Worried about Greg Scruggs

I have been a big advocate for Greg Scruggs and was expecting big things from him this season, but after reviewing his play the first two pre-season games, I have to say I am disappointed. He has put on almost thirty pounds of muscle while apparently keeping his speed, he no longer has the painful turf toe injury he had throughout his rookie season and the coaches, Travis Jones and Dan Quinn, have spent a lot of time developing him as an NFL defensive lineman, but he has not improved much, if at all, since his rookie season in 2012.

He is good at setting the edge, but he does nothing after that, often standing up and getting shoved way back by the offensive lineman. He is much less active than the inside tackles they had last year: Michael Bennett, Clinton McDonald and Tony McDaniel. There is absolutely nothing after setting the edge -- no bull rush, no swim move, not much penetration, no shoving the lineman out of the way, no nose for the ball carrier, no tackling, no quick moves around the lineman, no motor using his excellent speed and power -- and no Cliff Avril move where he puts on a burst of speed and power when he sees the quarterback starting to go into his passing motion and then times a lunge behind the QB towards where the passing arm is going to be cocked; hitting the arm, shoulder, or ball at the QB's most vulnerable point (I love that move. Blockers are usually keeping you away from directly getting to the QB's body, but often allow a slight opening to behind the QB where quick, long-armed pass-rushers - ideally coming from the QB's right side closest to the throwing arm - can lean in and reach some part of the backswing, sometimes just barely with their fingers -- easier than a sack, and often results in a turnover or incomplete pass).

We have to give Scruggs some concession for just recovering from a very serious ACL injury, but so far he has shown nothing -- and the second game was worse than the first. I was hoping for another Gino Atkins, but I will now settle for someone who at least approaches the effectiveness of a Clinton McDonald.

Scruggs is a unique athlete -- there aren't that many 310+ lb people in the world who have his kind of speed -- and he did play 11 games his rookie season, where we were more willing to overlook his ineffectiveness because he was a low-draft-pick rookie, so they will keep him -- but I was expecting a lot more.

Those were still his first two games back after knee surgery, so let's see how he does against the Bears.

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I wouldn't say it's necessarily a worry. Tony McDaniel seems to be the favored option as the backup at that position, with Kevin Williams (or Jordan Hill) playing the three technique in those situations. I see Scruggs as more of a reserve as he continues to get more explosive and learns this new position. Scruggs did have a sack in the second quarter against the Chargers.

Mayowa has been the most disappointing player so far, and Schofield the most improved. It's always hard to tell how guys' bodies will respond after they put on weight. Mayowa looks more sluggish than he did last year, while Schofield looks more powerful/explosive.

Disagree entirely. I have preseason live and have watched each game twice with a very heavy use of the 10 second rewind button. I've been very please with his strength at the POA even against a double team. His run defense has generally been right on par with Hawk ball. He also nearly had another half sack against the Broncos, but Osweiler got over the line. In both games he is shoving linemen back into the face of QBs, which is exactly what he's supposed to so when playing that 1 tech spot on 3rd downs. The 3 tech, which will be Bennett on Passing downs, isn't maintaining a rush lane and the outside rushers definitely aren't. The 1 tech pushing the OL back into the face of the QB enables a more symbiotic pass rush because the QB cannot step up to avoid the outside rushers.

The lone area I'd really like to see Scruggs improve is his conditioning and I think that will happen over time as the season goes on. He'll likely end up with a playing weight of a hair over 300 pounds and be a little lighter on his feet.

I'm not sure what your expectations were, but Scruggs looks like the 1st man off the bench on the inside to me. He's looked better than Kevin Williams.

hawknation2014":wst1u73u said:

I wouldn't say it's necessarily a worry. Tony McDaniel seems to be the favored option as the backup at that position, with Kevin Williams (or Jordan Hill) playing the three technique in those situations. I see Scruggs as more of a reserve as he continues to get more explosive and learns this new position. Scruggs did have a sack in the second quarter against the Chargers.

Mayowa has been the most disappointing player so far, and Schofield the most improved. It's always hard to tell how guys' bodies will respond after they put on weight. Mayowa looks more sluggish than he did last year, while Schofield looks more powerful/explosive.

