Welcome to the Redskins Cole Holcomb LB North Carolina

[skinny21]

1 hour ago, JaxJoe said:

I’m trying to comprehend traditional LB responsibilities (Will, Mike, Sam) with what I think is the recent direction the Redskins are taking with smaller yet much faster ILBs like Rueben Foster, Hamilton, and now Holcomb: all in the 230 lb range. I guess gone are the days of a 250lb Fletcher-like downhill backers whose immediate job was to crash A&B gaps. Now we have the more read-then-react types. Or, is it a reflection of the confidence our coaches have in our front three to cover those gaps, albeit for a split second, long enough for our flighty inside bakers to react to run vs. pass?

 

It is a recent preference that seemingly coincides with Manusky at DC. And as he used to be our LB coach, I have a feeling this is his preference. 

Good post, and good point.  I do think our coverage issues and problems defending outside runs were impacted by Foster’s lack of speed.  Very interested to see how Manusky uses these guys.  

24 minutes ago, bowhunter said:

The NFC East has both Zeke and Saquan as featured backs, and both are capable of bringing a load. As the league seems to trend towards smaller faster LBs, I see a few teams being able to capitalize on that with a Ground and Pound Smashmouth attack.  Leighton Vander Esch is a package at almost 260lbs and I hated to see him go to our most hated rival. (Although Sean Lee was only 230lbs and he seemed to haunt us plenty as well.) Holcomb at 230lbs and "only" 6'1 Might be thickly built enough to handle the load, but I didn't really see much of a punishing tackler. Yes, Our DL may be able allow them to close cleanly, but it is of little value if our LBs have to absorb the impact and give up 1-2 yards after contact.

The thing I don’t get - it seems to me that 1 gapping dlinemen means less of a chance backers are kept clean.  On the other hand, if your linemen are shooting gaps in the middle, outside runs could become more prevalent, which could lend to needing more speed (by ILBs) to get to the outside.  

[“Misdirection”]

3 hours ago, skinny21 said:

This really surprises me as his speed shows up on tape IMO.  

As I said above, I don’t trust pro day numbers, but his tape does seem to back it up (at least to an extent).  

I agree that pro day numbers aren't as reliable, but you can only juice them so much. 

[DWinzit]

On 4/27/2019 at 3:21 PM, PCS said:

Welcome to the Redskins young fellow. 

 

Cole Holcomb 

LB 

North Carolina 

 

 

Cole Holcomb Draft Profile

 

 

HEIGHT 6' 1"

WEIGHT 231 lbs

ARMS 31 3/8”

HANDS 9 7/8”

Prospect Grade

5.36

NFL BACKUP OR SPECIAL TEAMS POTENTIAL

Forget backup and special teams Mr. Holcomb, after Fosters injury earlier today you have a shot as a starter. 

 

You best be studying harder than ever to prepare, be a sponge on the field and in meetings, you may want to gain a couple pounds and for God sake, stay away from Catalina!

 

You could end out playing next Molasses Foster so it is a good thing you are fast, he will cover 1/4 of the field you get the rest.

[Otis Wonsley Posse]

Sorry I meant the strength. Hope I’m wrong but after watching every game he’s ever played in college I don’t know. Sad part is we need him to emerge

[skinsfan93]

I watched some of Holcombs play last year and don’t understand how people are saying he played fast? If he was so quick he would have gotten a few more sacks than the one he got all year. He was fairly unimpressive to me.  He’s undersized and a rookie so I don’t anticipate much from him besides being a special teamer if he even makes the team. I think Jordan Brailford has a better shot of getting playing time. 

 

Shaun Dion and Josh Harvey need to step it up. I heard they put on some weight and hopefully a year under the belt means they make an impact this year. 

[volsmet]

5 minutes ago, skinsfan93 said:

I watched some of Holcombs play last year and don’t understand how people are saying he played fast? If he was so quick he would have gotten a few more sacks than the one he got all year.

 

 

[Thinking Skins]

I just noticed that the poor there was for size and not speed, although it's on the line with speed. It always confused me how speed could be f

Green in one area and then red in the next column. 

[RandyHolt]

Screams Teams

 

Although with our ongoing injury bug, he may be starting by week 4

Edited May 21, 2019 by RandyHolt

[Idaho fan]

As long as Holcomb plays like Luke Kuechly we are in good shape.

[wit33]

MLB at times is like the RB position, where rookies can make an impact early. We’ll see. 

[Fresh8686]

Hopefully with all that late bloomer talk pre-draft he still has more room to grow. He was a walk-on who grinded his way up from special teams to a starting role and eventually led his team in tackles. Here's hoping he can follow a similar, albeit probably accelerated trajectory for us. Hopefully our staff can get him some sand in has pants so he can play with more explosion, but that'll take more time than we have right now.

[Skinsinparadise]

Maybe the least hyped rookie predraft but he's getting his share of buzz.  Supposedly this was Jay's guy in the draft and who he pushed for.  2 of the previous "Jay guys" that he pushed for in the draft were Quinn and Ioannidis.  So I trust Jay's eye.

 

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/redskins/training-camp-notes-donald-penn-getting-better-each-day-redskins

 

• Cole Holcomb has shown to be adept at reading run plays, and on Monday, he made a play in the pass game, too. Holcomb followed Matt Flanagan — who, to be fair, is not exactly a flier at tight end — deep down the center of the field and at the last second, jumped backward to deflect the incoming pass. For a linebacker, it was an impressive effort, as he turned his head while running at 100 percent and located the ball in time to knock it away. He looks like he can help Greg Manusky's defense this season.

