Broaddus - Scouting Report: Iowa's Hitchens A Compact, Tough LB

[boozeman]

Jones says Iowa LB Hitchens is insurance for Sean Lee injury, didn't mind using fourth-round pick for backup



Jerry Jones said the Cowboys drafted Iowa linebacker Anthony Hitchens because he can step in for middle linebacker Sean Lee if needed.

“We saw a guy who could run with size, and we saw one of the few inside linebackers that we thought could come in here and help us if we lost Sean Lee,” the Cowboys owner said. “So we saw a guy who could definitely improve us from where we were last year when we lost Sean Lee.”

Lee missed five games last year because of a leg and neck injuries and 10 games two years ago because of a broken toe.

Jones felt so compelled to find a backup for Lee that the Cowboys used a fourth-round pick for a player rated as a sixth- or seventh-round pick by many evaluators.

“With all due respect to the other evaluators, I would say that there is a lot of difference in a lot of players when you start getting in that fourth round, between this player or that player and whether we would have taken him,” Jones said. “We literally had him – as we’d been sitting there all day long – we had him there, too. We didn’t have him there in the third, we had him there in the fourth. We sat there all day long with him as one of the guys that we would use our fourth pick with at that time. I’d say that’s the difference in the eye of the beholder. He was productive.

“I think the other thing is that he can play some weak linebacker. He’s obviously got the power and the other thing I can say about him is that he did a good job of dropping back in pass routes. I’m not saying he’s Sean Lee, but he can drop back and get back and as Jason would tell you, we’re going to do a better job of doing that and playing the ball up in front of us. What he did do in his collegiate career is a real good job of getting back and getting in lanes. So that’s what we saw and is just right what we need.”

-- Carlos Mendez

 

[Smitty]

Jones says Iowa LB Hitchens is insurance for Sean Lee injury, didn't mind using fourth-round pick for backup

omg.

Anger....... rising........

 

[boozeman]

omg.

Anger....... rising........

Tell me about it.

This one pick put a stank over this whole draft.

It was classic getting cute.

And it wasn't Jerry. He couldn't pick this jackwad out of a lineup.

This was all McClay's deal.

No stone unturned, blah blah blah.

Sometimes what you find underneath rocks really is just slime.

 

[Genghis Khan]

~flips table~

 

[NoDak]

It's just a disconnect between draft publications and actual NFL scouting. Many on this board would have been happy with Jackson Jeffcoat in the 3rd or 4th and the kid went undrafted.

Yep. But that won't be mentioned every day for the next four years.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Yep. But that won't be mentioned every day for the next four years.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Between booze and Smitty on this Hitchens guy, Katy bar the door for the next three years

 

[boozeman]

New Cowboys LB moved away from home to avoid going to a high school 'that wasn't the best for me'



New Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens said when he was 12 years old, he didn’t want to go to a rough high school.

So he moved out and lived with the family of his quarterback in high school.

“His parents took me in, so they put me into a good high school that produced college – not just college athletes – but just college kids, just to go get a degreee, and I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship,” he said.

At Lorain, Ohio’s, Clearview High School, he was an all-state player as a junior and senior, set a school record for points in a season and helped win a state championship.

“I grew up with a rough family, and my mom was going to send me to a high school that wasn’t the best for me,” he said. “And I wanted to go to college and play football in high school.

“I just wanted to take a different path. I didn’t want to be like everybody else in my family that didn’t go to college.”

Hitchens laughed when he was asked about making such a mature decision at age 12.

“To this day, I don’t even know how I did it,” he said. “But I’m just blessed that I had that opportunity to move in with a family that put me in the right school that got me to this point.”

He said his relationship with his family is fine today.

“Me and my mom and my brother and sister are tight,” he said. “Actually, my mom is here now – my biological mom and my adopted mom – so we all got together for this draft.”

-- Carlos Mendez

 

[boozeman]

Hitchens said only contact he had with Cowboys was at combine, with a scout he can't remember



Iowa linebacker Anthony Hitchens said the only contact he had with the Cowboys was at the combine, and he can’t remember who talked to him.

“I can’t remember his name, but he was a scout there,” Hitchens said.

So it makes sense if Hitchens was surprised to be taken by the Cowboys and also to be taken so early. The outside linebacker was projected to be a sixth- or seventh-round pick.

