Tag Archives: Michael Dogbe

04.30.19
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The Drafted Temple Guys

 

dogsofwar

Two of these guys (9 and 7) got drafted by the NFL

The curious case of Bryon Cowart illustrated just what a strange draft this was for the Temple guys picked in by NFL teams over a very long weekend.

Michael Dogbe, 6-3, 284, who was the most dominant player on the field in a 35-14 win over Maryland last fall, slipped to the seventh round and was chosen by the Arizona Cardinals. Dogbe had 72 tackles, including 12.5 for losses, seven sacks and three forced fumbles. He ran a 4.94 40-yard dash on Temple’s pro day.

Cowart, who was MIA against Temple, was picked in the fifth round by the New England Patriots. Cowart, also pretty much the same size (6-3, 298),  had 38 tackles, no sacks and ran a 5.16 40-yard dash.

You guess who the most impactful player in the NFL will be over the next few years. My money is with Dogbe.

Without getting into boring rep details on the lifts, Dogbe’s strength numbers also dwarfed those of Cowart.

To me, what you do on the field is the most important thing and Dogbe excelled there, especially in the head-to-head matchup at Byrd Stadium.

Rock Ya-Sin went, as expected, in the second round by the Indianapolis Colts so there can be no complaints there.

The other Rock, Armstead, is another story entirely.

The Eagles saw fit to pick Penn State’s Miles Sanders ahead of Armstead in the second round, even though Armstead is faster (4.45 at the combine to 4.49) and had 1,078 yards in 10 games while it took Sanders 13 games to accumulate his 1,274 yards. Plus, Armstead scored 13 touchdowns in those 10 games versus Sanders’ nine in 13.

That’s a much closer call than the Dogbe/Cowart comparison because Armstead has a longer history of being hurt at Temple than Sanders did at Penn State. A strong case can be made that since Sanders has less tread on his tires than Armstead, the Eagles made a better pick.

Fortunately, all of these players will get their chances (as will some Temple undrafted FAs as well, including Delvon Randall, who hitched on with the Eagles) but, to me, Dogbe is the one playing with the biggest chip on his shoulder and those guys usually do very well in the NFL.

Friday: Shot Chart

10.07.15
by

A Good Nervous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6aadTEa8vk

“I thought our fullbacks did a great job of setting the tone,” Matt Rhule at the 14:36 time stamp.

Anyone who has ever played the game at the high school level or above knows the feeling of being a little nervous before every game. Butterflies is really the best word I’ve heard for it and, although we did not hear Temple head coach Matt Rhule say that word he implied it at the most recent press conference.

“We’re nervous, but it’s a good nervous,” he said.

Can’t argue with the results because the “good nervous” has meant the school’s first 4-0 start since 1974, a season the team won their first six games. In order for the results to continue, it’s OK to have butterflies before Saturday’s Homecoming Game with Tulane (noon, Lincoln Financial Field).

“I thought our fullbacks did a great job of setting the tone.”

Once you get that first hit in, though, the butterflies go away and you just play ball and that’s what the Owls have to concentrate on against Tulane. They are a better team than Tulane, and probably a lot closer to the Duke team that hammered Tulane, 37-7, and the Georgia Tech team that abused Tulane, 65-10, than they are to Tulane right now and that should be enough.

Other highlights from the presser:

  • The Owls are playing a lot of players now. This is a very good thing because that means there is going to be a more seamless transition to next year because of the way Freddie Booth-Lloyd (who helps replace Matt Ioannidis) and Michael Dogbe (who probably replaces Nate D. Smith) are playing now. Heck, Nick Sharga—next year’s Tyler Matakevich—also had a good extended run.
  • Rhule said “the fullbacks set the tone.” Yes, he really said that. We’ve come a long way in a year.
  • The Owls are not quite as good as they are going to get. “We’re not quite there just yet,” Rhule said, “but we’re getting there.” Hopefully, where they are now is good enough to beat Tulane and UCF and they “get there” upon arrival in Greenville, N.C., where they put it all together in three weeks and stay “there” for the rest of the season.
  • The Owls have only forced two fumbles. This time last year they forced 10. Got to think the second guy in on every tackle is going to be punching that ball like it’s Chuck Wepner’s face.
  • The Tulsa game (last year’s Homecoming) was sloppy because the Owls tried to do too much.
  • It was good to establish the run. Jahad Thomas, after a minor hiccup against UMass, took some sugar and got rid of the hiccups against Charlotte, going for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
  • Sharga is Temple’s first significant two-way player since even before John Rienstra. “Rhino” came in for only a couple of downs on defense against BYU. Sharga played 11 snaps on offense, mostly early, and 14 more on defense, mostly late. “It’s a great story,” Rhule said.  Matt is right about that because I wasn’t born when Temple last had a significant two-way player, and that’s a long time ago.

One person Rhule did not mention was Nate L. Smith, a former Archbishop Wood and George Washington player, who scored a touchdown on a blocked punt and probably should have scored one on his interception. The only reason he did not was a teammate missed a very makeable block and allowed the Charlotte running back to make the tackle. Still, Smith showed the kind of running instincts in the open field and nose for the end zone that would make him a great option as a punt returner.

Got to think that missed block came up in one of Phil Snow’s film room sessions this week since the Owls want to maximize their scoring opportunities on defense.