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Bears' Hardin has all the tools
Bears' Hardin has all the tools
Big defensive back learning ropes at safety after being college cornerback
Dan Pompei
On the NFL
9:29 p.m. CDT, June 13, 2012
Truth be told, not much is revealed about a football team in padless practices in May and June.
About 75 percent of what your eyes tell you is an outright lie. And another 20 percent is half truth
But one thing the eyes are not deceiving us about is the Bears have a big, athletic player in the back end of their defense who can move, and this player is unlike any of his teammates.
At 6 foot 3 and nearly 220 pounds, Brandon Hardin stands out.
He was a cornerback at Oregon State and in high school, but he will be a safety in the NFL.
That being the case, the third-round draft pick could have a more challenging transition to the pros than the average rookie.
"There is somewhat of a learning curve," Hardin said. "I'm thinking a lot more, playing a new position. I'm still thinking somewhat about the drops, trying to get quarterback reads, what the receivers are doing. The coaches tell me it will all come second nature eventually."
I asked secondary coach Jon Hoke what has been Hardin's most difficult transition so far.
"I would say having a feel for deep zones, knowing where he is back there," Hoke said. "Sometimes he'll get a little wide off a landmark. That and leverage angles, keeping the ball outside in or inside out. The more he does it at full speed, it will come."
Not only was Hardin a college cornerback, but he played mostly man-to-man. The whole zone concept is like a new language for him.
The position switch has worked well for his teammate Chris Conte. At California, Conte didn't become a safety until his senior season.
For the time being, Hardin is focusing strictly on free safety, which is the position that should be best for him. But once his head stops spinning, Hardin will learn strong safety as well.
Hardin, who was on the Pac-10 All-Academic team twice, should find his intelligence an asset.
"When you talk to him, he understands football," Hoke said. "He can talk the scheme to you. We do written tests in the offseason on formations, adjustments, those types of things. He has done a good job with it."
Even though Hardin is green, I'll be surprised if he does not factor into the Bears 2012 season.
Right now, he is competing for the third or fourth safety spot with Craig Steltz. Even if he ends up fourth on the depth chart, it is likely he will get a chance to play, given the team's history of changing safeties as frequently as you would change disposable contact lenses.
Given that he ran a 4.40 in the 40-yard dash, jumped vertically 351/2 inches, broad-jumped 10-4 and bench pressed 225 pounds 24 times, Hardin should be an immediate contributor on special teams.
The most intriguing way he could contribute quickly is as a package player.
In a league that is relying increasingly on big, athletic tight ends, defensive solutions are difficult to find. Hardin has the potential to be one.
He is that rare athlete who has strength, length and the ability to turn and run with a tight end such as the Packers' Jermichael Finley.
And even though safety is new to Hardin, he is experienced at covering tight ends.
"Throughout college I had to cover tight ends," he said. "That's fun. With a bigger body, I can use my athleticism and my size. Eventually if I come down and match up with a tight end, that's in my comfort zone, it's what I'm used to."
For Hardin to develop and contribute, he will have to stay on the field. He missed his senior season with a broken shoulder and a broken hand and sprained wrist affected him as a freshman.
During organized team activities, he was limited for a short spell because of a back issue.
In a perfect world, this season Hardin is a special teams player and defensive spectator.
"Hopefully we stay healthy and Major (Wright) and Chris keep improving and we can keep him in a special teams role as a backup and then start bringing him along," Hoke said. "If you keep bringing him along, you'll have something special."
That potential for something special is one of the few truths of minicamp.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...3973313.column
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I like this kid a lot, and given the NFL tendancy toward the expanded role of TE's, I think this was a good pick. Go get em Brandon.
The Greatest form of revenge is MASSIVE success.
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I'm happy with both of our Safety picks in the last two years. I think in both cases we got diamonds in the rough because they were both college CB's yet they have the size of Safeties. In some cases down on the goaline you could still line either of them up as a CB to gain back some of the height advantage you might otherwise lose.
Wright has never made me jump for joy but he has shown some signs of an ability to be very good. He needs to tackle a whole lot better and be more consistent but he's ok. I wouldn't surprise me to see Hardin starting before the year is out though.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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I like the fact that Emery puts a value on bigger athletic players. He said as much when hired. He has started following through on that claim, and I really like it. I was getting tired of midgets who were fast, but often couldn't play football worth squat.
Brian Urlacher
Thanks For The Memories
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Originally Posted by
soulman 
I'm happy with both of our Safety picks in the last two years. I think in both cases we got diamonds in the rough because they were both college CB's yet they have the size of Safeties. In some cases down on the goaline you could still line either of them up as a CB to gain back some of the height advantage you might otherwise lose.
