If reactive covers are too much for him, there's only so much he can accomplish with layout. If he wants more hit, he'll need something with a core in it, I think that'll do more than a weak reactive with a weak layout. Many of the low-end (read "little hooking") reactives have really weak cores anyway.
I'd go with an XXXL, Slate Blue Gargoyle, XXL, or black Pure Hammer. The first is plastic (only plastic with a core, so they say), the next two are pearl urethanes, and the last is a solid urethane.
SH