The thing that kills me with AJ is that even if he is reading plays well, why isn't he attacking them? Check the footage today, he's not stopping any ball carriers regularly. With his load, he should be knocking guys over and bringing a presence to the middle. He used to be a decent run stopper, now he's just sucking ass. Is it that without Barnett, he's got more to cover? I don't get it? He's always been a brick at pass coverage, yet at least he wasn't getting dragged backwards regularly. For the fifth pick in the draft, he should be a game changer. Not all players work out that way, yet Brad Jones is playing more disruptive than Hawk is.
I'm aware that he's the least of our problems, yet if he can't shut down the run in the middle, then he's involved in our poor time of possession. AJ doesn't make or break the team, yet I'd like to see him do it. He's at his ceiling and from my point of view, it's not enough. He's got to learn to shed blocks and lean into the ball carrier. It's not going to happen, so I'm done with him.