Willie Williams was a Hurricane but due to many off-the-field issues, he bounced around to three other schools before finally settling in at Union College. He's an incredible talent (6'2, 230 and runs a 4.4). Tackling machine. He had first round all over him when he came out of high school but he threw that all away when he got into a lot of trouble off the field. He says he's matured since his time at NAIA UC but we'll see how he does in interviews. He'll probably go seventh round to undrafted and I'd be absolutely shocked if he's picked up by us, unless Parcells and company buy what he has to say in his interviews, providing that he says he's really changed.

 

Alen you gotta love Lombardi's praise, huh?

 

Yes sir. That's the columnist I respect the most.

 

Well..Merling needs to show more IMO, with JP being doubled Merling (or Vonnie Holiday) should be making some noise, and so far aside from Vonnie a couple of weeks ago...we have seen either in the Backfield very often.

 

Wow, that's impressive. Imagine how good our ground game would be if we could generate some push in the middle of the line.

 

no, these guys play 2 gap on the line... they are not going to be getting sacks all game... they are in there to stop the run... thats what the dline does in a 3-4... if our run defense is good, that means they are playing well... they are not supposed to be shooting gaps and penetrating, they engage Olineman and hold blocks to leave room for the linebackers... thast the kind of defense we play

 

Sounds like a typical Cane :tongue2:

Hmm though I find it interesting we are interested in the kid even though he has been in so much trouble. Sounds like a monster but how much of that is due to the fact he is playing lesser competition?

 

Lol, I was being serious, no homer. :up:

That production could be from playing lesser competition, I mean he had something like 24 or 26 tackles in one game. But the thing with him is that he does actually have a lot of talent. He was rated the top LB prospect coming out of HS. He's a big LB, who ran a 4.42 at an Alabama camp, he closes on the ball well and is good in coverage. Big hitter who can make game-changing plays as well. I mean, he's really a guy who has a lot of talent but he has had so much issues, its ridiculous. He went from UM, to Louisville, to WVU and then to Pearl River Community College (where Demetrius Byrd went) and then finally settled on NAIA Union. He's a guy that I really want to see how he does in the interviews because I've read about him since he's settled in at Union and he says he's changed. He says he has his life back on track. I'm definitely keeping an eye on him when he applies for the draft because he's a guy that I would take a chance on in the seventh round or as an UDFA.

EDIT: I see on NFLdraftscout.com they have running a mid 4.6 forty. Considering he's 4 years removed from running a 4.4, it doesn't surprise me. He was in jail 11 times, had burglary and marijuana charges on his rap sheet. He's listed at 6'4" and OLB. I know he's spent time at OLB, DE and ILB.

 

Thats great to hear

 

We have little pressure even on third and longs, and there are few tipped balls even though both are 6'4 plus..

 

Its like he was playing in High school all over again. With that kind of rap sheet I'm really surprised were interested.

 

3-4 is supposed to have good pass rushing LB's across all 4(not JP quality, but guys who consistently put up 3-4-5-6 sacks).........we have 1.

They are both in the top 5 for rookies in tackles so that's a positive sign and the run defense has improved a lot compared to last year.

Get some LB's who can shift the attention off them and they may be able to make some more noise if the guys they are facing are more worried about who may be coming their way.

I still can't help but wonder if Merling won't be better suited to the Roth role though.

 

Yeah, the thing with him is that he came to Miami on probation lol. I think he had something like 2 years of probation. He was definitely a headcase coming out of high school but maybe Ireland and the FO read up on him and read what I did about him saying he has changed his life. If he can persuade someone in the interviews, then he'll get a shot in the league.

 

This is not really true. The ILB's job in the 3-4 is to cover the TE on his side and play the run and hit the ball at the point of attack. I never expect ILB's to get sacks except when it comes from a blitz situation. So far we haven't seen them get there.

I wonder about Merling moving over as well. He was a run stopper in college so I see why they are making him put his hand down.

 

wow, thats great to hear about our rookies. I think we all know jake has done well but we havent hear much about merling at all... langford has made a bit of noise, mostly early in the season, henne has yet to play, and we all know the potential that donald thomas possesses when he comes back.

great to hear such great praise about our rooks