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SDUT: Diving catch brings back memories for Stuckey
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Robin Miller
Nov 2, 2012, 10:27:06 AM11/2/12
to
Diving catch brings back memories for Stuckey
By Michael Gehlken & Scott Bair • U-T
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Darrell Stuckey has a little baseball in him.
The Chargers safety grew up playing center field in Kansas City.
On Thursday, against his hometown team, he played it again.
Stuckey pinned the Chiefs deep in their territory in the third quarter,
making a basket catch at full stretch to glove a 38-yard Mike Scifres
punt during a 31-13 win.
Just like old times.
“I loved to lay out and dive as a kid,” Stuckey said. “In high school,
that’s all I did was dive, dive, dive. I had a great range playing
center field, so today, I didn’t think twice about it. I didn’t think of
whether the returner was trying to return it or not. I just knew that
Mike’s punt, in the end, is going to drop somewhere inside the 10-yard
line.”
It did.
The Chiefs took over at their own 7.
San Diego has its share of strong special teams coverage players, but
Scifres and the 25-year-old special teams captain arguably form a duo as
strong as any in the league in the battle for field position.
Stuckey leads the team with 10 special teams tackles, eight of which are
solo.
Two of those tackles came Thursday.
“He makes it easy for me,” said Scifres, who pinned both of his punts on
the night inside the 20. “As fast and as physical as he is, when you
single him, we’re going to win 99 percent of the time. The play he made
with the punt on the 7, that’s going to go down as one of the best plays
any gunner in the NFL could make. How he laid out and caught it in
midair, unbelievable.”
It was shades of Willie Mays.
Except for the spinning throw at the end.
“I could have done a crow hop and thrown it,” Stuckey said with a laugh.
“Might have been delay of game.”
Tackle matchup
It’s no easy matchup against Chiefs outside pass rushers Tamba Hali and
Justin Houston.
For most of the night, Jared Gaither drew the former.
With Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers operating behind a largely clean
pocket, the left tackle handled the marquee matchup with mixed results.
He was flagged for two false starts in the first half.
In the third quarter, he allowed a 4-yard sack to Hali and, on the next
play, was whistled for holding.
“No comment,” said Gaither, who played in his second game five days
after returning from a groin injury.
On the right side, Jeromey Clary faced mostly defensive linemen Allen
Bailey and Anthony Toribio. He saw only a few plays against outside
linebacker Houston, who mostly dropped back in coverage.
None of Houston’s six sacks on the season have come in his two games
against the Chargers.
“They played it pretty much straight, the same way they did the last
time,” Clary said. “We kind of stuck with the same game plan as well. It
worked.”
Another good game for Butler
Shaun Phillips made a point to find Donald Butler after Thursday’s
victory, and not just to congratulate the young inside linebacker on a
job well done.
Butler had nine tackles, a forced fumble and a pass defensed against the
Kansas City Chiefs, but Phillips was impressed by more than just the
stat line.
Butler was hitting hard. He was an intimadator. Most importantly, Butler
was always in the right position to make a play.
“He’s such a stud. I walked up to him after the game and said, ‘Man, you
can really play some football,’” Phillips said. “He’s young, but he’s a
playmaker through and through. I’m really happy for him and I’m thankful
that he’s on our side.”
Butler has never played better, and has the confidence that comes with
such consistency.
“It was another good game for me, but getting the win was more important
than anything I did personally,” Butler said. “I’m just one of 11 guys
on that defense, and I try to fill my role as best I can.”
Nuts ’n’ Bolts
• Outside linebacker Antwan Barnes said he felt his left hamstring pop
on a fourth quarter punt. He walked into the locker room with help from
athletic trainers. He’ll have an MRI on Monday. “They said nothing
major,” Barnes said. “When they checked it out, I still have a little
strength in it. It should be fine.”
• The Chargers reported three other injuries: safety Atari Bigby (hip),
linebacker Demorrio Williams (abdominal) and defensive end Vaughn Martin
(elbow).
• San Diego essentially had a four-man rotation at outside linebacker
Sunday against the Browns with Larry English seeing two defensive snaps.
That rotation became official Thursday; English was a healthy scratch.
By Michael Gehlken & Scott Bair • U-T
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Darrell Stuckey has a little baseball in him.
