Jerideau and Geathers

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Love the one your with...

[oneinchpunch]

As long as coaches can set the pace for Geathers and not expose him too early to injury by playing him excessively, he should be okay. Just want to see him get some good experience this season, because he looks to have a fine future in SD. I would assume Bolts are going to be looking for at least one more vet DL during roster cutdowns in a few weeks...

Agree on his potential and that he might be a good NT in the future. I just don't like rookie NTs. Rarely do you see one in an entire rookie class that helps a team.

That said I'm all for giving the young guys playing time but if you can't keep the big uglies off the ILBs then the entire defense will be hurt

[Steve]

Remember that many 34 play most, if not all thier games without a true backup NT. Most just slide over a DE if an injury happens, or play all 4 man fronts wiht the DE playing like a 43 DT. NT is as good a place to have a rookie.

Geathers big problem is that in most of his games, he let himself play too high, and he got pushed around. That is not happening withnus, and is probbaly because even in practice, he would get tossed around by NFL OL if he did that, so he quickly had to compensate. Some guys do that. Not many UDFA, but some do come on. And say what you want of the guy, he has NFL tools. It also helps that we have a pretty good DL coach in Don Johnson, to groom him.

[Mister Hoarse]

Don Johnson is the Crockett to Ba-dunk-a-dunk's Tubbs?

After watching that, I liked what I saw when he got low. I'm fine grooming him behind Cam this year. Maybe Cam will learn how to play low too.

[Steve]

With so many teams playing with 3 WR, and then forcing defenses to match up on early down, having 2 NT types lets us play 1 or both on those early downs. Some offenses like to run at a D that spreads out to cover the WR, but if we have 2 big run stuffers inside I am not sure that offenses will like that option, Since Cam can rush the QB, it is not a horrible option as a pass defense. For teams that like to run from the spread, then we can mix and match the NT types with the DE types to rotate and gain mismatches.

Geathers still has way to go, but I like the improvement he has shown since he was in college. He still needs to get better at shedding blocks, but that is true of just about every rookie, and I agree about him playing with better leverage. He just needed to show that he can get low and to me he is close to assuring he is going to be on the roster. I don't think we can afford to try slipping him on the PS, since there is such a shortage of 350 lb run stuffers, that he probably gets signed right away by someone else.

[Beerman]

With so many teams playing with 3 WR, and then forcing defenses to match up on early down, having 2 NT types lets us play 1 or both on those early downs. Some offenses like to run at a D that spreads out to cover the WR, but if we have 2 big run stuffers inside I am not sure that offenses will like that option, Since Cam can rush the QB, it is not a horrible option as a pass defense. For teams that like to run from the spread, then we can mix and match the NT types with the DE types to rotate and gain mismatches.

Geathers still has way to go, but I like the improvement he has shown since he was in college. He still needs to get better at shedding blocks, but that is true of just about every rookie, and I agree about him playing with better leverage. He just needed to show that he can get low and to me he is close to assuring he is going to be on the roster. I don't think we can afford to try slipping him on the PS, since there is such a shortage of 350 lb run stuffers, that he probably gets signed right away by someone else.

There's no way he clears waivers, nor should he be put on them. He's been by far our best lineman behind the starters.

[Steve]

This season, I would play him sparingly at NT at first, letting Cam get the majority of the reps, but I would try to rotate him at DE and DT (4 man line) to get him experience and then let him push/rotate with Cam late in the season or next year. I don't think that Geathers will ever be much of a pass rusher, but at his size he can play on run downs in any alignment and push the middle of the pocket some.

[Beerman]

This season, I would play him sparingly at NT at first, letting Cam get the majority of the reps, but I would try to rotate him at DE and DT (4 man line) to get him experience and then let him push/rotate with Cam late in the season or next year. I don't think that Geathers will ever be much of a pass rusher, but at his size he can play on run downs in any alignment and push the middle of the pocket some.

I wouldn't ask Geathers to learn other positions his rookie year. Stick him at NT and let him get comfortable. I also don't see him as much of a pass rusher, which is why I prefer to shift Cam to DE (a position he already has experience playing with us) in run downs. It would give us two massive run down DT's, but the pass rush wouldn't suffer that much.

This preseason, I've noticed that Pagano has moved Liuget over to RDE on rush downs and moved him back to the left side in passing situations. This is an alignment that I feel he could do with Cam moving to RDE and Geathers at NT. It would allow for both Liuget and Reyes to get off the field on obvious run downs to keep them from wearing down over the course of the game.