Wright has never made me jump for joy but he has shown some signs of an ability to be very good. He needs to tackle a whole lot better and be more consistent but he's ok. I wouldn't surprise me to see Hardin starting before the year is out though.
I'm very excited about Conte's potential as well as Hardin. I'm hoping Wright finally puts it together. I mean the talent is there. He just seems like a slow learner and is unsure of himself at times like DManning was.
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Originally Posted by
BigBadPapaBear I'm very excited about Conte's potential as well as Hardin. I'm hoping Wright finally puts it together. I mean the talent is there. He just seems like a slow learner and is unsure of himself at times like DManning was.
Those Safety spots aren't the easiest to play in this defense. It takes some speed and more than a little intuition to play it well. Mike Brown was a perfect for it but he's the last guy who was perfect for it. We've been through a lot of guys since then but this group I think will stick.
All four of those guys have some size to them. I think Wright is the smallest and he still goes over 200lbs. Craig Steltz is a heady player who always around the ball and if he had just a bit more speed he'd be a great safety but as it is he's a damn good backup.
I truly believe Conte and Hardin will be the guys going forward. Lovie won't trust Hardin just yet but I think before the year's out he'll be getting some serious playing time.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Not a fan of Steltz, (I view him as slightly better than Archuletta) and when the papers were stating that Wright was going to "step up" in his second year, I was skeptical. However, I think Conte played better in his rookie season than I've seen from Wright and I think he'll be no worse than decent. All that I'm going to take from this is that the new guy is friggin' intelligent, and may end up with a better sense of the field than several of our other safeties; with that said, I'm going to do the "wait and see" with him; with that said, this does make me want to watch for him in the preseason to see if his in game readings/instincts match his smarts...
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Steltz is a very intuitive player who plays the ball well but he just doesn't have the speed to get there ahead of it most of the time. He doesn't close on the ball well. Other than that he knows the game and tackles well. I remember watching him his Sr. year at LSU and being very impressed with him. He was always around the ball and even if he didn't get a pick he just plain old blew some guys up with his tackling. He's a good ST guy and a fair SS backup.
Wright has good tools but he's just the opposite of Steltz. If Wright could play with Steltz head and intuition he'd be an all pro. Maybe Wright is just a "late bloomer" like Manning was or maybe he'll always be just on the edge of becoming a great player but I wouldn't be at all shocked if Hardin had his spot before the year is out.
Conte is another smart kid who can figure it out and once he gets a better feel for the position I think he'll be one of the best FS we've had since Gary Fencik. He's fast and he's tough but still a little green. But you know that Lovie likes the kid because he almost never trusts rookies at FS. He ever played Chris Harris there to avoid playing a rookie even though Harris lacks the speed for it. I think Conte will do just fine.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Originally Posted by
soulman Steltz is a very intuitive player who plays the ball well but he just doesn't have the speed to get there ahead of it most of the time. He doesn't close on the ball well. Other than that he knows the game and tackles well. I remember watching him his Sr. year at LSU and being very impressed with him. He was always around the ball and even if he didn't get a pick he just plain old blew some guys up with his tackling. He's a good ST guy and a fair SS backup.
Wright has good tools but he's just the opposite of Steltz. If Wright could play with Steltz head and intuition he'd be an all pro. Maybe Wright is just a "late bloomer" like Manning was or maybe he'll always be just on the edge of becoming a great player but I wouldn't be at all shocked if Hardin had his spot before the year is out.
Conte is another smart kid who can figure it out and once he gets a better feel for the position I think he'll be one of the best FS we've had since Gary Fencik. He's fast and he's tough but still a little green. But you know that Lovie likes the kid because he almost never trusts rookies at FS. He ever played Chris Harris there to avoid playing a rookie even though Harris lacks the speed for it. I think Conte will do just fine.
Completely agree, tho i'll be slightly upset if wright finally breaks out, then his next year is out the door....
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Originally Posted by
soulman Those Safety spots aren't the easiest to play in this defense. It takes some speed and more than a little intuition to play it well. Mike Brown was a perfect for it but he's the last guy who was perfect for it. We've been through a lot of guys since then but this group I think will stick.
All four of those guys have some size to them. I think Wright is the smallest and he still goes over 200lbs. Craig Steltz is a heady player who always around the ball and if he had just a bit more speed he'd be a great safety but as it is he's a damn good backup.
I truly believe Conte and Hardin will be the guys going forward. Lovie won't trust Hardin just yet but I think before the year's out he'll be getting some serious playing time.
Agreed. Almost every position in the Tampa 2 isn't easy to play. Its a very complicated defense with very little margin for error at the safety spot. Screw up big time and you allow big plays.
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