Thoughts on Kevin Pierre Louis

I was watching KPL these last two preseason games, and I realized that the player he reminded me of was Kelly Jennings. He can stick to a TE like glue, but when the ball comes he can't get up to stop the ball or he cannot make the tackle. In the hole he can make the right read, but then he cannot stop the RB by himself. I am not sure if we need him to be able to thump up the middle in today's NFL though and he is a fantastic athlete (http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4574/position/21/). To be fair Eric Pinkins has looked even worse to my untrained eye at run support, but I think Pinkins is superior at covering TEs and RBs. Pinkins has 3 inches of height on KPL while sharing similar arm length which may help in coverage. Their arms are actually and inch longer than Kuechly's which I found very surprising. Back to KPL, I wish he had played RB. I don't know if he has the mental talent for it, but my goodness he would be the Adonis of RBs in the same category as CMike and Jerick Mckinnon. Anyways these were just some ramblings from a lurker's untrained eye with terrible grammar. Also I highly recommend mockdraftable.com if you haven't tooled around there before, real fun to see how players stack up in an easy to comprehend visual way. Thanks for your time and sorry if I wasted it.

^^^
Your thoughts are not a waste of time ..... thanks for posting. :2thumbs:

Interesting tidbit from Pete Carroll yesterday ...

How is Kevin Pierre-Louis as a long snapper [in practice today]?

He was very careful. He was very careful. But the ball got there, we placed it down and kicked it. He did fine. as recorded by Tingzon Quimba with Field Gulls [urltargetblank]http://www.fieldgulls.com/2016/8/22/12582080/pete-carroll-press-conference-transcripts-injuries-thomas-rawls-update[/urltargetblank]

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..... as most of us know, Pierre-Louis is valued for his special teams contribution and his potential as a unique weakside/nickle linebacker. Broadening and expanding the roles Pierre-Louis can fill has been an ongoing challenge and goal for him.

Seems to me he needs to think less and let her rip. Thursday verses the Cowboys is a excellent opportunity deliver.

P.S. Don't worry about posting in here .... let her rip! :2thumbs:

Chive on Mr. Crayola, Chive on. :mrgreen:

Please post more. Great first post.

That's a really good summation of KPL and Pinkins. KPL makes the reads the way he should, but plays very soft and is often physically unable to make the play. Like you said, it's as if he's an undersized corner playing LB. He's relatively tall at 6'1" and a featherweight at 225, there's only a handful of such LBs with that height-weight combo, and none of them are stars. The best of the group is Jonathan Casillas, who had 88 tackles, 2 sacks and a pick last year for the Giants.

I remember hearing that Malcolm Smith had a disorder that made it hard for him to put on weight. I wonder if KPL is similar, you would think he would have shown up to one of these camps at 235+ by now.

My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to recall that KPL has made some nice special teams plays in the past. That's probably why he's still here. I'd be fine with Seattle giving KPL one more look next year if he adds significant weight, but at 225 I think we know exactly who he is and it's not a guy with much of an NFL future. Not many guys get veteran pay for special teams work alone.

With Pinkins, seeing him take such a big step backward in his 2nd preseason at the position might prove to be the end of his NFL career. He still has two games left to change minds, but it's not looking good right now.

I have to believe if they are having him practice long snapping his roster spot is in serious jeopardy.

Mr.Crayola":3ggzt7tq said:

I was watching KPL these last two preseason games, and I realized that the player he reminded me of was Kelly Jennings. He can stick to a TE like glue, but when the ball comes he can't get up to stop the ball or he cannot make the tackle. In the hole he can make the right read, but then he cannot stop the RB by himself. I am not sure if we need him to be able to thump up the middle in today's NFL though and he is a fantastic athlete (http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4574/position/21/). To be fair Eric Pinkins has looked even worse to my untrained eye at run support, but I think Pinkins is superior at covering TEs and RBs. Pinkins has 3 inches of height on KPL while sharing similar arm length which may help in coverage. Their arms are actually and inch longer than Kuechly's which I found very surprising. Back to KPL, I wish he had played RB. I don't know if he has the mental talent for it, but my goodness he would be the Adonis of RBs in the same category as CMike and Jerick Mckinnon. Anyways these were just some ramblings from a lurker's untrained eye with terrible grammar. Also I highly recommend mockdraftable.com if you haven't tooled around there before, real fun to see how players stack up in an easy to comprehend visual way. Thanks for your time and sorry if I wasted it.

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I've been thinking a lot of the same things, particularly with respect to his tackling. He reads the play, he sets up to make the play, and then he executes a weak arm tackle (or tries to). I think he needs to watch that video 'tackling the seahawks way' cause he appears to be a very poor tackler.

I think if you gave Pete some truth serum he'd tell you that he's disappointed with KPL not reaching his potential of what they thought he could be.

Kinda along the same lines as the criticisms of Irvin, too inconsistent for his physical skills. KPL is that to me, should be a bigger contributor on defense than he is at this point in his development.

The reality is that if either Wright or Wagner gets hurt this year, then KPL will be right back in the starting lineup.

So he plays a valuable position as a backup WLB, has shown some explosiveness, does a good job reading the run, and continually gets abused in coverage downfield. The only time KPL has looked natural in coverage is when he's covering screens and the flat. He has the speed and the athleticism; it's just about developing the awareness to break on the ball.

And I agree with the sentiment above, solid first post! :greetingsearthling:

This thread makes me wonder if we won't be looking at the waiver wire for LB help in a few weeks. Or possibly even arranging a trade with someone who has extra's who will be waived for possibly one of our extra CB's in possibly the same situation.

I could see it.

