Jaylon Smith

TrailBlazer

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There was a play in the game today where I saw Jaylon make a play, i thought to myself "That's what I've been waiting to see from him".... Bad News? It wasn't Jaylon, it was Justin Durant. Jaylon hasn't impressed me too much. He can't move well other than in a straight line. I hope he gets a lot better. Hitchens and Lee starting will make a hell of a difference.
 

DallasDomination

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Its not even that Jaylon can't move.. he moves fine. But the guy does not read the play fast enough and hesitates way too much. It's like he's reacting and not anticipating.

Still like him though..he'll get better.
 

mitchell2254

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I’m willing to take the growing pains with Jaylon. His potential is worth it.
 

Kaiser

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Its not even that Jaylon can't move.. he moves fine. But the guy does not read the play fast enough and hesitates way too much. It's like he's reacting and not anticipating.

Still like him though..he'll get better.

He wasn't supposed to be starting but has good stats because he has elite physical skills, even when he isn't fully recovered. Give him some experience and let him recover his quick twitch ability and he will be an elite LB next year.
 

dfense

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He certainly doesn't look like a top 10 player to draft. I understand the whole injury thing. But he's been hyped as a game changing LB. He should have some kind of presence and I don't see it at all yet. Here's what I noticed about him.

He's not a physical player for a MLB. Not stout. Can't hold his ground.
Can't shed the guard who is on him immediately on run plays. He just grabs the guys jersey and gets ridden out of the play.
Shoots gaps at times even thought he running back is heading in a different direction. Takes himself completely out of the play.
Chases play too much. Takes a bad angle and the back gets by him and he's chasing to tackle 10 yards downfield.
He's reactionary, never sees the play developing and gets ahead of it. I've yet to see the instincts.

On one play they faked the handoff and Tavon was coming around for (fake) handoff, Jaylon had already turned his back to the QB and was running blindly towards the goal post looking for a receiver. Had no recognition or any idea what what happening and never saw Tavon for a possible end around.

My excitement for this guy has dwindled badly.
 

waving monkey

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Yes I think he deserves his own thread.

Shouldn't be on the field. I understand that its injuries that put him in this position but even then I think there were plenty of LBers available that could do a more serviceable job.

He is a liability in pass and run defense, he gets taken out of the play easily, is always a step slow and is not physical at all.

Maybe he can turn it around as he grows but I can't wait until Hitchens and Lee are back and IMO we relied too heavily on this guy being a factor. Big mistake.
his was a defense that missed Sean Lee. Jaylon Smith was solid, finishing with 10 tackles, but the linebackers were not great.
 

Miller

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Love Jaylon the person and hope next year he is fully himself but there were some plays today where he actually made the right read and still couldn’t keep up.

One in particular...Goff drops back, Gurley runs through the middle of the line and cuts sharply left to get to the flat for a screen. Jaylon reads it right away as Gurley is about to cut and he’s 2 yards away but he had no burst to keep up with him from his stance and Gurley gets about 8 and s first
 

dfense

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his was a defense that missed Sean Lee. Jaylon Smith was solid, finishing with 10 tackles, but the linebackers were not great.
None of the linebackers played worth a darn. I remember people singing the praises of Eugene (the hitting machine) Lockhart setting a record for tackles in a season. But when your defense sucks and your tackling 8-10 yards downfield, you may very well set a record. For futility.
 

TheFinisher

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This is simply not the same athlete that played at Notre Dame.

He's still very young and hopefully that nerve damage heals, but right now it's not where it needs to be for him to be effective on the field.

He was such a freak, it would be a tragedy if this is what he is now.
 

KingintheNorth

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Watched Jaylon Smith a lot in college, even attended a few of his practices. He moved like a cat.

He seems like he's lumbering out there. Which after that injury, shouldn't shock anyone, but maybe it's time for people to pretend he is (or can be) that same guy from Notre Dame.

Still rooting for him like crazy, but he just isn't right. At best, he looks like a 2-down Mike right now.

I'd bring in Daryl Washington for a look. It also sends a message that people's jobs are not safe.
 

ConceptCoop

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He was a huge reach. Nobody was going to pick him within a round+. We lied and said we knew the Pats wanted him, but they didn't even have him on their board. He was a huge, huge reach. We will have wasted two valuable years of his rookie contract before he starts to repay us anything. Keep holding out hope if you'd like, but I'm just not anymore. It was a bad pick and Smith doesn't look like he'll be anything but bad anytime soon. And if he turns it around--congrats!--we get the pleasure of offering him a huge contract.
 

KingintheNorth

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He was a huge reach. Nobody was going to pick him within a round+. We lied and said we knew the Pats wanted him, but they didn't even have him on their board. He was a huge, huge reach. We will have wasted two valuable years of his rookie contract before he starts to repay us anything. Keep holding out hope if you'd like, but I'm just not anymore. It was a bad pick and Smith doesn't look like he'll be anything but bad anytime soon.

Again, I hope he works out, but the Jaylon Smith is a prime example of why you don't want a GM who has no real consequences for this kind of pick. Jerry, and many of his fans, measures his success by franchise value. General Managers, who don't happen to own the team, measure success by their personnel decisions.
 

waving monkey

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He was a huge reach. Nobody was going to pick him within a round+. We lied and said we knew the Pats wanted him, but they didn't even have him on their board. He was a huge, huge reach. We will have wasted two valuable years of his rookie contract before he starts to repay us anything. Keep holding out hope if you'd like, but I'm just not anymore. It was a bad pick and Smith doesn't look like he'll be anything but bad anytime soon. And if he turns it around--congrats!--we get the pleasure of offering him a huge contract.
we differ
 

ConceptCoop

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Again, I hope he works out, but the Jaylon Smith is a prime example of why you don't want a GM who has no real consequences for this kind of pick. Jerry, and many of his fans, measures his success by franchise value. General Managers, who don't happen to own the team, measure success by their personnel decisions.

So very true. Well said.
 
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