Cowboys Sign Another LB, Justin Jackson

[guag]

The transition to the 1-6-4 defense is almost complete.

I thought we were switching to the 0-11-0 defense?

Actually now that I'm thinking about this a little bit, how awesome would it be to have 11 guys on defense who are all around 6-2, 230-240 pounds, can run in the 4.4 - 4.5 range, and are adequate enough (not great) at both tackling and coverage? At the very least, it would surely confuse the heck out of the offense.

 

[guag]

At a high impact position, you're only a couple of injuries away from some of these guys logging serious snaps in regular season games. Plus I don't think they really want to pay Brinkley that much to be a backup.

If he's a primary backup to 2 or more positions, then I'd say it's worth it with this LB corp's injury history. Though I'm not sure how much position flex he has. But mark my words -- Brinkley will be starting at least a few games this season. I'd love to be wrong though.

 

[jobberone]

I thought we were switching to the 0-11-0 defense?

Actually now that I'm thinking about this a little bit, how awesome would it be to have 11 guys on defense who are all around 6-2, 230-240 pounds, can run in the 4.4 - 4.5 range, and are adequate enough (not great) at both tackling and coverage? At the very least, it would surely confuse the heck out of the offense.

I had a cheater code college football team like that once.

 

[DeaconBlues]

You have to wonder if some of these linebackers come in with bad body odor, unkempt personal appearances, chewing gum without keeping their mouths shut, not saying yes sir and no sir or yes coach no coach, making fun of Jerry's face, making fun of Jason's hair or freckles.

Something going on where the guy is only here a day or so before he is gone.

I have heard of churning the roster, this looks like they are playing with a sit and spin that is connected to a 454 V8.

Likely either not showing up in shape, or not showing necessary skills quickly enough.

 

[guag]

Likely either not showing up in shape, or not showing necessary skills quickly enough.

Actually my thinking is that it's more about the FO finding a guy out there who they like better than the "lowest" player currently on the totem pole, who in many cases happens to have been signed just a few days ago. So it might look like a guy was cut because he made a bad impression, but I think it's less to do with what the current guy is doing and more about what the "newer" guy is doing. Obviously I'm sure there are guys who come in and stink up the joint right away, but I'm not sure that's the norm. I could be wrong, but that's just my take.

 

[jobberone]

Actually my thinking is that it's more about the FO finding a guy out there who they like better than the "lowest" player currently on the totem pole, who in many cases happens to have been signed just a few days ago. So it might look like a guy was cut because he made a bad impression, but I think it's less to do with what the current guy is doing and more about what the "newer" guy is doing. I could be wrong, but that's just my take.

Being reasonable and logical will get you few likes.

 

[guag]

Being reasonable and logical will get you few likes.

And you as well, sir.

 

[AsthmaField]

From an CBS sportsline article:

Freaks List: The 20 craziest athletes in college football

12. Justin Jackson, Wake Forest, OLB: A linebacker who minors in dance, Jackson's nifty footwork is also quite evident on the field and in all the drills Wake Forest tests in. The 6-1, 230-pounder has been timed in the 40 at 4.44 and a broad jump of 10-8 to go with a hang clean of 400 pounds.

LINK:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...-the-20-craziest-athletes-in-college-football

(Check out number 3 on that list)...

3. Lache Seastrunk, Baylor, RB: Just being the Bears resident "Freak" is saying a lot. The Bears can go four-wide with a crew of receivers who each have been clocked faster than 4.4. One of those guys, 170-pound Tevin Reese, runs 4.32 and has a 45-inch vertical jump. In fact, Baylor deserves Freak Team status this season.

After hearing some of these super-fast 40 times, I asked Bears strength coach Kaz Kazadi if these are hand-timed 40s or timed electronically, which prompted one of the best quotes I've heard this year:

"They're all electronic," Kazadi said. "We don't hand-time anything. Hand times are for your mama. Your mama don't work here. We're not hand-timing anything around here. We encourage people to come watch our guys work. They take this seriously."


Seastrunk is a testament to that. He's up to 210 pounds after arriving in Waco at 195 a few years ago. "A lot of guys think their speed is predicated on not getting too heavy, instead of getting more power," said Kazadi. "We got to kind of wean 'em off of being too concerned about putting on pounds."

Seastrunk's vertical, which was an impressive 42.5 inches last winter, is now 44.2 inches. He also broad jumped 11-4 -- five inches more than in 2012. His 40 time: 4.36.

It's quite an improve from Seastrunk's days at Oregon when he ran a 4.63 electronic 40 and had a 34.5” vertical two winters ago.

"He's bought into training and taking care of himself," said Kazadi. "That's the No. 1 thing that we've seen with him. It's not just in his physical attributes that we've seen him really mature in. It's the accountability and the reliability. The eye-contact and his awareness --everything has improved. You know he understands what you're saying and he's paying attention."

