Hayes And Black Invade Saints Backfield
December 27th, 2009
For several weeks, Joe’s been watching Bucs games and considering next season at the same time.
Seeing the high-powered Saints shut out in the second half today, Joe was fired up by Quincy Black and Geno Hayes looking dominant at times and making their presences felt in the Saints’ backfield.
It’s obvious that Hayes, at 22-years old, has truly extraordinary speed and playmaking ability and deserves to return as a starter in Raheem The Dream’s edition of the Tampa 2.
Hayes even had his moments in Jim Bates’ system while the rest of linebackers struggled mightily in it. (Yes, Joe is aware that Hayes has botched his share of assignments and reads, but the upside far outweighs the down.)
As for Black, he’s come on strong since the D-coordinator switch. But is he good enough to pencil in as a starter for next season?
Joe’s not so sure.
December 27th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Barrett Rudd (spahetti arms, bumb, get a haircut & a shave) is the weakest link. As middle linebackers go in this league, he has been a real disappointment. 1 tackle for a loss all season. They need to draft his replacement and I truly see why he didn’t get an extension.
December 27th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
at least we can be preocupied for another stuffs more than LB, we need DT and a good Safety, also, another conrer thinking ronde has not too much, at least not in time, and why not, WRs for freeman
December 27th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
A couple weeks back Matt McCoy was on 620 for Total Access and he said something that was somewhat surprising to me. I always felt like Black was our most physical linebacker, but McCoy actually said that he is also the fastest linebacker hands down. And specifically that he is faster than Geno. I was shocked to say the least but evidently its true. I think his upside is at least has high as Hayes, especially when they figure out how to use his talents more and get him more involved in blitzing the quarterback which they have done the last two weeks by using a 3-4 alignment. I think we have a great core of young linebackers now that could start hear for many years to come.
December 27th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
sgw94, is that you Steve?, I totally agree with you. I think Black’s quickness & speed are underrated. I love the way he pursues ball carriers, those tackles for losses were awesome. I think Black is playing better, but he is not being put in a position to make splash plays.
BigMacAttack, Ruud is not the weakest link, come on man. Ruud is not a force at LB, but a very decent player, he does his job better than what he is asked to. Ruud is not physical and often drops into coverage. I know you want a physical MLB/ILB like Ray Lewis, but guys like Lewis, heck Ruud don’t come around often. Ruud is good at coverage in T2 and decent as a LB.