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History Lesson : Tom Brady’s Draft Story

We’ve focused primarily on ancient history in these posts so far, but today we’re going back to fairly recent history.

Do you know who Tom Brady is? OF COURSE you do! Even if you don’t know a single thing about football and stumbled on this website completely by accident and are looking to leave as soon as possible (but don’t! stick around!), you know who Tom Brady is. That’s because Tom Brady will be remembered as one of the best quarterbacks, if not the best quarterback, in NFL History. He transcends football; he’s living legend.

(Hyperbole hyperbole hyperbole.)

(But…truth truth truth.)

What you may not know about Tom Brady is that he did not get drafted #1 overall. Not #2 or #3, either. Tom Brady waited through 6 rounds to be drafted after 6 other quarterbacks and 198 other players. He was draft 199th overall by the Patriots, despite his lackluster scouting report:

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Tom Brady Positives: Good height to see the field. Very poised and composed. Smart and alert. Can read coverages. Good accuracy and touch. Produces in big spots and in big games. Has some Brian Griese in him and is a gamer. Generally plays within himself. Team leader.

Negatives: Poor build. Very skinny and narrow. Ended the ’99 season weighing 195 pounds and still looks like a rail at 211. Looks a little frail and lacks great physical stature and strength. Can get pushed down more easily than you’d like. Lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush. Lacks a really strong arm. Can’t drive the ball down the field and does not throw a really tight spiral. System-type player who can get exposed if he must ad-lib and do things on his own.

Summary: Is not what you’re looking for in terms of physical stature, strength, arm strength and mobility, but he has the intangibles and production and showed great Griese-like improvement as a senior. Could make it in the right system but will not be for everyone.

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I love that. LOVE that. Tom Brady has since proved nearly every negative wrong. (I say nearly only because homeboy is never going to be mobile. He can leave that to Colin Kaepernick and call it a day.) Was the scouting report wrong? Or did Tom Brady just work that much harder than everyone else? Probably both – but definitely the latter. He started his first season as the 4th quarterback on the depth chart. By season’s end, he was second and in the following season, he started a few games after starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured. He wasn’t spectacular right off the bat. But he did enough so that the Patriots never looked back; he’s been their starter ever since.

And he’s only led the team to 5 Super Bowls and won 3 of them. No big deal.

One of my favorite documentaries ESPN has ever done was The Brady 6, the story of the 6 quarterbacks taken before Tom Brady in the 2000 Draft. Here’s a peek into what he went through on Draft Day:

I just love his story. I can’t get enough of it. Anyone who has ever been told that you aren’t good enough, aren’t the right fit, won’t ever make it (ahem…Tim Tebow): take note. It’s possible.

Film Room : Zone Principles in Saints vs. Niners

A few weeks ago we broke down film of the Colts using both man and zone coverage in their defensive plays. I’d go back and review that tape first if you haven’t already seen it, but in short, man and zone coverages are what they seem. In man coverage, players are assigned specific men to cover. In zone coverage, players are assigned specific areas of the field to cover.

In today’s film room post, we get to see San Fran LB Ahmad Brooks use zone coverage to intercept Drew Brees and score a touchdown for the Niners.

So how did he do that?

1. He looks at the receivers and the quarterback

Brooks drops back into his zone from the 4-3 defense formation. Instead of just watching the receivers to see where they are going or just watching Brees to see where he is throwing, Brooks has his head on a swivel, surveying the entire field for clues as to where the ball is going and who is entering his zone. Since no one comes into his zone, he know that Brees, who is already winding up to throw, is planning on throwing a deep pass. He focuses on intercepting that pass by reading Brees’ eyes (seeing where he is looking to know where he will throw the ball) instead of covering receivers outside of his zone (which was clearly the right decision).

2. He keeps moving and breaks on the ball

Just because he doesn’t have any receivers to cover doesn’t mean his work on this play is done. Far from it! Brooks keeps moving, and when he sees Brees get ready to release the ball and knows where he’ll throw it, he accelerates in that direction, making a break for it (or “breaking on the ball”). If he had moved a second later, he probably would have missed his chance.

3. He runs to the sideline

Not for gatorade. Not for a high five. He runs to the sideline because the players who are most likely the tackle him are all in the middle of the field. If he runs straight upfield, he’s going to run right into them. Bad news. But if he runs to the sideline, all of the offensive players in the middle of the field are going to have to change directions and run toward the sideline, too. That gives Brooks much much time and space to reach the end zone, which he does!

