Proper Use of Ayodele

[Doomsdayblitz]

Well, Mr. Zimmerman, your year of learning the 3-4 is over. It is now time to utilize it as it was intended to be used. Let me rephrase that....how it CAN be used with enough weapons & a lot of creativity. I would think you have enough weapons, so it's up to you to do your part in the creativity department.

Take Aykin Ayodele, for instance. In his four years with the Jacksonville Jags, he had 8.5 sacks, and 8 forced fumbles. Not very impressive, to say the least. Until you look at his college numbers. Now, I know that many times, college numbers don't transfer to the NFL, but bare with me.

In '99, as a redshirt freshman, Ayodele was in instant-impact player at Purdue, where he started all 12 games and had 64 tackles, 19 for loss, and 11 sacks. He ended up second team All-Big Ten. Started at SSLB for the first half of 2000, then moved to DE. That year he had 66, 15, 9. Also picked off two passes & broke up six others. Started every game at RDE in
'01 & had 61, 19, and 8. Broke up four passes.

Now, let's put these numbers together. For his career at Purdue, Ayodele had: 191 tackles, 53 for loss, and 28 sacks. That's in 3 years! DeMarcus Ware had 26 sacks his last 3 years at Troy St. He wasn't playing against half the talent that Ayodele played against in the Big Ten. That's not a knock on my favorite Cowboy, but a tribute to what Ayodele accomplished. My hunch is that, just like Parcells wants to do with him here, he was not properly utilized in Jacksonville.

If I had a guy that had 28 sacks in 35 games in college, I would find a way to get him a path to the QB! Here's hoping that Zimmer is thinking the same thing. Just imagine. It's third & 9 at the Eagle's 20. Your D'line is made up of Carpenter, Hatcher, Spears, Ratliff, Canty, and Ware, left to right. At the snap of the ball, Ayodele comes blitzing in from his SSLB position, as Carpenter backs up to cover the TE. Now, that's being creative with your pass rush. There are a million & one variations of this scenario. I'm just hoping the Cowboys start using a few of them. After all, they have the talent now.

 

[burmafrd]

finding an ILB that can get to the QB is almost worth his weight in gold. There are very few around.

 

[Big Dakota]

The way it sounds, AA will be in the prime tackling ILB possition and Bill wants him to be a tackling machine in this D. How much pressure he gets on the QB, or how many chances he even gets to rush the passer i'm not too sure about.

 

[TonyS]

Thanks for the background research into Ayodele. I didn't realize he was that productive in college. Don't know much about him to tell you the truth.

[Here comes the inciting moment]

But I have been waiting a long time to see if Zimmer could do something, anything to make our defense explosive, but haven't seen it yet. I think its the combination of players with an attitude (read Carpenter) coming in and establishing a tone with the club as well as Zimmers "read and react" philosophy a lot of times.

I still have hope that this year will be different and we will have a lot of swagger and attitude on defense where we dicate rather than being dictated to.

 

[AbeBeta]

finding an ILB that can get to the QB is almost worth his weight in gold. There are very few around.

Ayodele weight about 250 -- a pound of gold is worth about 10k. We gave Ayodele a 5 million dollar signing bonus on a 5 year 15 million dollar deal.

We've already paid him twice his weight in gold

 

[92DoverTiger112]

He played at DE at Purdue for the better part of his success....He can't play there in the NFL, because he is just TOO small.....He is playing ILB because of his speed and he is a very good tackler....He is the pursuit LB in the 3-4...He COULD transition to Carpenters spot (outside) however, Carpenter isn't as fast as Ayodele. Parcells has him in the BEST position for THIS ball-club. Plus he will still apply heat playing ILB. We weren't able to blitz much with the guys we had there last year, due to youth/injury. You will see much more pressure and not just from D-Ware either...Last year, we really only blitzed Demarcus Ware, and occasional Dat Nguyen (before injury) and Fujita....You can second-guess Parcells knowledge on a couple of things, however I wouldn't do it with the LB position!!!!!! HOLLA

 

[Future]

The way it sounds, AA will be in the prime tackling ILB possition and Bill wants him to be a tackling machine in this D. How much pressure he gets on the QB, or how many chances he even gets to rush the passer i'm not too sure about.

I agree 100%. He was not brought here to get pressure on the QB, thats up to Ellis, Ware, Carp mostly. From him i would want 100 tackles, maybe a couple of sacks and mainly smart play, be in position and execute. I dont think we will see zimmer and parcells scheming to make him a real pass rushing threat, although it would be nice if he has the ability, just something else for the offense to worry about.

 

[Doomsdayblitz]

He played at DE at Purdue for the better part of his success....He can't play there in the NFL, because he is just TOO small.....He is playing ILB because of his speed and he is a very good tackler....He is the pursuit LB in the 3-4...He COULD transition to Carpenters spot (outside) however, Carpenter isn't as fast as Ayodele. Parcells has him in the BEST position for THIS ball-club. Plus he will still apply heat playing ILB. We weren't able to blitz much with the guys we had there last year, due to youth/injury. You will see much more pressure and not just from D-Ware either...Last year, we really only blitzed Demarcus Ware, and occasional Dat Nguyen (before injury) and Fujita....You can second-guess Parcells knowledge on a couple of things, however I wouldn't do it with the LB position!!!!!! HOLLA

Why the DUH!?? He did play DE for the better part of his success, just like DeMarcus Ware. Does that mean Ware can't be a pass rushing OLB? You should really think before bashing someone. Since Ayodele has three times the number of sacks as Carpenter, I wouldn't be surprised to see them switched somewhere in the future. Another area in which you are wrong, (there are so many), is that Carpenter is faster than Ayodele. Ayodele is just much quicker & has a better closing speed within 10 yds. This also makes the switch a good idea. Since Carpenter is faster in the 40 with almost the same exact size, he can cover sideline to sideline better, & Ayodele can cover the shorter area faster.

