Whither Hightower?

Share this page

Grumpy_Bottom

Grumpy_Bottom

Try our thick, creamy milkshakes
Joined
Aug 9, 2008
Messages
7,837
Reaction score
983
Points
113
Location
FL
Was he dinged up, or did he get benched for performance? I saw the green dot got moved, and the fact that Spikes was in leads me to believe it wasn't a "matchup" issue as much as the fact that he looked overwhelmed by blockers at the point of attack. Anybody hear anything more, or was there any discussion during local coverage? I was curious nobody said a word to BB at the presser post-game.
 
He played invisibly. You just couldn't see him out there. It's been that way all year. Fletcher provided far more umph for the buck.
 
chevss454 said:
He played invisibly. You just couldn't see him out there. It's been that way all year. Fletcher provided far more umph for the buck.
Click to expand...
Agreed, just wondering if the coaches finally saw what I thought I saw all year. Now I'm starting to wonder if Collins wasn't brought in to replace HT more so than Spikes. For a big man, HT can't shed to save his life, he gets swallowed up and doesn't even provide a roadblock
 
So, can we stop with the talk that Spikes is useless and expendable and that Hightower will take over his role? I'm not one to give up on players early, and HT certainly contributes, but he's every bit as slow and plodding as Spikes, but without the PoWWww (tm MichDave)
 
This reminds of the Richard Seymour debate.

Q: Why doesn't Seymour have more sacks
A: He is playing exactly as Belichick wants him to play within the system
(this is the lie we told ourselves)

Belichick sent Seymour packing to Oakland.
 
Hightower paid his dues at Bama and the NFL owes him a living. Hightower is being sent a career message. He has the rest of this year to provide his answer. J. Cunningham can provide Hightower with the preferred answer so Hightower controls his fate. Cunningham chose the easy path and found his ass cut.

Spikes is a great 2 down ILB. He'd have been a top 5 LB 15 yrs ago. The game has changed but BB is getting out of him what he can. At least Spikes plays up to his ability. Spikes will be a free agent after this year. If his demands are commensurate with his outdated skill set, BB will offer him a low ball contract to begin negotiations. If Spikes relents even a little talks will continue. If he holds fast to his demands BB will thank him for his services.

Fletcher is hungry; he realizes how lucky he is to make a bunch of money playing a game. Fletcher is a happy sob today. Collins shows the athleticism of modern NFL LBs. Collins is the future. Neither Fletcher nor Collins are in jeopardy.

Hightower and Spikes have decisions to make...Hightower about highest effort and Spikes about lowest money. Either way, we win.
 
chevss454 said:
Hightower paid his dues at Bama and the NFL owes him a living. Hightower is being sent a career message. He has the rest of this year to provide his answer. J. Cunningham can provide Hightower with the preferred answer so Hightower controls his fate. Cunningham chose the easy path and found his ass cut.

Spikes is a great 2 down ILB. He'd have been a top 5 LB 15 yrs ago. The game has changed but BB is getting out of him what he can. At least Spikes plays up to his ability. Spikes will be a free agent after this year. If his demands are commensurate with his outdated skill set, BB will offer him a low ball contract to begin negotiations. If Spikes relents even a little talks will continue. If he holds fast to his demands BB will thank him for his services.

Fletcher is hungry; he realizes how lucky he is to make a bunch of money playing a game. Fletcher is a happy sob today. Collins shows the athleticism of modern NFL LBs. Collins is the future. Neither Fletcher nor Collins are in jeopardy.

Hightower and Spikes have decisions to make...Hightower about highest effort and Spikes about lowest money. Either way, we win.
Click to expand...

I've already said my piece about Hightower and Fletcher, but your mentioning Spikes made me think just how dominant Spikes is at the point of attack. Collinsworth mentioned that he "blows up" guards and he was exactly correct. Spikes takes on bigger guys multiple times in every game and wins almost every impact.

He's amazing. He's a big guy for a LB at probably 260ish, but there isn't a single LB in the NFL that is any better at penetrating, taking on OLs and making TFLs.

He hits guys that outweigh him by 60 pounds and just dazes them and he's smart. He doesn't appear all that jacked up and in fact looks like he could use some time in the weight room, but jeeeesus. Spikes is country strong and tougher than a week-old bagel.

It's too bad he isn't a little quicker in coverage and in general, but there isn't a better run stuffing linebacker in football in my opinion.
 
Bet the Jets or Ravens or Pittsburgh would love to have Spikes on their team.

I'm no expert but sure looks like Hightower gets engulfed by opposing guards more often than you'd like.
 
Spikes is going to be a curious case in the offseason… We all know of his pass coverage weaknesses, but, man, is he really really good in running situations. However, how long does a guy like that play consistently at that level? All that banging eventually takes its toll. I'm not sure he is a guy BB will be looking to be getting into a bidding war with.

Hightower always seems to look slow, behind plays, and out of position. Not sure that his deal is..
 
I really hope we can keep Spikes. Every team needs a guy the other teams fear. He's that guy. He can lay the wood and he is fearless. (although he tweeted that game made him nervous LOL).
 
reilljt0 said:
Spikes is going to be a curious case in the offseason… We all know of his pass coverage weaknesses, but, man, is he really really good in running situations. However, how long does a guy like that play consistently at that level? All that banging eventually takes its toll. I'm not sure he is a guy BB will be looking to be getting into a bidding war with.

