Bulked-Up Wilber Expecting Smooth Transition To 4-3 DE

[speedkilz88]

Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer

GRAPEVINE, Texas – A few days before the start of the free-agent signing period, Cowboys VP Stephen Jones said he expected Kyle Wilber to compete for a starting spot at outside linebacker.

But a few weeks later, defensive line coach Rod Marinelli saw something on film that caught his eye.

Marinelli sought out Wilber for a meeting and asked him about making a switch to defensive end, a move the second-year pro from Wake Forest accepted, and seems excited about.

Wilber played defensive end in college, although Wake Forest often used some odd-man fronts.

“My hand was on the ground at Wake, so I don’t think it’s going to be a big difference moving from the 3-4 to a 4-3,” Wilber said. “Our outside linebackers were basically defensive ends in a stand-up (stance). It will be less dropping (in coverage).”

To make the switch, Wilber said he has added about 10 pounds from last year, where he was listed at 246. He says he’s now at 255 and could get up to 260 as long as he can keep the same speed.

rest of article:
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/a...-4-3-DE-/eb5b4813-f83a-4f37-ac5a-6af147864a31

 

[Fredd]

let's get some use from a 4th round pick, yeah!

 

[Vertigo_17]

I like this, trust Marinelli if he saw something

 

[Eskimo]

It will be great if he can give us a few snaps.

His 10-yard dash was good at 1.60 at the Combine at 249 pounds. Ware ran 1.62 at 251 pounds and Spencer ran 1.64 at 261 pounds, in comparison. He also had a decent shuttle at 4.31 and 3-cone at 7.13.

He had good upper body strength at 25 bench reps.

The thing that worried me is whether he has that core strength to really anchor and not get pushed around by OTs that outweigh him by 70 pounds. He'll need to learn to use his speed and quickness to his advantage.

I'm always a bit reluctant to believe someone is just going to learn to rush the passer as a pro. There should be signs of it in college and he only had about 13.5 career sacks in college.

 

[Galian Beast]

I like this, trust Marinelli if he saw something

I'm not sure how much stock I'd put into Marinelli "seeing" something. The reality is none of these defense ends turned linebackers are going to be a strong fit for a tampa 2 linebacker. These linebackers have to be the most athletic linebackers in the nfl. They have significant coverage responsibilities.

I told people if they thought Wilber or Albright were going to play linebacker, that they were probably off base. Neither of these guys would make the team at linebacker. Not unless they have some incriminating pictures of someone high up.

Their only real shot was at defensive end. Which is why you see all of our linebackers who are going to end bulking up. They won't have significant run stopping responsibilities, but they will have to engage more with strength rather than just speed. It would have been nice to see what Butler could have done there or Adrian Hamilton.

 

[rkell87]

It will be great if he can give us a few snaps.

His 10-yard dash was good at 1.60 at the Combine at 249 pounds. Ware ran 1.62 at 251 pounds and Spencer ran 1.64 at 261 pounds, in comparison. He also had a decent shuttle at 4.31 and 3-cone at 7.13.

He had good upper body strength at 25 bench reps.

The thing that worried me is whether he has that core strength to really anchor and not get pushed around by OTs that outweigh him by 70 pounds. He'll need to learn to use his speed and quickness to his advantage.

I'm always a bit reluctant to believe someone is just going to learn to rush the passer as a pro. There should be signs of it in college and he only had about 13.5 career sacks in college.

henry melton had 5 sacks in college, if Marinelli says he sees something I think he's earned a little faith.

 

[fishspill]

This year's Marinelli hope/worship sounds just like last year's Callahan hope/worship. The memory of an NFL fanbase seems remarkably short. I'll just wait for the team to show something before I hand over my faith to him.

 

[StarHead69]

Maybe Marinelli saw that Wilbur would never make it as a OLB in his system?

 

[nathanlt]

It will be great if he can give us a few snaps.

His 10-yard dash was good at 1.60 at the Combine at 249 pounds. Ware ran 1.62 at 251 pounds and Spencer ran 1.64 at 261 pounds, in comparison. He also had a decent shuttle at 4.31 and 3-cone at 7.13.

He had good upper body strength at 25 bench reps.

The thing that worried me is whether he has that core strength to really anchor and not get pushed around by OTs that outweigh him by 70 pounds. He'll need to learn to use his speed and quickness to his advantage.

