Is it too much to ask for a traditional defense with real linebackers?

[kskboys]

LVE, was injury prone in college, still remember Hennessy not liking the pick when it went down.

I hated it. Made no sense to me. A small school injury prone LB, yeah great idea for a 1st round pick.

 

[kevm3]

You're going to get the same result because we HAVE to hit on LB as well as all the other holes in the draft only

 

[JW82]

We have a bunch of midgets running around trying to protect the middle of the field.

Yup. We have the only team that says, this guy is kind of smallish for strong safety...lets make him a linebacker!

 

[kskboys]

I disagree. They let Evans and Harper go when they were already thin at LB. I think they really believed that had something in Bell at LB. And they did at first. That was until teams started bullying our defense and taking advantage of teh size, and inexperience, of our second level players. Evan was supposed to be a liability in coverage, but much better against the run. He hardly played when they had him.

I can't see any reason whatsoever to think that Evans wouldn't have been a huge upgrade. What they did w/ him made no sense at all. Maybe he's weak at coverage, but he was a monstrous upgrade at run stopping.

 

[BBGTYCOON]

They seem to have this mindset that their safeties or tweeners can step in and play LB. They draft for this. It’s mind numbing stuff when you’re constantly getting run over. If they don’t have more than LVE at ILB heading into next season.. something really wrong here. I want a legit middle LB better than vander esch. Then you’ll have a little freedom to move the tweeners around.

I can't see any reason whatsoever to think that Evans wouldn't have been a huge upgrade. What they did w/ him made no sense at all. Maybe he's weak at coverage, but he was a monstrous upgrade at run stopping.

......Isn't this the same organization that played Ratliff out of position at NT for several years, barely ran Tashard, traded a 1st 3rd & 5th for Williams, coddled Romo, booted T.O., paid Carr like an all pro, replaced 340 lb Leary with candy#$%@ 300 lb Connor Williams, paired Dez with T-Will, and made one legged Jaylon a starting LB with lve. You know the list of gaffes is MUCH longer but it makes perfect sense to that self sabotaging FO.

 

[kskboys]

......Isn't this the same organization that played Ratliff out of position at NT for several years, barely ran Tashard, traded a 1st 3rd & 5th for Williams, coddled Romo, booted T.O., paid Carr like an all pro, replaced 340 lb Leary with candy#$%@ 300 lb Connor Williams, paired Dez with T-Will, and made one legged Jaylon a starting LB with lve. You know the list of gaffes is MUCH longer but it makes perfect sense to that self sabotaging FO.

Which makes it hilarious when someone whines that we don't know as much as this NFL team of Pros.

 

[Cowboysheelsreds058]

......Isn't this the same organization that played Ratliff out of position at NT for several years, barely ran Tashard, traded a 1st 3rd & 5th for Williams, coddled Romo, booted T.O., paid Carr like an all pro, replaced 340 lb Leary with candy#$%@ 300 lb Connor Williams, paired Dez with T-Will, and made one legged Jaylon a starting LB with lve. You know the list of gaffes is MUCH longer but it makes perfect sense to that self sabotaging FO.

Bingo, I cried out for years that Jay Ratliff would have benefited with playing with a stout DT instead of playing that position. We have not had a stud inside since the Glover and Jay Ferguson days.

 

[JeffInDC]

While no NFL team has a perfect anything, the 49’ers, Jets, Bills, Browns (until the playoff game), and a few others have shown the league that you can run the 4-2-5 as standard fare and have a LOT of success…but it is even more dependent on LB play than the DB’s. You can have the best DL ever, but, if you LB’s ain’t up to par…see Dallas Cowboys 2023.

 

[bewp7]

nope quinn and mccarthy dont like that

they like their lb to be “versitile” safetys who stink at safety and lb

 

[stilltheguru]

Damone Clark is bigger than Queen and Roquan. Sure we shouldn't trot out 212 lb bell but size is just part of the equation. Dawg and instincts are more important than size

 

[Nova]

Jethro don't invest on linebackers. Unless they dropped because of a serious injury.

Only HOFer we drafted at LB in last 20 years, they turned into a DE.

We've invested in the LB position, but it hasn't worked out.

Jerry really wanted to emulate the 2015 Panthers duo, and he thought he had it with Jaylon and LVE.

Since 2018 we've drafted an LB with a top 20 pick. There just hasn't been a return.

 

[IceStar-D7]

Go out and get a real LB!!!!! Take one in the 1st or 2nd round!! You not getting Ray Lewis type LB after the 1st or 2nd round,....I also need a nose tackle as Big as McCarthy.....

 

[baltcowboy]

Damone Clark is bigger than Queen and Roquan. Sure we shouldn't trot out 212 lb bell but size is just part of the equation. Dawg and instincts are more important than size

The Ravens are bigger on the front 4 their defensive tackles are 315+ and they have set the edge defensive ends.

 

[doomsday808]

The traditional LB role has evolved as the game has. They not only need to be able to help stop the run and mobile QBs. They need to cover, pass catching RBs and TEs better. Finding that talent is the tough part. Big safties that can cover and tackle. .. yeah, Not sure if that is the way to go.

 

[Captain-Crash]

are you questioning the mighty Quinn? he was being talked up as our head coach not long ago. wow, just wow. he doesn't need any stinking LB, he's backhat quinn the legend.

 

[Kingofholland]

We have a bunch of midgets running around trying to protect the middle of the field.

I don't think that was the intent at the start of the season to have undersized LBs, but we never really replaced Overshown or LVE after injury. I don't know if it was Quinn's over confidence in his group, or the team just not having confidence in alternative options out there. Regardless we should have made an LB trade at the deadline.

 

[Chasing6]

We have a bunch of midgets running around trying to protect the middle of the field.

And it was still wide open against GB.

 

[Chasing6]

You maybe able to survive with undersized and quick LB's if you have dominant tackles that require double teams, but we did not have that.

Your defense needs to compliment each other on all 3 levels.

Our pass rush complimented our DB's when playing with a big lead. That is about it. Looks great against bottom 1/3 of the league, looks good against middle 1/3 of the league, looks bad against everyone that has a balanced offense.

 

[stilltheguru]

The Ravens are bigger on the front 4 their defensive tackles are 315+ and they have set the edge defensive ends.

Michael Pierce is the biggest guy on the dline. The others are Brent urban (former Cowboy) and 295 pound Madibuke. Basically.....we suck at run defense because our linebackers don't diagnose/fly and Quinns schemes suck vs motion (sf, Dolphins, packers).......and the edges Stat Chase.

 

[Chasing6]

The traditional LB role has evolved as the game has. They not only need to be able to help stop the run and mobile QBs. They need to cover, pass catching RBs and TEs better. Finding that talent is the tough part. Big safties that can cover and tackle. .. yeah, Not sure if that is the way to go.

Smaller faster DB's have to be protected by DT's. We don't have those. Our philosophy for a long time was quick undersized DT's and we wonder why all of our good LB's kept getting hurt.