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More of Rodney on Meriweather
In case you missed it, here's my story on Brandon Meriweather than ran in this morning's Globe.
And in the kind of upset that the '92 Dream Team's win over Angola was, Rodney Harrison gave me more material than I could fit in the piece. If you read it, you already know he's bullish on Meriweather.
But Harrison -- who said he'll text with Meriweather about once a week -- did have areas where he felt his young protege could improve. One noticeable thing Meriweather needs to do is find the balance between being an intimidating presence, and a consistent player, something that can be tougher the real thumper safeties.
"He's young, he's very aggressive, and he wants to hit everything that moves," Harrison told me. "I used to be the same way. You learn that you can't knock everybody out, you can't be selfish like that. Sometimes, you have to make the good, safe tackle, and not worry about the highlight hit. If he continues to work, he'll be able to do that.
"He tells me, 'I want to knock people out.' I say, 'There's a fine line. You have to be dependable. Sometimes, you just make the solid tackle. And then when the kill shot comes, go knock somebody out.'"
And that captures Harrison's overall message to Meriweather -- Find different ways to make every play, big and small.
"He’s needs to be consistent," Harrison continued. "One thing he has now is when he's made a mistake -- missed a big tackle, took a bad angle -- he'll say, 'I’m OK.' He doesn’t let himself harp on those things. That shows maturation, it shows confidence in his ability.
"He's got the ability to be a really, really good player, and not just in one or two games. He's showed he’s a leader. You put on the film and you see that. Now to go to that next level, it's consistently being that good, not being a one-game hero, consistently doing things right, and being accountable."
As Harrison intimated there, the ability's never been a question -- "To me, he’s a safety version of Asante Samuel, who's one of the most instinctual players I've ever been around. He has a feel, a knack for the ball. And like me, he hits everything that moves. The difference is he can run like a deer."
And the leadership has come -- "That's his secondary now."
But maybe the most encouraging thing Harrison could say was this: The way he sees it, Meriweather's just starting to become what he's capable of being.
“He’s got a long way to go, I don’t think two interceptions are all Brandon can prove here – that’s one great statistical game,” Harrison said. “You already know he’s got that big-play ability, that’s why he was a first-round pick. It’s other things impressing me. It’s not making the big mental error, it’s not looking into the backfield and allowing tight end to bootleg out past you. Those things lead to being consistent.”
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