re: Full Game Cut-Ups of Tharold Simon vs 6 Teams in 2011

quote:

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Overall he is a solid player. His coverage on deep routes is exceptional, but he needs to work on driving on shorter routes and improving his strength and tackling form.

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I agree - and the good news is - the reps he got and the mistakes he made were great points to work on in the off-season.

It is much easier to teach a guy who has all of the physical tools to not only be great, but actually dominate (I think Peterson was in a different category, from a measureable and athletic standpoint he was freakish), as Simon, another guy who is legitimately 6'1" and change (listed as 6'3"), and approaching 200 pounds - will probably play in the 192 to 196 pound range - to work on jamming, driving, tackling, run support, short route reads, working with help short, but alone deep, etc., than to get a guy with perhaps great ball skills, but a comparative athletic/size deficit to run and jump with SEC WRs on the deep routes. Simon already has the hard part down (and more importantly, the uncoachable part), he just needs to work on the easier (but also very important) stuff.