Twitter: Cowboys are considering switching Jaylon from MLBer to OLBer?

[Ken]

Jaylon is only rushing the qb as a blitzer. Hes not a pass rusher whatsoever

Whatsoever?

 

[Risen Star]

It's quite normal to do this after giving him a long term extension.

IMO, Jaylon Smith was, is and always will be damaged goods. He's a situational pass rusher only. He shouldn't be getting starter reps anywhere.

 

[Stash]

It's quite normal to do this after giving him a long term extension.

IMO, Jaylon Smith was, is and always will be damaged goods. He's a situational pass rusher only. He shouldn't be getting starter reps anywhere.

 

[TheCoolFan]

The new coaches are realizing that the current players on this defense suck

 

[OmerV]

It's quite normal to do this after giving him a long term extension.

IMO, Jaylon Smith was, is and always will be damaged goods. He's a situational pass rusher only. He shouldn't be getting starter reps anywhere.

I gotta disagree with this. We've seen him make plays from sideline to sideline on ball carriers and receivers. He just isn't an interior LB that is going to excel in the middle fighting through a lot of traffic and blockers. He needs to be outside where he is more free to flow to the ball and chase down ball carriers.

 

[kskboys]

I gotta disagree with this. We've seen him make plays from sideline to sideline on ball carriers and receivers. He just isn't an interior LB that is going to excel in the middle fighting through a lot of traffic and blockers. He needs to be outside where he is more free to flow to the ball and chase down ball carriers.

Which should have been apparent from the start.

 

[quickccc]

Jaylon to weak side LB or strong side ?
Hes paid quite a bit to be a limited per snap role as what Lee took on at SLB ,,

As for weak side: that role tallies more task and responsibility for coverage than any other LB role - and coverage is not Jaylon's suit at all.
i'm one of those who believe that horrific knee damage took away the flexibility
and change of direction movement he had before that injury- and hes now more a forward mover. He still can gathering a steam of momentum in down the line in pursuit, and he can pack a wallop when he arrives. Some of those ended up in fumbles.

But for the better pass catching RBs and athletic catching TEs he would have to change direction in stopping/re-restarting to cover , that's gonna be a new circus adventure if Jaylon is a weak side.
And you know Jaylon is not the type to give us INTs.

- As for bringing him on the blitz from the outside - ....Perfect !
So long as he is going forward, i really believe most blocking backs wont be able to stay with him in bliitzing,
With a head of steam momentum, when he has open field to manuver going forward, hes' just too explosive, powerful for backs to handle
The last regime limited him to just blitzing up the gut middle. Not very imaginable or creative in blitzing him as they could have been.

No question with what's looking more and more like a 4-3/3-4 hybrid scheme and havign jaylon coming off the edge is more idea with him
with his forward movement- but coverage on the flanks, thats gonna be an adventure.

- LVE in the middle is more of creative idea situation as his movement skills, incredible length and knack for pass game comes into play. He can be tough to
throw over and he seems to have a Sean Lee type anticipation and feel for the passing lanes en route to INTs.

And should LVE assume the new MLB role, dont be surprised if LVE is eventuallly named the captain,...and if a Jaylon move outside does Not end
up making him a much more effective and impact player .. i really think hes' gonna be replaced and traded down the road.

 

[JeffInDC]

Anyone heard anything about this?????????

I ALWAYS wanted to see this. LVE seemed almost a clone of Urlacher, especially with his pass defense acumen in the middle of the field. He played inside in college. Will NEVER understand why the last regime didn't see this.

 

[ondaedg]

makes more sense given his skill set of speed & agility to be on the edge and his lack of brute strength to be in the middle

Yeah reports of this have been coming out the past few days. There was a play in week 16 vs Philly in which Jaylon called the wrong zone coverage and him and Malcolm Smith were mixed up on what ended up being a big play. Smith also plays best going downhill and using his strength and straightline speed to make plays.

A mixture of Jaylon’s leadership/communication and physical strengths make the move to OLB a reasonable one. Also LVE is made to be a MLB in my opinion, might be more about his strengths than Jaylons.

Even LVE isn't a prototypical thumping mlb. He like Jaylon won't stack and shed and is better in pursuit than point of attack. Both of them on film were late to recognize plays and fight through blockers to get to the ball carrier. And they were both atrocious against the screen. Play action literally froze them. I know coaching will improve their play but I struggle seeing either of them truly being anything but OLBs. With that said I think they could be outstanding OLBers.

