Interviews

We’ve been talking about the season that Houston’s Chris Myers has been having at center for a while now. We’ve even written an article about it!

PFF was lucky enough to get to talk to Chris during his bye week, and in addition to talking about the usual things, we got his take on the Texans’ prospects with Matt Leinart under center, and what difference that makes to the Houston offense, and Myers himself as that center.

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Tackling is a lost art in the NFL, especially when we’re talking about corners. With that said, there’s one guy who still excels at it and who continues to make some nasty hits. Antoine Winfield of the Minnesota Vikings is a natural tackler. There’s no question. He becomes an extra linebacker who sniffs out run plays, screens, and continues to come up with the big play. At 34 years old, he’s still producing at a top level as evidenced by our recent article on Antoine Winfield which tagged him as 2010′s Most Complete Corner. He may have lost some speed after 10+ seasons, but he brings the power when squaring up and taking down the ball carrier.

I spent some time talking with Antoine about his tackling ability, his thoughts on Leslie Frazier, as well as who he thinks will step up for the Vikings in 2011.
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He’s not tall. Get over it. He doesn’t care. He’s going to continue to go out there, play football, and put up numbers. Jaguars WR Mike Thomas feeds of that doubt, so keep it coming. He’s experienced the questioning throughout his career and look what he’s done. He continues to prove the masses wrong.
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In his first two NFL seasons, Mike caught over 110 balls and 1,200 yards combined. That’s not too shabby for a young receiver. Despite that, he’s still discounted as a slot receiver and does not receive the praise he deserves. Why? According to Mike, it’s because he’s short. He doesn’t mind. He uses it as fuel and will just continue to produce.
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I spent some time with Mike talking about his 2010 season, playing in the slot, and whether he’s ready to assume the top WR spot on the Jaguars in 2011.
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To pass the time and stay productive during the NFL lockout, Calais Campbell interned with Will Farrell at FunnyOrDie.com. While that’s certainly impressive, the prototypical 3-4 defensive end has also been busy improving his production on the field in each of his first three seasons in the NFL after being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft.
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Unfortunately, the success of the Cardinals’ defense hasn’t correlated with his individual success on the field. According to Calais, that’s going to change as soon as the defense is able to get on the field and work together to build chemistry.
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I spent some time talking with Calais about the Cards’ 3-4 scheme, the linebacking group, and the current quarterback situation. Read the rest of this entry »

He doesn’t do much trash talking on the field and doesn’t spout in the media, but Pittsburgh’s Lawrence Timmons lets his presence be known on the field.
 
In 2010, his fourth season in the NFL, Lawrence broke out and ranked as our top inside linebacker after amassing over 100 tackles and 20 QB pressures. He’s a force on the Steelers’ defense that took the playmaker role from Troy Polamalu back in the 2008 season and continues to flourish. Lawrence is now a staple of the Steelers’ defense since becoming a three down linebacker who rarely sees time on the sidelines.
 
Timmons can do it all. He can rush the passer, stuff the run, drop back in coverage – and he excel in all areas. Despite his 2010 success and his all around ability, he didn’t get voted to the Pro Bowl. Why not? Well, I spent some time with Lawrence talking about that, the Steelers mentality on defense, and what he needs to improve on in 2011 to get to that Pro Bowl.
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Five years after being the 43rd overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, Roman Harper has proven to be one of the best strong safeties in the league.
 
When fans think of him, they think of a tackling machine who excels close to the line of scrimmage. While it’s true that he finished near the top of the league’s safety group in 2010 in both stops and QB disruptions, there’s much more to him than that, especially off the field.
 
I recently talked with Roman about his free agent status, his “Harper’s Hope” foundation, and the impact Greg Williams has had on the New Orleans defense. Read the rest of this entry »

He calls himself a custodian. Why? He cleans up the trash and clears a way to the ball carrier allowing his teammates to make the tackle. The wgreat thing about Bart Scott is that he couldn’t care less about making the tackle. He feeds off of initiating contact and making life easier on his fellow defenders.

Unfortunately, as our Sam Monson pointed out in Bart Scott: The Art of Linebacking, Beyond the Tackle, he doesn’t get the respect his play warrants. While he doesn’t lead the team in tackles, he’s an integral part of the Jets defensive success and one of the main reasons why it’s been ranked in our Top 5 twice in the past three seasons.

After all, as Bart says … tackles aren’t the hardest thing in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

I remember watching the Jets/Bills game back in Week 9 of the 2008 season. It was coming down to the end of the 2nd quarter and the Bills were in the red zone knocking on the Jets’ door. What happens? I see Stevie Johnson toast Darrelle Revis of the Jets for a touchdown. He put on this nifty move and broke to the inside sealing the deal. Watching that play, I’m thinking … keep an eye on this kid. That was a pretty sweet move on a pretty talented young corner and it looks like there’s some promise there.
 
Well, it didn’t exactly happen very quickly. Fast forwarding past the next two years where Stevie struggled to produce (he had a total of 12 catches for a little over 100 yards in ’08 and ’09) and we finally saw him get the opportunity to show his talent. Read the rest of this entry »

A breakout season after six years in the NFL?
 
That’s exactly what happened with Jason Babin of the Tennessee Titans in 2010. From the high of being drafted in the 1st round to the low of being traded and released years later, Babin credits much of his recent success to former Titans Coach Jim Washburn who let Babin play his game and it led to a monster season.
 
Not only does Babin excel at football, but he also owns a ranch down in Texas where he spends time doing all sorts of outdoor stuff and, interestingly enough, he spends time training out in the wilderness. I got to talk with Jason about the journey to the Year 7 breakout, whether he’d consider joining Coach Washburn in Philly, and about his unique offseason training regime. Read the rest of this entry »

How frustrating must it be to start a season on a monster pace with sights set on the playoffs and a 1,000 yard season only to have it cut short with a torn ACL.
 
That’s what Owen Daniels and the Texans dealt with in the 2009 season. Owen bounced back in 2010 and started Week 1, but suffered a few setbacks in training camp and ultimately missed time mid-season with a hamstring injury. Fortunately, Owen returned to wreak havoc the last four weeks of the season, finishing with the 2nd best numbers among TEs. Lucky for the Texans, Owen re-signed this offseason making their offense one of the more dangerous in the league.
 
I spent some time talking to Owen about how he’s feeling physically, what makes him so successful as a pass catching TE, why he re-signed before the lockout, and his Catch-a-Dream Foundation and it’s upcoming Owen’s Locker program. Read the rest of this entry »