Quote:
Originally Posted by blaise
There were negative reports on DJ right before the draft. People started saying that when you watched him tackle he didn't take on the ball carrier head on. They said he had a habit of letting the ball carrier get to his side and then try and tackle him from the side or from behind. That was one of the reasons he caused a lot of fumbles in college, because he came from behind and punched the ball out.
The concern was that he had a lot of skill but he was soft, and that he wasn't going to be blowing guys up at the line of scrimmage. I remember it well, I was living in Houston at the time and you basically get Texas talk on the radio all the time, and every UT grad down there wants the Texans to draft UT players.
But anyway, that was the knock on DJ- he wasn't a physical enough linebacker.
|
I remember hearing all of that and that's why some people wanted Thomas Davis instead of DJ because Davis didn't have any questions about his toughness.
Davis is an ascending player in the NFC South (113 tackles, 95 solo in 2008) whereas Derrick Johnson has remained the same throughout his career (averaging around 85 tackles per season).