Hightower always seems to look slow, behind plays, and out of position. Not sure that his deal is..
Click to expand...

I don't either.

Watching him a bunch at Alabama I figured he was a sure thing to be a great pro.

Maybe he wasn't as good as most people thought including Bill. Maybe he was a guy that had maxed out athletically and can't get a whole lot better.

Two other possibilities are that he's having trouble with the system and just can't get comfortable or that he's having some kind of off-field issues.

He does not appear to be the same kind of player he was in college.
 
Grumpy_Bottom said:
Agreed, just wondering if the coaches finally saw what I thought I saw all year. Now I'm starting to wonder if Collins wasn't brought in to replace HT more so than Spikes. For a big man, HT can't shed to save his life, he gets swallowed up and doesn't even provide a roadblock
Click to expand...

HT seems overly eager to engage blockers instead of covering his gap assignments and then can't shed. Reminds me of Guyton - only bigger, slower and more expensive.
 
Hawg73 said:
I've already said my piece about Hightower and Fletcher, but your mentioning Spikes made me think just how dominant Spikes is at the point of attack. Collinsworth mentioned that he "blows up" guards and he was exactly correct. Spikes takes on bigger guys multiple times in every game and wins almost every impact.

He's amazing. He's a big guy for a LB at probably 260ish, but there isn't a single LB in the NFL that is any better at penetrating, taking on OLs and making TFLs.

He hits guys that outweigh him by 60 pounds and just dazes them and he's smart. He doesn't appear all that jacked up and in fact looks like he could use some time in the weight room, but jeeeesus. Spikes is country strong and tougher than a week-old bagel.

It's too bad he isn't a little quicker in coverage and in general, but there isn't a better run stuffing linebacker in football in my opinion.
Click to expand...



Spikes is my binky and hope he remains a Patriot. He offers that type of nastiness that you want out of a defensive player. He's definitely a liability covering, but when it comes to the run game and rushing, he's one of the best in the league.
 
Hawg73 said:
I don't either.

Watching him a bunch at Alabama I figured he was a sure thing to be a great pro.

Maybe he wasn't as good as most people thought including Bill. Maybe he was a guy that had maxed out athletically and can't get a whole lot better.

Two other possibilities are that he's having trouble with the system and just can't get comfortable or that he's having some kind of off-field issues.

He does not appear to be the same kind of player he was in college.
Click to expand...

It's funny you mention it, because he was sort of considered a steal in the draft and a lot of other teams said they would have jumped at the opportunity if we hadn't grabbed him where we did.
 
SkiptoMyLou said:
Spikes is my binky and hope he remains a Patriot. He offers that type of nastiness that you want out of a defensive player. He's definitely a liability covering, but when it comes to the run game and rushing, he's one of the best in the league.
Click to expand...

The funny thing is, I don't think he's as bad in the passing game as people say. Sure he's slow and can't cover, and he won't succeed when he has to run with someone, but he has good instincts for where the ball will come and even has good hands when he gets the odd ball his direction. Obviously you still don't want him out there as a 3 down player, but he does have some ancillary skills that mitigate his big weakness.
 
It's only his 2nd year. Let's not completely give up on the guy just yet. I'm sure there's allot of players who took a little more than 1 season to become something. Only truly special players usually start the way some guys did like Patrick Willis or bowman. Let's not give up totally on him just yet. Although I do agree that he's had a rough season. I always wonder tho what's really his strenghts I honestly don't think it's covering. I'd like to see what can he do rushing the passer more
 
Mr.Pink said:
It's only his 2nd year. Let's not completely give up on the guy just yet. I'm sure there's allot of players who took a little more than 1 season to become something. Only truly special players usually start the way some guys did like Patrick Willis or bowman. Let's not give up totally on him just yet. Although I do agree that he's had a rough season. I always wonder tho what's really his strenghts I honestly don't think it's covering. I'd like to see what can he do rushing the passer more
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm just disappointed with his rate of progress and consistency at this point, though he has improved some in a few areas. He's had some very good moments in coverage this season, for example. But he still seems to be having frequent difficulty finding his run fits and he still blows edge contain more often than I'd like - I thought he was equally responsible in allowing that first Cam Newton run as Carter was. That apparent lack of edge/gap discipline combined with his struggles to avoid/shed blockers is likely what's preventing him from being used as a pass-rusher.

As a fairly large guy for an LB, one would think that pure strength would enable him to shed a bit better than he does, so I have to think that his technique development is lagging. That he seems to engage blockers so quickly and readily (like Guyton) instead of taking half a beat to read first may be lack of discipline/instinct. Inconsistency finding his proper run fit on a given play may also be lack of discipline/instinct and/or not understanding the play scheme and his assignment, or simply not reading/understanding where the ball is going.

That he was pulled from the game Sunday night - assuming that it wasn't for injury - isn't necessarily ominous for his future. It could have been a simple adjustment to what Denver was doing that required guys with more quickness/agility rather than size/power. In any case, HT certainly hadn't been very effective in that game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top