CloakNNNdagger
08-13-2010, 05:15 PM
Looks like promising ex-PS is being sized up for a Cushing fill in.
Low-profile Bing ready for "opporunity to shine" (http://www.houstontexans.com/blog/index.asp?post_id=1317)By Nick Scurfield - Today, 1:03 PM Topic: Training camp
Darnell Bing has flown far under the radar at Texans training camp, but linebackers coach Johnny Holland can’t say enough about him.
Bing (6-2, 238) has played for five teams in four years in the NFL. He has been switched from safety, where he starred at USC, to linebacker to safety and back to linebacker, his current position. Holland sees a player who, 10 months after joining the Texans’ practice squad, is starting to come into his own.
“What we didn’t know about him last year when he was on the practice squad was the physical part of his game, because we weren’t in pads and he didn’t get an opportunity to show that he would hit,” Holland said. “But his athletic ability has definitely shown up. He’s a fluid athlete, he can turn his hips and he has great speed and quickness, and he will step up and be physical in the run game. I’m very excited to see how he’ll play in game situations this preseason.”
Bing was highly-recruited coming out of Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High School in 2002, so much so that then-USC athletic director Mike Garrett unretired his number 20 jersey to give it to Bing. He started three seasons at USC as a strong safety, winning national championships in 2003 and 2004 and earning first-team All-America honors as a junior in 2005.
“I remember Darnell being a ball hawk, a real physical player – easily one of the top safeties in the country,” linebacker Brian Cushing, a freshman at USC in 2005, said.
After leaving school early for the NFL, Bing wasn’t drafted until the fourth round by Oakland. The Raiders moved him to linebacker, but he went on injured reserve before his rookie season. Over the next three years, he bounced around the league as a safety with the Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets and a linebacker with the Detroit Lions. He wound up in Houston last October.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Bing said of his topsy-turvy NFL run. “At the same time, I feel like it’s a good opportunity for me to have been around the league and see how teams operate and learn as much as I can from different players and different coaches. I take it as a good thing. Most people wouldn’t say that, but I think it’s helped me out.”
As Holland points out, Bing has yet to play a down at linebacker in a regular-season NFL game. That explains why he remains virtually anonymous among the Houston media, but it’s also part of what makes Bing such an intriguing prospect.
“We want to coach him and give him some tools so that he can be a good linebacker in this league,” Holland said. “I think he has the mental and physical ability to do that. We look at him out there as a linebacker, and he moves around like a safety. He understands pass drops and coverage. He can turn his hips and break on the ball. He has good hands and good timing in coverage.”
Holland, who played linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and has tutored Texans Pro Bowlers DeMeco Ryans and Cushing, wants Bing to read his keys faster in run fits. Bing said that’s made the biggest difference in his game.
“In Detroit, we were taught a different technique as far as reading keys and stuff like that,” he said. “I feel like the way Coach Johnny’s been coaching me, I’ve been able to play a lot faster.”
It’s not as though Bing, who ran a 10.6 100-meter dash in high school, was hurting for speed to begin with.
“He’s easily our fastest linebacker,” Cushing said. “He’s adjusted really well to the linebacker position. To be honest with you, I’m just really happy and really proud of him. I think he’s having a hell of a camp. He’s shown glimpses of greatness.”
With linebackers Xavier Adibi and Danny Clark hobbled by injuries, Bing expects to play for the majority of the Texans’ preseason opener at Arizona. Holland calls it “a great opportunity for him to shine” after Bing’s strong offseason.
“I’m hoping to go out there and make a lot of plays and show the coaches that I’m capable of being on this team,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to have a really, really good preseason, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m just ready to go out there and hit
Please EDIT: Sorry, but can a MOD change the typo of "BINB' in the title to "BING." Thanks.
Low-profile Bing ready for "opporunity to shine" (http://www.houstontexans.com/blog/index.asp?post_id=1317)By Nick Scurfield - Today, 1:03 PM Topic: Training camp
Darnell Bing has flown far under the radar at Texans training camp, but linebackers coach Johnny Holland can’t say enough about him.
Bing (6-2, 238) has played for five teams in four years in the NFL. He has been switched from safety, where he starred at USC, to linebacker to safety and back to linebacker, his current position. Holland sees a player who, 10 months after joining the Texans’ practice squad, is starting to come into his own.
“What we didn’t know about him last year when he was on the practice squad was the physical part of his game, because we weren’t in pads and he didn’t get an opportunity to show that he would hit,” Holland said. “But his athletic ability has definitely shown up. He’s a fluid athlete, he can turn his hips and he has great speed and quickness, and he will step up and be physical in the run game. I’m very excited to see how he’ll play in game situations this preseason.”
Bing was highly-recruited coming out of Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High School in 2002, so much so that then-USC athletic director Mike Garrett unretired his number 20 jersey to give it to Bing. He started three seasons at USC as a strong safety, winning national championships in 2003 and 2004 and earning first-team All-America honors as a junior in 2005.
“I remember Darnell being a ball hawk, a real physical player – easily one of the top safeties in the country,” linebacker Brian Cushing, a freshman at USC in 2005, said.
After leaving school early for the NFL, Bing wasn’t drafted until the fourth round by Oakland. The Raiders moved him to linebacker, but he went on injured reserve before his rookie season. Over the next three years, he bounced around the league as a safety with the Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets and a linebacker with the Detroit Lions. He wound up in Houston last October.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Bing said of his topsy-turvy NFL run. “At the same time, I feel like it’s a good opportunity for me to have been around the league and see how teams operate and learn as much as I can from different players and different coaches. I take it as a good thing. Most people wouldn’t say that, but I think it’s helped me out.”
As Holland points out, Bing has yet to play a down at linebacker in a regular-season NFL game. That explains why he remains virtually anonymous among the Houston media, but it’s also part of what makes Bing such an intriguing prospect.
“We want to coach him and give him some tools so that he can be a good linebacker in this league,” Holland said. “I think he has the mental and physical ability to do that. We look at him out there as a linebacker, and he moves around like a safety. He understands pass drops and coverage. He can turn his hips and break on the ball. He has good hands and good timing in coverage.”
Holland, who played linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and has tutored Texans Pro Bowlers DeMeco Ryans and Cushing, wants Bing to read his keys faster in run fits. Bing said that’s made the biggest difference in his game.
“In Detroit, we were taught a different technique as far as reading keys and stuff like that,” he said. “I feel like the way Coach Johnny’s been coaching me, I’ve been able to play a lot faster.”
It’s not as though Bing, who ran a 10.6 100-meter dash in high school, was hurting for speed to begin with.
“He’s easily our fastest linebacker,” Cushing said. “He’s adjusted really well to the linebacker position. To be honest with you, I’m just really happy and really proud of him. I think he’s having a hell of a camp. He’s shown glimpses of greatness.”
With linebackers Xavier Adibi and Danny Clark hobbled by injuries, Bing expects to play for the majority of the Texans’ preseason opener at Arizona. Holland calls it “a great opportunity for him to shine” after Bing’s strong offseason.
“I’m hoping to go out there and make a lot of plays and show the coaches that I’m capable of being on this team,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to have a really, really good preseason, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m just ready to go out there and hit
Please EDIT: Sorry, but can a MOD change the typo of "BINB' in the title to "BING." Thanks.