The Chargers safety grew up playing center field in Kansas City.
On Thursday, against his hometown team, he played it again.
Stuckey pinned the Chiefs deep in their territory in the third quarter,
making a basket catch at full stretch to glove a 38-yard Mike Scifres
punt during a 31-13 win.
Just like old times.
“I loved to lay out and dive as a kid,” Stuckey said. “In high school,
that’s all I did was dive, dive, dive. I had a great range playing
center field, so today, I didn’t think twice about it. I didn’t think of
whether the returner was trying to return it or not. I just knew that
Mike’s punt, in the end, is going to drop somewhere inside the 10-yard
line.”
It did.
The Chiefs took over at their own 7.
San Diego has its share of strong special teams coverage players, but
Scifres and the 25-year-old special teams captain arguably form a duo as
strong as any in the league in the battle for field position.
Stuckey leads the team with 10 special teams tackles, eight of which are
solo.
Two of those tackles came Thursday.
“He makes it easy for me,” said Scifres, who pinned both of his punts on
the night inside the 20. “As fast and as physical as he is, when you
single him, we’re going to win 99 percent of the time. The play he made
with the punt on the 7, that’s going to go down as one of the best plays
any gunner in the NFL could make. How he laid out and caught it in
midair, unbelievable.”
It was shades of Willie Mays.
Except for the spinning throw at the end.
“I could have done a crow hop and thrown it,” Stuckey said with a laugh.
“Might have been delay of game.”
Tackle matchup
It’s no easy matchup against Chiefs outside pass rushers Tamba Hali and
Justin Houston.
For most of the night, Jared Gaither drew the former.
With Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers operating behind a largely clean
pocket, the left tackle handled the marquee matchup with mixed results.
He was flagged for two false starts in the first half.
In the third quarter, he allowed a 4-yard sack to Hali and, on the next
play, was whistled for holding.
“No comment,” said Gaither, who played in his second game five days
after returning from a groin injury.
On the right side, Jeromey Clary faced mostly defensive linemen Allen
Bailey and Anthony Toribio. He saw only a few plays against outside
linebacker Houston, who mostly dropped back in coverage.
None of Houston’s six sacks on the season have come in his two games
against the Chargers.
“They played it pretty much straight, the same way they did the last
time,” Clary said. “We kind of stuck with the same game plan as well. It
worked.”
Another good game for Butler
Shaun Phillips made a point to find Donald Butler after Thursday’s
victory, and not just to congratulate the young inside linebacker on a
job well done.
Butler had nine tackles, a forced fumble and a pass defensed against the
Kansas City Chiefs, but Phillips was impressed by more than just the
stat line.
Butler was hitting hard. He was an intimadator. Most importantly, Butler
was always in the right position to make a play.
“He’s such a stud. I walked up to him after the game and said, ‘Man, you
can really play some football,’” Phillips said. “He’s young, but he’s a
playmaker through and through. I’m really happy for him and I’m thankful
that he’s on our side.”
Butler has never played better, and has the confidence that comes with
such consistency.
“It was another good game for me, but getting the win was more important
than anything I did personally,” Butler said. “I’m just one of 11 guys
on that defense, and I try to fill my role as best I can.”
Nuts ’n’ Bolts
• Outside linebacker Antwan Barnes said he felt his left hamstring pop
on a fourth quarter punt. He walked into the locker room with help from
athletic trainers. He’ll have an MRI on Monday. “They said nothing
major,” Barnes said. “When they checked it out, I still have a little
strength in it. It should be fine.”
• The Chargers reported three other injuries: safety Atari Bigby (hip),
linebacker Demorrio Williams (abdominal) and defensive end Vaughn Martin
(elbow).
• San Diego essentially had a four-man rotation at outside linebacker
Sunday against the Browns with Larry English seeing two defensive snaps.
That rotation became official Thursday; English was a healthy scratch.
ScottW
Nov 2, 2012, 12:14:25 PM11/2/12
to
On Nov 2, 7:27 am, Robin Miller <complex....@invalid.com> wrote:
>
> • San Diego essentially had a four-man rotation at outside linebacker
> Sunday against the Browns with Larry English seeing two defensive snaps.