Mr.Crayola":jpe8hkon said:

I was watching KPL these last two preseason games, and I realized that the player he reminded me of was Kelly Jennings. He can stick to a TE like glue, but when the ball comes he can't get up to stop the ball or he cannot make the tackle. In the hole he can make the right read, but then he cannot stop the RB by himself. I am not sure if we need him to be able to thump up the middle in today's NFL though and he is a fantastic athlete (http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4574/position/21/). To be fair Eric Pinkins has looked even worse to my untrained eye at run support, but I think Pinkins is superior at covering TEs and RBs. Pinkins has 3 inches of height on KPL while sharing similar arm length which may help in coverage. Their arms are actually and inch longer than Kuechly's which I found very surprising. Back to KPL, I wish he had played RB. I don't know if he has the mental talent for it, but my goodness he would be the Adonis of RBs in the same category as CMike and Jerick Mckinnon. Anyways these were just some ramblings from a lurker's untrained eye with terrible grammar. Also I highly recommend mockdraftable.com if you haven't tooled around there before, real fun to see how players stack up in an easy to comprehend visual way. Thanks for your time and sorry if I wasted it.

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Also, great first post as well and welcome! :irishdrinkers:

Mr.Crayola":1d2234a4 said:

I was watching KPL these last two preseason games, and I realized that the player he reminded me of was Kelly Jennings. He can stick to a TE like glue, but when the ball comes he can't get up to stop the ball or he cannot make the tackle. In the hole he can make the right read, but then he cannot stop the RB by himself. I am not sure if we need him to be able to thump up the middle in today's NFL though and he is a fantastic athlete (http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4574/position/21/). To be fair Eric Pinkins has looked even worse to my untrained eye at run support, but I think Pinkins is superior at covering TEs and RBs. Pinkins has 3 inches of height on KPL while sharing similar arm length which may help in coverage. Their arms are actually and inch longer than Kuechly's which I found very surprising. Back to KPL, I wish he had played RB. I don't know if he has the mental talent for it, but my goodness he would be the Adonis of RBs in the same category as CMike and Jerick Mckinnon. Anyways these were just some ramblings from a lurker's untrained eye with terrible grammar. Also I highly recommend mockdraftable.com if you haven't tooled around there before, real fun to see how players stack up in an easy to comprehend visual way. Thanks for your time and sorry if I wasted it.

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I think the problem with KPL goes further. He makes the right reads, but I'm pretty sure most of his tackles are business decisions. I get the feeling he seeks to limit a play rather than stop it. As quickly as he reads a play, there is no reason why he can't be more agressive. I wish we had the depth to cut him loose.

Pinkins showed promise early in camp, and in preseason game one, but seems to have returned to his clueless ways.

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The LB group is a huge concern.

We need upgrades.

I'm also wondering why we don't try sliding Pinkins over to WLB and try him there. He'd be better in space than having to deal with more blockers, and as a former CB/S, it might be an easier adjustment.

I remember right after we drafted him Schneider started to say who KPL reminded of him and then he's not going to go there. When pressed - he said Novorro Bowman. At 6'0 1/2 , 232 at the combine I can see the the physical similarities. KPL is much faster at a 4.51. Unfortunately, he plays nothing like Bowman. What a letdown so far.

FYI: "Combine all-star put on a show in Indianapolis -- ran in the low 4.5s, pumped 28 bench-press reps, posted a 39-inch vertical, recorded a 10-foot, 8-inch broad jump, finished the short shuttle in 4.02 seconds and ran a 6.92-second 3-cone drill." What a freak.

KPL has been a genuine disappointment to me. He's an uber athlete but never seems to be able to quite get his job done, wrong angles missed tackles broken tackles. He's Malcolm Smith Lite, very Lite, b/c at least although steadily injured Smith could get it done when he played. I had genuinely high hopes for him when he was drafted but now I wait and watch for his mistakes.

The team seems to be trying to find something for him to do b/c he's been tried at a few positions besides WOLB where he is a weak replacement for KJ Wright. I suppose KPL's highest and best position is backup and occasional ST player. He's one of those players who likely won't be kept after his 1st contract.

jammerhawk":19y3ihuu said:

KPL has been a genuine disappointment to me. He's an uber athlete but never seems to be able to quite get his job done, wrong angles missed tackles broken tackles. He's Malcolm Smith Lite, very Lite, b/c at least although steadily injured Smith could get it done when he played. I had genuinely high hopes for him when he was drafted but now I wait and watch for his mistakes.

The team seems to be trying to find something for him to do b/c he's been tried at a few positions besides WOLB where he is a weak replacement for KJ Wright. I suppose KPL's highest and best position is backup and occasional ST player. He's one of those players who likely won't be kept after his 1st contract.

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Ditto. I'm the biggest KPL fan in the history of .net . . . but we're 3 years into this, and he's just never devloped the killer instinct a linebacker requires.

He has shown flashes but also shown some misses. Injuries haven't helped his situation either, needs to stay healthy for a long stretch to see if he can cut it at this level.

Perhaps the team needs a SOLB but they are pretty squared away at MLB and WOLB with Wagner and Wright.

We all need to be patient, Morgan is a good solid player and Pinkins has serious potential. I just think KPL is has underperformed expectations. For him the light needs to go on soon.

HawKnPeppa":19vrq717 said:

I think the problem with KPL goes further. He makes the right reads, but I'm pretty sure most of his tackles are business decisions...

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Exactly, this guy is *so* close to being really good. He just needs the *disire* to tackle. He's making the reads, he's getting to the spot, he just needs to hit and tackle when he gets there. And I think you correctly characterize his approach to tackling as lacking the desire to hit the guy and wrap him up. The term 'business decision' captures it perfectly.