Hovan Graded Well

Kevin Seifert, Star Tribune
September 23, 2004

Tice complimented the play of defensive tackle Chris Hovan, who was credited with one assisted tackle and two quarterback pressures in Monday's game. Tice and defensive line coach Brian Baker criticized Hovan's play in the season opener, but Tice said Hovan "did his job" Monday night.

"We need him now to take it to another level this week," Tice said, "... and make more plays. He improved from the first week, markedly. He graded out well. Now we'd like to see his numbers go up."


You know we did get significant pressure on Mcnabb and i think hovan was a big part of. I have been a bit of a Hovan hater lately but maybe i should watch the film again. Also he was goin up against a good O lineman i like to hear this. I hope he can keep this up. I cant wait till sunday, i hope we get 6 sacks, and we got kenny back to :D

I think that this may be a ploy by Tice and the Vikes to motivate Hovan. Can't remember where I heard it, but didn't Tice say something about different motivation techniques work for different players. Also that he has not yet figured out what will motivate Hovan. This statement may be his latest attempt to do so. If so, I hope that it works big time. The Vikes D needs Hovan to live up to the hype and the rest of the DL to do so also. The Vikes D has the potential to become a dominant defense for the next several years because of all of the youth throughout the D and the raw talent that they all possess.

I dont think he would lie about that. They grade all the players after the game and he graded well so i believe tice. Sh*t i wouldnt be surprised he hovan never hears what tice said.

I wouldn't call it a lie, more like grading on a curve. Hovan has to know what is being said about him, although he may not really care what Tice or any of us think. Bottom line is he knows what is expected of him and he is in a contract year. Seems like enough motivation to me.

Grades mean nothing to me right now. I want to see a lot of production and big numbers coming from hovan before im convinced hes back to 2002 and pre 2002 years when he did well.

"cajunvike" wrote:

Quote:

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I think that this may be a ploy by Tice and the Vikes to motivate Hovan. Can't remember where I heard it, but didn't Tice say something about different motivation techniques work for different players.

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He said that during the halftime feature on Monday Night. He even brought up Hovan.

It has to be a motivation ploy cause Hovan was a non factor on Monday night and has been for over a year. Can not remember when he made a difference in a game, for being somebody that the team needs to count on he has not produced!

Give him 1 more game and if he doesn't start playing better bench him start Steve (wild and crazy guy) Martin and bring Hovan off the bench.

I had posted this yesterday on another post about Hovan being overated. Just for you Hovan haters out there I thought I would post what Mike Tice said about him grading out high. Just to shed some more light on how they graded him as the article in the star tribune in this original post was more general. They are graded on more then how many tackles and sacks they get but you guys seems to be all about stats instead of overall play. Tice did say they want more production out of him so in no way is he saying Hovan is kicking ass or anyting but he did say Monday night he did his job and graded out well. It was only the second game of the season for pete's sake. Everyone including Hovan knows he needs to up his play make some tackles and sacks to be the "it" guy so to speak but to totally write him off after only two games is just stupid. So here is tices explanation from Vikings.com as to why Chris graded out high.


Q: Talk about Chris Hovan.
A: Hovan graded out very well. We need him now to take it another level this week, grade out well and make more plays. But he did his job. Now we need more production. He improved from the first week, markedly. He graded out a 1.81, which is an excellent grade. (He was) in his gap, holding two, chasing the ball. Now we'd like to see the numbers go up, and if he can take that consistent performance because that's what the grades give us, consistency of performance. It doesn't give you an extra plus for a big play or anything like that. (If he can) take that consistence performance and make more plays, then we're getting somewhere. He improved. I think #95 (Kenechi Udeze) is going to be a really good player. I really do. I'm a little disappointed in some of the play of the other guys. I think Darrion Scott is going to get better each and every week. I thought Kevin (Williams) played very well. He had one mistake early in the game. He chased the ball really well. Steve Martin has his role. He's going to hold down two guys and bat down balls. Maybe he can play beach volleyball in the off-season too. So we're getting there. We'll be better this week. We get Kenny Mixon back. We lost 60-something tackles when we lost Kenny Mixon, so now we get Kenny back. He'll add some juice to the mix this week. But there was some improvement there. There was some improvement there.

Little Redhead, what we are trying to figure out is the grading quotes a motivation factor or is it real.

I am going with they are trying different ways to motivate him, and that being the case does not spreak well for Hovan that the coaching staff would have to go to that extreme to motivate a player that is supposed to be that good.

I don't think it was really used as a motivation tool as the quote came from tice as an answer to a question by a reporter. He didn't just throw it out there as a motivation tool on his own anyway it was a response to a question he may have used the opportunity to throw the carrot out there but I don't think it was used as a deliberate motivational tool. He may not even have brought up Hovans name at all if some reporter didn't ask about him. It is all speculation on our part to determine if it is motivation or not. Like someone mentioned before number one he is in a contract year I don't think Hovan needs any more motivation then that. If he doesn't play well here no one will want him not just us and I don't think chris is a stupid man he knows he has to play well this year to make a long career out of it. I just get tired of saying he sucks because his stats are not there on tackles and sacks I am just pointing out that there are other things then stats that make a player valuable. No one so far on the dline is having an exceptional year but then again it is only two games into the season. A good coach I guess will do whatever it takes to motivate someone so I guess I don't care of how it is done. Everyone needs some motivation by someone else every once in a while. He is a professional and I don't think so far Chris has acted like anything other then a professional. He doesn't seem to get his name in the paper for much other then having an occasional big mouth and all coaches say he is there playing a hundred percent and giving it his all and that he is a willing pupil etc does all the things right to be a good player he just still needs to produce better and perhaps execute better but it isn't from lack of drive or passion or motivation on Chris's part at least I don't think so and from what I have heard from a lot of coaches etc. then again perhaps you are right it is just talk. I mean motivation comes in many forms should we have had to put out the randy ratio a couple years ago and use it as motivation for Randy Moss to want to play well? He is a professional as well and it shouldn't need to be done but there are cetain things used to motivate Randy and probably every other superstar and should that really be a necessity?