The Secret To Kwon Alexander
January 27th, 2017
Passion immeasurable.
It is surprising how such a solid linebacker like Kwon Alexander lasted until the fourth round of the draft. For Joe, it speaks to how teams measure everything from how fast a guy runs to his pinkie size to his knob.
But what no one can measure is a guy’s heart.
Alexander just chews glass; he wants to succeed and win so bad. That’s why the Bucs always refer to Alexander as the “Jameis of the defense.” Not sure if anyone noticed on Sunday, but during the NFC Championship game, Alexander Twittered out that he needed to be playing.
Joe spoke about this subject with one of the top draft evaluators working, that would be NFL Network’s Mike Mayock.
The former Giants defensive back was at East-West Shrine Game practices last week and Joe chatted with him about Bucs subjects. (Joe is saving some of those nuggets for after the Super Bowl.)
On Alexander, one NFL source once told Joe that if any general manager claims Alexander is not a surprise, then they are lying. Otherwise, Alexander would not have lasted to Day 3 of the draft.
Teams couldn’t measure his heart, Mayock explained.
“[Alexander] had good production in the SEC,” Mayock said. “What the Bucs have done is interesting. The first two years they went offense. I think 12 of the first 13 picks were offense. They needed to address the defensive side of the ball and they did last year.
“I think what Kwon Alexander is is a really good solid young player. Good work ethic, tough kid. Is he going to test off the charts? No, but you could see on tape how good of a solid player he was.
“I think when I talk to the scouts and coaches; a big part of their job is to figure the kid out. It’s what I always call “The Process.” And we are at the beginning of the process. The all-star games, then the combine and then the pro days. You get individual meetings and you invite kids to your facility. At the end of the day, you better get to know the kid if you are going to consider employing him. And I think that is just as big of a challenge as watching the game tape.”
This is a helluva point. And it may be the most difficult to decipher. Shoot, Johnny Football was so slick, he even conned professional shrinks in his psyche eval with NFL teams. Even former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik confessed he was snookered by Myron Lewis.
Shoot, Da’Quan Bowers, nice guy that he was, seemed more interested in playing guitar with a Gospel troupe than crushing quarterbacks.
Figuring a guy’s head and heart isn’t as easy a measuring hand size, and for all those who care so much about dudes’ hand sizes, you folks are creepy.
January 27th, 2017 at 5:34 am
The tape always tells you the truth!
January 27th, 2017 at 6:31 am
We def need more unselfish hardworking players like Kwon on D!
January 27th, 2017 at 6:59 am
“Aint the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog”
January 27th, 2017 at 7:37 am
Speaking for Pablo
“Pablo also has a great heart but it goes unnoticed while Pablo is dancing because everyone is focused on Pablo’s elongated arc. Hamus also has a big heart and an elongated arc.”
January 27th, 2017 at 7:41 am
“I think what Kwon Alexander is is a really good solid young player. Good work ethic, tough kid. Is he going to test off the charts? No, but you could see on tape how good of a solid player he was.
Unfortunately this doesn’t scream perennial pro bowler or Jameis of the D
January 27th, 2017 at 8:02 am
I’m watching Calais Campbell video last night thinking to myself man this dude’s “dog and passion” would make for a match made in heaven paired with Ayers and Kwon. SB was the first I recall to mention him. My wish list is no longer JPP. Get Campbell in the building Mr. Licht. His activity up front would allow for Kwon to be the phantom menace he is adept at being on the back end.
January 27th, 2017 at 8:09 am
Not trying to take a dig at GMC this mourning but when you watch Campbell’s ultimate highlight you see all those aspects I’ve asking to see from our GMC. Tackles for loss,sacks,force fumbles,strip sacks. Overall disruption in the backfield. Get This Guy.
January 27th, 2017 at 9:15 am
You don’t have to be a physical freak to be the alpha dog. You have to be willing to lay it all on the line each and every day and your teammates will respect and follow.
January 27th, 2017 at 9:24 am
NosBos … Calais Campbell has had 49.5 sacks starting with 2010 (7 yrs) … an average of 7 sacks per yr as a DE playing on an excellent DLine. Gerald McCoy has had 42 sacks over that same timespan (7 yrs) … and average of 6 sacks per yr as a DT playing on a average DLine. And that factors in GMC only having 4 total sacks in 2010 & 2011 combined as a result of injuries. Take away those first 2 yrs and GMC has gotten more sacks as a DT starting in 2012 (38) than Campbell has as a DE (35.5).
Now pls tell me again where GMC is letting us down performance-wise.
January 27th, 2017 at 9:32 am
Defense y’all put too stock in sacks bro. If you haven’t noticed I’m talking about tackles for loss, forcing fumbles and strip sacks bro. The only sack that matters to me are the ones that occur on 3rd down and force a change of posession.
January 27th, 2017 at 9:35 am
And you said letting us down,re read my post you won’t see that in it. I just want more than 8 sacks a seasons,I want hurries and overall disruption of an opposing teams offense.
January 27th, 2017 at 10:07 am
I get that the “process” is very involved and includes the intangibles but I’m like Joe. I just do not get how people miss on this so frequently when they are paid millions to NOT miss.
How hard can it be to find out if a guy has the “want to”…the desire and focus.
Football at this level…NFL plus top 50 college teams…is actually pretty incestuous. Most of these coaches know each other or have coaches on staff who know coaches on staff. It’s not that giant of a fraternity.
I do not believe HS or College coaches lie that often to people scouting their guys from the next level. If they blow their credibility on one guy they’ll have a tremendous amount of difficulty getting their next player noticed. Not saying some coaches aren’t a little too high on their players….I’d have to be behind closed doors and hear Dabo Sweeney tell the truth about one of his players that has issues….and that’s the ONLY place it happens…no coach is going to toss a guy under the bus…well there was Steve Spurrier…quit or play less than 100% and he’d tell the world. LMAO
I think the Bucs are finally doing a great job in this area…not just Kwon and Pamphile and others…but if you think about it ASJ has been the only recent bust due to “head issues”. You might miss on talent but surely a guy’s teammates and coaches can be coaxed into the truth behind closed doors.
Can you imagine how many coaches and teammates going all the way back to high school the Bucs talked to re #3. And they came away convinced that #3 was the real deal. Same with Kwon.
We have been a desperate franchise for tooo long which means we sometimes reach in the draft and FA. I no longer think we’re desperate. We still have a few missing pieces and can always use more depth….it’s a rough league which NFL teams can’t use more depth…but we’re good to go at the most important position…QB! We have at least one stud at WR…DL…LB…DB…OL…we have mediocrity at RB…to me that is the position we need to upgrade the most…perhaps TE not far behind. Not saying we couldn’t use another DE or OL just saying they are no longer DESPERATE needs.
January 27th, 2017 at 10:12 am
Yeah, because we have plenty of players that reach 8 sacks!
January 27th, 2017 at 10:42 am
NosBos, I get what you’re saying, believe me. But as you know, there’s a big difference between playing DT & DE, so directly comparing GMC & Campbell is kind of misleading. By GMC eating up 2 blockers on most plays, that allows our DEs a better opportunity to pressure the QB, make a TFL, etc.
I just think that too many Bucs fans don’t really appreciate what GMC contributes game-in and game-out in the trenches. If you look at his snap counts, I seriously doubt that there’s another DLineman in the NFL who’s even close to the snaps he’s been on the field for these past 5 yrs. Continuously going up against double-teams from 300-340 lb OLinemen has to wear anyone down. Bucs need another quality DT to rotate in with him, and I’m not talking using 270-280 lb DEs in the middle.
January 27th, 2017 at 10:51 am
The only sack that maters to me is the one that leaves the QB on the ground shacking his head trying to clear the Cobb-Webs….1st 2nd 3rd or 4th down it doesn’t matter! CONTINUE TO BUILD A WALL!….but not in Mexico! Dumb ass!!
January 27th, 2017 at 11:53 am
This man is a baller. He is smart and studies and adjusts to scheme and is fast laterally and downhill.
Straight up he is the critical player on the team and best pick of that draft for value.
A call was made to his head coach and his head coach vouched for him. Bucs made a decision and never looked back.
January 27th, 2017 at 1:36 pm
We need to have BULLIES on our D-Line.
We need 8 starters on the D-Line.
We need to only use Spence on 3rd down so he’s fresh in the 4th quarter.
JPP, Calais Campbell and Gholston are all big nasty DE’s.
That would give us Ayers, Campbell and Gholston as DE’s
Slide Ayers into DT on passing downs.
Slide Spence into DE on passing downs.
And rotate Campbell and Gholston to keep them fresh for 16 games.
And sign Akeem Spence but move on from Clinton McDonald.
January 28th, 2017 at 10:46 am
What does he mean by knob? Lol