Never underestimate the power of a good momentum swing before halftime. Final Score: 31-21, Niners.

Off the Field : Cortland Finnegan

I have to say that before this E:60 feature, I had a very negative opinion of Cortland Finnegan.

That’s what E:60 does to you. It makes you cry over players you thought you wanted thrown out of the league.

Cortland Finnegan is a well-known troublemaker. He has a reputation for being a dirty player, and you can’t say he hasn’t earned it. In 2010 alone, he threw Steve Smith to the ground by his helmet, hit Chris Kuper after his helmet came off, and got into a now notorious on-field fist fight with Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson. But what really gets under players’ skin is the way he’s incessantly there – with constant commentary, late jabs that go unseen and uncalled, any physical or mental provocation that can instigate a mistake in the player he’s covering.

And it works. Just ask Josh Morgan.

But there’s more to Finnegan than meets the eye. There must be, since he recently signed a 5 year deal to play for the Rams, recruited by and reunited with his former head coach Jeff Fisher.

E:60, as always, does a great job of showcasing just what that more is:

People, if you didn’t get misty-eyed when Cortland pushed Kelsey through the 5k, your heart might be made of stone. What a genuine gesture of support! I may not agree with his on the field tactics (I saw what he did to Jordy just then!), but off the field? I can get on board with that Cortland Finnegan.

Such a good reminder that there is always more than meets the eye.

Fundamentals : Goal Line Defense

Your team’s defense is on the one-yard line. Your own one-yard line. The opposing team is poised to score easily with the ball mere feet from the end zone and a fresh set of downs. You believe in your team…but you know what’s going to happen here. The offense is going to score and then it’ll be up to your team’s offense to make up the difference.

But something miraculous happens. Three downs later, the offense hasn’t broken through the brick wall that is your defense. They opt to kick a field goal for 3 guaranteed points instead of trying to go through it again.

What just happened?

A goal line stand by a spectacularly called goal line defense.

As we’ve discussed before, most NFL defenses run a 3-4 or a 4-3 defensive formation. This makes the most sense when trying to cover large portions of the field.

But when your unit is backed up against the goal line and only has about 10-12 yards of field to cover, what do you do then?

That is just the question that goal line defense answers!

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The point of goal line defense, similarly to every other defense, is to keep the offense from scoring. Since the space in which this happens in quite condensed, goal line defenses load the box as much as possible to defend the goal line and force the offense to pass it in for a touchdown instead of easily running it in.

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NFL teams run two main types of goal line defense (predominately – as we know, there are always exceptions to every rule). Which goal line defense a team runs usually has more to do with the offensive formation they are facing than with the defensive formation they run the rest of the game – but again: exceptions. Here’s what we can know for sure about each formation:

The 6-2

We know from studying the 3-4 and the 4-3 that the first number describes the number of players on the defensive line and the second number describes the number of players mid-field between the D-line and the secondary – which is a space usually occupied by linebackers. The rest of the players not denoted by the formation are defensive backs. So in a 3-4, we know there are 3 D-linemen, 4 linebackers, and 4 defensive backs (3+4+4 = 11).

The 6-2 is a little different. The first and second numbers still pertain to regions of the field: there are 6 players up front and 2 behind. But the 6 in this case doesn’t denote 6 defensive linemen in the traditional sense. Only 4 of those 6 are linemen by position; the other 2 are linebackers. See the image above to get a better understanding of what that looks like.

So in the 6-2 we have 6 men on the defensive line (4 D-linemen and 2 LB’s), 2 linebackers behind, and 3 defensive backs. The exact alignment of all these players will depend on the offensive formation, but in this example, the tackles are blocking the A gaps and the ends and linebackers on the D-line are head up over their offensive tackles (which would be 5-technique) and tight ends (8-technique). The linebackers behind the D-line are playing head up over the guards (2-technique). The defensive backs are covering the end zone (and the QB might try to throw one to the outside right corner since there’s no one in the immediate area to defend against it).

The 5-3

We can go back to our traditional understanding of defensive formations with the 5-3. There are 5 men on the D-line and they’re all linemen, and there are 3 men behind and they’re all linebackers. Since there are 5 on the D-line and 3 LB’s, that means we still have 3 guys in the secondary. The techniques have changed a little bit in this formation, though. See if you can figure out which technique each of the D-linemen and linebackers are playing (and refer back to this post if you need a little extra help!).

