Cowboys are about to make a big mistake with LB deployment

[Big_D]

No doubt LVE should be in the middle and should be a 3 down LB. And Sean Lee should've been shown the door. I appreciate his time here, but he's unreliable and won't be surprised if he plays less than 6 games. The team needs to stop making these tytpe of sentimental decisions.

 

[Floatyworm]

No doubt LVE should be in the middle and should be a 3 down LB. And Sean Lee should've been shown the door. I appreciate his time here, but he's unreliable and won't be surprised if he plays less than 6 games. The team needs to stop making these tytpe of sentimental decisions.

Finally a fan that gets it.

 

[Number1]

SLB- Lee.....Can't cover
MLB-J. Smith...taking on O-linemen @ the point of attack isn't his strong suit.
WLB-LVE...playing him here...takes away his greatest attibute...being able to play from sideline to sideline. Your basically taking half the field away from him..making him a hash to hash player. Big mistake

LVE and JS will play all 3 spots ... is that miss developmental? or position flex? ... depends on if it works

about 75% of 2019 culd be in their base 4-2, so on 2nd or 3rd and 6 your taking 5y away from the WLB

I'd also note the job f these LB at any spot is not to wrestle with OL but read and run ... we have decent DTs now

and how good a play caller is LVE?

it's not that Lee can't cover, he just can't cover deep w/o pulling up, under 15ys he's rather good, he still has real burst to the ball
he also gets targeted as the slowest LB on the field, welcome to the NFL
the Boys are well aware of this

think of this as JS and LVE, backed up by Lee, and a big "?"

that 4th LB will matter big time and right now I don't know who that is

 

[Verdict]

Which games?

Pretty much all of them.

 

[Verdict]

LVE didn't play MLB last year. He filled the spot Lee manned before he got injured (WLB). Jayon and LVE will be playing the same positions as last year when they both had huge seasons. And while it's true that not playing MLB can somewhat diminish the sideline to sideline ability of LVE, Jaylon has the same kind of sideline to sideline ability, and they can't both play MLB, so one had to play WLB.

Sean Lee actually can cover - or at least could. He's had 2 separate seasons with 4 INT's. Our DB's don't even do that. But even so, I imagine he will come off the field in a lot of passing situations, just as Damian Wilson did. The Cowboys actually play more often with only 2 LBs on the field than they do with 3.

By the way, I would love you to cite the source of your info about it being LVE coming off the field.

And, by the way, using the term "deploy" makes it sound like we are sending these guys in to protect military installations in the Middle East.

Sean Lee was a pretty good linebacker in every way (except brittle) prior to 2018. Last year he was remarkably bad.

 

[Verdict]

You lost me at “Lee can’t cover”

You should probably watch some 2018 games.

 

[Verdict]

He was fine before he got hurt. Then was not the same player when he came back. It looked like he was holding back and playing tentative on his hamstring to me... couldn’t trust his body and it definitely affected his game.

While he may certainly get hurt again, reducing his snap count down to 26% of the defensive snaps (that is what Wilson’s snaps were at SLBer last year) should help him stay fresh.

There is no issue with his work ethic or motivation... he has already bulked up for the role and knows this is his last best chance for a ring.

IMO... I think we see high-quality play from Sean in 2019.

Respectfully I’m not sure about which time you are talking about him being hurt. He started the year off missing tackles that were routine a year before. It seemed like he KNEW what he should be doing, he just couldn’t physically do it.

No one is questioning his work ethic or his mental ability. But his body seems to be gone.

I hope you are right and he comes back strong.

 

[Floatyworm]

LVE and JS will play all 3 spots ... is that miss developmental? or position flex? ... depends on if it works

about 75% of 2019 culd be in their base 4-2, so on 2nd or 3rd and 6 your taking 5y away from the WLB

I'd also note the job f these LB at any spot is not to wrestle with OL but read and run ... we have decent DTs now

and how good a play caller is LVE?

it's not that Lee can't cover, he just can't cover deep w/o pulling up, under 15ys he's rather good, he still has real burst to the ball
he also gets targeted as the slowest LB on the field, welcome to the NFL
the Boys are well aware of this

think of this as JS and LVE, backed up by Lee, and a big "?"

that 4th LB will matter big time and right now I don't know who that is[/QUOTE]

I think that's it's Joe Thomas....and I'm ok w/ that. I guess the biggest beef I have moving J. Smith out of the Sam...is he probably is your best rusher of all the LBers. Your really taking away something he's really good @ if you move him.

If you go back to 2018...when LVE was playing his best ball...he was in the middle...just destroying teams RBs. Then we got cute....and started to move him around....and he just wasn't having the same impact.

Time will tell how this works out...I just don't have much confidence in this defensive staff after the playoff debacle. That should have been the writting on the wall.

 

[Verdict]

You lost me at “Lee can’t cover”

 

[Number1]

Nothing will change on defence as long as RM is allowed to continue on as DC...he should be fired.

as most see the job - if Rod's not calling the plays... is he really a DC ?

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

Pretty much all of them.

That was what I was expecting. You just made it up

 

[Hawkeye19]

Respectfully I’m not sure about which time you are talking about him being hurt. He started the year off missing tackles that were routine a year before. It seemed like he KNEW what he should be doing, he just couldn’t physically do it.

No one is questioning his work ethic or his mental ability. But his body seems to be gone.

I hope you are right and he comes back strong.

I don’t recall him missing a lot of tackles early in the year or seeing a decline in his overall play before the injury. Maybe he was missing tackles— I may have just missed it— but it wasn’t really a storyline.

