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Welcome to the Redskins Cole Holcomb LB North Carolina

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Malapropismic Depository

Malapropismic Depository

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8 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

 

 

Glad the weather didn't interfere, as they were concerned about.

One thing great to hear from Ryan was "the offense had their way with us today".

Looks like the tide is starting to finally turn for the offense in practice.

Holcomb drafted in the same round as Ioannidis. Good sign !

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Skinsinparadise

Skinsinparadise

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Jay Gruden's mornings at training camp have consisted of a couple of things after he wakes up: Coffee and run-ins with Cole Holcomb.

According to the head coach, the linebacker has gotten into the habit of poring over film early, to the point where Gruden keeps crossing paths with the rookie and his iPad at the team hotel.

It's one way the 23-year-old is already sticking out.

"He's been excellent," Gruden said of Holcomb. "I think he works extremely hard mentally, which is important for a linebacker."

"The alarm goes off at 6 a.m. and I go down to a little table on the same floor," Holcomb explained after a recent practice. "Every day, it's extra reps. Film tells a story. You can see gameplans. It's also reps... 'If I was in, I would be doing this.' Just keep getting mental reps so it becomes natural."

 

That dedication has already translated to his performance.

When the Redskins selected Holcomb in the fifth round of April's draft, many saw his blazing speed as something that would allow him to contribute immediately on special teams. But after a few weeks of work in Richmond, Holcomb doesn't just look like someone who'll help chase down returners.

Instead, he's coming off as someone who could play key snaps on defense in his first year as well.

"He has the tools to be great because he's got power, he's got speed, he's got instincts. He's got everything you need for a linebacker as far as a skill set," Gruden said. "I've been very impressed with Cole."

 

Edited by Skinsinparadise
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Skinsinparadise

Skinsinparadise

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Redskins rookie Cole Holcomb learned persistence from his dad, a Navy cook and vacuum salesman

RICHMOND — It’s 6 a.m. at the Washington Redskins’ team hotel, and there’s rookie linebacker Cole Holcomb again, sitting in the still-empty breakfast room, iPad open, watching practice film before most of his teammates are out of bed. The team’s coach, Jay Gruden, notices him, just as Gruden has noticed Holcomb every morning sitting in the silent room, huddled over the iPad.

“He wants to be great,” Gruden said later.

The third day of the NFL draft is a flood of names and highlights, flickering across the screen and fading into the jingling music announcing each new pick. North Carolina’s Cole Holcomb, born and raised in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., was just another name when Washington took him in the fifth round. In many ways he was immediately forgotten — as he always has been forgotten — until he showed up and made sure his new team would know he was there.

 

...Everyone is noticing Holcomb now, calling plays on the defense at practice, pushing into gaps, ready to make tackles. He is the player whose name the coaches keep mentioning and the fans keep calling, the one who seems smaller than all the other linebackers, who keeps pushing, pushing, pushing in the blazing morning sun, even after the whistle blows.

Then he walks off the field to call the man he phones each day, the one who taught him about the fight, the only one who knows as much as he about the single word that has come to define his football life: persistence.

 

...Gruden, it turns out, was watching. One day this past winter, the coach loaded up video of North Carolina’s defense with the intent of watching another player he had on a list of prospects. But it was the linebacker in the middle, the relentless one, the one constantly pounding through bigger players to make tackles, who fascinated him.

 

...He went to the team’s new inside linebackers coach, Rob Ryan, whose office was next to his.

“You’ve got to watch this guy,” Ryan remembers Gruden saying.

Gruden and Ryan had a tape made of Cole’s highlights and shared it with Washington’s scouts. When it came time for the team to pick in the fifth round, the Redskins called.

Within days at Redskins training camp, Cole was calling plays on the second-team defense — a 3-4 defense, he likes to point out — telling players much older and more experienced what they should be doing. While this is normally the job of a middle linebacker, it is not normally a task handed to a fifth-round pick at his first professional camp.

“We knew what we were drafting,” Ryan says. “We drafted the right guy.”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/08/07/redskins-rookie-cole-holcomb-learned-persistence-his-dad-navy-cook-vacuum-salesman/

Edited by Skinsinparadise
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Going Commando

Going Commando

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Holcomb was steady last night.  Productive and reliable.  His zone coverages looked fine and he got avoided.  Part of that was because of how bad the seams were behind him though.  The safeties and slot corners didn't have the best night.

 

out of all of our draft picks, he looked the best and most ready to me.  Moreland has a special playmaking gene though, which helps him recover from mistakes.

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Anselmheifer

Anselmheifer

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I missed the game. Hard to find any Holcomb highlights online. Also, Nobody should be surprised for a SDH injury. I love the guy and think he could be really good, if he stays healthy. There is no reason to think he will. I think he is more fragile than Chris Thompson and Jordan Reed. 

 

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RandyHolt

RandyHolt

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Injuries could be a factor. Durability is an undervalued trait.  I fee like he and Bostic were the only 2 healthy insides all of camp. 

 

I love seeing rookies start week 1. Nothing against the old vets but I feel like they often just have a slight edge based on experience, when in competitions to start. Experience that the greenhorn will quickly attain, IMO.

 

Test your scouts and front office guys. Don't wait for an injury all the time.

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Malapropismic Depository

Malapropismic Depository

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Good news is, despite being a rookie, he'll be side-by-side with the defensive captain calling the plays, if I'm not mistaken, and a very very good captain.

So he's got a close communication line regarding where he needs to position himself on each play.

Add to that, he's just got good football instincts, which is hard to teach a guy. So, whether it's college or pro, the guy knows how to track down the ball carrier.

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