Read what Stewart said after the Nova game. Seems like he continues to learn and develop. He obviously has talent and tremondous strength.
"The thing is you don't want to surge up on him real quick because as soon as you bite down there's going to be a guy open," Stewart said. "I know there was a time I wanted to go after him, but I knew there was going to be a tight end or a dragger behind me so that's the type of player he is. You get picked a little bit with a player like that. Coach [Bob] Diaco is always talking about playing fundamentally sound and doing your job and honestly that's all it takes. I know I made a couple of mistakes I could get better on, but you learn from it."
This might explain some of Robertson's runs. I was impressed by his elusiveness.
Precisely the point. It's a really hard job and it is not a strength or quickness skill. You need to be able to read the QB run and break off coverage. They will drag receivers across your coverage zone and good LBs need to have fueled vision and recognize when they are being pulled out of their area of coverage responsibility. They also have To basically simultaneously read the QB and cover. When the QB breaks the box, and heads to LOS you got to disengage and come up with certainty and speed. The worst is getting stuck in indecision. The QB has run advantage, the reciever separates and you are screwed. In those situations you have to live and die by your D scheme, make your read and go. Stewart had not mastered that. He was trying to split the baby, thus out of position with uncommitted bad angles. For those about to attack, it is the hardest thing for any LB to do. You have a similar effect with draw plays, but the QB tuck and run is worse because the time for reciever engagement is extended and it is easy to get lost in coverage.
Bla bla...he's 10x better than I ever was or could be, but I do know the job, the feeling and issues. I don't know though that it is a skill that can be acquired as much as an inate feel for the really good ones. Finally, there is no substitute for speed and range, which can cover a lot of sins.
