Chris Covington

[Superstar84b]

As an update for fans who didn’t know, Chris Covington played in the NFLPA all star game yesterday. That all star game may not be as prestigious as the east-west shrine, but it has some great athletes. 30 guys who played in it last year made rosters, 24 were drafted, and I think an additional 20 something made practice squads. If you play in that game you’ll likely get into a rookie mini camp at a minimum.

Covington looked good. He showed that speed and hard hitting. On one of the first plays he nearly forced a fumble (running back was down) and the Running back was shakin up due to the violence of the hit. Chris probably led the team in tackles, or was close to it, and had a special teams tackle which shows that he could add some value there.

It showed that he didn’t play a ton until his senior year because he’s still raw at LB (was a QB and safety in HS). He had some simple coverage errors. But he is definitely too athletic to not get drafted. I think a team will like him and draft him based on what I saw. When I played with him the guy was easily one of the hardest hitters on the team, and with some development, I could see him really contributing to a roster. I honestly believe that he has more upside than Scales, and CC hasn’t even come close to maxing out his potential. With some NFL coaching, he could be a real threat at LB.

 

[Dick nixon]

Thank you

 

[Walt542]

Yeah, thanks. I saw a lot to like with Chris even as a junior at LB and felt he was great last year there with TS at the other spot. Too bad he didn't have a fifth year to help him develop a little more. We could have used a monster there this coming year. I hope he lands with a team that will help him continue to develop.

 

[ORG]

As an update for fans who didn’t know, Chris Covington played in the NFLPA all star game yesterday. That all star game may not be as prestigious as the east-west shrine, but it has some great athletes. 30 guys who played in it last year made rosters, 24 were drafted, and I think an additional 20 something made practice squads. If you play in that game you’ll likely get into a rookie mini camp at a minimum.

Covington looked good. He showed that speed and hard hitting. On one of the first plays he nearly forced a fumble (running back was down) and the Running back was shakin up due to the violence of the hit. Chris probably led the team in tackles, or was close to it, and had a special teams tackle which shows that he could add some value there.

It showed that he didn’t play a ton until his senior year because he’s still raw at LB (was a QB and safety in HS). He had some simple coverage errors. But he is definitely too athletic to not get drafted. I think a team will like him and draft him based on what I saw. When I played with him the guy was easily one of the hardest hitters on the team, and with some development, I could see him really contributing to a roster. I honestly believe that he has more upside than Scales, and CC hasn’t even come close to maxing out his potential. With some NFL coaching, he could be a real threat at LB.

Last year IU had talent on defense: it was just not enough talent to be an outstanding defense.

 

[UncleMark]

Yeah, thanks. I saw a lot to like with Chris even as a junior at LB and felt he was great last year there with TS at the other spot. Too bad he didn't have a fifth year to help him develop a little more.

Dude stepped in and plugged the hole left by CKW's poor QB recruiting, and paid the price. He lost a year of development at his rightful position. I sure hope he gets a chance to make that up and earns a shot.

 

[Superstar84b]

Dude stepped in and plugged the hole left by CKW's poor QB recruiting, and paid the price. He lost a year of development at his rightful position. I sure hope he gets a chance to make that up and earns a shot.

It was odd that he was even used his sophomore year. They really had two windows to uitilze his redshirt and wasted them. Rarely played as a sophomore. By his junior year there was no window to redshirt him because it was time for him to see the field. Unfortunate for him, but In the end, he’s talented enough that someone is going to coach him up at the next level and get him ready.

 

[rcaulfie]

Covington had a great senior year at LB. I thought he played better than Scales.....if not better, he was close to matching him. Perhaps because offenses focused on Tegray, but I was impressed with Chris this past year. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he made an NFL roster.

And what is up with the stats for these all-star games? I've been searching all over and finally found one of the Shrine game and no defensive stats listed. WTH?

 

[Hoosier_Hack]

Covington had a great senior year at LB. I thought he played better than Scales.....if not better, he was close to matching him. Perhaps because offenses focused on Tegray, but I was impressed with Chris this past year. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he made an NFL roster.

And what is up with the stats for these all-star games? I've been searching all over and finally found one of the Shrine game and no defensive stats listed. WTH?

