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Tzimisce
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
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Location: Slowly coming to terms with the inevitable
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 Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:04 pm Post subject: Brandon Spikes |
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Does anyone else here think he's become one of the better MLBs in the league since about the middle of last year? He's really developed a nose for the football, and a propensity for blowing up plays when he's allowed to attack the LOS. He's not a sideline-to-sideline guy like Mayo is, or like Urlacher, Lewis and Beason were at their peak, but I think he compares favorably to most of the starting interior backers in the NFL.
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NextBigThing
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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Location: Tuck Rule FTW
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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Instincts; he graded out as a top 3 LB against the run last year and has been just as good this season. He is clutch.
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mcmurtry86
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:16 pm Post subject: |
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If the Patriots win a Super Bowl while Spikes is in town, he will be a very big part of it. The guy has quietly (insofar as national media attention) become a really impressive player and he's one of the few guys I'd say is capable of delivering the type of timely plays that the great 2001-2004 defenders did.
He was excellent down the stretch and in the playoffs and IMO is even better this year. There are very few inside linebackers I'd take over him - especially if you consider his age. |
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Sciz
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
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Location: Iowa
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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Without being accused of ridiculous overreaction, how long before Mayo is the third best LB on the Pats?
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mcmurtry86
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Sciz wrote: | | Without being accused of ridiculous overreaction, how long before Mayo is the third best LB on the Pats? |
He'll never be the 3rd best by any measure except perhaps splash plays.
As good as Spikes is, Mayo is equally talented but more versatile and (as of now) a bit more reliable.
Spikes is becoming extremely good at what he does, but what he does is becoming a bit outdated in the NFL. Mayo and Hightower should - either this year or down the road - end up logging a lot more snaps than Spikes |
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Deadpulse
Joined: 16 Oct 2008
Posts: 5912
Location: Boston MA
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 11:08 am Post subject: |
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| mcmurtry86 wrote: | | Sciz wrote: | | Without being accused of ridiculous overreaction, how long before Mayo is the third best LB on the Pats? |
He'll never be the 3rd best by any measure except perhaps splash plays.
As good as Spikes is, Mayo is equally talented but more versatile and (as of now) a bit more reliable.
Spikes is becoming extremely good at what he does, but what he does is becoming a bit outdated in the NFL. Mayo and Hightower should - either this year or down the road - end up logging a lot more snaps than Spikes |
I wouldnt say a lot. Spikes' snap count is widely and vastly underrated. Last year, if you take out the game he was forced to leave and the game he didnt play much in to end the season due to his return from injury and the meaningless nature of the game, he played 483 snaps out of 636 which is 75.9% of his snaps and a whopping 86.8% in the SB.
So far this season out of 129 snaps he played 84 to Mayo's versatile 128 and Hightowers 79
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finn54
Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 11814
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 11:16 am Post subject: |
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I love Spikes. He's absolutely nuts, but he shows up in big games and has a pretty unique skill set. The pats are gonna need him versus the likes of the Ravens (with Ray Rice) and the Texans (with Arian Foster).
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rabbisson
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
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Location: #PoWwWwWvidence
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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#PoWwWwWwWwW
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treat88
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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Great young player.
Love the ferocity with which he plays the game.
Hope the kid stays healthy and makes multiple All-Pro selections. The tools are certainly there.
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FakingInjuries
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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FF in last minute of the game.
INT in Ravens playoff game last year.
INT in big game against the Jets 2 years ago.
Spikes is very clutch. Love the ENERGY he brings to the defense too. Good at blitzing. He is a big part of the defense.
and if the Pats won yesterday, you can bet Spikes wouldve gotten a lot of national media attention for forcing that fumble.
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mcmurtry86
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Deadpulse wrote: | | mcmurtry86 wrote: | | Sciz wrote: | | Without being accused of ridiculous overreaction, how long before Mayo is the third best LB on the Pats? |
He'll never be the 3rd best by any measure except perhaps splash plays.
As good as Spikes is, Mayo is equally talented but more versatile and (as of now) a bit more reliable.
Spikes is becoming extremely good at what he does, but what he does is becoming a bit outdated in the NFL. Mayo and Hightower should - either this year or down the road - end up logging a lot more snaps than Spikes |
I wouldnt say a lot. Spikes' snap count is widely and vastly underrated. Last year, if you take out the game he was forced to leave and the game he didnt play much in to end the season due to his return from injury and the meaningless nature of the game, he played 483 snaps out of 636 which is 75.9% of his snaps and a whopping 86.8% in the SB.