I'm always a bit reluctant to believe someone is just going to learn to rush the passer as a pro. There should be signs of it in college and he only had about 13.5 career sacks in college.

Good stats. Does anyone know what Wilber's 40 time is????

 

[Stash]

I hope for the best but fear that Wilbur will end up being a victim of the scheme change.

 

[Aven8]

henry melton had 5 sacks in college, if Marinelli says he sees something I think he's earned a little faith.

This.

The dude knows defense.

 

[Future]

I hope for the best but fear that Wilbur will end up being a victim of the scheme change.

I think that's really possible. Though, with no other speed type rushers on the roster after him, if he can do anything on special teams, I think he'll stick around.

 

[DBOY3141]

It will be great if he can give us a few snaps.

His 10-yard dash was good at 1.60 at the Combine at 249 pounds. Ware ran 1.62 at 251 pounds and Spencer ran 1.64 at 261 pounds, in comparison. He also had a decent shuttle at 4.31 and 3-cone at 7.13.

He had good upper body strength at 25 bench reps.

The thing that worried me is whether he has that core strength to really anchor and not get pushed around by OTs that outweigh him by 70 pounds. He'll need to learn to use his speed and quickness to his advantage.

I'm always a bit reluctant to believe someone is just going to learn to rush the passer as a pro. There should be signs of it in college and he only had about 13.5 career sacks in college.

Not that the underwear olympics matter much, but Wilber had better numbers than D. Moore from A&M and is the same size as Moore. College production was way better for Moore, but Wilbur really only played 2 years at DE in college.

07- redshirt
08 - 3 sacks
09 - missed 7 games with broken leg
10 - 6 sacks
11 - move to OLB had 4.5 sacks

I think he has a chance.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Wilbur looks like a good fit to be Ware's backup. I don't think he has the natural strength to play SDE. The scouting report on him coming out was that he had some natural pass rushing ability. He has the quickness just needs to develop more pass rushing moves and prove he has the strength to survive on running plays. IMO this is actually a good scheme for him. Just tell him to get up field and go get the QB.

 

[speedkilz88]

Wilbur looks like a good fit to be Ware's backup. I don't think he has the natural strength to play SDE. The scouting report on him coming out was that he had some natural pass rushing ability. He has the quickness just needs to develop more pass rushing moves and prove he has the strength to survive on running plays. IMO this is actually a good scheme for him. Just tell him to get up field and go get the QB.

They thought he had the strength to set the edge as a SOLB.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

They thought he had the strength to set the edge as a SOLB.

Yeah they did and I hope they are right. Its hard to evaluate him because he hardly played last year. My gut tells me he is another guy in the Butler mold.

 

[erod]

henry melton had 5 sacks in college, if Marinelli says he sees something I think he's earned a little faith.

That's because Melton was a running back for much of his college career.

 

[CyberB0b]

henry melton had 5 sacks in college, if Marinelli says he sees something I think he's earned a little faith.

Nevermind. Dude beat me to it

 

[Eskimo]

henry melton had 5 sacks in college, if Marinelli says he sees something I think he's earned a little faith.

Not many DTs get many sacks in college so it isn't a straightforward comparison.

I also don't know how much Marinelli values Wilber. He didn't select him, he merely inherited him from the previous regime and he isn't going to talk down about one of his players in the press before the start of his first TC. He doesn't really have much to base an opinion of Wilber except his college tape where he was more of an OLB than a true downlineman. I do know remember that at the Senior Bowl Wilber looked pretty bad at DE going up against the better OTs in most of the drills and the game - he got pushed around pretty good.

I think this boils down to Marinelli and Kiffen look at Wilber and decides that he can't play OLB in his system and will have to try out at DE to make the roster as backup DE and ST player this year.

I am rooting for the guy. He sounds like a good guy and I hope he can play a decent backup DE. I suspect there is a good chance he may not even make the team this year as he came from the previous regime and probably projects best to OLB in a 3-4 in the NFL and we don't do that anymore.

I was hoping someone would give us a 5th rounder for him on draft day so we could try and draft another player for the new DC.

 

[21Savage]

Nevermind. Dude beat me to it

Think harder about it. Who's point does that then prove?