H
HardRightEdge
Guest
The newly reconstituted 275 lb. Neal looks a tweener to me in a couple of dimensions.
At OLB he looks a bit shy of the requisite get up in his gitalong to make any kind of semi-regular impact.
Even at 295 lbs. he was never as stout at 5 technique as his size or weight room reputation would have had it; now we'd have to conclude his days as a base DE are over.
And as a 3-tech in nickel, where McCarthy maintained recently that he favors him, he's awfully light (and again, not that great a run stopper even in his larger incarnation) in the event the opponent actually goes to the ground, which is not as uncommon as one would like to think since we run nickel up to 70% of the time. That's not to mention he was never actually tested much as a 3-tech in his lighter incarnation last year having been stuck at the Perry replacement spot.
As an aside, McCarthy's comment about liking Neal at 3-tech was especially interesting given Daniels is clearly our best player there. What is Jones supposed to be doing, then, once Neal is liberated from Perry backup duty, assuming he were re-signed?
I like Neal as a kind of multi-tool / Swiss Army knife swing-man backup who can do in a pinch at OLB or 3-tech and can thereby free up a roster spot.
In the end his greatest value might be as a semi-permanent Perry replacement if said ex-first round pick can't find some stand-up mojo and ends up relegated to down-lineman elephant duty.
At OLB he looks a bit shy of the requisite get up in his gitalong to make any kind of semi-regular impact.
Even at 295 lbs. he was never as stout at 5 technique as his size or weight room reputation would have had it; now we'd have to conclude his days as a base DE are over.
And as a 3-tech in nickel, where McCarthy maintained recently that he favors him, he's awfully light (and again, not that great a run stopper even in his larger incarnation) in the event the opponent actually goes to the ground, which is not as uncommon as one would like to think since we run nickel up to 70% of the time. That's not to mention he was never actually tested much as a 3-tech in his lighter incarnation last year having been stuck at the Perry replacement spot.
As an aside, McCarthy's comment about liking Neal at 3-tech was especially interesting given Daniels is clearly our best player there. What is Jones supposed to be doing, then, once Neal is liberated from Perry backup duty, assuming he were re-signed?
I like Neal as a kind of multi-tool / Swiss Army knife swing-man backup who can do in a pinch at OLB or 3-tech and can thereby free up a roster spot.
In the end his greatest value might be as a semi-permanent Perry replacement if said ex-first round pick can't find some stand-up mojo and ends up relegated to down-lineman elephant duty.