The former five-star recruit may have been the most improved player in college football over the second half of last season. Seastrunk ran for 1,000 yards last season despite only gaining 95 yards in the Bears' first five games. But the one-time Oregon Duck was spectacular in Baylor's final four games of the season, when the Bears beat No. 1 Kansas State, Texas Tech, No. 23 Oklahoma State and No. 17 UCLA while Seastrunk ran for 637 yards on a 9.1-yard per carry average.

 

[chris1995]

I thought we were switching to the 0-11-0 defense?

Actually now that I'm thinking about this a little bit, how awesome would it be to have 11 guys on defense who are all around 6-2, 230-240 pounds, can run in the 4.4 - 4.5 range, and are adequate enough (not great) at both tackling and coverage? At the very least, it would surely confuse the heck out of the offense.

All LB Defense

 

[xwalker]

All LB Defense

They're going to start using LBs on offense also.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Actually my thinking is that it's more about the FO finding a guy out there who they like better than the "lowest" player currently on the totem pole, who in many cases happens to have been signed just a few days ago. So it might look like a guy was cut because he made a bad impression, but I think it's less to do with what the current guy is doing and more about what the "newer" guy is doing. Obviously I'm sure there are guys who come in and stink up the joint right away, but I'm not sure that's the norm. I could be wrong, but that's just my take.

All this churning of LBs (and RBs) reminds me of a family friend I knew as a kid who made it big in software in California and built himself a mansion with seven pools. As a youth he was lacking in the basics in life, mainly an abundance of water, so he wanted to make certain he had a pool for everyone occasion or mood. Options, if you will.

 

[Stash]

From an CBS sportsline article:

Freaks List: The 20 craziest athletes in college football

12. Justin Jackson, Wake Forest, OLB: A linebacker who minors in dance, Jackson's nifty footwork is also quite evident on the field and in all the drills Wake Forest tests in. The 6-1, 230-pounder has been timed in the 40 at 4.44 and a broad jump of 10-8 to go with a hang clean of 400 pounds.

LINK:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...-the-20-craziest-athletes-in-college-football

(Check out number 3 on that list)...

3. Lache Seastrunk, Baylor, RB: Just being the Bears resident "Freak" is saying a lot. The Bears can go four-wide with a crew of receivers who each have been clocked faster than 4.4. One of those guys, 170-pound Tevin Reese, runs 4.32 and has a 45-inch vertical jump. In fact, Baylor deserves Freak Team status this season.

After hearing some of these super-fast 40 times, I asked Bears strength coach Kaz Kazadi if these are hand-timed 40s or timed electronically, which prompted one of the best quotes I've heard this year:

"They're all electronic," Kazadi said. "We don't hand-time anything. Hand times are for your mama. Your mama don't work here. We're not hand-timing anything around here. We encourage people to come watch our guys work. They take this seriously."


Seastrunk is a testament to that. He's up to 210 pounds after arriving in Waco at 195 a few years ago. "A lot of guys think their speed is predicated on not getting too heavy, instead of getting more power," said Kazadi. "We got to kind of wean 'em off of being too concerned about putting on pounds."

Seastrunk's vertical, which was an impressive 42.5 inches last winter, is now 44.2 inches. He also broad jumped 11-4 -- five inches more than in 2012. His 40 time: 4.36.

It's quite an improve from Seastrunk's days at Oregon when he ran a 4.63 electronic 40 and had a 34.5” vertical two winters ago.

"He's bought into training and taking care of himself," said Kazadi. "That's the No. 1 thing that we've seen with him. It's not just in his physical attributes that we've seen him really mature in. It's the accountability and the reliability. The eye-contact and his awareness --everything has improved. You know he understands what you're saying and he's paying attention."

The former five-star recruit may have been the most improved player in college football over the second half of last season. Seastrunk ran for 1,000 yards last season despite only gaining 95 yards in the Bears' first five games. But the one-time Oregon Duck was spectacular in Baylor's final four games of the season, when the Bears beat No. 1 Kansas State, Texas Tech, No. 23 Oklahoma State and No. 17 UCLA while Seastrunk ran for 637 yards on a 9.1-yard per carry average.

It definitely looks like we're seriously factoring in numbers and measurable in terms of signings and acquisitions. We look to be paying particularly close attention to the SPARQ Rating system.

Looking at recent free agent signings, many of those players are either former top 1st round draft picks like Rolando McClain and Darren McFadden or former Pro Bowl guys like Greg Hardy who are obviously among the best available at their position. Otherwise, it's role players for special teams and depth purposes.

For me, it harkens back to the cutting edge things that Brandt and Co were doing years ago which gave that era's Cowboys a big advantage over the competition. Hearing about this and what they're doing with virtual reality simulators, I'm hopeful that they can get a similar advantage.

 

[visionary]

This just in....