Chuck Smith teaches Bud Dupree
I'll post most of the Dupree talk as the article is long. It's a good read. .
As Dupree loosened up, Smith looked over at him and said, “He’s going to be the Defensive Player of the Year next season.”
That’s pretty high praise for a player with just 8½ sacks in his first two seasons.
“The kid is a freak,” Smith said.
Told what Smith said about winning DPOY next year, Dupree, who missed nine games last season after groin surgery, didn’t seem surprised.
“I believe that also,” Dupree said.
A former high-school receiver who went to Kentucky to play outside on offense, Dupree is truly clay in the hands of Smith the sculptor. Dupree was raw coming out of college, but has the tools and the speed needed to become a good pass rusher. Like so many young players, he didn’t know the tricks of the trade, which is where Smith comes into play. It’s why he first came here last spring and is back for more. It’s why he says he will always come back.
“I am still learning, and this is the place to be to do that,” Dupree said.
Smith put Dupree through 60 minutes of workouts. They varied from him exploding around bags with his spin move to firing out of his stance to grab a tennis ball dropped from Smith’s hand 5 yards down the field, the idea to scoop it up before it bounced a second time. Dupree got it every time, by the way.
Then came the fun stuff. Smith pulled on some protective arm pads that looked like something from Medieval Times or from one of those action-hero movies.
“Iron Man,” Dupree said. “I’m ready for you.”
With that, the padded up Smith allowed the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Dupree to work on his cross-chop, a move of power that attacks the offensive lineman’s forearm with a strong, downward chop of the arm. For 10 minutes or so, Dupree ran up and down the field hammering Smith’s padded forearms, the thud of each hit ringing loudly in the gym. It hurt to watch -- even with all the padding.
“He’s not just shooing us off,” Dupree said. “He’s hitting us and we are hitting him. I know it hurts.”
“Chuck is a little off and gets a thrill out of that,” Morgan said. “There aren’t too many Chuck Smiths.”
The true measure of a pass rusher
That was just a small part of the workout. Then came competition time. As part of his teachings, Smith is a big proponent in using a special drill to time the players’ ability to bend the corner. It’s called the speed-burst drill.
He put a bag on one line and another 5 yards down a straight line from it and then an orange cone opposite the second bag at 6 yards to form an upside down L. The cone was the quarterback in this drill, the second bag the one the players have to get around on a 45-degree angle by dipping their hips.
Miller, the Broncos’ great pass rusher, was timed at 1.30 in the drill, which Smith said is outstanding and the best he’s seen. “I only did it once too,” Miller said.
Hearing Miller’s time, Dupree was psyched to see if he could beat it.
First time: 1.66.
“Still pretty impressive,” Smith said.
Dupree wanted more. He exploded the next time, and Smith had to clear his eyes at first to see the time.
“One, three, three,” Smith said.
That’s 1.33 seconds. That’s flying.
“What did you run (the 40) at the combine?” Smith asked Dupree.
“Four-five,” Dupree said.
“This is what they need to use at the combine,” Smith said of the drill. “The drills they use don’t tell you if a guy can be a pass rusher.”
Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Markus Golden, who had 12½ sacks last season, his second in the league, has worked with Smith the past three years, yet hasn’t been timed yet in that drill. When I told him he had to get 1.32 to beat Dupree, he said forget that.
“I want 1.29 to beat Von,” Golden said. “To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
Smith has worked with the combine to include these drills for the pass rushers, but there hasn’t been change yet, although he thinks it’s coming. It has been tested as of a development project, but change doesn’t come easy as it relates to the combine.
“What does running the 40 tell you about a guy being a great pass rusher?” Smith said. “This shows if you can rush the passer? No, it does not.”
Think about that time for Dupree for a second. It was 1.33 seconds. Snap your fingers twice. That’s longer than it took Dupree to cut the corner and bear down on the quarterback. Now this was without a tackle in front of him, but it’s still impressive.
“It’s crazy,” Dupree said. “We train so much for one short play.”
I asked him if it felt fewer than two seconds.
“When you have a good get-off, it does,” Dupree said. “But when you don’t, it feels longer.”