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McDaniel is a starter whether he lines up at 3 or at 5. Hill has been playing predominantly 1 tech (lining up cockeyed in the gap even) and he's really the best one suited to try and be Bane when Bane can't be out there. Hill looks to have added a little weight himself. He's been getting some pretty good, squatty NT leverage in there most of the time.

Scruggs has been playing 3, 5 and even 1 sometimes. Kevin WIlliams will likely be the first man off the bench, if not starting at 3 against power running teams, because of experience and general savvy, but Scruggs looks every bit as good to me right now.

We'll likely have multiple starting lineups. Normally we'll probably see Bennett, Bane, McDaniel, Avril, but against real run heavy teams we'll probably see McDaniel, Bane, Williams, Bennett.

Scruggs and his versatility will prove invaluable this season I'm willing to bet.

Have to agree with most posters here. It takes time for dlineman to refine their technique. He does get good push off the ball, still gotta give him some time.

No offense, OP, because you look to have done some homework, but you contradict yourself.

You mention the ACL injury, but then say Scruggs isn't coming along fast enough. You also mentioned you haven't seen any improvement from his rookie year.

Uh, he didn't play his second year so how is he supposed to show improvement ? There are a few things he has to overcome:

1. fitness level, strength and conditioning. he's been doing physical therapy all year, but it isn't the same. he might likely be still trying to round into football shape, although he has made all the OTA's.

2. mentally, he has to be confident in that repaired knee. DLmen are getting cut, fallen into, rolled into and hit from the side a lot. you have to be confident in that leg, and also not be worried about getting reinjured. you also have to learn to play without trying to guard that knee or favor that leg.

3. playing weight. he's what, 30 lbs heavier now ? his rookie year, he played at 275/280. now he's 315, and that's a big difference. you have a different anchor with that much more ass, but you also don't have as much wiggle to get through the gaps. also with that weight comes:

4. he's playing a different position. he's already missed all of last year, now he's learning a new position, while still learning his old position. He flashed his rookie year, but he wasn't super polished or a finished product. Mental reps aren't the same as physical reps; he missed all the physical reps this year and now they have him at 3 different spots. that's a learning curve. He played DE in college, so in some ways he's still a rookie.

I'm not worried about Scruggs at all. He's a high effort guy with good character and great physical traits,so the coaching staff isn't going to get rid of him. Also, working with a guy like Kevin Williams is only going to help Scruggs. That's a lot of veteran savvy he's going to be playing with and learning from.

I wasn't really paying attention much, but I did hear part of a interview on maybe 710 the other day, where Scruggs said he was playing with his weight, basically trying to find his sweet spot.

I wouldn't be surprised if he settled in somewhere around 295-300.

I have re-watched the SD game 3 times and I see Scruggs playing well.

Hawks46":25udxefr said:

2. mentally, he has to be confident in that repaired knee.

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This.

After watching through the SD game the second time, I got the same feeling from Scruggs as I did from Clemons early last year. He's not quite as willing to go full go because the knee injury's still in the back of his mind. Clem got past that eventually (although he was more productive stat wise early last season) and has looked good for the jags thus far. Just needs more snaps.

I still see him making the team but I'm leaning toward agreeing with the OP. I had hoped he would be able to put it all together a little faster than he has. Time will tell.

I haven't watched him very closely, but I would say his run defense and pocket pushing ability are okay from what I've seen. He's hardly terrible and seems to be a safe bet to make the team. You can be hard to notice and still help the team at DT.

But in terms of his "sizzle", the splash plays are far less frequent. Could just be small sample size, or it could be that he overachieved in 2012 and set unfairly high expectations.

Gregg Scruggs has done more than fine, you went through all that trouble to nitpick a guy, who as you stated is still working his way back from an ACL tear.

Ah, the standards of fan expectations these days. If you're not an Pro Bowl calibur level player, you're basically trash.

Meh...I think it is really tough to judge DL in preseason because the team tends to play a vanilla playbook that doesn't really showcase anybody's talents. I think the coaches have been saying good things about Scruggs. Am I wrong? Other than that, judging from TV clips in pre-season is a bit of a reach IMHO.

Like Kearly, I believe Scruggs is pretty much a lock to make the final cut, so let's see what happens Thursday night, Sept 4 and beyond.