> That rotation became official Thursday; English was a healthy scratch.
another AJ success story.....I've lost track of the number of wasted
>
> • San Diego essentially had a four-man rotation at outside linebacker
> Sunday against the Browns with Larry English seeing two defensive snaps.
> That rotation became official Thursday; English was a healthy scratch.
draft picks on LBs. If drafting two to find one and then adding in a
couple of FAs is ok....I could do that job and for less than AJ makes.
ScottW
Robin Miller
Nov 2, 2012, 1:02:11 PM11/2/12
to
spots (not drafting players for the offensive line and pissing players
and agents off in particular). I think he's brought a lot of talent to
this team. But the Chargers had the misfortune--some of it their fault,
some not--of losing a lot of talent in a short time: Jamal Williams,
Michael Turner, LT, Merriman, Sproles, VJ, Dielman, McNeill, and
probably others. I won't put Cromartie on that list, although he had
that one great season. Note that they're almost all offensive players,
which is one reason why the offense is suffering.
FWIW, here's a list of the Chargers' last 10 drafts that I found on
another forum:
2012 - San Diego Chargers
1 18 Melvin Ingram LB South Carolina
2 49 Kendall Reyes DE Connecticut
3 73 Brandon Taylor SS LSU
4 110 Ladarius Green TE Louisiana-Lafayette
5 149 Johnnie Troutman G Penn State
7 226 David Molk C Michigan
7 250 Edwin Baker RB Michigan State
2011 - San Diego Chargers
1 18 Corey Liuget DE Illinois
2 50 Marcus Gilchrist DB Clemson
2 61 Jonas Mouton LB Michigan
3 82 Vincent Brown WR San Diego State
3 89 Shareece Wright DB USC
6 183 Jordan Todman RB Connecticut
6 201 Stephen Schilling T Michigan
7 234 Andrew Gachkar LB Missouri
2010 - San Diego Chargers
1 12 Ryan Mathews RB Fresno State
3 79 Donald Butler LB Washington
4 110 Darrell Stuckey DB Kansas
5 146 Cam Thomas DT North Carolina
5 168 Jonathan Crompton QB Tennessee
7 235 Dedrick Epps TE Miami (Fla.)
2009 - San Diego Chargers
1 16 Larry English DE Northern Illinois
3 78 Louis Vasquez G Texas Tech
4 113 Vaughn Martin DT Western Ontario (Canada)
4 133 Tyronne Green G Auburn
4 134 Gartrell Johnson RB Colorado State
5 148 Brandon Hughes CB Oregon State
6 189 Kevin Ellison DB USC
7 224 Demetrius Byrd WR Louisiana State
2008 - San Diego Chargers
1 27 Antoine Cason CB Arizona
3 69 Jacob Hester FB Louisiana State
5 166 Marcus Thomas RB Texas-El Paso
6 192 DeJuan Tribble CB Boston College
7 234 Corey Clark T Texas A&M
2007 - San Diego Chargers
1 30 Craig Davis WR Louisiana State
2 37 Eric Weddle SAF Utah
3 96 Anthony Waters LB Clemson
4 129 Scott Chandler TE Iowa
5 172 Legedu Naanee WR Boise State
7 240 Brandon Siler LB Florida
Paul Oliver CB Georgia
2006 - San Diego Chargers
1 19 Antonio Cromartie CB Florida State
2 50 Marcus McNeill T Auburn
3 81 Charlie Whitehurst QB Clemson
5 151 Tim Dobbins LB Iowa State
6 187 Jeromey Clary T Kansas State
6 188 Kurt Smith K Virginia
7 225 Chase Page DT North Carolina
7 227 Jimmy Martin C Virginia Tech
2005 - San Diego Chargers
1 12 Shawne Merriman OLB Maryland
1 28 Luis Castillo DE Northwestern
2 61 Vincent Jackson WR Northern Colorado
4 130 Darren Sproles RB Kansas State
5 164 Wesley Britt T Alabama
6 177 Wes Sims G Oklahoma
7 242 Scott Mruczkowski C Bowling Green State
2004 - San Diego Chargers
1 1 Eli Manning QB Mississippi
2 35 Igor Olshansky DE Oregon
3 65 Nate Kaeding K Iowa
3 66 Nick Hardwick C Purdue
4 98 Shaun Phillips LB Purdue
5 133 Dave Ball DE UCLA
5 154 Michael Turner RB Northern Illinois
6 169 Ryan Krause TE Nebraska-Omaha
7 204 Ryon Bingham DT Nebraska
7 209 Shane Olivea T Ohio State
7 254 Carlos Joseph -- Miami (Fla.)
