Gooden has beef with Madden '10

The Ravens have some ridiculous speed in camp.

Lardarius Webb once ran a 4.3 40-yard dash. Yamon Figurs ran a 4.3 as well. Jayson Foster put together a 4.4 in the 40.

But none of those guys stands taller than a generously-listed 5-foot-11, and none weighs more than 185 pounds.
Tavares Gooden says he checks in at 6-foot-2 1/2 and 240 pounds.

Ask him where his speed ranks among those in the Purple and Black, and without a hint of sarcasm, the second-year linebacker will toss himself right in the mix with Webb, Figurs, Foster and any other speed demon currently in Westminster.

"You could say in the top-five," Gooden says with a swagger. "You could put me in the top-five."

If you watch Gooden play in person, that speed jumps out at you. He's spent the last three weeks racing from sideline to sideline at Ravens camp, making plays and showing coaches he's ready to take over the spot the Bart Scott vacated when he left for the Jets this offseason.

But if you watch Gooden on the newly-released Madden 2010 video game, he'll move just as quickly as a standard linebacker.

"I was kind of disappointed; I looked at Madden, they had me not the fastest guy," Gooden told me with a smile. "But it's cool, much love to Madden. Hopefully they just get my speed right.

"They got me with an 82 [out of 100], the same as Todd Heap. That ain't right."

Gooden's speed sets him apart from most linebackers, but he knows it gets him in trouble sometimes. The University of Miami product has shown a tendency to over-pursue plays every now and then, letting his motor get a little too fast for his own good.

After being buried on the depth chart in camp last year and then missing most of the 2008 season with a hip injury, Gooden is now getting a great chance to work intimately with the coaching staff. His goal from here is to learn to harness that speed and find ways to maximize the edge it can provide.

"I think for me, it's God-given ability," Gooden said. "And now I want to be coached to use that God-given ability, because if I'm coached the right way, it will be real tough for somebody to stop that. There's a lot of D-ends that can't run that [fast], and those D-ends are very successful. I feel that just accepting coaching is going to help me out tremendously."

As for that Madden rating, Gooden might want to see it bumped up a bit, but he's not chomping at the bit to take on Heap in a 40 to see how their speed compares in real life.

"I already ran that 40 [in the Combine]," he said with a laugh.

I think the coaching is paying off. Only use that speed when you need to.



(masnsports.com)