I'll post most of the Dupree talk as the article is long. It's a good read. .
As Dupree loosened up, Smith looked over at him and said, “He’s going to be the Defensive Player of the Year next season.”
That’s pretty high praise for a player with just 8½ sacks in his first two seasons.
“The kid is a freak,” Smith said.
Told what Smith said about winning DPOY next year, Dupree, who missed nine games last season after groin surgery, didn’t seem surprised.
“I believe that also,” Dupree said.
A former high-school receiver who went to Kentucky to play outside on offense, Dupree is truly clay in the hands of Smith the sculptor. Dupree was raw coming out of college, but has the tools and the speed needed to become a good pass rusher. Like so many young players, he didn’t know the tricks of the trade, which is where Smith comes into play. It’s why he first came here last spring and is back for more. It’s why he says he will always come back.
“I am still learning, and this is the place to be to do that,” Dupree said.
Smith put Dupree through 60 minutes of workouts. They varied from him exploding around bags with his spin move to firing out of his stance to grab a tennis ball dropped from Smith’s hand 5 yards down the field, the idea to scoop it up before it bounced a second time. Dupree got it every time, by the way.
Then came the fun stuff. Smith pulled on some protective arm pads that looked like something from Medieval Times or from one of those action-hero movies.
“Iron Man,” Dupree said. “I’m ready for you.”
With that, the padded up Smith allowed the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Dupree to work on his cross-chop, a move of power that attacks the offensive lineman’s forearm with a strong, downward chop of the arm. For 10 minutes or so, Dupree ran up and down the field hammering Smith’s padded forearms, the thud of each hit ringing loudly in the gym. It hurt to watch -- even with all the padding.
“He’s not just shooing us off,” Dupree said. “He’s hitting us and we are hitting him. I know it hurts.”
“Chuck is a little off and gets a thrill out of that,” Morgan said. “There aren’t too many Chuck Smiths.”
The true measure of a pass rusher
That was just a small part of the workout. Then came competition time. As part of his teachings, Smith is a big proponent in using a special drill to time the players’ ability to bend the corner. It’s called the speed-burst drill.
He put a bag on one line and another 5 yards down a straight line from it and then an orange cone opposite the second bag at 6 yards to form an upside down L. The cone was the quarterback in this drill, the second bag the one the players have to get around on a 45-degree angle by dipping their hips.
Miller, the Broncos’ great pass rusher, was timed at 1.30 in the drill, which Smith said is outstanding and the best he’s seen. “I only did it once too,” Miller said.
Hearing Miller’s time, Dupree was psyched to see if he could beat it.
First time: 1.66.
“Still pretty impressive,” Smith said.
Dupree wanted more. He exploded the next time, and Smith had to clear his eyes at first to see the time.
“One, three, three,” Smith said.
That’s 1.33 seconds. That’s flying.
“What did you run (the 40) at the combine?” Smith asked Dupree.
“Four-five,” Dupree said.
“This is what they need to use at the combine,” Smith said of the drill. “The drills they use don’t tell you if a guy can be a pass rusher.”
Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Markus Golden, who had 12½ sacks last season, his second in the league, has worked with Smith the past three years, yet hasn’t been timed yet in that drill. When I told him he had to get 1.32 to beat Dupree, he said forget that.
“I want 1.29 to beat Von,” Golden said. “To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
Smith has worked with the combine to include these drills for the pass rushers, but there hasn’t been change yet, although he thinks it’s coming. It has been tested as of a development project, but change doesn’t come easy as it relates to the combine.
“What does running the 40 tell you about a guy being a great pass rusher?” Smith said. “This shows if you can rush the passer? No, it does not.”
Think about that time for Dupree for a second. It was 1.33 seconds. Snap your fingers twice. That’s longer than it took Dupree to cut the corner and bear down on the quarterback. Now this was without a tackle in front of him, but it’s still impressive.
“It’s crazy,” Dupree said. “We train so much for one short play.”
I asked him if it felt fewer than two seconds.
“When you have a good get-off, it does,” Dupree said. “But when you don’t, it feels longer.”
