Burnett over Carp at OLB...

[Portland Fanatic]

This is not a knock against Carp, but props to Burnett! When Burnett is on the field he makes plays...he is GREAT in space.

I think we need to get more creative on inside blitzes to make up for the loss of Ellis.

I think we have the beef in the middle to shut down the running of Indy..it's the passing that concerns me. Having Burnett in there opposite of Ware would help a ton on any dump offs etc... It would force Manning to go to the middle of the field...that is a scary proposition, but if we know where he has to go that may help us game plan better.

[TwoSteppinJJ]

I agree...

Im not knocking Carpenter either but Burnett is more prepared to step in and start and has proven that he can be a playmaker on D. Carpenter may become a great Linebacker in the future but at this point I dont believe hes ready to start or that he should start over Burnett.

[Rampage]

i want burnett or singleton to take over

[dboyz]

You beat me to it. I was going to start a thread that I think we should get Burnett an opportunity at Ellis's spot. He has some playmaking ability and has played on the outside some. I don't know if he would get run over on the run or not, but he can rush the passer and pursue.

[austintodallas]

Burnett would seem to make more sense vs Indy.

[tomson75]

This is not a knock against Carp, but props to Burnett! When Burnett is on the field he makes plays...he is GREAT in space.

I think we need to get more creative on inside blitzes to make up for the loss of Ellis.

I think we have the beef in the middle to shut down the running of Indy..it's the passing that concerns me. Having Burnett in there opposite of Ware would help a ton on any dump offs etc... It would force Manning to go to the middle of the field...that is a scary proposition, but if we know where he has to go that may help us game plan better.


Give me Burnett all day in the nickel....but I'll take Carp's size against the run on first and second.

[Portland Fanatic]

You beat me to it. I was going to start a thread that I think we should get Burnett an opportunity at Ellis's spot. He has some playmaking ability and has played on the outside some. I don't know if he would get run over on the run or not, but he can rush the passer and pursue.

I think we need to see both play there...but more of Burnett. I agree that he could not stand up to play after play run pounding, but he would sure help that pass defense.

We need to get really creative with James and Akin blitzing up the middle...

[theogt]

This is not a knock against Carp, but props to Burnett! When Burnett is on the field he makes plays...he is GREAT in space.

I think we need to get more creative on inside blitzes to make up for the loss of Ellis.

I think we have the beef in the middle to shut down the running of Indy..it's the passing that concerns me. Having Burnett in there opposite of Ware would help a ton on any dump offs etc... It would force Manning to go to the middle of the field...that is a scary proposition, but if we know where he has to go that may help us game plan better.I want to see Carp actually play LOLB before I say one way or the other. Burnett has looked decent out there. He certainly wouldn't be a liability, but I wouldn't say I'd start him over Carp without seeing Carp play.

[tomson75]

We need to get really creative with James and Akin blitzing up the middle...

I agree 100%...but I'm not holding my breath.

[THUMPER]

Personally, I'd like to see Junior Glymph at Ellis' spot in pass rushing situations. The kid is enormous and has good quickness. I don't know how he is in coverage, probably a liability, but if we let him go after the QB then he should be fine.

As for the base defense, I'd prefer Burnett or Singleton at OLB as Carpenter is obviously still a long ways from being ready to start.

[Hostile]

This is not a knock against Carp, but props to Burnett! When Burnett is on the field he makes plays...he is GREAT in space.

I think we need to get more creative on inside blitzes to make up for the loss of Ellis.

I think we have the beef in the middle to shut down the running of Indy..it's the passing that concerns me. Having Burnett in there opposite of Ware would help a ton on any dump offs etc... It would force Manning to go to the middle of the field...that is a scary proposition, but if we know where he has to go that may help us game plan better.I'd like to see both of them actually.

Carpenter...SOLB
James...MLB
Burnett...JLB
Ware...WOLB

Use Ayodele and Singleton along with Fowler and Glymph to spell those 4.

[theogt]

Is it just me or did Carpenter look really small on the field? I know he's only 6'2" but he looked really small for some reason. Also his arms looked really short when he was in a 3-point stance.

[Chocolate Lab]

Is it just me or did Carpenter look really small on the field? I know he's only 6'2" but he looked really small for some reason. Also his arms looked really short when he was in a 3-point stance.

He does, and I think that's why Parcells said he *looks* like an inside player. Physically, he does. He's not very tall (in NFL terms) and he doesn't have long arms.

Of course, part of that may be because Ellis was one of the bigger OLBs in the league at 6'-6" and about 270. :)

And Carpenter is very thick. If you see him out there next to someone like Burnett, look at how much stockier he is.

I dunno, I do want to see Carpenter play and obviously be pleasantly surprised at what he shows, but I have a feeling he won't see tons of plays out there. I think Thumper might be on to something with Glymph getting involved.

[dboyz]

Personally, I'd like to see Junior Glymph at Ellis' spot in pass rushing situations. The kid is enormous and has good quickness. I don't know how he is in coverage, probably a liability, but if we let him go after the QB then he should be fine.

As for the base defense, I'd prefer Burnett or Singleton at OLB as Carpenter is obviously still a long ways from being ready to start.

That's a good point. I could seem Glymph in the nickle.

[tomson75]

That's a good point. I could seem Glymph in the nickle.

Doing what? I hope to god I never see that man in on the nickel unless he's got his hand on the ground.

[brucem78]

I think we could see Ware playing Ellis' spot and Burnett playing Ware's. Burnett is not big enough to hold up on the strong side. We could also decide to fill that spot by committee. Singleton on early downs and Burnett/Carpenter on nickel downs.
My main concern is stopping the run to the strong side. Ellis was holding up his side quite well before his injiry.