A few notes on Michael Brockers...

[dmq]

Actually, I just watched a video of every play he was in during a Georgia game and I wasn't very impressed. He did make some plays, but he didn't do that much collapsing in anything I saw and he was frequently up against one OLmen. What I did see of a Cox game against Georgia I loved.
Brockers can make it as a Pro, but he is going to have to do it in the weight room. He is a big guy that isn't super fast. His asset is his size. He is very young, so he has a chance to turn in to a terror, but he has to want it. I guess you could say that about any player and that's the part the Cowboy's hopefully have done their research on.

[theogt]

Originally Posted by dmq

Actually, I just watched a video of every play he was in during a Georgia game and I wasn't very impressed. He did make some plays, but he didn't do that much collapsing in anything I saw and he was frequently up against one OLmen. What I did see of a Cox game against Georgia I loved.
Brockers can make it as a Pro, but he is going to have to do it in the weight room. He is a big guy that isn't super fast. His asset is his size. He is very young, so he has a chance to turn in to a terror, but he has to want it. I guess you could say that about any player and that's the part the Cowboy's hopefully have done their research on.

Yeah, that Georgia game was pretty bad. If you want to be turned off on the guy, just watch that game.

The one thing I can say is he has effort on nearly every single play. But it just doesn't get him anything.

[supercowboy8]

Originally Posted by sureletsrace

-He seems to get better as the game goes along. Almost like the offensive linemen are worn down and he's full of juice still.

This is due to LSU rotating their DL every two downs. They are so deep on the DL they kkep them fresh through out the game.

I don't want Brockers at 14 because I think he is all potential. One year in a major college program and still needing strength and technique work doesn't make worth a #14. If Barron, Cox, DeCastro, Ingram, and Gilmore are all gone then trade back and get Brockers in the 20s then I wouldn't be as made because we took Spears in the early 20s.

[SilverStarCowboy]

There looks to be easy upgrades available in the DLine.

[kmd24]

Originally Posted by supercowboy8

I don't want Brockers at 14 because I think he is all potential.

I think this is universally agreed upon, and the thing that scares me about it is that he showed up in poor shape for one of the most important days of his young life. To me that's a red flag with respect to work ethic. I know he's got a reputation for having a good work ethic, so maybe something else was going on.

[jblaze2004]

Originally Posted by CowboysLaw87

I've warmed up to Brockers completely, and think he's worthy of the pick.

Potential + Hard work = Production... he seems to have it. Elite physical traits with tons of room to grow, and a hard working quality on the field.

People say "he can't rush the passer." But he sure can alter the QB's comfort in the pocket, move the QB off his spot, control the edge to lessen the distance the edge rushers have to go to get to the QB... he's a "whole is greater than the sum of it's parts" type guy. At a position of dire need at that.

yeah people seem to forget pushing the pocket so the QB cannot step up and also getting his long arms up can be just as rewarding as pressuring the QB. The problem is our other DE's are easily washed out of the play or stoned at the line. The QB always has a lane to step up. How many times have we seen ware or spencer about the sack the QB only to step up in a clean pocket?

[honyock]

Thanks for this, nice observations and write up. We've heard a lot about what he cant or doesn't yet do. Nice to hear some of his strengths.

[dwmyers]

Infecting this thread with my "Bonkers for Brockers" image :p :p

[jterrell]

Originally Posted by SDogo

By his own admittance these are techniques he really learned and started to use only in his SR season.

He never even had a Junior season.
Essentially though you are correct. His technique is raw because he was recruited as a LB, redshirted as a DE, and grew into a DT for his 2 seasons of football.

His hand use is good at blocking passes and passing lanes but bad for battling OL. Might be he was taught to do that as opposed to using his hands to beat OL. He is just under 6'6" and most college QBs had no chance to see over or around him when he collapsed the pocket.

People don't understand how often the CBs got sacks for LSU. That was largely because the DL got tremendous interior push, even versus Bama.

[jterrell]

Originally Posted by supercowboy8

This is due to LSU rotating their DL every two downs. They are so deep on the DL they kkep them fresh through out the game.

I don't want Brockers at 14 because I think he is all potential. One year in a major college program and still needing strength and technique work doesn't make worth a #14. If Barron, Cox, DeCastro, Ingram, and Gilmore are all gone then trade back and get Brockers in the 20s then I wouldn't be as made because we took Spears in the early 20s.

2 years, like uh, Cam Newton.

[brooksey1]

Originally Posted by sureletsrace

Look. I'm not the biggest fan of this guy. I didn't know much about him, and I felt that was unfair of me to judge him based on what I've heard about him. So over the past few days, I've watched a solid hour to 90 minutes of his film several times through, and I'd like to write down a few notes on how I feel about him. And I wasn't just watching highlight reels, I was watching plain ol' game tape.

