2008 Season Retrospective: Leroy Hill

by John Morgan on May 13, 2009 5:15 PM PDT Comment 7 comments

Leroy Hill is a living lesson that you don't use a hammer to catch fish.

Overview: Leroy Hill first appeared on the injury report in week 6 when he was probable with a knee injury. Box score skimmers and IDP players would agree, it was a season that started with such promise. Fans might see it as more of a small step back with frightening portents. Hill's next appearance on the injury list, this time doubtful with a neck injury, signaled the end of his season. It was the third consecutive season he missed time with injury.

What Went Right: Hill had tackles, lots of them. Absent strong contributions from Lofa Tatupu and the line, Hill was still strong against the run. He sort of played a surrogate middle linebacker in games Tatupu was clearly not himself, patrolling sideline to sideline and recording seven tackles for a loss. Hill makes quality tackles and though for the first time in his career he didn't force a fumble all season, he showed the same ability to run into his tackles and through the ball carrier that he's shown since college.

What Went Wrong: Hill's tackles numbers were up because Tatupu was at half-strength, Peterson was blitzing every other snap and Seattle was getting crushed and thus facing oodles of rushing attempts. Hill couldn't negotiate a zone to save his life. He blitzed less and when blitzing was often used as a blocker-buster or decoy.

Quintessential Game: Rams at Seahawks

Eleventh play of Saint Louis' first drive. Same drive. 3^rd and 21 following an uncredited forced fumble by Peterson. Rams break 3 WR, SB. Seahawks 4-2 nickel. At the snap, Seattle rushes four but never accomplishes pressure. Dane Looker drags from the right to the left in a slow developing route. Seattle needs to collapse the pocket better, and that must be recognized. Seattle's secondary is in a zone, with Tatupu and Hill manning the right and left underneath zones, respectively. Looker flashes behind Hill. Hill only notices Looker after he's past him and has a clear route to the end zone. Marc Bulger targets Looker, Looker receives and scampers in for the score. A great goal line stop undone in a single play. There's blame to go around, but, ultimately, Hill has to keep the receiver ahead of him. Allowing Looker to streak behind him from the offensive right is exactly the kind of unaware zone play that caps Hill's potential.

Outlook: Seattle would be better off without the Leroy Hill that took the field in 2008. It wasn't all his fault, because he was used wrong -- almost blindly wrong. That Hill was bad enough in cover to offset his run-stopping prowess, and continued a trend of diminishing contributions as a blitzer. The essential Hill is intact. He has a handful of exceptional skills: He wrap-tackles. He's super-quick. He negotiates garbage. He's agile. He tracks running plays. He's a punishing hitter. Gus Bradley shouldn't have trouble finding uses for his skill-set, but then neither should have John Marshall. Hill should blitz multiple times a game. He should cover running backs and preferably only on screen-passes. He should be subbed out in most nickel formations. Marshall used Peterson to blitz and that left Hill staring at the quarterback as opposing receivers ran practice drills about him. Hill may not be versatile, but he doesn't need to be a Swiss army knife linebacker to be extremely valuable. He just needs to be used right.

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I agree 100%

. Hill may not be versatile, but he doesn’t need to be a Swiss army knife linebacker to be extremely valuable. He just needs to be used right.

Especially with the above statement.

Sam Bradford, future Seattle Seahawk.

by Carl Shinyama on May 13, 2009 5:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I also concur.

Curry seems to be the perfect complement to Leroy Hill.

I think Peterson was actually an okay complement as well, but Marshall didn’t use them properly. He saw JP’s supremely awesome pass rushing skills and used him to blitz every third play. He apparently never took high school economics, because JP is like a country that produces 10 computers per hour or 8 TVs per hour, and Leroy Hill is like a guy who produces 7 computers per hour and 2 tvs per hour. Marshall sees that 10 comp/hour production and his eyes get big and he makes JP a computer making machine. However, people want TVs as well, so Leroy makes TVs at a really poor rate. What he should have done was have JP make TVs and Hill make computers.
Of course, this is assuming that JP is pretty good at pass coverage. I remember when we signed JP, the media claimed that he could line up at CB, S, and RE on a few plays. I didn’t really hear anything bad about his pass coverage until we traded him, and a lot of people claimed that he missed several assignments. But regardless of that, given that we have a team of Curry, Hill, and Tatupu, and a competent Defensive Coordinator, I hope we see a 4-3 over that works to our advantage using the talent that we have.

McCoy McCoy 2010, also acceptable, Russell Okung, Ndamukong Suh, Dez Bryant, Ciron Black, Eric Berry, and Bryan Bulaga.

by LantermanC on May 13, 2009 6:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

John, a couple questions...

- In 2007, Leroy Hill was far better in coverage. What caused the regression? Was it his bulking up, making him a bit more top-heavy?

- Why the hell was Darren Sproles able to completely upend Hill on a one-on-one matchup during a blitz in the preseason game vs. the Chargers? While we’ve seen show exceptional closing speed and dismantling blockers to finish off a blitz, that was a bit disconcerting.

"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

by Fearless Frog on May 13, 2009 7:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It

happens. I wouldn’t make too much of it.

I don’t know why he’s playing so much poorer in coverage. Maybe teams started targeting him more or with plays that better target his weaknesses.

by John Morgan on May 13, 2009 7:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's funny.

MJD’s blocking > Sproles’ blocking, though….

Are you going to break down Devin Moore? Contrast Moore and Forsett? I realize these guys are late-round, UDFA types, but I’m curious about both of them, particularly your thoughts on the new guy.

That writeup on Hill seems too accurate. It has tempered my excitement and expectations of Leroy a bit. I’m thrilled about the change that is our new coaching staff coupled with the known good things that Hill does. I can’t wait to see him pulverize people this year. I had lost sight of the fact he’s been somewhat unhealthy at times. It makes me glad we re-signed DD Lewis.

by Misfit74 on May 13, 2009 10:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Who's lights are out now, you roid taking pussy. "

Ah, I love YouTube.

But the main difference between that play and the one I’m referring to is that MJD went off a play-action, so he sort of had the ‘element of surprise’, if that can be applied to football. This one was an obvious passing down with Sproles looking for someone to block and Leroy obviously trying to engage him.

Meh, I suppose I’ll leave it as an outlier because I’ve never seen Hill do anything like that before while blitzing.

"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

by Fearless Frog on May 14, 2009 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs