Just go read this Indy Star story on Darius Leonard.

[Pez]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

“When the ball is in the air, I want it. When I play football, whoever got the ball, I want it. That’s my ball. I’m taking it from you.”

That attitude, and the fire he's shown week in and week out, is what this defense has been missing for some time. I've hesitated to say this throughout the season, but this kid just keeps getting better and better: Ballard may have found the next Ray Lewis.

I read another story about hos Ballard was buisy with the Frank Reich Hire and the fallout from Josh McDaniels shit and he arrived in the draft room and his team had Leonard in the second round. Ballard was very hesitant and watched film and became convinced.

I cant seem to find the original article. My bad.

It's brilliant that many balked at getting him in the second and in several stats he leads all rookie LBs as well as all NFL LBS.


PFF did not even rate him in their top 28 linebackers pre-draft. Last week they ranked him behind vander Esch, but also said this:

"Leonard currently ranks sixth among the 120 linebackers who’ve seen at least 50 defensive snaps this season in terms of overall grade, and he’s the only linebacker in football who owns a grade of at least 75.0 in both coverage and run defense. Much has been made about Leonard’s lofty tackle totals, but if you look a bit deeper into that total it’s even more impressive: Leonard leads all linebackers with 34 total stops and his 4.4 missed tackle percentage ranks seventh-best among the 68 linebackers who’ve made at least 20 tackles this season."

Ballard allowed his people to do their jobs, confirmed their assessment and pulled the trigger.