I'd love some input for you draft God's that know much more about him than I do.



-He seems to get better as the game goes along. Almost like the offensive linemen are worn down and he's full of juice still.

-Except for a handful of plays, he is unblockable one-on-one. He almost required a double team on every play that I watched. On the plays where he was one-on-one with an offensive lineman, he easily collapsed the pocket with a bull rush, often forcing mis-timed or errant throws, a few of which were intercepted.
[View Full Quote]
-He holds his ground well against the double team, and I was shocked to see him tackling ball-carriers outside of his gap responsibility just because he's so damned long. When he gets ahold of a runner, 8/10 times, they go down, and often backwards.

-He's got very active hands, getting them up into the air when he sees the QB set up to throw. Made a one handed circus catch interception. Was very cool to watch.

-He seems relentless in his pursuit, and does not give up when initially beat. Looks to be a very high-motor, well conditioned athlete with room to grow. He could end up 340lbs with the same athleticism that he's got right now. Almost like a 2-inch taller Haloti Ngata with 10 more pounds of muscle.

-Has a swim move and a counter spin, but it seems like he often uses them one right after another, and they definitely need development and polish, but the intuition or natural urge to use them at the right moment are there.

-Very, very long arms. He's got a very good tackling technique. He wraps up and spins the player down, and on more than one occasion saved a 3rd down conversion because of this technique. Can block field goals.

-Not susceptible to the cut block, and on 2 seperate occasions jumped back at the last second, putting the offensive lineman on their stomach, and continued pursuit.

-He occasionally overpursued on his pass-rush, almost taking himself out of the play when he runs a stunt to the outside matching up against the tackle. Tackles seemed to just ride him out of the play.

-Seemed to drop his head to look at his feet real quick after engaging his man. I didn't like that. Granted, he picked his head back up, but that would need to be coached out of him.

-He knows the knuckle trick well. For those of you who were never defensive linemen, the knuckle trick is where you look across the line at your man and check if he's got white finger joints. If they are white, he's more than likely putting too much weight forward and will be attempting to drive you back, meaning it's a run play. If you find a white-knuckling offensive lineman, then you know when his knuckles aren't white, he'll be dropping back to pass block or pull. I saw him take advantage of this against Mississippi State, getting a couple sacks because of it.

Again, I'd love some more input from people who are better at this than I, maybe SDogo or Couchscout. There's a lot of you who are much better, so please, feel free to chime in on what is more than likely the Cowboys first-round pick tomorrow night..

Nice write up. Im not a fan of Brockers because I think we have bigger needs on the oline and in the secondary but I appreciate effort. I can tell you this, I played guard for 10 years. I was not elite to go to the NFL but even at my level I rarely had any weight whatsoever on my knuckles. Maybe on a tight goaline play where it was a submarine situation. Also as a puller on sweep and trap runs it is of utmost imoprtance to get out of your stance quick which warrants no weight on your knuckles. Our coach used to have us all lineup in our 3 point stance and he would go up and down the line and chop our arms out. If you fell on your face you ran a lap. I find it odd the elite competition Brockers was facing... were showing white knuckles and he could tell a pass from a sweep? Was this on the goaline? Anyway the best d -tackles and Lb's I knew watched the feet or first step of O-Lineman. Are you sure Brockers wasn't looking at the feet of his opponent? If he was looking at his own feet that's a major mechanical (mental) problem. It's like checking your backswing position before you hit a golf shot.

[jterrell]

Originally Posted by theogt

Yeah, that Georgia game was pretty bad. If you want to be turned off on the guy, just watch that game.

The one thing I can say is he has effort on nearly every single play. But it just doesn't get him anything.

Huh?
He had like 3 tackles for loss and was double-teamed with a r2 OC in Ben Jones.
Forced a throw that was a pick and batted down a pass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQp5lx-hdCM

commentator says at 5:35 he wouldn't trade Brockers and Chavis for Henderson and Haynesworth!!!!

[dmq]

Originally Posted by jterrell

Huh?
He had like 3 tackles for loss and was double-teamed with a r2 OC in Ben Jones.
Forced a throw that was a pick and batted down a pass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQp5lx-hdCM

commentator says at 5:35 he wouldn't trade Brockers and Chavis for Henderson and Haynesworth!!!!

Wasn't impressed. Sorry.

[Gaede]

Awesome info OP. Really appreciate the wrte-up

[jterrell]

Originally Posted by dmq

Wasn't impressed. Sorry.

i am guessing you only watched the first few plays or else need new scouting glasses.

georgia was a top 10 team and he forced major play after major play.
he was in on the tackle of murray that went for a fumble, did a packer zone blitz drop and made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage on a RB screen, as well as causing an INT with pressure and length.

it did start slowly but he dominated that 2nd half.

whichever team drafts him likely mentions that game tape as a reason.