[Steve]

The catch in the 34 is that DL have to learn so many different techniques, I don't think it matters that much. He has been lining up at the 0, 1, 2, 2i positions (maybe 3 technique as well) and that is while we are keeping it pretty vanilla. That is one of the reasons I don't like about the 34, it asks a lot of the DL in terms of playing different techniques. Since techniques ARE assignments for DL, we are basically asking him to play multiple positions already.

The thing that is more forgiving about playing DE is that it is harder for the offense to double team players out there. It's not impossible, but harder. And often, when teams do double a DE, it is with a TE, not a real OL. It is just that most rookie DL are just not so solid in their leverage that they can hold up against the double team, and then shed the block to make the tackle. Geathers may be to the point that he has gotten the knee bend thing down, maybe not. I just have a weakness that I like to see rookies play well, and develop their confidence some.

[Beerman]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Aug/27/kwame-geathers-chargers-jump-geathers/?#article-copy

An NFL draft unfolds over three days – or an eternity if you’re a potential draftee like nose tackle Kwame Geathers, who left the University of Georgia early in anticipation of being drafted but never was.

“It motivated me not being drafted,” Geathers said on Tuesday from Chargers Park. “I felt like I did everything right at the University of Georgia. And I felt like I was ready to leave. Not getting drafted, it was bad. But I looked at it as motivation.”

Seeing opportunity with the Chargers, who had lost two veterans to free agency, Geathers chose San Diego over the Jets and Dolphins soon after the draft.

Now, after barging into the backfield and making plays against the Bears and Cardinals, it seems the 340-pounder could make the 53-man roster as the first backup to starter Cam Thomas and also as a special teams performer.

Geathers, who has Thursday's exhibition game in front of him, smiled when asked if he allows himself to think he’ll be on the team.

“Nah, not yet,” he said of a job that pays $405,000. “Not until the final cut, and we’ll go from there.”

His genes are on his side. So many Geathers have earned NFL paychecks as defensive linemen that the running joke among Chargers veterans, linebacker Jarret Johnson said, is that Kwame won’t get a seat at the Thanksgiving table unless he's on an NFL roster.

Oldest brother Robert Geathers Jr., 30, is entering his 10th season with the Bengals. Another brother, 25-year-old Clifton Geathers, now with the Eagles, played for the Cowboys in 2011 and the Colts last year.

“I’m the baby boy,” said 22-year-old Kwame.

Their uncle Jumpy Geathers, 53, played 13 seasons in the NFL and amassed 62 sacks as an end and tackle for four teams.

Arriving at Chargers Park in May and returning in late July, Geathers carried with him reminders from his brothers and uncle to keep pushing and not let a bad day turn into two bad days

But the learning had just begun.

Geathers said line coach Don Johnson worked with him to sustain his attacks at a lower angle, and Chargers linemen and linebackers gave him other pointers.

Thomas, the starter, was among the mentors despite being a competitor and an University of North Carolina alum who boos SEC teams. Much as veteran nose tackles Jamal Williams, Antonio Garay and Aubrayo Franklin guided him, Thomas counseled the rookie.

“San Diego is known for having great nose tackles, and I want to be in that bunch,” Thomas said, although the last Pro Bowl selection, from Williams, came in 2007. "At the same time, you want to help. Veterans helped me, and I want to do the same thing for him.”

A nose tackle has one of the sport’s most punishing tasks, often clashing with two linemen at the same time.

But Chargers ends in the 3-4 defense also can bear the brunt of double teams. If Geathers can spell him, Thomas is more apt to see spot duty at end and thus give a breather to Corey Liuget and Kendall Reyes.

The defensive line's depth could be tested sooner than later. The Texans will bring a mature running game to San Diego for the opener Sept. 9. Thomas, 24, is entering his first year as the clear starter. Second-string end Damik Scafe was in a walking boot Tuesday and Liuget, while expected to be ready for Opening Night, hasn’t practiced since leaving the first series of the Aug. 15th game with a shoulder injury.

Perhaps because Geathers is angular for the position at 6-foot-5 (as measured at the NFL combine) and not massive through the lower body like some nose tackles, the Chargers seem not to be asking him to defend both gaps between the guard and center.

He has won against other teams' backups with quickness, and sometimes by using his long arms.

Chargers backup center David Molk said “that if a tall guy can learn to use leverage,” he’ll beat just about any blocker he encounters.

To that end, it’s encouraging that Geathers has taken to coaching.

“He came in and did a good job and did a nice job of buying what Don was teaching him, and he’s made some plays for us,” McCoy said. “He’s a physical presence, which you need in this league.”

Nice to see someone at the UT(Kras) actually write about football stuff/schemes. We saw Geathers and Cam line up next to each other this past game. It won't be the last time we see them on run downs.