Xavier Adibi - Strong Safety?

[Number19]

Over at the Houston Texans board there was a thread started by the equipment manager for Virginia Tech. He seems to think that perhaps X-man's best position might be Strong Safety. His measurables are close to NFL optimum for the position and Sporting News has him rated as the top LB for coverage skills.

Here are some of his comments:

...thought you might want to hear some inside information on the 2 guys you selected from VT. I know both players very well. I was an equipment manager with VT for 4 years and i worked specifically with the Linebackers for my final 3 seasons....What (Xavier) lacks in size, he makes up for in speed and technique. He broke the VT speed record for speed in the 40 at around 4.6. I can't remember the number exactly, but I recorded the time before spring practice started 2 years ago. He is a great guy and after working with the linebackers for 3 years, he had the best technique out of all of our LB's. He is smart, he can hit, hes great in coverage from sideline to sideline, and he has great hands....I wouldn't be surprised if they moved him to strong safety because of his size....X's brother Nathaniel who played for the Jags for a bit said X would most likely play Strong Safety in the NFL....

I hope the coaching staff are at least aware of this possibility.

[Vinny]

I've seen him compared to.....Michael Boulware in some predraft stuff. Not sure I'd like that if I were him.

[Mike]

I agree with Vinny, being compared to Boulware is not a good thing.

He is going to play "Will" for us. The team was not going to draft someone in the 4th round to move him to a new position.

[Number19]

John McCain, in an e-mail, said the same. He said the Texans have no intentions of a position change, believing X-man has everything the Texans want for LB.

[papabear]

I think between Demps, Brown, Earl, the Brandons, Simmons, and Barber. I think they feel there's plenty of competition at safety.....although I'm curious as to why Earl is listed as a "SS" while everyone else is listed as just "S" on the official site.

Frankly the idea of a LB who has good enough coverage skills to be considered as a safety excites me.

[nero THE zero]

Originally Posted by papabear

I think between Demps, Brown, Earl, the Brandons, Simmons, and Barber. I think they feel there's plenty of competition at safety.....although I'm curious as to why Earl is listed as a "SS" while everyone else is listed as just "S" on the official site.

Frankly the idea of a LB who has good enough coverage skills to be considered as a safety excites me.

There's really no distinction between free and strong safety on the Texans.

At least, not that I can tell.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by papabear

Frankly the idea of a LB who has good enough coverage skills to be considered as a safety excites me.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vGR4tSHxKz0&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ujv_-6EpgIs&feature=related

A LB who doesn't get lost in Zone Coverage and actually has hands to grab an INT, is something to get excited about. I wish he were a little faster and a better tackler, but then again, we got him in the 4th round.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Number19

John McCain, in an e-mail, said the same. He said the Texans have no intentions of a position change, believing X-man has everything the Texans want for LB.

Wow, then it must be true if Johnny Mc said it. All we need now is for Dr. Ron to "write it down."

[papabear]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

There's really no distinction between free and strong safety on the Texans.

At least, not that I can tell.

Not that I can tell either....and Kubiak has said as much. Earl has probably been listed that way since he was drafted, and I'm sure there is nothing to it. It just struck me as strange that he was the only safety on the roster who didn't have the generic "S" listed as position.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by papabear

Not that I can tell either....and Kubiak has said as much.

The problem appears to be that the Texans want both of their Safety positions to be able to support the run AND drop into deep coverage, while garnering players who are better at the former than the latter.

In theory, one could conclude that the SS had better be able to play in the box to support the run. Also, because of the proliferation of "rocked up WRs" playing TE (borrowing a Mayockism), the SS had better be able to play man coverage against the likes of Kellen Winslow Jr, Jeremy Shockey, Antonio Gates, Dallas Clark, et. al. That, my friends, is a rare commodity (I was hopeful Boulware could be that guy). In order to disguise coverages (like a single deep safety), the defensive coordinator has to feel confident to be able to drop the SS just as often as he does the FS. Now, if you happen to have a talent like LaRon Landry, then it doesn't matter if the QB knows who is deep because he can close so quickly.

Personally, I think our best combination at the present time would be to play Nick Ferguson with Will Demps. I'm hopeful that the addition of Frank Okam will allow the defensive coordinator the luxury of playing the better coverage safeties and our LBs will be recording more tackles than our secondary. Remember, our LB corps has gotten faster this offseason too so they should be able to fly to the ball.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Roy P

The problem appears to be that the Texans want both of their Safety positions to be able to support the run AND drop into deep coverage, while garnering players who are better at the former than the latter.

That's about how I've felt about our safeties. They are supposed to be interchangeable, and I think if you compare the players on the roster, they are. They just all seem to be a little better suited in run support. The hard part is Finding TWO guys who give you the best of both worlds. Right now I would just be happy with one, but sometimes I question if what some of the schemes we are trying to run are just flawed, because of the difficulty in finding the players who can do it.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by papabear

The hard part is Finding TWO guys who give you the best of both worlds.

The 'Skins were the only team I know of who had that with Landry & Jason Taylor, but of course no more after the tragic death of Taylor ?

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Roy P

I'm hopeful that the addition of Frank Okam will allow the defensive coordinator the luxury of playing the better coverage safeties and our LBs will be recording more tackles than our secondary.

