Henry Melton
Defensive Tackle, Texas
Height/Weight:6-3, 295
Drafted:Fourth round, No. 101 overall, 2009 NFL Draft by Chicago
Games Studied: 2013: Cincinnati, Minnesota 2012: Dallas, Houston, San Francisco
Melton was a much better player in his 2012 film than he was in 2013. He didn't show the same explosive quickness and get-off that he did two seasons ago. Under Rod Marinelli as the defensive coordinator, he was on the move more, and this is where Melton thrives. When he can get on the outside shoulder of the guard and attack the gap, he can be difficult to block. Before his knee injury against the Steelers in 2013, you didn't see this type of use in the scheme. He played slow and sluggish.
Simply put, he didn't even look like the same player. There were too many snaps where he didn't come off the ball, and where he put that pressure on the blocker. There were times where he was washed out of the play, knocked to the ground and was a non-factor.
When Melton is really on a roll, you can see blockers have to reach for him to try and block. He can put them in bad positions with just his first step. He'll make blockers overextend and lose their balance. He has a feel for how to make himself small when he is on the move in the pass rush.
He's one of those players you want to play line games with because of this ability. The second you get him a little space, he is tight to pick and around the edge. In 2012, he had a sack against the Cowboys in that exact situation.
This is one of those tackles that can throwing pass rush moves as he is going up the field. He makes a quick arm-over move and then he is gone. He's slippery when working toward and through the hole. He's also a really nice space player, and he can change directions with the best of them.
The tape also shows that Melton's lateral movement and quickness are outstanding. If the ball goes away from him, can really flatten down the line and chase after it. He makes it hard for blockers to keep up with him, and he shows the ability to beat the reach block with his quickness. In that sense, he does a nice job of reading blocks on the move. [embedded_ad]
If there's one big problem to his game, it's when he gets caught rushing down the middle of the blocker and he gets stuck. Where blockers have success against him is when they can get him to stop his feet --then he gets in a bind. Movement is such a big part of his game, it's hard for him to get going again once he stops.
This happened to him more in 2013 than 2012. He's not the type of player who plays with the power to beat double team blocks. He will extend his hands, but he's not going to be able to stand in there toe-to-toe with blockers and slug it out.
Where he might get in trouble is when he tries to jump around blocks and he will leave holes.
It was amazing how different Melton's film was between the two seasons. In talking with him on Wednesday, he spoke about Rod Marinelli working with him to get himself right again, so even in his own mind, he knows that he was a better player and that is the level he needs to play at for this to all work.
