Man.....I've said all along that it wasn't just Jaylon all of the linebackers looked so maybe it isn't just on the personnel? Maybe it was scheme? Lack of a presence in the interior? I do wonder how good Wagner and Wright would look with Poe in front of them as opposed to what they had.....
Yeah, the scheme was terrible last year and frankly, for the first part of the season about half the guys on defense had no idea where to be or what to do. It was a cluster **** that happened because Nolan and Tomsula couldn’t connect with their players and the chemistry was horrible.
They were missing assignments all over the place way more than they were getting physically beat by better players. It was, in large part, the players not buying in to what the coaches wanted to do. Guys like Poe, who simply wanted a paycheck and put forth little effort, and Griffen who openly complained about the scheme, only served to disenfranchise the rest of the players to what they were doing defensively.
Once they got rid of the malcontents and went back to more of what the defensive players were used to, things got noticeably better.
By that time though, so many injuries had hit that, while the scheme and chemistry were better... there
were actually talent issues. The DT’s were down to guys we didn’t even really know and rookie Gallimore. LVE was out or not effective because of injuries and half the secondary was out hurt or other teams cast offs. The best secondary players were a rookie corner who missed over a month with a broken foot and a late round safety that was having to learn as he went.
It all came together to make an all-time disaster on that side of the ball and frankly, nobody looked good. It is more than disingenuous to simply say the players sucked and that they need to be replaced. Smith may not be great but he was nowhere close to as bad as some make him out to be. I’ll be fine if they replace him soon but it is lunacy to want to cut the guy and simply eat that salary... particularly after they paid his roster bonus. There is no logic behind that.