So far this season out of 129 snaps he played 84 to Mayo's versatile 128 and Hightowers 79 |
Yes, last year he stayed on in a lot of sub packages. I don't see that continuing as Hightower develops unless Hightower starts getting a good number of snaps at DE.
As for his snaps this year, he's played 84 snaps. The Pats have played 72 sub snaps and 57 base and short yardage snaps. Assuming Spikes has played 100% (or 95%+) of the non-sub snaps, he has played 27 of 72 sub snaps. That seems about right to me, though I expect it to drop to about 1/3 or just under. Right now the Pats' sub packages have been almost all 2 LB sets. As they start playing teams that spread the field more, you'll see more 1 LB sets and Spikes' share of sub snaps will drop.
By the end of the year, I'd expect Mayo to be at 85-90%, Hightower at ~65% and Spikes at ~55% - assuming Hightower develops the way we all hope and everyone stays healthy. |
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Tzimisce
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 40597
Location: Slowly coming to terms with the inevitable
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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| mcmurtry86 wrote: | | Deadpulse wrote: | | mcmurtry86 wrote: | | Sciz wrote: | | Without being accused of ridiculous overreaction, how long before Mayo is the third best LB on the Pats? |
He'll never be the 3rd best by any measure except perhaps splash plays.
As good as Spikes is, Mayo is equally talented but more versatile and (as of now) a bit more reliable.
Spikes is becoming extremely good at what he does, but what he does is becoming a bit outdated in the NFL. Mayo and Hightower should - either this year or down the road - end up logging a lot more snaps than Spikes |
I wouldnt say a lot. Spikes' snap count is widely and vastly underrated. Last year, if you take out the game he was forced to leave and the game he didnt play much in to end the season due to his return from injury and the meaningless nature of the game, he played 483 snaps out of 636 which is 75.9% of his snaps and a whopping 86.8% in the SB.
So far this season out of 129 snaps he played 84 to Mayo's versatile 128 and Hightowers 79 |
Yes, last year he stayed on in a lot of sub packages. I don't see that continuing as Hightower develops unless Hightower starts getting a good number of snaps at DE.
As for his snaps this year, he's played 84 snaps. The Pats have played 72 sub snaps and 57 base and short yardage snaps. Assuming Spikes has played 100% (or 95%+) of the non-sub snaps, he has played 27 of 72 sub snaps. That seems about right to me, though I expect it to drop to about 1/3 or just under. Right now the Pats' sub packages have been almost all 2 LB sets. As they start playing teams that spread the field more, you'll see more 1 LB sets and Spikes' share of sub snaps will drop.
By the end of the year, I'd expect Mayo to be at 85-90%, Hightower at ~65% and Spikes at ~55% - assuming Hightower develops the way we all hope and everyone stays healthy. |
So which of the three starting LBs would you favor taking off the field in a 4-2-5 package? Or would Hightower simply move to a 3-point stance in that situation?
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mcmurtry86
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Tzimisce wrote: | | So which of the three starting LBs would you favor taking off the field in a 4-2-5 package? Or would Hightower simply move to a 3-point stance in that situation? |
I thought it was obvious that Spikes is the guy I would take off the field and expect to be taken off in a 4-2-5 alignment most of the time.
Hightower is IMO a better sub package LB and will only get better in that role.
I wouldn't say Spikes is a classic "2 down" LB, but to maximize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses, I'd take him out of most obvious passing situations. That's not to say all 4-2-5 (And similar) formation snaps are in obvious pass situations, which is why Spikes has gotten and will continue to get about 30-40% of sub snaps but I wouldn't expect more than that. |
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NinjaZX6R
Joined: 05 Jun 2011
Posts: 6765
Location: Columbus, Ohio
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Mayo or Spikes on nickel downs? |
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rabbisson
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 28038
Location: #PoWwWwWvidence
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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PFF said Spikes had seven stops last game.
Seems like many of them came toward the end of the game (at least for me) but it's still nice to see.
This young defense could be so good in a couple of years. Really will help ease the Patriots out of the Brady era: just as many of the O weapons and the defense reach the midpoint of their careers, a new QB should be ready to take the reins. We just need some young WRs to truly seal it: I think we hit the position moderately hard next year, especially with a fairly deep class.
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| Iggles wrote: | | This guy gets it. Seriously, the ideas being espoused here need to get to 88 mph so they can go back to the 1950's. |
Last year Brandon Bolden...this year Zach Sudfeld! |
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