The Tape: Colin Cole Makes Me Want to get Hammered, Part 3
by John Morgan on Mar 4, 2009 2:03 PM PST
in Seahawks Player Analysis
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PrintColin Cole saw nine snaps in the second half. It was more of the same. Cole was competent against single blocks and completely overmatched against double blocks. On this play
1-10-GB 48 (9:58) 33-M.Turner right tackle to GB 39 for 9 yards (74-A.Kampman, 79-R.Pickett).
Cole was pushed three yards off the line.
And that's a conservative estimate.
Cole is competent against single blocks, but he is by no means effective. Cole may tussle with the blocker, get under his pads, contort him right and left and eventually shed the blocker, but he has no follow up. He's far too slow to rush the passer (and getting slower). He'll rarely shed fast enough to redirect a run. And he doesn't make a ton of productive tackles himself. Of his 126 career tackles, just ten are for a loss. Brandon Mebane has nine in 68 tackles. Rocky Bernard has 44 in 281.
Cole wasn't signed to dance with single blockers. He was signed to stand up to the double team and keep blockers out of the second level. I see no evidence that he will. The best Seattle can hope for is that Mebane becomes such a beast at the three that teams must regularly double him. In this scenario, Mebane keeps Cole looking good, Cole shows something facing single blocks he's never shown facing double blocks, Tim Ruskell looks smart and Cole looks the late bloomer. It's possible.
I have serious doubts. Mebane made a great one tech. For him to be a great three tech, he's going to need someone to keep blockers off him. Because if he's regularly doubled at three, and that's a rare phenomenon, even then talent is squandered. A beastly Mebane deserves a partner that can keep the heat off him. A Pat Williams to his Kevin Williams. I see no reason to think that's Cole, and I see no reason to think this signing was anything but a mistake. Teams will run at Cole and Mebane can't stop that. Making Cole either liability or handicap. Without seeing him take a single snap in Blue, I'd accept dead money to shed this dead weight.
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well there's red bryant
he might be our only decent option opposite mebane, but I dont know enough to predict how well he will do.
Red "Foxx" Bryant too
That makes four and the chances of drafting one slim, I would think. Unless we cut someone-Terril or Green, I’m looking at you- it looks like we will be stuck with this DT rotation for the rest of the year
"I call the big one Bitey."-Homer J. Simpson
by Willie Mays Haze on Mar 4, 2009 2:22 PM PST up reply actions
Good question.
A one-game sample size against a good O-line isn’t enough to write this guy off. That screen grab is not encouraging, though.
Probably not one bad game.
It fits his career profile. His stop rate has been bad his entire career. He’s a career backup. Atlanta’s line really isn’t that dominant. he wasn’t injured. The opposing center was. I think Tim Ruskell overvalued football intelligence, team leadership and character just as he did when he signed Brian Russell.
John, given your low opinion of Ruskell's ability to evaluate DT talent...
…you may want to reconsider your stance that he really won’t reach for BJ Raji.
Given Ruskell's emphasis on character and academics
and several years of production, I’d say Raji is out of the picture.
I don't think John has a low opinion on Ruskell's ability to evaluate DT's
This is really the 1st bad move he’s made at that position.
Ruskell identified Mebane and Bryant,
one of which is an absolute steal and a moster and the other who very well could be.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 4, 2009 8:07 PM PST up reply actions
bummer, this is the one free agent seattle really went after
now i wonder why. is it possible he just had a bad game? doesn’t really make sense though, he wasn’t a starter, comes in with fresh legs, i don’t believe he was injured. there must be something the coaches saw in him, but what? too confusing, because seattle really went after this guy.
The one free agent Seattle really went after?
They didn’t really go after Houshmandzadeh? He was in town the day after the free agency period began. Mora kept the dude’s diamond-studded watch as collateral for chrissakes.
well if you watched the whole TJ interview
i’m paraphrasing here because i don’t have a transcript, Cole was the guy they really went after and expected to get. TJ they did go after, obviously, but realistically they didn’t expect to sign him
I was going to ask about 'Bane commanding double teams at the 3-tech in the other thread
But you answered it here. And basically echoed my unwritten thoughts that the 3-tech, unless monstrously dominant, rarely commands a double team. And that the one tech’s job is to be beastly and hold down two blockers to free up the 3 tech. So i guess my question is this, Is there any chance that ’Bane remains at the 1 breaking defenders backs and that they have cole at the 3? Or is cole too slow to ever hope to be a good 3 tech?
"I call the big one Bitey."-Homer J. Simpson
by Willie Mays Haze on Mar 4, 2009 2:28 PM PST reply actions
Mebane could stick at one
But I don’t foresee it. Cole doesn’t make sense at three unless the team is willing to forfeit interior pass rush.
yup, according the Ruskell in the TJ interview
Cole will play the 1-tech and Mebane will play the 3-tech
That's kind of what I figured
I was just hoping that there was some way to make some lemonade out of this terrible lemon of a trade. It’s frustrating too because a lot of casual fans I talk to are enamored with his size and say things like “Well the midget D-Line wasn’t doing anything for us.”. This is incredibly frustrating because a) size =/= being stout against the run and 2) our D-Line wasn’t small last year, we are not the Colts (yes I know I used a letter and a number in my points, it’s a little shout out to Peter King)
"I call the big one Bitey."-Homer J. Simpson
by Willie Mays Haze on Mar 4, 2009 2:40 PM PST up reply actions
Once again
and this isn’t an “appeal to authority” because I’m not saying you’re wrong, the evidence is pretty clear that Cole (as of so far) isn’t the answer…
…WHY did we sign him? I don’t get it.