Will you see other defenses at the goal line in NFL games this season? Will the linebackers and tackles and ends be all jumbled up and aligned in different places? ABSOLUTELY! Play design is a math equation with thousands and thousands of different permutations. That’s what makes learning about it so interesting! But as long as you know these basics about goal line defense, you’ll be just fine.

Draft Week News and Notes: First Round Recap

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People: there is manna in the desert.

The NFL draft has arrived.

It’s a magical time in which dreams are realized and the regular season doesn’t feel like it’s still 4 months away. The honeymoon tends to end quickly: you soon realize that your picks aren’t all they were cracked up to be and the season really is unbearably far away. But for one short weekend, it’s pure joy.

Miss something last night? Go to bed before midnight? Not to worry. Here’s our complete first round recap!

2013 Draft: Round 1

Pick 1: Kansas City Chiefs

Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan

This is such a great story. Fisher, who is from Michigan, didn’t even get recruited by Big Ten schools coming out of high school. And after college? No one thought he was going to be a top pick. Eric Fisher is one of those underdogs who is such a joy to cheer for, and he’s going to a great organization and a solid team.

Pick 2: Jacksonville Jaguars

Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M

This is the first time in modern day draft history that tackles have been taken with the first and second picks. This bit of trivia probably wasn’t tremendously comforting to Joeckel, who for weeks has been projected to go #1. And as far as win-probability goes, he’d probably been better off in Kansas City.

Pick 3: Oakland Raiders TRADE to Miami Dolphins

Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon

Hello, surprise! When the Dolphins made the trade, most people thought they’d pick another tackle, likely Lane Johnson. But the Dolphins continue to exercise the element of surprise this offseason and went for defensive end Dion Jordan. (And everyone’s mock drafts burst into flames.)

Pick 4: Philadelphia Eagles

Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma

This kid is crazy. In college he played QB, DE, RT, LT…and finally wound up getting drafted as the third tackle in the first four picks. Before the pick my mom asked me who I thought they’d select. I said I didn’t know; the Eagles need help everywhere. Apparently they drafted the guy to do just that!

Pick 5: Detroit Lions (announded by Barry Sanders, always a class act)

Ziggy Ansah, DE, BYU

Ziggy is another one of the underdogs who’s easy to route for – a business major from Ghana who played soccer primarily until this past season, when he played 9 football games and then turned into a first round draft pick, and the 5th overall pick at that. Wow.

Pick 6: Cleveland Brown

Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU

This was a bit of a surprise; over the past few days it seemed like the Jets or the Saints were eager to land Mingo. My favorite anecdote about Mingo is from this interview, concerning his unique name: “My mom just kind of threw it together and wrote it on the birth certificate,” the LSU linebacker/pass-rusher said at the NFL Scouting Combine. Mrs. Mingo did the same with Barkevious’ brother, whose name is Hughtavius.

That’s a great story.

Pick 7: Arizona Cardinals

Jonathan Cooper, G, North Carolina

The FOURTH offensive lineman taken in the first seven picks. Insanity.

Pick 8: Buffalo Bills TRADE to St. Louis Rams

Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia

When all of the invited players lined up to be introduced at the start of the draft, it was easy to pick out Tavon Austin. He’s the one you can’t see. Austin is only 5′ 8″ and has been discredited for his size for entire career. But that didn’t stop St. Louis from trading up to get him, and they were right to do so. He’s an exceptional talent and combined QB Sam Bradford? That’ll be a lot of fun to watch.

Pick 9: New York Jets

Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama

The Jets needed to replace Revis, who they traded to the Bucs earlier this week, who was without a doubt their best player. (No one understands.) Replacing Revis through the draft was highly unlikely, but if that was their plan, they got the best corner available.

Pick 10: Tennessee Titans

Chance Warmack, G, Alabama

The top 10 first round picks of 2013? Half were offensive linemen, with nary a quarterback, running back, or tight end to be seen. Completely unheard of, but this pick was just what the Titans needed to sure up their offensive line.

Pick 11: San Diego Chargers

D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama

Bama haters: that’s the third member of the Crimson Tide selected in the top half of the first round. Say what you want; they’re as close to an NFL team as you’ll see in college football. Great pick by the Chargers.

