Speed on D
 

Over the past couple of days since the draft I've been breaking down our projected defensive starting lineup. One thing that really jumps out to me is how much faster we are on paper. If you break it down by posistion we have upgraded the speed at quite a few posistions IMHO. If Vilma and Morgan start at mike and will respectively they will be faster than Sim and Shanle were last year. Let's say Ellis starts at under tackle, he'd probably be faster than Young. If Grant slides down on passing downs along side Ellis, then that's even more speed in the middle. I'm not sure if Gay will start or if he is faster than David but he might be faster. I really think that Usama will make a great leap foward this year and will improve the speed of nickle packages. Tracy Porter could be a super fast dime guy. I know that's alot of if's and guess work but can you see where I'm coming from on this one?

Also I think one thing that might be getting overlooked is the fact that this influx of speed will help our special teams. Usama and Tracy Porter could be fierce covering punts. Word is Tracy is a quality return guy and I'd love to see him handle the return duties so that Reggie doesn't have to take those extra hits.

If nothing else we'll have the best team we've ever had on Madden.

Re: Speed on D
 

Speedy Gonzales:
Porter, Young
Arriba! Arriba! Andale! Andale!

Re: Speed on D
 

lol....that makes me feel at home....i felt like i was the only one playing madden and making stupid madden references....at least i know im not alone

Re: Speed on D
 

Man I'll be playing Madden well into my 80s if I make it that far. Madden and NCAA are the only games I play though so I don't feel like a geek.

Re: Speed on D
 

I hope they are faster, and are all over the field together.

Re: Speed on D
 

I play Madden too, and Halo :P... But thats one thing I hated was always pausing to put usama in cause he was the only CB with speed over 90. Teams would always try to go deep on me.

Re: Speed on D
 

Well, I have not jumped on that Madden bandwagon yet, but the game does look fun... LOL.

Something I would love to see, but know it will never happen, is some type of published test results for all current players, the way rookie players are measured at the combine and personal workouts for scouts. Take a guy like Deuce. We all know his 40 time is slower than what it was when he was a rookie, but what is it now? What type of 40 speed does David Patten have at this time? Now those are the type of things I would be very interested in. Wouldn't you all like to know what Jon Vilma, Randal Gay, Jason David, and the rest can run now? I know it really doesn't matter, you can either play football or you can't. But it would sure be interesting.

Re: Speed on D
 

I've always wanted to see that myself. It's rare but sometimes a team will ask a veteran free agent to run a 40. I remember the Dolphins asked David Boston to run one and he ran like a 4.38. I wonder how much faster players get after they go to the league and start NFL training?

Re: Speed on D
 

i like 40 times but I think game speed is more important.

Re: Speed on D
 

I think the first 10 yards of the 40 show how fast a guy will be on the field. Who is the fastest "game speed" guy in the league?

Re: Speed on D
 

ah i think there is no doubt the fastest guys are devin hester and josh cribbs from cleveland....can u think of somebody faster?

Re: Speed on D
 

I was thinking Hester or maybe Bob Sanders. Those two guys might not have the fastest 40s in the NFL but few can match their speed on the field. Here's another couple guys that can fly as far as a 10 yard burst goes, Demarcus Ware and Dwight Freeney.

Re: Speed on D
 

VICK....is he still a choice?....lol....i know what u mean....the first few steps i think ne defensive lineman has them beat.....i think that wes welker is fast in that regard....getting from yard marker to yard marker....i was just pointing out that sometimes the 40 times do project how good a player can be....hester and cribbs show that every kick and punt return they get

Re: Speed on D
 

That there is the key. Reaction time to ball or player. After that it is all catch-up which can mean TD against.

BTW - Your avatar; my favourite poster for absolute years. In fact, it still means a big deal to me.

Re: Speed on D
 

0 to 10 shows quickness.
Awareness on the field is the key in reaction time. How quick mentally you can process the action and start to react.
Then kicks in the quickness to top speed.
After that, speed is for determining the range the player has to stay involve or get involved in a play.

Re: Speed on D
 

Hmmm...

I never really thought of "quickness" as mere acceleration. Isn't the concept supposed to include things like agility, read and react, and so on. It is simply all the good stuff that gets you to the ball that isn't raw in-line speed, no?

I suppose, you might separate "quickness" and "awareness", but I'm not clear on how you could measure these independently of each other. That is, it seems to me that the aware player and the quick player might only be separated by looking at their agility... just a thought.