Someone has to WATCH the game to record the stats..... joking aside, I think those games are for the true stat/draft fans... I flipped through some channels and saw the game Chris was playing in. The stands looked like a Spring Game at IU....

 

[td75]

All you had to do was watch Covington's junior year film at IU and it was pretty obvious what caliber player he could be. To me, I saw more NFL potential out of Covington than Scales.

As a Colts fan, I'd be THRILLED to have either one or both, as starters on defense. Oliver, Scales and CC are three of the very best linebackers to play at IU. TJ Simmons wasn't a slouch..

 

[vesuvius13]

Scales was the leading tackler in the East West game as was Covington in his game. IU had two LBs as leading tacklers in two all-star games. It showed the talent each has to make it into the NFL.

 

[td75]

When you shine a light on this kind of talent, it's extremely disappointing that Indiana didn't beat Purdue and play in a bowl game. When I read just how well these guys performed in All Star games, that's where my thoughts go. It's a damn shame.

 

[Superstar84b]

When you shine a light on this kind of talent, it's extremely disappointing that Indiana didn't beat Purdue and play in a bowl game. When I read just how well these guys performed in All Star games, that's where my thoughts go. It's a damn shame.

Purdue had two guys in the NFLPA game. Two guys actually. A blocking Tight end, and an offensive lineman. And thereinlies why Purdue won. They dominated the run game and actually had better lineman on both sides of the ball. It is unfortunate because our skill guys, and linebackers were amazing this past year. But 7/10 times the winner is going to be determined by whomever has the best trench players. When you even watch film of Ray Lewis, he never got touched because of what his D-line was able to do. Covington and Scales were always having to fight off of blocks, were never clean to just make plays. And against Purdue it showed up when they dominated the run game. So until we have dominate lines on both sides of the ball, it’ll be an uphill battle to beat even Purdue. I think that we clearly have superior skills players to Purdue, but they dominated both lines and appear to have better line players.

 

[td75]

I don't see how they suddenly have better line play considering IU beat them four years in a row. Sure, it's obviously possible, but we beat them four years in a row and suddenly they have better line play, just weird.

 

[vesuvius13]

I don't see how they suddenly have better line play considering IU beat them four years in a row. Sure, it's obviously possible, but we beat them four years in a row and suddenly they have better line play, just weird.

It was because our OL and DL were less experienced and younger. With the grad transfers Brohm greatly improved the PU talent but next year will have to deal with the talent on hand. We graduated 3 OL starters from the past few years with one AA in that group. The OL left behind were fighting injuries or had very limited experience playing compared to PU's OL. Yes I am still disappointed we didn't beat PU and that our D didn't defend the runs outside the Tackles very well.

 

[Superstar84b]

I don't see how they suddenly have better line play considering IU beat them four years in a row. Sure, it's obviously possible, but we beat them four years in a row and suddenly they have better line play, just weird.

I agree. It is weird. Having talented guys like Covington helped, But I think that everyone agrees it’s dissapointing that the line didn’t play well. The reality though is that those 4 years IU had really good lineman. This year Feeney, Spriggs, Rahrig, Camiel, or whoever else you want to mention... were not walking through the door. The lineman that dominated Purdue, most notably the 2013 game and the 2015 game... those guys left the roster. Purdue on the other hand has a core group of veteran lineman on both sides of the ball who had played a lot of ball, and were tired of losing. That was the key difference. When we whooped Purdue, they had lost a majority of their veteran guys and we had an extremely talented line. In 2017 the tables somewhat turned, although it wasn’t that lopsided because of the talent at our skill positions.


In regards to Covington and the defense, when did IU in those four years stop Purdue’s offense? Basically in each game they were able to manufacture some kind of offense and always played decently against our defensive line. The 17’ game was basically more of the same, except this time around we didn’t have an offense with the lineman capable of carrying the team. Guys like Covington consistently had lineman in their face because the IU d-line isn’t physical enough to stop lineman from reaching linebackers at the second level. If you give Covington Purdue’s D-line, he probably has 120 tackles. I think that our skill guys/linebackers were fine.

 

[rcaulfie]

Scales was the leading tackler in the East West game as was Covington in his game. IU had two LBs as leading tacklers in two all-star games. It showed the talent each has to make it into the NFL.

How were you able to find that out? Where did you locate the defensive stats?