With Pratt doubtful for Sunday

[fredtoast]

Spotlight will be on Akeem Gaither-Davis.

A little small for a LB (6'1", 225) but has speed like a safety (4.57 forty).  Son of a college football coach. Was a 2-star 170 lb safety coming out of high school.  Grew into hugely productive player at Appalachian State (Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year '19).

Played 314 snaps as a rookie (33%) and 207 in just 9 games last year (30%), but was used quite differently.  As a rookie he blitzed about once every 10 snaps (31 in 314) and was only targeted in coverage about once per 17 snaps.  Last year those numbers flipped.  He only blitzed about once every 21 snaps (10 in 207) but was targeted in coverage once every 10.

I like Pratt a lot, but I don't think there will be a big drop off to ADG. Akeem is smart, athletic, and versatile.  The only real knock on him is some sloppy tackling, but he was only charged with 8 missed tackles over his first two season.  He needs to improve that aspect of his game, but it is not a crippling deficiency.

[THE PISTONS]

Yeah I'm interested in seeing how he plays in a larger role myself.

[fredtoast]

I don't think we ever have 3 LBs on the field any more.

And Logan Wilson has played 100% of defensive snaps so far.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

I have missed the story, what happened to Pratt?

[fredtoast]

(09-23-2022, 03:24 PM)Wyche Wrote: I have missed the story, what happened to Pratt?

Knee.

He was actually at practice today but "limited" so it does not look like anything that will keep him out for an extended period.

[JumboTron]

I remember Lou praising AGD after the preseason game against the Giants. He was really impressed with his natural instincts and his ability to quickly read the offense and go make a play.

[TheFan]

(09-23-2022, 03:20 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Yeah I'm interested in seeing how he plays in a larger role myself.

He only got 9 snaps against the Cowboys but was our worst rated defender for the game. Obviously that small of a sample size doesn't tell us too much but we really need him to step up more than that this week if Pratt is a no go. 

[fredtoast]

(09-23-2022, 05:06 PM)JumboTron Wrote:  He was really impressed with his natural instincts and his ability to quickly read the offense and go make a play.

When he was drafted that was listed as one of his strongest traits.  And it is one that is hard to measure and put an exact number on.  Like "field vision" for a RB.

ADG's dad was a college football coach.  I think that is where he got his "head for the game".

[Housh]

Pratt is the listed MLB isn’t he? Does that mean Bailey is getting his snaps? We usually run 2 linebackers don’t we? Is Logan playing middle now with ADG rushing from the outside?

[fredtoast]

(09-23-2022, 06:11 PM)Housh Wrote: Pratt is the listed MLB isn’t he? Does that mean Bailey is getting his snaps? We usually run 2 linebackers don’t we? Is Logan playing middle now with ADG rushing from the outside?

Zac said ADG and Bailey would "split" the snaps.

I think we will see a lot of Logan playing middle with ADG.

[Housh]

(09-23-2022, 07:43 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Zac said ADG and Bailey would "split" the snaps.

I think we will see a lot of Logan playing middle with ADG.

If this is true we won’t miss a beat with Logan at MLB

[LebanonFan]

This has been the best LB room we’ve had in for as long as I can remember. I have zero issues with Markus Bailey or Clay Johnston on the field, or Joe Bachie when he comes back

[Housh]

(09-23-2022, 09:57 PM)LebanonFan Wrote: This has been the best LB room we’ve had in for as long as I can remember. I have zero issues with Markus Bailey or Clay Johnston on the field, or Joe Bachie when he comes back

Honestly me either. Bailey is still a solid prospect at MLB and Bachie i think is who he’s going to be. Don’t see much of a ceiling in him but he is a decent backup pass coverage linebacker.

I think even with Pratt hurt the linebackers won’t be the reason we lose

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

I know Anarumo completely shut down Dax getting snaps over either of the two established safeties...

What about playing more Dime with Bell sorta filling in the role of your second linebacker? The Jets leading rusher is 201lbs, so it's not like you need another linebacker to tackle a Derrick Henry or something and two of their top-3 WRs are 4.3 guys with sub-200lb weights. Might also help the next week against the Dolphins where you probably want more speed on the field at defense with Tyreek, Waddle, and Gesecki running around and both of their RBs being on the smaller size. Dax's 4.38 speed will probably be more help the next two games than ADG's 4.57 speed and extra weight.

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-23-2022, 05:17 PM)fredtoast Wrote: When he was drafted that was listed as one of his strongest traits.  And it is one that is hard to measure and put an exact number on.  Like "field vision" for a RB.

ADG's dad was a college football coach.  I think that is where he got his "head for the game".

I love the guy's athleticism and I don't care about his size.  He is about where Odell Thurman was in terms of height and weight.

He has been really good in coverage, but he seems to take bad angles in run defense.  Maybe he just hasn't had enough snaps to judge the speed of maybe he just takes bad angles.  The Jets will be testing him in the run game.  

[Clark W Griswold]

I think they will still be good on defense with ADG out there.

As for the already-bad offense playing without it’s top 2 TEs and maybe it’s RT? That’s what we should be worried about.

[Housh]

(09-23-2022, 11:27 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I know Anarumo completely shut down Dax getting snaps over either of the two established safeties...

What about playing more Dime with Bell sorta filling in the role of your second linebacker? The Jets leading rusher is 201lbs, so it's not like you need another linebacker to tackle a Derrick Henry or something and two of their top-3 WRs are 4.3 guys with sub-200lb weights. Might also help the next week against the Dolphins where you probably want more speed on the field at defense with Tyreek, Waddle, and Gesecki running around and both of their RBs being on the smaller size. Dax's 4.38 speed will probably be more help the next two games than ADG's 4.57 speed and extra weight.

You gotta get 4.3 speed and great ball skills on the field somehow.

Give him a formation where Dax and Bates are in. Gotta get him reps


It’s completely idiotic to not play him all year throw him out there next year but that’s just my opinion. Sometimes coaches are wrong. I know ppl will say Lou sees Dax more than anyone else but this same coach is still starting Eli Apple and he’s pure trash so idc about their opinion s

[*pally*]

LB Keandre Jones has been game activated from the practice squad for added depth at LB

[ezekiel23]

We need some of this young talent to step up.Hoping ADG has a good showing tomorrow.We need all the help we can get,as the last half of this seasons schedule is brutal.