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Join Date: Sep 2006
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LB Wright making fans of coaches, teammates
LB Wright making fans of coaches, teammates - 08/10/2007 - MiamiHerald.com
Quote:
Things said about a 2007 Dolphins draft pick:
• He'll be well-known around the NFL by the end of the season.
• He someday might win Player of the Year for his side of the ball.
First-round returner/wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.? Second-round quarterback John Beck? Go a little deeper into the draft.
Like the bottom.
Abraham Wright, whose favorite book is the Bible and was speaking in a church the morning he was drafted, knows of the phrase from Matthew 20:16 ''so shall the last be first.'' Last among the Dolphins draft picks alphabetically and order of selection, No. 238 of 255 made overall, Wright might be first in early training camp compliments.
''I was just talking to [offensive guard/tackle] L.J. [Shelton] and telling him, [Wright] has the ability to be one of the next top defensive end rushers in the league,'' offensive tackle Vernon Carey said Thursday. ``I think he has a lot of ability. With the tutoring under Jason Taylor, he's going to be one of the top players in the league.''
NO OVERSTATING
Think Carey's overstating things a bit? OK, let's go over to Channing Crowder, who speaks with all the subtlety you would expect from a middle linebacker.
''When he gets it together, and you just tell him to get on the end and just rush, he's pretty impressive to watch on film and on the field,'' Crowder said. ``I'm interested to see what he'll do when he gets the defense down. We have one of the most complex defenses in the NFL. So with a guy like that, with that speed and natural ability who is also smart like JT, he can do things like defensive player of the year.''
Crowder hits on what potentially makes Wright special. Speed kills, particularly quarterbacks when it's coming around or inside a tackle.
Throughout the week, Wright has validated the Dolphins' projection of him as someone too small to play defensive end in the NFL at 245 pounds, but fast enough to be a pass rushing linebacker in nickel situations. Or a poor man's version of Wright's favorite player growing up, the late Derrick Thomas, a Road Runner-like linebacker for Kansas City out of South Miami High.
''He gets off really well,'' Carey said. ``He reminds me of [Indianapolis defensive end Dwight] Freeney getting off the ball. He's low to the ground. He does a good job of making you turn really quickly.''
Wright said, ''My coaches have said they definitely notice my speed, but more than that, they've gotten on me hard because now these guys are jumping out on me. You're not just going to run around guys every play. It was cute when I first came in, kind of run around the edge. Now, they've kind of figured me out and they're like, ``If this guy's going to speed me, I'll just kick back'' so I definitely have to learn to do combo moves, cut inside.''
At Colorado, Wright said, he not only didn't worry about inside moves, he didn't worry about learning much about offenses, defenses or special teams. That was good enough for 21 sacks in 38 games in college, 11.5 of them in 11 games last season.
Now, after getting time at the ''Sam'' linebacker position (usually in coverage) and ''Jack'' linebacker position (usually rushing the passer, a position Jason Taylor drops back into sometimes), Wright's actually learning the game.
''I'm not joking. In college, I didn't know what a slot formation [was], trips, two by two,'' Wright said. ``I was a defensive end. The only thing I had to learn was maybe a few trivial calls. Now, you've got to know coverages, the offenses come out, they're shifting and sliding. I remember the first couple of weeks, thinking, they're probably going to tell me to go home.''
NOT GOING HOME
Unless he flops Saturday against Jacksonville and doesn't learn from his flopping, nobody will tell Wright to go home just yet. He's trying to approach the preseason opener the way he has each practice, so as to not put undue pressure on himself. The Dolphins would be happy if he just played as well as he has practiced.
''A lot of people are going to know who he is after this first game,'' Carey said. ``Every preseason game, he's going to get better and better. He's getting better and better every practice. And doing different little things. I've told him little things he needs to work on, just finishing [the play] and stuff like that. Sometimes, he has you beat and he just doesn't finish it.
``Everybody's going to know who he is by the end of the season.''
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LB Wright making fans of coaches, teammates
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