[Wallcrawler]

Mike Mayock is teh ghey.

I cant stand listening to Mayock going on and on and on about how Johnson doesnt take on blockers and wont be a good linebacker in the NFL. What is worse, he shows ONE highlight over and over and over of a 207 pound back getting a good shot on Derrick Johnson on a running play and knocking him off balance, and pegs him as "unable to play at the point of attack" because of that one play.

If he were showing multiple highlights of that happening, against different players in different situations I might think more of his view. But since he started this shit, its been that ONE highlight over and over. The rest of the highlight reel is Johnson knocking 7 shades of shit out of any ball carrier he gets close to.

Ive seen great defenders get punked by some of the shittiest wide receivers on the field. That doesnt mean that the defender cant play, it just means he had one bad play in particular.

You dont get the type of career Johnson had at Texas and win all those awards if you have a huge flaw in your game like that. Many people have the view that Derrick Johnson was the best linebacker in the draft, even possibly the best defensive player in the draft. Mayock is taking this one highlight and trying to verbally ruin Johnson before he ever plays a down in the NFL.

Could he get better at shedding blocks? Yeah. Show me a linebacker who couldnt get better at that, especially a rookie. But I refuse to believe that this one thing that Mayock and guys just like him nitpick to death is going to keep him from becoming an impact player in this league.

DJ had the best combine numbers for a linebacker in a long time, according to those who were covering it on NFL Network, and oddly enough, Mayock himself was there at the combine, giving DJ props on his drills. WTF is that about? He excelled at every single drill, showing very little weakness in anything. They said he was a complete player, capable of doing anything that a defensive coordinator could ask of him. Now Mayock is on this kick that Johnson cant play at the point of attack.

This is a guy that was expected to go top 10, with detroit being the best bet to select him. And had they taken him instead of the Chiefs, we would probably be hearing all sorts of Johnson praise.

But since he slid to the Chiefs at 15, I guess that makes it open season to take a giant shit on him if youre a douchebag like Mike Mayock.

I would suggest to Mike Mayock to set the crack pipe down, and slowly back away. When you have speed like what Derrick Johnson has, and the ability to use that speed to the best of your ability (Bronco Nagurski award, Dick Butkus Award, enter next award name here....etc...), YOU DONT HAVE TO F AROUND WITH THE BLOCKERS. There are several big name linebackers whose effectiveness are drasticly reduced should an NFL caliber offensive lineman get a block on him. (See Ray Lewis, Monday nighter vs KC, or Brian Urlacher) These guys have to be protected somewhat from the blockers to be effective, but there's no knock on these guys for that.


There was a lot of negative shit being spewed at Derrick Thomas too when he was drafted, and look how he turned out. He will be in the Hall of Fame soon, and should have been there already had it not been for the ineptness of Bob Gretz.

Johnson is a linebacker who can do anything that is asked of him. Run support, pass rush, coverage, and has a knack for forcing fumbles. Who wouldnt want a guy like this on their team?