2003 - San Diego Chargers
1 30 Sammy Davis CB Texas A&M
2 46 Drayton Florence CB Tuskegee
2 62 Terrence Kiel SS Texas A&M
3 80 Courtney Van Buren T Arkansas-Pine Bluff
4 112 Matt Wilhelm LB Ohio State
5 149 Mike Scifres P Western Illinois
6 188 Hanik Milligan DB Houston
7 229 Andrew Pinnock FB South Carolina
--Robin
ScottW
Nov 2, 2012, 1:30:33 PM11/2/12
to
On Nov 2, 10:02 am, Robin Miller <complex....@invalid.com> wrote:
> ScottW wrote:
> > On Nov 2, 7:27 am, Robin Miller <complex....@invalid.com> wrote:
>
> >> • San Diego essentially had a four-man rotation at outside linebacker
> >> Sunday against the Browns with Larry English seeing two defensive snaps.
> >> That rotation became official Thursday; English was a healthy scratch.
>
> > another AJ success story.....I've lost track of the number of wasted
> > draft picks on LBs. If drafting two to find one and then adding in a
> > couple of FAs is ok....I could do that job and for less than AJ makes.
>
> > ScottW
>
> Overall, I'm happy with AJ, while acknowledging that he has his blind
> spots (not drafting players for the offensive line and pissing players
> and agents off in particular). I think he's brought a lot of talent to
> this team. But the Chargers had the misfortune--some of it their fault,
> some not--of losing a lot of talent in a short time: Jamal Williams,
> Michael Turner, LT, Merriman, Sproles, VJ, Dielman, McNeill, and
> probably others. I won't put Cromartie on that list, although he had
> that one great season. Note that they're almost all offensive players,
> which is one reason why the offense is suffering.
>
> FWIW, here's a list of the Chargers' last 10 drafts that I found on
> another forum:
and thanks for finding my lost post :)
> ScottW wrote:
> > On Nov 2, 7:27 am, Robin Miller <complex....@invalid.com> wrote:
>
> >> • San Diego essentially had a four-man rotation at outside linebacker
> >> Sunday against the Browns with Larry English seeing two defensive snaps.
> >> That rotation became official Thursday; English was a healthy scratch.
>
> > another AJ success story.....I've lost track of the number of wasted
> > draft picks on LBs. If drafting two to find one and then adding in a
> > couple of FAs is ok....I could do that job and for less than AJ makes.
>
> > ScottW
>
> Overall, I'm happy with AJ, while acknowledging that he has his blind
> spots (not drafting players for the offensive line and pissing players
> and agents off in particular). I think he's brought a lot of talent to
> this team. But the Chargers had the misfortune--some of it their fault,
> some not--of losing a lot of talent in a short time: Jamal Williams,
> Michael Turner, LT, Merriman, Sproles, VJ, Dielman, McNeill, and
> probably others. I won't put Cromartie on that list, although he had
> that one great season. Note that they're almost all offensive players,
> which is one reason why the offense is suffering.
>
> FWIW, here's a list of the Chargers' last 10 drafts that I found on
> another forum:
Too early to judge 2012 but as far as I can tell...Ingram is the only
guy contributing in any significant way. Hopefully Reyes, Taylor and
Green will all become players.
>
> 2012 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 18 Melvin Ingram LB South Carolina
> 2 49 Kendall Reyes DE Connecticut
> 3 73 Brandon Taylor SS LSU
> 4 110 Ladarius Green TE Louisiana-Lafayette
> 5 149 Johnnie Troutman G Penn State
> 7 226 David Molk C Michigan
> 7 250 Edwin Baker RB Michigan State
>
Gilchrist was slated to take a back seat to Wright if he hadn't
strained his ankle
so that's not looking so good. What happenned to Mouton?