 

[Endzoneview]

In most 4-3 defenses the SOLB is the cover backer not the WOLB, hence the name weak side, tight end on the other side would be the strong side. However most teams in the nickel on the 4-3 remove the SOLB and bring in the fifth corner - this is one of the biggest problems for the last decade- THE SCREEN PASS!! I can remember games where the smallest running back would eat us up with the backers turning their backs in coverage and the front 4 busting *** to get to the Qb not realizing that this is what the offense wanted all along and it happened over and over and over all during the last decade

Vander Esch needs to be back in the middle where he was his rookie year and that would put Smith back at WOLB- now as others have stated so well that this is Smith's achilles heel but on those third downs when 2 backers are in, who is going with another backer to cover the TE's and or Rbs coming out of backfield? ? Lee is too old, so it's either a safety or Smith, so Smith's liability in coverage is a huge liability scheme wise even if you are using the SS to cover the backs/TE'S and that takes away one double team or possibly bracketing the # 1 WR so the best thing for Smith would be a modified 4-3 with the blitz being Smith as the 5th guy coming off the edge as you discussed . So I do think looking back at last year we are stuck with Smith's liabilities or we have to scheme smart- that was not the strength of the last coaching staff and hope Nolan can make the difference coaching wise as he did with the last 2 years of Saints backers.

 

[BAT]

Whatsoever?

Jaylon

Why do people think this means he will be a pass rusher? An OLB is not a pass rusher?

Depends on scheme. OLB is a pass rusher in 3-4 scheme.

Cowboys will be hybrid 3-4/4-3 under Nolan.

 

[quickccc]

In most 4-3 defenses the SOLB is the cover backer not the WOLB, hence the name weak side, tight end on the other side would be the strong side.

However most teams in the nickel on the 4-3 remove the SOLB and bring in the fifth corner - this is one of the biggest problems for the last decade- THE SCREEN PASS!! I can remember games where the smallest running back would eat us up with the backers turning their backs in coverage and the front 4 busting *** to get to the Qb not realizing that this is what the offense wanted all along and it happened over and over and over all during the last decade

Vander Esch needs to be back in the middle where he was his rookie year and that would put Smith back at WOLB- now as others have stated so well that this is Smith's achilles heel but on those third downs when 2 backers are in, who is going with another backer to cover the TE's and or Rbs coming out of backfield? ? Lee is too old, so it's either a safety or Smith, so Smith's liability in coverage is a huge liability scheme wise even if you are using the SS to cover the backs/TE'S and that takes away one double team or possibly bracketing the # 1 WR so the best thing for Smith would be a modified 4-3 with the blitz being Smith as the 5th guy coming off the edge as you discussed . So I do think looking back at last year we are stuck with Smith's liabilities or we have to scheme smart- that was not the strength of the last coaching staff and hope Nolan can make the difference coaching wise as he did with the last 2 years of Saints backers.

Thanks for chiming in, but there are some aspects of your statements that seems all over the place and inaccurate .

- first off LVE never started in the middle his rookie year here. That's been Jaylon's starting role and surprisingly he has never missed a game.
Second- nor did Jaylon ever started at weak side LB - he has always been slated in the middle.
whereas the weak side LBs has been Sean Lee and LVE respectively.
While Damien Wilson and Sean Lee has handled the strong side role.

- I disagree with your assessment of weak side vs strong side OLBs in coverage.
weak side OLB are the more noted coverage oriented ... the strong side is more geared to TE is lined up because that's an assumed blocking formation and your strong side generally bigger, stronger run defender.
and if strong side LB is your most coverage oriented LB, then you likely would not have available in nickel downs with him being limited in snaps and time on the field. - the weak side LB is generally always gonna be on the field in all downs and especially pass situations.

- Sean Lee was moved from the middle to weak side because team wanted to lessen the beating he was taking in the middle.
and since he was noted as one of the better coverage LBs, the weak side role was thought to help Lee while Lee helped in coverage
.LVE was drafted in as the heir apparent to Lee's weak side LB as his strong suit (coverage) and the role duty he inherited is geared towards coverage.

- Damien Wilson was a strong side LB in our 4-3,..but those who know him well, his biggest liability was a lack of coverage. the better teams can scheme to
isolate him vs TEs and backs before the nickel downs to remove him even occur.
But the way teams implement 2 TEs, and move their best TE around (ala Zack Ertz) it really pays to have LBs who can cover well across the board.

- Good point bringing up the dreaded screen passes, and it didnt matter if it was a RB or TE, i think it was clearly a combination of non-disciplined players and bad coaching. the mutiny and in-house fighting among coaches who saw different philosophies and scheme help amount to the issues we continuously had at stopping screen passes. And some may different from me, but i thought it both the front seven that lacked the discipline and disruption

We're so easily to fool on misdirection, and no huddle, til it wasnt funny. And that's another concern i have with Jaylon when it came to his instincts- and his
issues with mis-guessing gaps and being easily fooled and re-routed on misdirections.

 

[Redball Express]

He's not exactly tiny. Same weight and arm length as Ware (when drafted) and IMO while he's not great in coverage for a MIKE, for a pass-rushing OLB he'd be elite in coverage.

I have no prob with Jaylon being moved.

Last year he clearly had some problems moving to his right.

He would trail the play by 4-5 yards before getting the ball carrier.

As long as he lines up on the side of his good leg..

he should improve.

Yeah.