****2014 Crown Jewel Countdown: #4 - LB, Rashaan Evans****

WMack4Bama

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Nov 7, 2008
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Scouting Report
Evans is an incredibly special player. He played defensive end with his hands on the ground in high school primarily, but he projects perfectly for a 3-4 OLB. His quickness off the ball is excellent. He has the frame to easily get to 250-255. He has great length to keep opposing blockers at bay. He has excellent lateral agility and the ability to strafe down the line while keeping his shoulder pads square. He has a good balance, keeping a solid football position, which allows him to play blocks with power, even against much bigger defenders. Like so














BigEasyTider's Take





runtheoption22's Take
It's hard to find anything wrong with Rashaan. He will have to learn to play a new position, but from a raw skill set- you could not ask for better from an incoming freshman. Very good character, handled himself brilliantly after the "shockeraoo" on NSD. Physically, he is ready to play in passin situations now and will likely see time in Rabbit packages. He is an elite pass rusher and I can see him being able to play Sam or Jack, depending on personnel groupings. Very excited to see his career.





WMack4Bama's Take
Man….what can I say? Remember when Coach Saban first got here and after listening to a few of his press conferences we all felt like we were football geniuses…using terms like Star, Money, and Jack…and we thought the "Jack" linebacker position would evoke memories of the late Derrick Thomas and Cornelius Bennett. And the first guy rolled out there was Ezekial Knight...a converted WR. Showed some flashes, but left us wanting for more. Everyone who has played the position since has underwhelmed what our expectations have been....but let's just say, Coach Saban could computer generate a player who is tailor made to do EVERYTHING he wants to do for that position...Rashaan Evans is that guy. Not big enough to play with his hands on the ground at this level, but strong enough to push a tackle into the QB's lap. Fast enough to run around a RB. And although he's 220, he's a thick, muscular 220. He's a rock. It came down to him choosing between AU and us...and his options were, drop back and cover in space..or peel your ears back and go get some QBs. With his senior year stat line reading 17.5 sacks, 43 tackles for loss and 77 tackle, he made the easy decision. I think we have our dream Jack guys. Enjoy these next 3 years. He won't be around for 4.
 
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bama579

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Jan 15, 2005
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The Chukker or Archibalds
Is the hometown Auburn?

Also, regarding the "underwhelming" comment was Courtney Upshaw a Jack or DE? What is the difference?

If anyone can elaborate on the whole Will, Mike, Sam, and Jack terminology and their alleged functional differences, feel free. I think Will = weakside, Mike = middle, and Sam = strongside, but Jack has me stumped. Especially since I see four on the L O S so often.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Relayer

Hall of Fame
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I don't know if I've ever seen a more impressive highlight video. Looks like this kid could be a monster.
 

WMack4Bama

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Nov 7, 2008
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Is the hometown Auburn?

Also, regarding the "underwhelming" comment was Courtney Upshaw a Jack or DE? What is the difference?

If anyone can elaborate on the whole Will, Mike, Sam, and Jack terminology and their alleged functional differences, feel free. I think Will = weakside, Mike = middle, and Sam = strongside, but Jack has me stumped. Especially since I see four on the L O S so often.

Thanks in advance.
Yes. The hometown is Auburn. Will update that later.

Point I'm making with regards to the Jack position underwhelming is that we haven't been able to get consistent pressure on the QB without bringing blitzes from the DBs. I think if they let him go, Evans can give us that
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
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Yes. The hometown is Auburn. Will update that later.

Point I'm making with regards to the Jack position underwhelming is that we haven't been able to get consistent pressure on the QB without bringing blitzes from the DBs. I think if they let him go, Evans can give us that
Nor have we been able to not put too much weight on an ideal Jack LB. Hubbard and Dickson are two good examples.
 

CrimsonForce

Hall of Fame
Dec 20, 2012
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Hope Rashaan doesn't put on to much weight. I see Jon Allen has already put on a decent amount. We need to keep some of these guys lean so they can fly around and make plays against the spread/HUNH.
 

runtheoption22

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Nov 10, 2003
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Is the hometown Auburn?

