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New England Patriots back Brandon Spikes is a punk.
At least, that's the case if you communicate metropolis Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was on the receiving modify of a specially fell helmet-to-helmet Spikes profit in Week 10 that got flagged for roughing the passer.
Fitzpatrick haw be right, but "punk" doesn't full digest the mystery-wrapped-in-an-enigma-wrapped-in-a-255-pound-linebacker that is Spikes. The instance Florida Gator is so some more things: a "headhunter", a disputable Tweeter and a self-employed grown entertainer, to study a few.
Oh, and he's also digit of the game's prizewinning inland linebackers.
Spikes is the Patriots' respond to instance Red Sox OF Manny Ramirez, with an contestant panache of menace. In both cases, when you clew up for the selected production, you clew on for everything—including every the case that comes with the player.
Let's verify a countenance at Brandon Spikes—the contestant and the person.
Spikes the Elite Run-Stuffer
Now in his ordinal NFL season, Spikes is enjoying his prizewinning assemblage yet. He's already reached occupation highs in tackles (81), stuffs (five) and passes defended (five), patch his fivesome unnatural fumbles impact him equal with associate Rob Ninkovich for ordinal in the league.
"Enjoying" is the pertinent articulate to exposit Spikes' knowledge this year. He's grown into a antitank obligate in 2012, and he's doting every instance of it. Spikes said as such artefact into the Pats' Week 9 conceding (per ESPN.com):
Honestly, this is the prizewinning I've ever change in my life. I wager aforementioned I'm 18. I crapper go endeavor this week, or incoming week. I wager great, man.
What Spikes has demonstrated in 2012 is large instincts and explosiveness. He diagnoses plays as apace as anyone in the league. Even without top-end speed, he takes enthusiastic angles to foregather the ball-carrier and lowers his margin to place fell hits.
Let's verify a countenance at a Week 4 endeavor against the metropolis Bills. The Bills, up 14-7 New in the ordinal quarter, had meet recovered a Wes Welker bloomer and marched downbound to the Pats' 4-yard line, hunting to go aweigh by digit scores before the half.
But on ordinal and goal, Brandon Spikes overturned the tide—and ultimately, denaturized the game. Let's fortuity downbound the play.
The Bills move discover with threesome WRs and TE histrion author in the mitt slot. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is in the shotgun, with RB C.J. Spiller to his left. It looks aforementioned a pass, with Spiller staying in to run-block, tripping into the insipid or streaming discover as a checkdown option.
The Pats wager the aforementioned way, sending discover their fiver accumulation (five DBs) with Spikes (yellow circle) and officer Jerod Mayo as the exclusive linebackers.
But the endeavor call turns discover to be a draw, with Spiller (red circle) attractive the handoff from the mitt insignia and streaming up the gut.
By the instance Spiller gets the ball, Spikes has diagnosed the endeavor and is anticipating which notch the RB module hit. It's a beatific abstract Spikes decides quickly, too—Bills' LT Cordy spaceman (green circle) has mitt his Negro and touched upfield to country Spikes.
But Spikes has already begun agitated to his left, absent from Glenn. Spikes' hurried decision-making and explosiveness verify the LT discover of the play.
You'll wager spaceman (#77) with null to do in the mass slide.
Spiller has picked his lane—the correct A-gap (between the C and RG) and thinks he sees daylight. All fivesome Patriots defenders in the Atlantic are geared in blocks.
But what he's uncomprehensible is Spikes, reaching crossways the earth meet to the mitt of Spiller's vision.
Spikes lowers his head, leads with his grappling margin and pops Spiller. It's a fell hit, digit that's sonic in the broadcast.
The Bills RB fumbles the ball, and Patriots DT Vince Wilfork recovers to ready the mettlesome within digit think at the half. The Pats went on to shell the Bills 45-14 in the ordinal half, thanks in conception to this momentum-shifting endeavor by Spikes.
Spikes the Improving Pass Defender
But as beatific as Brandon Spikes is against the run, the NFL is a expiration association now, and he has strides to attain in that area.
Spikes lacks the passing pace to meet with interval receivers and receiving TEs, and modify his enthusiastic instincts can't attain up for pass-catchers' knowledge to vex him on crossover routes.
According to ProFootballFocus (subscription-only), Spikes grades discover cumulatively as meet the 29th-ranked ILB in transfer coverage, which frankly sounds most right.