> 2011 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 18 Corey Liuget DE Illinois
> 2 50 Marcus Gilchrist DB Clemson
> 2 61 Jonas Mouton LB Michigan
> 3 82 Vincent Brown WR San Diego State
> 3 89 Shareece Wright DB USC
> 6 183 Jordan Todman RB Connecticut
> 6 201 Stephen Schilling T Michigan
> 7 234 Andrew Gachkar LB Missouri
>
contributing
and Stuckey becoming a STer.
> 2010 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 12 Ryan Mathews RB Fresno State
> 3 79 Donald Butler LB Washington
> 4 110 Darrell Stuckey DB Kansas
> 5 146 Cam Thomas DT North Carolina
> 5 168 Jonathan Crompton QB Tennessee
> 7 235 Dedrick Epps TE Miami (Fla.)
>
rounders without it biting you in the ass.
Next 3 picks in the 3rd and 4th round are all better than his number 1
turned out which is hard to do IMO.
> 2009 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 16 Larry English DE Northern Illinois
> 3 78 Louis Vasquez G Texas Tech
> 4 113 Vaughn Martin DT Western Ontario (Canada)
> 4 133 Tyronne Green G Auburn
> 4 134 Gartrell Johnson RB Colorado State
> 5 148 Brandon Hughes CB Oregon State
> 6 189 Kevin Ellison DB USC
> 7 224 Demetrius Byrd WR Louisiana State
>
achilles heel of the defense.
> 2008 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 27 Antoine Cason CB Arizona
> 3 69 Jacob Hester FB Louisiana State
> 5 166 Marcus Thomas RB Texas-El Paso
> 6 192 DeJuan Tribble CB Boston College
> 7 234 Corey Clark T Texas A&M
>
Weddle is great...but he's literally the only guy
> 2007 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 30 Craig Davis WR Louisiana State
> 2 37 Eric Weddle SAF Utah
> 3 96 Anthony Waters LB Clemson
> 4 129 Scott Chandler TE Iowa
> 5 172 Legedu Naanee WR Boise State
> 7 240 Brandon Siler LB Florida
> Paul Oliver CB Georgia
>
for a time.....I'm kind of sad we're still enduring Clary at RT
though.
> 2006 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 19 Antonio Cromartie CB Florida State
> 2 50 Marcus McNeill T Auburn
> 3 81 Charlie Whitehurst QB Clemson
> 5 151 Tim Dobbins LB Iowa State
> 6 187 Jeromey Clary T Kansas State
> 6 188 Kurt Smith K Virginia
> 7 225 Chase Page DT North Carolina
> 7 227 Jimmy Martin C Virginia Tech
>
it's really hard not to be productive. Still nothing after the 4th.
> 2005 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 12 Shawne Merriman OLB Maryland
> 1 28 Luis Castillo DE Northwestern
> 2 61 Vincent Jackson WR Northern Colorado
> 4 130 Darren Sproles RB Kansas State
> 5 164 Wesley Britt T Alabama
> 6 177 Wes Sims G Oklahoma
> 7 242 Scott Mruczkowski C Bowling Green State
>
again this was decent draft but we were loaded with picks.
> 2004 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 1 Eli Manning QB Mississippi
> 2 35 Igor Olshansky DE Oregon
> 3 65 Nate Kaeding K Iowa
> 3 66 Nick Hardwick C Purdue
> 4 98 Shaun Phillips LB Purdue
> 5 133 Dave Ball DE UCLA
> 5 154 Michael Turner RB Northern Illinois
> 6 169 Ryan Krause TE Nebraska-Omaha
> 7 204 Ryon Bingham DT Nebraska
> 7 209 Shane Olivea T Ohio State
> 7 254 Carlos Joseph -- Miami (Fla.)
>
> 2003 - San Diego Chargers
>
> 1 30 Sammy Davis CB Texas A&M
> 2 46 Drayton Florence CB Tuskegee
> 2 62 Terrence Kiel SS Texas A&M
> 3 80 Courtney Van Buren T Arkansas-Pine Bluff
> 4 112 Matt Wilhelm LB Ohio State
> 5 149 Mike Scifres P Western Illinois
> 6 188 Hanik Milligan DB Houston
> 7 229 Andrew Pinnock FB South Carolina
>
> --Robin
ones but more bad ones IMO.
ScottW
Tweekgeek
Nov 2, 2012, 8:20:54 PM11/2/12
to
rated #4 OLB by Scout...
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