pouncey during a blocking drill.

"He's taken the kind of jump that you'd expect a second-year first rounder to take," Tomlin said. "This guy works extremely hard and you'd be tough to find anybody who spent more time in our building during the offseason than Ziggy Hood. It's paying off for him and he's playing with a great deal of confidence."

Hood, one of the most frequent visitors to the Steelers' weight room, also is 10 pounds heavier, an asset that may allow him to fill in occasionally at nose tackle. The Steelers have rarely had someone who could play all three linemen positions in the 3-4.

Smith, who is 34, and Keisel, who will be 32 next month, welcome that versatility because it might allow them to rest for an occasional series. For now, Hood isn't starting, but he's starting to show exactly why the Steelers drafted him.

"You can see he's already made huge growth - he's going to be somebody special," Smith said. "If you're good enough, you're going to get on the field. If we get a nice rotation going, it would be nice because guys won't have to play a ton of snaps and it will keep you more fresh. And maybe that fourth quarter we won't be so tired to finish."

The Steelers' defense, the NFL's best statistically over the past five seasons, appeared to wear down last season as Smith (shoulder) and safety Troy Polamalu (left knee) missed most of the season. The injuries thinned their depth and often showed up in the fourth quarter, when the Steelers uncharacteristically lost leads five times.

Those late-in-the-game collapses - the worst of which came in an inexplicable 27-24 loss at home to Oakland - ultimately cost the Steelers (9-7) any chance of returning to the playoffs a season after they won the Super Bowl.

Now, Hood appears much better equipped to step in should a starter go down, a concern to the Steelers as their defensive line ages; nose tackle Casey Hampton will be 33 when the season starts. Due to assorted injuries, Smith and Keisel haven't played a full season together since 2006.

"Ziggy's a big, strong guy. He's a different type animal," Hampton said. "He might be the strongest player on the team. Ziggy can pretty much play on the line where he wants to. I've got that old-man strength. He's got that still-in-the-weight room strength."

Hood's lack of experience held him back last season, when the Steelers couldn't afford to give him much on-the-job training.

"He's still a young guy, and he has a ways to go technically on a few things," Tomlin said. "But we like what we see of him. He has great passion and he's displaying that daily."

Meanwhile, the on-field heat index was above 100 as the Steelers practiced Tuesday. Linebacker James Harrison (sore shoulder) sat out for the third day in a row.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Read more: [url="http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2010-08-10/steelers-encouraged-ziggy-hoods-improvement#ixzz18K5O0s3X"]http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2 ... z18K5O0s3X[/url]

[steelblood]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

Also, rewatching the game, hood looked very stiff to me. His flexibility and agility are not great. It seems he has some trouble bending and staying lower than his competition. He often ends up standing straight up and turning sideways.

[Shawn]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

Hood shows some potential but needs to get stronger at the point of attack. I suspect the staff has him add about 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason.

maybe we should have thought of that last offseason?

I suspect they did.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

His technique will improve with game snaps. "The good and the bad" as a starter is a good sign the potential is there but he is forced in because of injuries. When he could just play...I suspect we will see "the good". Smith & Keisel walked the same path. Smith was raw his rookie year. The light went on quickly for him his 2nd season and he hasn't looked back. Kesiel took longer but he was a stand-out guy on ST. Hood is exactly where you would think he would be given his transition. Now that he got these snaps in, you would expect the big step next season.

As far as his strength, That is not the issue. I watch him too and it is more about leverage and using his hands. It is something lineman on both sides of the ball work on. Hand placement is everything. Smith has the best set of hands in the league and makes him very hard to block. Hood is trying to use strength and his athleticism to overcome and they will all tell you..."The little" things make the difference. If you have quick hands and understand the use of hand placement...You can beat bigger, stronger, faster players...It is that simple. That is a HUGE factor 3-4 DL because it is their job to gain control of the OL, read & flow to the ball while trying to stay engaged to control the gaps. If you don't have good hand placement, and try to do this you could get washed out of the gap with your momentum or driven off the line as you loose leverage on the move. 3-4 DL jobs are to control the gaps and flow to the ball keeping their LBs clean. One gap penatrators, like hood was in college, shoot gap or engage & shed to make play. It is a big transition. You are asking a guy to go from the making the play to playing the system. On top of that, he is going against some vets who have seen everything...And Hood doesn't know everything yet.

[Shoe]

Re: Aaron Smith Injury a Blessing in Disguise???

It might be if he comes back 100% for the playoff run. I think a bigger blessing is the fact Hood had to hit the field running. People might tag him as a bust but he is playing a complex unselfish position and that is a huge transition coming from college being a one gap penetrator. He is getting valuable snaps that can't be duplicated in practice and in my opinion speeding up his development.

It forced the defense to commit to getting Hood on the field as an every down player. It worked and he is doing well. I'd like to see us do the same for some other psotions on the defense like CB (Bmac).

Sometimes when you throw someone into the deep end you find out they can swim pretty well.

YEah, I think it's too much to say "he's doing well". The best you can really say about him is he is getting playing time. As some of the later posters have said, he still has to show a lot more on the field.