Hilee Taylor vs Dwight Freeny

[panthers55]

and are taylor is 6-2 250 height makes a huge diff even if wait is the same..

Height can be an advantage or disadvantage the same as arm length, upper or lower body strength etc. 6-2 is acceptable for a DE but a player has to understand the dynamics of leverage and use them to his advantage. Tall lean players for example often lack either upper or more often lower body strength. Shorter players like Taylor can't use the same moves that a guy like Peppers can at 6-7 and almost 290. They also have to play differently if their opponent is a different body style than themselves or has different strengths and weaknesses. Look at Peppers for example, he has great games against some guys and disappears at other times even when not double teamed. Much of that isn't necessarily lack of effort so much as he doesn't match up well against some players while he dominates others. Good DEs have different moves based on who they face and learn to adapt and change throughout the game to compensate for what the offensive tackle is doing as well.

[Steel Panther]

Hilee Taylor was pretty good this year in pass rushing situations. However, I don't believe he is as strong as Freeney and I don't think he is any where near Freeney in terms of technique. Give him a couple more years and he may turn out pretty good...but that's up to how hard he wants to work and how hard the coaches push him.

:thumbsup: Spot on!

[Davidson Deac II]

Justin Tuck was a 3rd.

Umenyiora was a late 2nd.

Mathis was a 5th.

Adalius Thomas was a 6th.

Darrell Russell was 2 OVERALL. We all know how that worked out.

I'm just sayin'. Draft position means NOTHING.

I wouldn't say it means nothing. I think that irt defensive ends it means quite a bit. Mario Williams, Bruce Smith, and Julius Peppers were all number one picks. I think historically speaking, it has meant more irt defensive end than at some other positions.

[Snake]

Why does everyone say he needs to add weight, he just needs to bulk up. He weighs the same as Jason Taylor and is shorter by about 3 or 4 inches. Taylor is 6-6 255.

Because it will help with injures and also help him with bull rushing. Johnson bulked up after his rookie year and it helped him alot. It will also help Taylor.

[Delhommey]

Freeney was considered a pretty big reach at the time if that helps anyone's argument.

[Panthro]

Gonna be a long offseason.

Cant wait for the Nicks/Fitzgerald

an how they are alike threads to start popping up lol

[BlueHose]

is like comparing Matt Moore to Peyton Manning

[xXxBretWeedxXx]

Freeney was considered a pretty big reach at the time if that helps anyone's argument.

He was still graded as an early 20's first round talent. The Colts also seemed to know what they were doing.

[monstercat]

Right now, Taylor should be compared to Al Wallace, if anybody. If he can fill that role as well as Wallace did, it's a win win as far as I'm concerned.

[Cyberjag]

I would love for Taylor to develop into as good a player as Wallace was. Wallace would be starting for us ahead of Brayton right now.

[mantal]

I would love for Taylor to develop into as good a player as Wallace was. Wallace would be starting for us ahead of Brayton right now.

ditto...

[monstercat]

Actually, I though Brayton played the run better than Wallace ever did, so I don't really agree with that. Remember a couple of years ago when Rucker was out against Tampa, and Cadillac Williams ran all over us? He got the majority of his yardage on Wallace's side.

And FWIW, Taylor was better against the run than I ever really thought he would be, regardless of the smack I was talking at the time. For a smaller guy, he held his ground pretty well and seemed to be pretty good at getting through traffic and finding the ball. He's good enough to be productive off the bench, IMO.

[MadHatter]

I think you guys are missing the point of the original post. He never said that Taylor was or will be as good as Freeney. He only pointed out that Meeks worked with an undersized DE in Freeney...he asked if we thought that Meeks could work with and put Taylor in positions to make plays.

[CarolinaSock]

Actually, I though Brayton played the run better than Wallace ever did, so I don't really agree with that. Remember a couple of years ago when Rucker was out against Tampa, and Cadillac Williams ran all over us? He got the majority of his yardage on Wallace's side.

And FWIW, Taylor was better against the run than I ever really thought he would be, regardless of the smack I was talking at the time. For a smaller guy, he held his ground pretty well and seemed to be pretty good at getting through traffic and finding the ball. He's good enough to be productive off the bench, IMO.

How could you really even judge how he was against anything? He had 4 tackles all year. Hoover and Smith had as many tackles as he did.