Chocolate Lab said:
What about Arrington as a 34 OLB? He's been a 43 guy his whole life... Do you guys think he'd be willing to take on blockers on the line almost every play without having as much freedom to run to the ball? Or that he'd come play for us in that new system when he could go to plenty of other 43 teams?
First I think that the LBs in a 3-4 are almost interchangeable. The pats routinely move their OLBers to ILBers and vice versa depending on opponents and injuries. If I did have to identify a difference I'd say you want your OLB to be faster and have the ability to turn back a run to the outside (like a DE). On the other hand you want your ILB to be able to shed blocks and play downhill.
As for Lavar, I think he would prefer not to play in a 3-4 regardless of how good of a fit it is. In a 4-3 he is sheltered behind the D-Line and free to flow to the ball. It's about speed, instincts and range. On the other hand, the 3-4 emphasises strength, hand quickness, and positioning. At this point of his career I think Lavar is more strong than fast. In the 3-4 he'd be free to rush the passer, would have to play in less space, would have easier assignments, and would actually have more freedom to freelance. I'd love to see him here.
By the way... He is one of the few Skin's players that I always rated fairly high. I do think he freelances and didn't mesh well with the Marvin lewis, Greg Williams' systems, but given the right role he can be a very good player.
