From earlier today:
It isn’t uncommon for a player to play multiple positions in his career on the defensive side of the ball. But when it happens three or more times in the first two seasons of a players career, often fans will label said player a tweener , or worse, a bust. Up until Sunday, that was the opinion I had on Kyle Wilber. Wilber has bounced around between being a 3-4 pass rushing linebacker and a 4-3 defensive end, and never seemed comfortable doing either.
But when the team announced last week that due to injuries, Kyle Wilber would be starting at strong-side linebacker, my ears perked up for a few different reasons. The first being, Wilber struggled against the run when he was matched up against tackles, but seemed to thrive when he played against tight ends. He can also beat tight ends fairly easily when asked to rush the passer. And with today’s NFL being more focused around getting to the quarterback, it’s never a bad idea to get more pass rushers on the field if they can hold up against the run. We have seen multiple 4-3 teams take a defensive end and put him at linebacker to give them more available rushers on any given play. Below is a chart with just a few players that have made the switch to linebacker recently.
https://lh5.***BROKEN***/1Lx_nF-8HTp-3Jc2DHsaQ0dvNdC6H2tjqHKjNk4SU56NWIGmErG9a00cWQPMmOT-mh6a3Im-pBGj2NG-VXUW_nYOMA33yYGGJs5UNSWGsGZY0Xbd37ayt9_53db3xik8r5I
Before you say, “Well Marcus, those are all much better players than Kyle Wilber,” let me say this; I agree with you. But Sunday was the best I have ever seen Wilber play and he just learned how to play the position in less than a week. So let’s examine some of the game film to show how he was effective against the
Giants.
The following GIF was a huge play in the game. The
Giants are ready to score, with the ball on the 5 yard line on second down.
The
Giants are running a simple power run to the weak-side of the field. The hope is that the running back will be able to read his blocks and power through the
Cowboys linebackers for the score. But instead, Wilber reads this play perfectly. He recognizes the play, avoids the blocker, and makes the play in the backfield for a six yard loss. A perfectly executed play by Wilber.
On another play here that I highlighted, you can see that Wilber still is learning the position.
Wilber takes a false step and fails to recognize the play correctly at first. But because he is a talented athlete, he makes up for the missed step and seals the edge. He follows up with the tackle, but against better teams this could potentially be a bigger play. Wilber is learning, so there will be rough spots. But the hope is that he can counter his mistakes by using his athleticism.
The Thanksgiving game against the
Raiders will be a big test for Kyle Wilber. The Raiders are expected to run the ball often against Dallas and it will be interesting to see how Wilber fares in his second game at linebacker. Wilber can be an extra pass rusher on the field for the team, so don’t be surprised if he blitzes more throughout the season. Wilber was a talented player coming out of Wake Forrest, it will be interesting to see how the transition goes from defensive end to linebacker.
http://cover32.com/cowboys/2013/11/28/has-kyle-wilber-found-his-fit-at-linebacker/