 

 

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Edited August 5, 2019 by Skinsinparadise

[Malapropismic Depository]

41 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

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Thanks ! I been lookin for Holcomb's impersonation of Ryan !

His impersonation is just as good as his play.

 

 

[SkinsGuy]

I sense a rookie mancrush from fans for this kid

[Malapropismic Depository]

5 minutes ago, SkinsGuy said:

I sense a rookie mancrush from fans for this kid

 

How does he only have 2 pages ?

He's literally one of the best rookie performers in TC.

I bet if anyone here is a member of a Dallas or Saints forum, they'd get a kick out of it, if you posted his Ryan impersonation over there.

[Skinsinparadise]

Just listened to a Rob Ryan interview and he was asked which player is going to surprise people -- he said Holcomb and then raved about him.  

[HardcoreZorn]

10 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Just listened to a Rob Ryan interview and he was asked which player is going to surprise people -- he said Holcomb and then raved about him.  

 

Man I keep thinking would could have been on the defensive side of the ball had R Foster not gone down. But pleasantly surprised with the addition of Bostic and hearing about SDH and Holcomb. Hopefully some much needed speed can’t wait to watch Holcomb on thursday 

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

Cole was a "yeah, but..." player his whole time in college.  Give em' hell, kid.

[Skinsinparadise]

2 hours ago, HardcoreZorn said:

 

Man I keep thinking would could have been on the defensive side of the ball had R Foster not gone down. But pleasantly surprised with the addition of Bostic and hearing about SDH and Holcomb. Hopefully some much needed speed can’t wait to watch Holcomb on thursday 

 

He wasn't invited to the combine but some of the draft geek types who I respect like Brugler liked him a lot. Great athlete.  When Zach Brown was signed as a FA, many (me included) touted his speed for the position.  Holcomb is even faster than him. 

 

  I've noticed in recent weeks all the mentions that he was Jay's guy that he pounded the table for.  And Jay is really good at times at nailing some of the late rounder types including Ionnaidis and Quinn.  Granted Quinn hasn't really played yet.

 

More than anything, I love reading about him being a workaholic, last to leave, etc.  I wonder if Holcomb ultimately overtakes SDH.    Keim likes to say they like but don't love SDH and that's partly why they chased Mosley, etc.    Supposedly SDH from what I've read in camp is better going downhill to stop the run as opposed to pass coverage.  Holcomb according to those watching him can cover well.  So wonder if they mix the two?  

 

Speaking of Bostic I just listened to an interview of his on 106.7 -- he's incredibly articulate and sounds smart explaining defenses.  Purely on that front, he reminds me of London Fletcher. 

 

The reason why I typically hesitate about this defense being great-elite and am sticking to very good for now is my worry about their MLBs.  And I've been saying since last season for them to be elite -- IMO they need a stud MLB or two.   The Cowboys defense to me is better than ours because of their 2 stud MLBs.

 

If Holcomb ends up being a stud then I think the defense can be special.  To me the MLB position is the big wild card.  

 

https://redskinswire.usatoday.com/2019/06/20/jay-gruden-biggest-advocate-drafting-cole-holcomb/

It turns out Jay Gruden is the one who initially saw something in Holcomb.

 

Eric Shaffer, senior vice president of football operations, revealed the bit of background info, per Redskins.com:

“Jay Gruden does the work, he watches the tape. He’ll have strong opinions [on the players]. He was very instrumental in the Redskins drafting [Matt] Ioannidis and had some really strong opinions on guys this year. I think Cole Holcomb out of North Carolina was one of those guys that Jay really stood up for.”

Holcomb, a fifth-round rookie, impressed in workouts ahead of training camp. Call it a good sign, as he might be asked to play a bigger role than originally expected in the wake of the Reuben Foster injury.

Gruden has been adamant since the draft that it is all about coverage ability for linebackers. Holcomb can certainly do that, so it isn’t too surprising to learn he was one of the guys in the draft room pounding the table for him.

Edited August 5, 2019 by Skinsinparadise

[Skinsinparadise]

Forgot that Zach Brown went to the same college as him, this is short segment (2 minutes) about Cole's athleticism with his coach saying he'd put his athletic numbers against any LB he's ever had including Zach.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by Skinsinparadise

[skinsfan93]

I was expecting much from Holcomb as a fifth round pick but if he can be half the player of a Luke Keuchly or that guy Vander Esch in Dallas we might just have something. I hear a lot of his speed and coverage abilities but I wanna see how he tackles. We need MLB who is a sure tackler. 

 

I believe he had a lot of tackles in college but this is a whole new level. We shall see. 

[bakedtater1]

Ya buddy I'm excited about this dude...hope he makes the 53 and gets playing time.

[Malapropismic Depository]

So Holcomb is faster than Zach Brown was at his combine ?

Probably will become a better all-around player than Zach, too.

That makes me feel better about that "trade-off" of players.

[volsmet]

Cole v Cashman will be interesting. Both are impressing early.

 

[Skinsinparadise]

7 hours ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

So Holcomb is faster than Zach Brown was at his combine ?

Probably will become a better all-around player than Zach, too.

That makes me feel better about that "trade-off" of players.

 

Yeah Holcomb ran 4.48, if I recall Brown was 4.51.