I didn't see Okam play in college, but everything I've read about him says he is really talented and is a classic NT, something not that easy to come by and something we've never really had here.
Trouble is of course he's not thought to have any motivation, any desire
to really play football, let alone in the NFL. This guy must really be a long-shot, even for a 5th rounder, and I wonder why the Texans think they can motivate him when nobody else does ? Looks like maybe the guy is just hustling the Texans to pick up some quick cash in the form of a signing bonus ?

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I didn't see Okam play in college, but everything I've read about him says he is really talented and is a classic NT, something not that easy to come by and something we've never really had here.
Trouble is of course he's not thought to have any motivation, any desire
to really play football, let alone in the NFL. This guy must really be a long-shot, even for a 5th rounder, and I wonder why the Texans think they can motivate him when nobody else does ? Looks like maybe the guy is just hustling the Texans to pick up some quick cash in the form of a signing bonus ?

Philosophically, the 3-Technique is a position that is of greater importance around the NFL. A guy like Amobi should be able to play 3-downs and create havoc in passing situations. Both Dorsey and Ellis project to that type of defense.

I'm wondering if scouts believed that Okam was a 3-Technique that simply ate himself out of contention. Here is an athletic big DL who appears to "take plays off" and has gotten huge. Do people wonder if his lack of motivation is evident in the way he has gotten out of shape?

Conversely, the Texans may have seen Okam for what he really is: a nose tackle. We already have Okoye to be the penetrator. Ryans is arguably the most important player on the defense, why not allow him to roam freely to the ball by placing a space eater in front of him? Haloti Ngata seemed to really help Ray Lewis when he was added to the roster. The Bears had a pretty good defense when TANK allowed Tommie Harris and Urlacher to do their thing. Maybe appreciating Okam for what he can do instead of focusing on what he can't do was the reason we selected him.

Since we did not use a high pick on this guy, there is little risk involved. Everyone says how Frank is a smart guy, so it would be smart to play well enough to get a 2nd contract. If we rotate him during the game, he should be able to give maximum effort when he's on the field, because he will be fresh. Also, our coaching staff as well as the other players on the field should be able to motivate him.

I think that there is little doubt that this guy has more talent than say, Maddox. Now, we just have to wait and watch to see if he pans out.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

The 'Skins were the only team I know of who had that with Landry & Jason Taylor, but of course no more after the tragic death of Taylor ?

Sean Taylor.

Man, that was a strong Combo to have in the secondary.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by Roy P

I'm wondering if scouts believed that Okam was a 3-Technique that simply ate himself out of contention. Here is an athletic big DL who appears to "take plays off" and has gotten huge. Do people wonder if his lack of motivation is evident in the way he has gotten out of shape?

doubt it....It's not like this guy is a 280 pounder that let himself go. two gap types are commonly paired with penetrators so he is a perfect match imo. We've needed a situational Tackle that has some mass and is hard to move for short yardage and in goal line situations. Guys like this are only good for 20 or so snaps or so a game since the big massive 350 pound types wear down quicker than smaller players.

[nero THE zero]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I didn't see Okam play in college, but everything I've read about him says he is really talented and is a classic NT, something not that easy to come by and something we've never really had here.
Trouble is of course he's not thought to have any motivation, any desire
to really play football, let alone in the NFL. This guy must really be a long-shot, even for a 5th rounder, and I wonder why the Texans think they can motivate him when nobody else does ? Looks like maybe the guy is just hustling the Texans to pick up some quick cash in the form of a signing bonus ?

I know one of the big knocks on Mack Brown is that he tends to overlook lazyness. People say that he doesn't push weightroom training like other programs do and it tends to hinder development on players. Okam might just need a hard-ass that can push his buttons on the field and in the weightroom. Maybe Franklin is the guy that can do it.

Ultimately, Okam is a low risk, high reward type of investment. Here's to hoping it pays off.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Roy P

I'm wondering if scouts believed that Okam was a 3-Technique that simply ate himself out of contention.

Here's what Okam had to say about his weight during his con call with houston media after the draft:

(on what weight he would like to report to camp at and how it got high during the combine) “325. Honestly, the creatine I have been taking my whole life and if you don’t take it right you carry a lot of water weight. After the combine, I stopped taking it and I have lost a lot of weight already. I am down to 328 right now. I am just getting back to what people saw.”

link

i think the law school thing got blown out of proportion because he is so smart, and scouts aren't used to someone admitting they have other interest outside of football. To me this was a brilliant pick. I think he will be rotated in and will only have to give us 20 or so snaps a game, and that should make him very effective.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by papabear

Here's what Okam had to say about his weight during his con call with houston media after the draft:



link
To me this was a brilliant pick.

Now that's premature, to say the least.
If he starts in the opener at Pittsburgh in September, its a very good pick. If he goes to Hawaii in a couple years, OK its "a brilliant pick".
On the other hand if he's studying Torts & Contract Law in Austin in September with a fistful of cash by way of a short NFL career, don't be
that surprised.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Now that's premature, to say the least.
If he starts in the opener at Pittsburgh in September, its a very good pick. If he goes to Hawaii in a couple years, OK its "a brilliant pick".
On the other hand if he's studying Torts & Contract Law in Austin in September with a fistful of cash by way of a short NFL career, don't be
that surprised.

I meant Brilliant in terms of the potential. I realize that he hasn't done anything yet.