Pick 12: Oakland Raiders (from Miami Dolphins)

D.J. Hayden, CB, Houston

GO D.J.!!! (If you missed Tuesday’s post, you’re going to want to check it out and watch the feature on Hayden.) So, so excited to see him go in the top half of the first round. The Raiders are the Raiders are the Raiders, but what an achievement to go from life-threatening injury to first round draft pick in 6 months time. Huge testament to his work ethic and durability.

Pick 13: New York Jets

Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri

Well, that was unexpected. But then again, this is the Jets we’re talking about.

Pick 14: Carolina Panthers

Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah

Lotulelei wasn’t able to participate in most of the Combine due to cardiovascular concerns. But thankfully, it had no affect on his draft status. He’ll be joining an up-and-coming Carolina defense, getting to play with last year’s first round pick and Defensive Player of the Year, Luke Kuechly.

Pick 15: New Orleans Saints (announced by Markell Gregiore, a patient at St. Jude’s and the tearjerker of the night)

Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas

The Saints needed to make this pick count since their second round pick was taken by bounty sanctions, and they decided to use it to keep building their defense with Kenny Vaccaro.

Pick 16: Buffalo Bills

EJ Manuel, QB, Florida St.

And at long last: a quarterback was drafted. SIXTEEN PICKS IN. That’s unheard of. But Buffalo picked a great one; EJ Manuel has so much charisma and the potential to be an answer to the question that has plagued Buffalo ever since Doug Flutie left decades ago. (To the point where they still sell Flutie Flakes in grocery stores in Rochester. Really. Maybe Manuel Munchies are forthcoming!)

Pick 17: Pittsburgh Steelers

Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia

Go Jarvis!!! Another one of our Tuesday guys to cheer for! The Steelers needed an outside linebacker, and he’s a great one. Glad to see him go to a great program.

Pick 18: Dallas Cowboys TRADE to San Francisco 49ers

Eric Reid, S, LSU

The Niners basically have all of the picks in the draft. They are saturated with options with 13 picks total. They needed a safety, so they picked up a great safety. Good call, Niners.

Pick 19: New York Giants

Justin Pugh, G, Syracuse

And the offensive line dominos continued to fall with the third guard of the night. A solid decision by the Giants who needed to address offensive line issues this offseason.

Pick 20: Chicago Bears

Kyle Long, G, Oregon

Kyle is the son of legendary Raiders defensive end Howie Long and brother of 2008 second overall pick Chris Long. Football is definitely in his blood, and the Bears had to like him a LOT to take him instead of any of their other position needs, namely tight end. And for the record: that’s another guard, another offensive lineman.

Pick 21: Cincinnati Bengals

Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame

It was a miracle that Eifert was still on the board at this point, and even though I was kind of hoping he’d end up in Green Bay if he lasted that long, Cincinnati is a great landing place for him. They are officially loaded on offense.

Pick 22: St. Louis Rams TRADE to Atlanta Falcons

Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington

Desmond Trufant also comes from a football family. His brother, Marcus, was drafted by Seattle in the 2003 Draft (and has been a stand-out talent there ever since) and also plays corner.

Pick 23: Minnesota Vikings

Shariff Floyd, DT, Florida

Finally! If you had told me back on Tuesday that Shariff would be third to go out of our 5 players to cheer for, I would have been shocked. But first round is first round, and Minnesota is getting a great guy at a great value.

Pick 24: Indianapolis Colts

Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State

The second international player to go in the first round. Werner is from Germany and had some trouble adjusting to life in the States. He worked through it and decided to come back and play for Florida State, and now he’s a first round draft pick. Well worth it the transcontinental adjustments.

Pick 25: Minnesota Vikings

Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State

First the Vikings get Floyd, who had no right to still be around at 23, and then they get Xavier Rhodes. Not a bad start on defense for the Vikes, who probably needed a linebacker more than a corner, but still got a great player.

Pick 26: Green Bay Packers

Datone Jones, DE, UCLA

I have to say that I was a little surprised with this pick, but the more I hear about Jones, the more I like him. He sounds like just what the Packers need to sure up the defense after the past two disappointing defensive years. As the saying in Green Bay goes, “In Ted We Trust.” Amen.

Pick 27: Houston Texans

DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson

The Houston offensive arsenal continues to stock weapons with a first round wide receiver pick. Merry Christmas, Matt Schaub!