“I really didn’t pay attention to the noise,” Hitchens said, asked in a conference call with reporters if he was prepared to not be drafted at all. “Honestly, I didn’t even know where I was projected or when. Whatever happens, happens. I was just going to be blessed with the opportunity I received if I was undrafted or drafted. I’m just blessed.”

He said he has no idea how the Cowboys will use him, but he said he played special teams all four years at Iowa.

“I like to hit, and I can run around and stuff like that,” he said. “Really, there’s lots of things you’ve got to work on, but I think that’s the reason why they got me in Dallas, because they’ve got a physical defense and they like to fly around and hit.”

At Iowa, Hitchens said he played mainly inside linebacker.

“In our 4-3 defense, I played a little bit of outside, especially when we got doubles. I got to walk out of the box,” he said. “But mainly, I played inside.”

-- Carlos Mendez

 

[hstour]

WTF is a "leisure studies" major?

Sitting on your ass playing video games and watching movies?

You left out chasing skirts.....

 

[data]

Hitchens said only contact he had with Cowboys was at combine, with a scout he can't remember



Iowa linebacker Anthony Hitchens said the only contact he had with the Cowboys was at the combine, and he can’t remember who talked to him.

“I can’t remember his name, but he was a scout there,” Hitchens said.

dont forget about Spaulding at the senior bowl

 

[ravidubey]

Even Jimmy Johnson found a role for Bill Bates. You can't measure heart, and Hitchens will probably become a decent depth player like Bates was.

It's not his fault the Cowboys took him at least two rounds too early.

 

[NoDak]

Even Jimmy Johnson found a role for Bill Bates. You can't measure heart, and Hitchens will probably become a decent depth player like Bates was.

It's not his fault the Cowboys took him at least two rounds too early.

Jimmy Johnson.......Jason Garrett.

Let's not get crazy here.

 

[ravidubey]

Jimmy Johnson.......Jason Garrett.

Let's not get crazy here.

What I'm saying is Johnson did his best to run Bates off just like he did Too Tall, Randy, Danny White, and other vets but Bates found a way to hang in and make a difference. If Hitchens doesn't take his role for granted, remains healthy, and competes it's almost a victory in and of itself.

Like Hitchens, Bates had no measurables but still found a way to play even with the most demanding and unforgiving coach in the game.

Like I said, it's not his fault Jerry drafted him in the 4th round. He just has to take what he did at Iowa and bring it to Dallas.

 

[L.T. Fan]

What I'm saying is Johnson did his best to run Bates off just like he did Too Tall, Randy, Danny White, and other vets but Bates found a way to hang in and make a difference. If Hitchens doesn't take his role for granted, remains healthy, and competes it's almost a victory in and of itself.

Like Hitchens, Bates had no measurables but still found a way to play even with the most demanding and unforgiving coach in the game.

Like I said, it's not his fault Jerry drafted him in the 4th round. He just has to take what he did at Iowa and bring it to Dallas.

How can you evaluate Hitchens and the way he will play based on a perceived notion that he was drafted out of place?

 

[Landry]

It's the fourth round curse again.

 

[boozeman]

It's the fourth round curse again.

Not a curse, just an organizational devaluing of the round. They don't view it as a round where you can get a starter and just go with "coach's choice".

Then in the seventh it is the guy's we are likely targeting as UDFAs and since we do better there, what does that tell you?

 

[boozeman]

And now, the organizational spin job begins.

 

[jsmith6919]

1. Anthony Hitchens may lead the Big Ten in tackles, but the Hawkeye linebacker learned Saturday that performance matters.

Hitchens had eight tackles for Iowa in its game with Purdue, but he spent most of the second half on the sidelines, pulled from the game by Iowa coaches because of a lack of consistency in his play.

“It just shows me that I’m not where everyone thinks I’m at. I’ve still got to improve,’’ Hitchens said.

Hitchens said he missed coverage responsibilities on several occasions against the Boilermakers, leading to big plays and a coach’s decision to pull the junior.

“It was a tough day. I made some mistakes and I’ll learn from it,’’ Hitchens said. “I’m accountable, just like every other player on the team.’’

 

[NoDak]

And now, the organizational spin job begins.

Are you surprised there would be fluff pieces done on all the draft picks right after the draft? It's the team's magazine. I highly doubt you're going to get a "He's shitty" article from them.