Everyone was waiting for his inevitable injury to occur— and of course it did. Then LVE blew up— and imo— Lee realized the baton had been passed.

I think he came back too early and tried to win his job back and he was physically not 100% (didn’t seem to trust his body)— and he also seemed to press more than we were used to seeing. Is that because he is physically deteriorating? His injury wasn’t fully healed? Pressure to prove to the staff he “wasn’t washed up?”

Not sure. But I do agree with you that he was missing tackles when he came back and did not look like Sean Lee. However— I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt bc I still think he has something in the tank— and can help this team on the field, in the film room, and in the locker room.

 

[SoupcanSam]

I love Lee
But honestly, if he makes it through TC I'll be shocked
End of controversy.
If you need a controversy ask why is Witten here.
I love JW but it's time to buy a car dealership.

You questioning Witten good sir?

Now you are just asking for trouble

 

[OmerV]

Sean Lee was a pretty good linebacker in every way (except brittle) prior to 2018. Last year he was remarkably bad.

True, but I’m not sure he ever played enough last year to judge where his abilities are today. I think he only started 4 games all year, and got hurt in a couple of those.

 

[Verdict]

I don’t recall him missing a lot of tackles early in the year or seeing a decline in his overall play before the injury. Maybe he was missing tackles— I may have just missed it— but it wasn’t really a storyline.

Everyone was waiting for his inevitable injury to occur— and of course it did. Then LVE blew up— and imo— Lee realized the baton had been passed.

I think he came back too early and tried to win his job back and he was physically not 100% (didn’t seem to trust his body)— and he also seemed to press more than we were used to seeing. Is that because he is physically deteriorating? His injury wasn’t fully healed? Pressure to prove to the staff he “wasn’t washed up?”

Not sure. But I do agree with you that he was missing tackles when he came back and did not look like Sean Lee. However— I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt bc I still think he has something in the tank— and can help this team on the field, in the film room, and in the locker room.

If you go back and watch the first game he played in he played remarkably bad. I was shocked how bad he played. I remember thinking at the time “”Man, Sean Lee sucked today” and yet I gave him the benefit of the doubt because of his past level of play.

He really played remarkably bad in most games he played in if you watch him closely. I will say thee was ONE game he made a potentially game saving and season saving tackle (maybe against the Commanders) where he beat a guy to the spot and stopped the runner short of the goal line. Other than that he was abysmal.

 

[Hawkeye19]

If you go back and watch the first game he played in he played remarkably bad. I was shocked how bad he played. I remember thinking at the time “”Man, Sean Lee sucked today” and yet I gave him the benefit of the doubt because of his past level of play.

He really played remarkably bad in most games he played in if you watch him closely. I will say thee was ONE game he made a potentially game saving and season saving tackle (maybe against the Commanders) where he beat a guy to the spot and stopped the runner short of the goal line. Other than that he was abysmal.

Abysmal is a strong word... I think if his play was as bad as you claim it was— it would have been noticed and discussed more than it was.

All LBs miss tackles and can get beat in coverage... this is a pass happy league predicated on mismatches designed to exploit personnel.

Sean took a paycut and is willing to play a new position in order to help the team. That is a true consumate professional. He knows this is LVEs and Jaylon’s time now— but Sean is still a massive asset in the film room and locker room— even IF his play is as bad as you think it is.

If we get through TC and some preseason action and he simply cannot do the job— then we can still make a move. We lose nothing giving one of our best leaders a chance to contribute at the least significant LB position on the team.

My guess is that the reduced snap count helps keep him fresh, and the “last ride” vibe he and Witt have going will really juice him up and he plays well this year

 

[tkluu]

I agree that LVE should be Mike and Jaylon should be Will based on their traits.

LVE: big, long, athletic, and has shown ability to take on blocks

Jaylon: fast, chase player. Some video out there if him not taking on blocks well in the past. Was said to be the ideal Will in draft scouting report.

 

[Ring6]

Ben bloom has proven himself to be a good lb coach. I think they'll get it right.

This is a good point, and I also believe Jaylon will have the opportunity to rush the passer some wherever he is deployed.

 

[OmerV]

I agree that LVE should be Mike and Jaylon should be Will based on their traits.

LVE: big, long, athletic, and has shown ability to take on blocks

Jaylon: fast, chase player. Some video out there if him not taking on blocks well in the past. Was said to be the ideal Will in draft scouting report.

Admittedly this would seem to be natural based on body styles, but we have much more compelling evidence to support keeping them at the positions they played last year. It worked. Both had a huge year. Obviously that doesn't mean it couldn't or wouldn't work the other way, but we at least know the current plan is effective.

 

[OmerV]

I don’t recall him missing a lot of tackles early in the year or seeing a decline in his overall play before the injury. Maybe he was missing tackles— I may have just missed it— but it wasn’t really a storyline.

Everyone was waiting for his inevitable injury to occur— and of course it did. Then LVE blew up— and imo— Lee realized the baton had been passed.

I think he came back too early and tried to win his job back and he was physically not 100% (didn’t seem to trust his body)— and he also seemed to press more than we were used to seeing. Is that because he is physically deteriorating? His injury wasn’t fully healed? Pressure to prove to the staff he “wasn’t washed up?”

Not sure. But I do agree with you that he was missing tackles when he came back and did not look like Sean Lee. However— I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt bc I still think he has something in the tank— and can help this team on the field, in the film room, and in the locker room.

I think the reality is we didn't get to see him have the big games we've seen from him, but I suspect that was mainly from lack of opportunity. He was only fully health for 3 games all season. The more average games he had last year are not games he hasn't had in the past, he just played more games at times in the past so we got to see the big games as well.