Pick 28: Denver Broncos

Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina

This was a steal for the Broncos. Great defensive choice.

Pick 29: New England Patriots TRADE to Minnesota Vikings (announced by former Patriot Joe Andruzzi, who was a hero in action during the attacks in Boston)

Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee

The Vikings ~~stole~~ signed former Packer Greg Jennings in the offseason after trading Percy Harvin to Seattle. They needed more wide receivers, but getting Patterson came at a fairly high price: they gave up their 2nd, 4th, and 7th round picks to the Patriots for the trade.

Pick 30: St. Louis Ram

Alec Ogletree, ILB, Georgia

This will be an interesting one. Ogletree has gotten mixed reviews from draftniks and has had significant off the field issues, but if there’s a head coach who can turn a guy around, it’s Jeff Fisher in St. Louis.

Pick 31: Dallas Cowboys (from San Francisco)

Travis Frederick, C, Wisconsin

And another one bites the dust. 2013 shall forever be known as the year of the offensive line.

Pick 32: Baltimore Ravens

Matt Elam, S, Florida

When Goodell started with, “Ma–” I was sure he was going to finish with “nti Te’o.” But no such luck. All the same, the Ravens needed a safety to replace Ed Reed, and Matt Elam seems like a great fit.

And so the first round ends with Geno Smith, Manti Te’o, and Eddie Lacy all still waiting. Not a single running back was taken in the first round for the first time since the 1960’s. Instead, the offensive line finally got a little love with nearly a third of first rounders being O-linemen.

And we get to do it all again today.

Happy Draft Weekend, everyone!

Draft Week History Lesson : Bests and Busts

The draft wasn’t always the draft. It was always a selection process to procure new talent in which the worst teams selected players first, that much is true. But it hasn’t always been the media frenzy it has now become, complete with red carpet arrivals and round the clock coverage.

Future commissioner Bert Bell was the mastermind behind the NFL’s first draft in 1936. As fate would have it, the first player ever selected in the draft, Jay Berwanger, decided he didn’t want to play pro football after all.

I think it’s safe to say that tonight’s first pick will not follow suit.

In today’s NFL, it’s easy to think that all legendary talent gets drafted with the first or second pick. Last year’s draft history would tell us this is true: Andrew Luck was drafted first overall by the Colts and the Redskins moved up to take Robert Griffin III at number two. They’re both proving to be worth the high picks.

But history also tells us that Russell Wilson was chosen 73 picks later in the 3rd round of the draft. And that his Seahawks advanced farther in the playoffs than the Colts and the Redskins, whom the Seahawks beat in the first round to advance.

It’s not as cut-and-dry as it might seem in either capacity; there were extenuating circumstances throughout the year for all three teams. But it goes to show that sometimes the 75th pick can be just as valuable, and occasionally more valuable, than the first or second pick.

To test out this theory, let’s play a game. Try to match each player with their respective draft pick:

Ready?

A. (6) – Tom Brady was taken with the 199th pick in the 6th round. He was infamously drafted before 6 other QB’s, and will inevitably go down as one of the best to ever play the game.

B. (5) – Three quarterbacks were taken with the first three picks of the 1999 draft: Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, and Akili Smith. Only one survived to achieve success…and it wasn’t Couch or Smith.

C. (1) – See above.

D. (3) – Shannon Sharpe was selected 192nd overall and spent 9 seasons with the Broncos, during which time he won two Super Bowls with the team.

E. (2) – The Bucs selected Ronde Barber 66th overall in the 1997 draft…and he’s still with the team to this day, 15 years later. And he’s still one of the best cornerbacks in the league.

F. (4) – Ryan Leaf is perhaps the most well-known of draft day busts, and also the saddest. He was taken by the Chargers with the 2nd pick in the 1st round by the Chargers and played there for only 2 years. He had all the potential in the world, but none of the drive.

Now, that list is admittedly deceiving, as there have been plenty of worthy #1 picks over the years: the Manning brothers both went with the first pick, as did Troy Aikman, John Elway, Earl Campbell, Terry Bradshaw, and plenty of other notables. It just goes to say that the draft might determine which team a player calls home for a time, but it doesn’t have anything to do with that player’s inherent talent and drive to be the best.

Who’s the diamond in the rough this year?

We’ll just have to wait and see. (That’s the best part!)

Happy draft day, everyone!