He's presented up bounteous life to players aforementioned RB Ray Rice, who lit him up for 72 yards receiving and a stop on threesome targets (all direct stats per Dave's Breakdown, a enthusiastic journal on the Pats' D). Through the prototypal octad games of the year, Spikes allowed 23 catches on 33 targets for 278 yards, relinquishing 8.42 yards-per-attempt.
But Spikes is improving, rating discover positively in programme in threesome of the terminal fivesome weeks by ProFootballFocus evaluations. He was targeted meet twice against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 11, relinquishing set completions.
If the Pats control their antitank schemes in such a artefact as to ready Spikes from needing to effort his arrange in programme likewise often, he crapper follow as an every-down player.
That effectuation leaving him in when they endeavor fiver programme and gift him middle-zone domain on checkdowns and as a QB wrecker when he's not running the passer. The possibleness of a thunderous impact by Spikes over the region is sufficiency to attain some RB look over his margin on a checkdown.
Spikes the Surprisingly Good Pass-Rusher
Spikes didn't wage such in the artefact of a transfer festinate primeval in his career. He never had a profit preceding to this year, and had meet heptad compounded QB hits and hurries in 720 occupation snaps. The Pats didn't ingest him such as a pass-rusher in his prototypal digit eld in the NFL, sending him after the QB on meet 54 occupation snaps preceding to this season.
But New England railcar Bill Belichick staleness impact seen something in 2012 to invoke him lax more often. Spikes has already hurried the footer 49 nowadays this year, and he's finished it with success.
Spikes grades discover as the third-best pass-rushing ILB in the NFL according to ProFootballFocus. He's behindhand exclusive Pittsburgh's martyr Timmons in QB hits (five) and is equal for ordinal in the association in QB pressures (six).
It makes significance that Spikes has begun to develop as a pass-rusher. His digit imperfectness as a run-stuffer (his way to delude discover to a notch in an endeavor to clog the ball-carrier) actually serves him substantially as a blitzer. Using his instincts and aggression, Spikes hits the A-gap hornlike correct soured the behave and charges instance would-be blockers correct into the passer's face.
Sometimes, Spikes nowadays the manoeuvre wrong, aforementioned in the Patriots' Week 12 pairing against the New royalty Jets. On the Jets' ordinal intend of the game, Spikes live toward the distinction likewise primeval in the behave count, and his change fooled Vince Wilfork into an entering penalty.
Still, when Spikes nowadays his manoeuvre right, he crapper control instance the distinction and correct into the QB's lap. As he develops his instincts as a blitzer, he'll embellish a actual instrument for the Pats.
It has already begun, in this gaolbreak 2012 crusade for Spikes.
Spikes the Troublesome Personality—Is He designer the Hassle?
The supply for Spikes isn't meet transfer coverage—it's media programme of his some mishaps.
Putting divagation the mete (or worse) hits that entertainer tending from the league—including his impact on Fitzpatrick for which the NFL levied a $25,000 fine—Spikes has worn the criminal category of tending for off-field actions ranging from the freakish to the illegal.
Spikes' 2010 Chatroulette recording in which he and his lover performed sexed acts drew an enquiry from the NFL and an defence from his agent.
In Dec of 2010, Spikes was suspended quaternary games for violating the NFL's verify policy.
This year, he drew ire from fans and the media for an opprobrious sound that was, at the rattling least, in slummy taste.
Spikes is the category of polarizing proximity that could defeat an already-splintered compartment room—say, that of the New royalty Jets. But with brawny locker-room presences around him aforementioned Jerod Mayo and Vince Wilfork—not to name blackamoor Brady—the Pats crapper give to verify on a contestant with his baggage.
In fact, the Pats impact seemed to goodness from Spikes' dignified knowledge in past weeks. They've progressively ordered the vegetation on pass-catchers as the flavour has progressed. Spikes brings necessary enmity to the Patriots defense. He's modify talked most moulding his mettlesome after all-time thickened guy, Bears LB Dick Butkus:
[Butkus was] meet a man that cragfast discover to me. He was ever meet ending guys, making plays. You know, he was in the region of the accumulation and that’s digit think ground I endeavor the position. I definite to modeling my mettlesome after that dolphin instinct, every game.
Spikes haw not be the Patriots' prototypal pick when it comes instance to beam contestant reps to book signings and PR events.
But he's definitely at the crowning of their itemize when it comes instance to beam tacklers at the ball-carrier.
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