Laurinitis interesting background

[Russ Smith]

I'm probably the last one to know this but turns out his father is former Pro Wrestlers "Animal" from the Road Warriors. I don't know how he played 4 years of college without me ever hearing that but I only found out this morning when he was on ESPN First Take and mentioned his dad was a big guy and a former wrestler.

Interesting background. He also had an interesting answer when asked what 40 he hoped to run at his pro day. He said something like obviously I want to run fast but to be honest running alone on a track has very little to do with playing football. "Look at Anquan Boldin he ran slow, dropped, and has turned out to be a pretty good football player I think." Obviously it's an argument we hear every year when kids run fast and move up, or run slow and move down but it seems in recent years Anquan has become the poster child for draft on performance not 40 times.

 

[Cards Czar]

His dads best friend was Michael Hengstrand (Hawk) from the Road Warriors and Barry Darsow (Smash) of Demolition.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I'm probably the last one to know this but turns out his father is former Pro Wrestlers "Animal" from the Road Warriors. I don't know how he played 4 years of college without me ever hearing that but I only found out this morning when he was on ESPN First Take and mentioned his dad was a big guy and a former wrestler.

Interesting background. He also had an interesting answer when asked what 40 he hoped to run at his pro day. He said something like obviously I want to run fast but to be honest running alone on a track has very little to do with playing football. "Look at Anquan Boldin he ran slow, dropped, and has turned out to be a pretty good football player I think." Obviously it's an argument we hear every year when kids run fast and move up, or run slow and move down but it seems in recent years Anquan has become the poster child for draft on performance not 40 times.

His nickname at OSU was L'il Animal because of his dad. I think his mom was a professional athlete as well. Not that wrestlers are really considered professional athletes,but you know what i mean. You can't take away his work ethic or smarts but he's not going to be the superior athlete in the NFL and that's what i think will hurt him.

 

[abomb]

He'd be OK in the second round, IMO.

I dont like him nearly as much as I did AJ Hawk.

 

[Russ Smith]

He'd be OK in the second round, IMO.

I dont like him nearly as much as I did AJ Hawk.

He actually said he'd love to play with Hawk in the NFL. At the time I didn't know who his dad was so it didn't really click that he meant it would be Hawk and Animal part 2!

I was never a huge believer in him but he did come off well in this interview, looks pretty small though doesn't have that huge thick neck of some of these guys looks quite lean.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

He'd be OK in the second round, IMO.

I dont like him nearly as much as I did AJ Hawk.

He won't be there in the 2nd round when we pick.

 

[DoTheDew]

He won't be there in the 2nd round when we pick.

He won't but if teams and scouts were smart he would be. I really don't think he can be a consistent starter on a good team in the NFL. 4.88 40 time is way too slow for a LB who didn't have an injury running at the combine. He is very good technically, but has very little room to improve athletically. He played in the "slow" Big 10 and still looked slow out there from time to time; imagine how he will look against NFL athletes.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Unlike Beanie Wells, when he played against good teams, he was exposed. He may have made a bunch of tackles but they were always about 7-10 yards downfield. I still remember the LSU game where he somehow had about 20 tackles. Not one of them,if he actually had that many, had an impact on the game.

 

[brutus1303]

I still think he can be a decent-good LB in the league if he gets put in the right situation. OSU's DT's haven't exactly been the cream of the crop the last few years, but if he gets someone in front of him who can hold up the blockers for a second he isn't going to miss many tackles.

Unlike Beanie Wells, when he played against good teams, he was exposed. He may have made a bunch of tackles but they were always about 7-10 yards downfield. I still remember the LSU game where he somehow had about 20 tackles. Not one of them,if he actually had that many, had an impact on the game.

 

[perivolaki]

I still think he can be a decent-good LB in the league if he gets put in the right situation. OSU's DT's haven't exactly been the cream of the crop the last few years, but if he gets someone in front of him who can hold up the blockers for a second he isn't going to miss many tackles.

I agree. The funny thing is that while he didn't run well in the 40 he was one of the top performers in some of the drills that are probably better indicators of success at his position.

He was third in the 3 cone drill and sixth in the 20 yard shuttle. I also thought he looked like the most fluid linebacker I saw when dropping into coverage. He was able to flip his hips much better than many of the players with faster 40 times.

Some guys are straight line fast but have trouble changing directions and transitioning from the run to the pass. JL looked very fluid doing those type things. This allows him to adjust quickly and make some plays that others may not be able to.

 

[Assface]

Cbus, speaking of OSU guys with famous dads how's Cameron Heyward looking?