It can't just boil down to that.
Granted, Rocky had been suspended for domestic violence so he didn’t fit the Seahawk way. But they watched the same tape you’re breaking down. They must have built a scouting report that rose beyond what we’re seeing… right?
That's the depressing part to me
Is that this is is supposedly a staff that relies on collaboration. So it’s not just Ruskell and his interviewing fetish. It means that Ruskell, Webster, Will Lewis, Mora, Bradley and Quinn all looked at tape of the guy and not one of them noticed or was forceful enough to say, “he can’t hold vs. doubles”
I take it you’re not bullish on Mebane at the 1 … but could this be a case where the staff really is convinced of that and they think that just a cost-effective rotation of 3-techs next to him is enough (kind like how Sapp spent his career playing next to the likes of Brad Culpepper)?
what i keep hearing about Cole
is he’s a high energy guy, plays with a lot of enthusiasm. which sure, if fun to have on your team, but if they’re loosing the battle regardless all the time, big whoop.
Maybe they thought all this time
they’d been scouting Cullen Jenkins, not Colin Cole. They mixed up the names. Whoops.
I wonder if it has something to do with Dan Quinn. Like he sees a replacement player with potential that can flourish immediately, if coached correctly.
Maybe they saw something else
Maybe the brain trust, being defensive minded people, saw something in the way he played that made them believe they could get more out of him than Green Bay was.
I'm wondering that too
but it seems pretty arrogant. GB had run defense problems last year, but they’ve been coached decently well for a while.
I view the Cole signing as a short-term stop-gap only
Only $5M guaranteed money. I’d read into it that they didn’t want to re-sign Bernard for some reason, didn’t want to go into 2009 with only Mebane, Bryant, Terril and a rookie (Ziggy?), but also didn’t want to make a long-term commitment to Cole. I’d be shocked if we didn’t draft another DT of the future to combine with Mebane and Bryant in 2010 and beyond. I think Green and Terril’s days are numbered. Due to above discussed issues with Raji and the price-tag at #4, I don’t believe they’ll go that way. So if Ziggy is there at 37, I think he’s our guy, but they could try to duplicate the success of Mebane by looking in the 3rd round. Frankly, I’d love to have Robiskie or Unger at 37. If we can trade down in the 1st round and pick up another 2nd or 3rd round pick, it helps immensely.
Ziggy may not be available at 37
He is moving up draft boards. The DT class seems to be pretty thin, so we might be looking in the 4th round vs. 3rd round. 3-4 round options include Fili Moala-USC, Sen’Derrick Marks-Auburn, Alex Magee-Purdue and Dorrell Scott-Clemson. Magee is interesting in that he played DE his senior year. “Had Magee remained at defensive tackle as a senior instead of unselfishly moving to defensive end to give the Boilermakers help rushing the passer, he might be considered a first day lock. His versatility and strong performance at the Senior Bowl could land him there anyway.” – Rob Rang, NFLDraftScout.com
I'm all for it.
Though he may not last that long, I suspect. Heck, I don’t know. I just know I like him.
I'm still holding out hope for a Ziggy & Chung combo in the 2nd & 3rd
I know it’s unlikely. But then again, Red Bryant was almost universally pegged as a 2nd round last year and lasted to the middle of the 4th. And Safeties always seem to be undervalued (especially one’s that don’t appear “toolsy” like Chung)
So I’m going to keep my optimism going, just so that I can have my soul crushed on draft day.
My mouth was agape the next morning when I found out we drafted Bryant.
I liked moving up for Carlson because there were rumors of the Saints flirting with him, but I wanted Bryant and was disappointed that we probably wouldn’t get him if he potentially fell because we no longer had a 3rd. And then that happened.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 4, 2009 8:13 PM PST up reply actions
I perceive this deal
to be more about organizational depth. Bryant is supposed to win the job, and Cole will be splitting time situationally with Terrill. Plus we might draft somebody.
Exactly
Tennessee got Jovan Haye for less!
by jacobstevens on Mar 5, 2009 11:30 AM PST up reply actions
That is another way of looking at it that I find encouraging.
I think most of us are excited about Bryant’s future. I hope for his health and development.
Huge contract is a relative term
$5M signing bonus is actually a two year contract type of bonus, to a starter level player. If he sucks after two years, they cut him. By then we’ll know for sure on Bryant and will have another DT in the fold. Besides, Haye is a 3 technique, not a 1.
John, your analysis is thorough, and it is adament that Cole is not a good fit for this defense. I hope you are proven wrong. But I would like to know from the other side why they believe this is a good signing.
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