Victor Hobson’s Transition to New England
Mike Reiss writes in the Boston Globe that Victor Hobson will be making a transition to the inside in New England.
At 6 feet, 252 pounds, Hobson might have been miscast on the outside in New York. Although it’s early, he’s excited about the challenge of learning the ropes on the inside.
“I just think it looks like more of a natural fit for me,” he said. “That’s not to say that I can’t play outside, but I think this is a great opportunity for me. Whatever it is, I’m willing to step up and perform the role the coaches think is best.”
That includes special teams, which Hobson figures will help solidify his place on the team, as “Coach [Bill] Belichick has already made it known that it’s very important.”
I think Reiss has it right that Hobson was in the wrong role, but I don’t think it was a situation where Mangini had it wrong and “miscast” him … Hobson was the best the Jets had in-house and they had to make due until such a time as they could get better edge-setters and pass rushers for their scheme.
Hobson was just too short and slow to effectively play outside in a 3-4. Height is key for blocking passing lanes as well as keeping rangy Offensive Tackles at bay. Couple that with being too slow to get around those tackles, and his bookend OLB has a harder time getting free (see Bryan Thomas, 2007) to sack the Quarterback. Letting Hobson go if they didn’t want to move him inside was the right move, as was bringing in players to compete for those starting spots outside.
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I hope this doesn’t come back to bite us in the you know what. I am worried that he will thrive in the inside role and we will look like idiots again.
He still played much better than Thomas did at OLB
I do not understand, if he got a contract with the Pats of $650,000 for a year why couldn’t we do the same? We let Vilma go and we look thin at the ILB position.
I hope that tangini has a better option in the ILB position that I do not see.
If he’s too short for OLB, how is he going to play ILB? He still has to fight off guards/centers, and then tackle a ball carrier or rush the passer. Plus at ILB you have to be able to call the defense. Hobson will be stuck on the bench behind Brusci, Seau, and Mayo. I doubt he’ll play much at all. Of all the Patriots to worry about, he ranks next to Matt Cassel on the possible Jet Killer list.
Hobson did not play better than BT. In fact, Hobson couldn’t cover the TE on the strong side, so BT had to switch with him. Thus, BT played out of position. Hobson was probably the worst weak side (3-4) OLB in the NFL last season. I’m on record as believing this is a big yawn. Hobson really can’t play strong side ILB because he’s not big enough and the strong side ILB often has TE coverage duties and he’s really not weak side ILB material because of his lack of size, but more importantly speed. Plus, there’s no way that Hobson could’ve unseated Barton on the strong side and Harris is going to be the weak side ILB for the next 10 years. So, exactly how was he “miscast”? If Hobson and Mayo are the Pats’ starting ILBs, I would flood their zones with receivers all day long. All the Jets TEs are taller and faster than Hobson and all are taller than Mayo. At best, Hobson should be a situational guy that only plays the run. But, I still think he’ll be overwhelmed in the phonebooth by the C, or OG. Hobson is a great tackler, he just doesn’t have enough range or size to employ this skill as a 3-4 ILB.
I think Hobson played much better in the 3-4 than he did the 4-3. Sack I’m not sure either ILB has TE responsibility in a 3-4. Usually in a 3-4 it’s the OLB’s who do and in the 4-3 it’s split between the OLB and the safety.
he’s a bum because if he wasn’t all that money we kicked around we would of sign him for 550,000 they just didn’t want him anymore.
As I understand it, in a cover two defense, the MLB is responsible for the TE or sometimes the slot receiver and Mangini will often employ cover two looks.
Cast your mind back repoman, you must remember Vilma covering TEs over the last few years.
I think Hobson might have been used on the weakside because he struggles to get off blocks so would have struggled inside. I don’t expect him to figure much for the Pats next year, if at all.
If Thomas is so much better than Hobson. Then how come Hobson was always around the ball carrier on tackles and Thomas was no where to be seen?
sackdance i agree, i could care less about victor hobson, he sucks.