Also, regarding the "underwhelming" comment was Courtney Upshaw a Jack or DE? What is the difference?

If anyone can elaborate on the whole Will, Mike, Sam, and Jack terminology and their alleged functional differences, feel free. I think Will = weakside, Mike = middle, and Sam = strongside, but Jack has me stumped. Especially since I see four on the L O S so often.

Thanks in advance.

You are correct on terminology. In a basic 3-4, the Sam lines up at OLB on the strong side, Mike at the ILB spot closest to the strong side, then Will, and Jack would be the OLB on the weakside.

We mostly operate from what I call a "slide" formation, where the 3 down line men slide a gap to the strong side and the Jack lines up at the backside 5 technique (outside the OT) with his hand on the ground. The defense then looks like a 4-3, or mostly a 4-2-5 as we usually bring in a DB to replace a LB.
 

TiderJack

Hall of Fame
Jul 9, 2010
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Hope Rashaan doesn't put on to much weight. I see Jon Allen has already put on a decent amount. We need to keep some of these guys lean so they can fly around and make plays against the spread/HUNH.
Allen is a true DE in our scheme now and needed to add a little to take on OT's on a consistent basis. I agree on keeping Rashaan's weight down so he can make plays against HUNH.
 

TrampLineman

Hall of Fame
Jul 21, 2010
7,287
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I'm with Mack, this kid has what it takes to be one nasty Jack LB especially on 3rd downs or when we need a good rush. His motor is amazing. I can't wait to see this kid.

Hump, Brown, Hamilton, and Evans? That was a big pickup this past year on defense for us. These guys seemed to get overshadowed for some reason and I'm not sure why. All 4 are ELITE players.
 

TouchThatThang

All-SEC
Feb 8, 2014
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Telling Evans he would play a hybrid linebacker/safety position is one of the dumbest things Auburn could've done. And Bama fans are very thankful. Seriously though, that staff is clueless when it comes to defense. Everyone who knows football and kids knows that rushing the QB is the most fun you'll ever have playing the sport. Auburn fans act so mad about losing but they weren't even gonna use him to his fullest potential, at his ideal position. Malzhan fumbled big time with Evans.
 

TouchThatThang

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Feb 8, 2014
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I can't wait to see who is the better pass rusher between Miller and Evans. A lot of people are sleeping on Miller because of the late acquirement of Evans but Miller had 24 sacks his senior year. The boy's bad.

Whoever ends up at SAM is gonna be a force when we bring five--if we ever bring five again!
 

TrampLineman

Hall of Fame
Jul 21, 2010
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I can't wait to see who is the better pass rusher between Miller and Evans. A lot of people are sleeping on Miller because of the late acquirement of Evans but Miller had 24 sacks his senior year. The boy's bad.

Whoever ends up at SAM is gonna be a force when we bring five--if we ever bring five again!
I even forgot about Miller in my post above as well and he was probably my favorite LB in this class (you can't tell I know....lol). This was probably our best class ever on defense under Saban and that is saying something.
 

CullmanTide

Hall of Fame
Jan 7, 2008
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I'm with Mack, this kid has what it takes to be one nasty Jack LB especially on 3rd downs or when we need a good rush. His motor is amazing. I can't wait to see this kid.

Hump, Brown, Hamilton, and Evans? That was a big pickup this past year on defense for us. These guys seemed to get overshadowed for some reason and I'm not sure why. All 4 are ELITE players.
They are bringing elite speed to our D. We are going to be much faster in the future.
 

gtowntide

All-American
Mar 1, 2011
4,286
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First time I saw him play was in the AL-Ms all-star game. No one could block him and he was in the Ms backfield all day. This kid is going to be special!
 

TouchThatThang

All-SEC
Feb 8, 2014
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The thing that sticks out about Evans and Miller is the sense of urgency they play with. It's just breath taking. Both these guys chase the QB like their life depends on it, and everyone else on the field looks like they're in slow motion.
 

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