As far as questioning BP, I think any of us can question anyone on anything. Just because he was blessed with so much talent at that position doesn't mean he made the best use of it. Many times, yes, but I'm not one to look at Parcells as the Oz behing the curtain. Landry, maybe, Parcells, no.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Carpenter isn't as fast as Ayodele.

I don't believe that.

 

[tunahelper]

Well, Mr. Zimmerman, your year of learning the 3-4 is over. It is now time to utilize it as it was intended to be used. Let me rephrase that....how it CAN be used with enough weapons & a lot of creativity. I would think you have enough weapons, so it's up to you to do your part in the creativity department.

Take Aykin Ayodele, for instance. In his four years with the Jacksonville Jags, he had 8.5 sacks, and 8 forced fumbles. Not very impressive, to say the least. Until you look at his college numbers. Now, I know that many times, college numbers don't transfer to the NFL, but bare with me.

In '99, as a redshirt freshman, Ayodele was in instant-impact player at Purdue, where he started all 12 games and had 64 tackles, 19 for loss, and 11 sacks. He ended up second team All-Big Ten. Started at SSLB for the first half of 2000, then moved to DE. That year he had 66, 15, 9. Also picked off two passes & broke up six others. Started every game at RDE in
'01 & had 61, 19, and 8. Broke up four passes.

Now, let's put these numbers together. For his career at Purdue, Ayodele had: 191 tackles, 53 for loss, and 28 sacks. That's in 3 years! DeMarcus Ware had 26 sacks his last 3 years at Troy St. He wasn't playing against half the talent that Ayodele played against in the Big Ten. That's not a knock on my favorite Cowboy, but a tribute to what Ayodele accomplished. My hunch is that, just like Parcells wants to do with him here, he was not properly utilized in Jacksonville.

If I had a guy that had 28 sacks in 35 games in college, I would find a way to get him a path to the QB! Here's hoping that Zimmer is thinking the same thing. Just imagine. It's third & 9 at the Eagle's 20. Your D'line is made up of Carpenter, Hatcher, Spears, Ratliff, Canty, and Ware, left to right. At the snap of the ball, Ayodele comes blitzing in from his SSLB position, as Carpenter backs up to cover the TE. Now, that's being creative with your pass rush. There are a million & one variations of this scenario. I'm just hoping the Cowboys start using a few of them. After all, they have the talent now.

I moved from Florida recently, but I saw AA play alot. He is a tackling machine against the run, much like Dat was. He was a true leader on the Jags defense, they just couldnt match the contract. They have big investments in tackles and the young DE's contracts are coming end of the year. I have seen him play for several years and this guy is going to be HUGE ASSET for us! Now the Jags used as a down end from time to time, but mostly just LB. He struggled somewhat in coverage because he is very aggressive and has a strong pop when tackling. He really can bring a punch to the ball carrier, probably going to be our biggest hitter from the LB's.

GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS GUY FOLKS!

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I always could see why Dallas wanted to sign Ayodele. We had problems stopping the run last year and with Ayodele playing the ILB spot, you get a guy that will be there for stopping the run and taking on blockers. That's what he excelled at in Jacksonville. Where he had some difficulty was rushing the passer (which he was okay at for a SAM backer in the 4-3) and dropping back in coverage. He'll be playing the same type of role that Ted Johnson played with New England, so he won't be counted on for too much coverage responsibility and he'll just slug it out with guards and centers to allow Bradie and company to get some freedom. Plus, he's versatile enough to play the SAM backer in the 3-4 or the 4-3. He may not be great at those positions, but he's definitely serviceable and you can never have too much versatility.


Rich...............

 

[TheHustler]

finding an ILB that can get to the QB is almost worth his weight in gold. There are very few around.

Agreed. Dat was a very very good MLB, but getting to the QB was not one of his strengths.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Agreed. Dat was a very very good MLB, but getting to the QB was not one of his strengths.

It didn't help that our blitz schemes are terrible and we would give it away as soon as we lined up.

 

[Mansta54]

I moved from Florida recently, but I saw AA play alot. He is a tackling machine against the run, much like Dat was. He was a true leader on the Jags defense, they just couldnt match the contract. They have big investments in tackles and the young DE's contracts are coming end of the year. I have seen him play for several years and this guy is going to be HUGE ASSET for us! Now the Jags used as a down end from time to time, but mostly just LB. He struggled somewhat in coverage because he is very aggressive and has a strong pop when tackling. He really can bring a punch to the ball carrier, probably going to be our biggest hitter from the LB's.

GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS GUY FOLKS!

I'm really anxious to see this cat play....

 

[IndianaCowboyFan]

I'm really anxious to see this cat play....

Me too. He was very good when at Purdue and I have many fond memories of him there.

 

[superpunk]

I think the first thing they should do is make him change the spelling of his last name to O'dell, make things right, phonetically speaking.