LB Corp - MLB Position

robbieruff

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As a preface...I am well aware that we haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher this season but, then again, teams haven't been THAT committed to the run against us for a variety of reasons - like Pittsburg did on Sunday, teams focus their attack through the air. Teams are averaging only about 20 rush attempts total per game and we have faced 183 TOTAL rush attempts this year - league's lowest totals. While we're #3 overall against the run, we are also allowing 4.1 yards/carry (tied with a number of teams for 11th best yards/attempt)...decent yards per average but not like a Baltimore's 3.3 (they're ELITE in this metric so far). The one game, I recall, when we really needed to stop the run and give the ball back to our offense was that first one against the Gmen...they gashed us at critical closing moments of that game when we knew it was coming and no other team has really been in a position of trying to run out the clock on us...I suppose that's what happens when you're riding an 8-game win streak ;). Despite these lofty stats, my gut tells me that our D could use a bit more "stoutness" through the middle as a potential tweak between now and season's end.

Which brings me to my main point...the play of our LB's in general and the MLB position in particular. I know our shared hope is for Jaylon Smith to come back better than ever (being a glass half full type I am saying he's our version of Bobby Wagner/Luke Kuechley by start of next season). Of course Mr. Lee is his usual beastly self (although I'd like to see him get about 3-4 picks between now and season's end as is his norm) and I am actually digging the recent play of Wilson on the strong side...he's seems to bring some explosiveness and athleticism to the unit that we lost with RoMac, who I am afraid is gone for good (I'm not THAT much of an optimist ;)). What Wilson has lacked in recognition and discipline should diminish with his increased reps and I think he will be a very instinctive playmaker for us (particularly when his used, albeit limited, as a blitzer).

Granted, I am not tracking it all that closely in my game viewings, but I do see Hitch and Durant seemingly sharing the duties with Hitch (I'm assuming) getting the bulk of the snaps. My impressions are they seem to be often lost/wiped out in the middle and making very few notable plays, apart from Durant's pass break up on the slant against the Niners on 4th down. Durant has had some other flashes, but even his potential bigger plays have been met with seemingly boneheaded breakdowns in technique, such as the inadvertent facemark on the big sack of Rodgers (he used poor form) and even the penalty he drew last Sunday when he was in on the hit on Big Ben (should've ended the drive but he again drew a personal foul). Net net, it seems that Durant's physical skills have tapered off from his 2014 season when I thought he was one of the unsung heroes of that defense. Hitch basically seems to be playing out of position...he's a gamer but just can't hold up physically and would be better suited as Lee's backup and perhaps playing on passing downs.

So...what to do now? They benched Mayowa recently for lack of production...should we expect similar cutthroat decisions from the coaches on the MLB play? I've heard some love expressed in the forum for Zzeocha and Gachkar played with some thump last year. Should we continue to roll with what we've got or are others feeling similarly that we have better options on the roster to step in and make a bigger impact?
 

Avery

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Always look to improve at every position every year and this offseason will be no different. It's hard to justify that our LB situation is worse than the island of misfit toys that compose our front four.
 

robbieruff

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Always look to improve at every position every year and this offseason will be no different. It's hard to justify that our LB situation is worse than the island of misfit toys that compose our front four.
Do you have an opinion on who on the roster should replace Hitch/Durant at this point?
 

Avery

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Do you have an opinion on who on the roster should replace Hitch/Durant at this point?

I don't think anyone is there to replace them. Smith being (hopefully) healthy next year helps, but I would imagine that camp will include some competition and likely some churn.
 

Nightman

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You said it yourself....Wilson has displaced Wilber as SAM but that is only 12-16 snaps a game

Hitchens is the MIKE for most early downs, keeping Durant fresh and clean for more Nickel snaps

JSmith is probably not walking thru that door this year but I wouldn't rule it out yet

The Cubs rushed Kyle Scwarber back to DH in the World Series after a terrible knee injury in April and it paid off with a ring

If we could get a few series from JSmith as a Nickel MIKE in the playoff run that would be tremendous but it is still a longshot
 

TheFinisher

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This draft class has already been a massive success.

That behind said, Jaylon Smith had arguably a higher projected upside than any prospect in the class before the injury. If he comes back healthy, you may be looking at an all time great draft haul.

This kid has Von Miller impact potential
 

Setackin

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Front 7 is #1 need this off season, would like to see 3 new starters next season.
 

Nightman

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Front 7 is #1 need this off season, would like to see 3 new starters next season.
.............TCrawford- Collins- Thornton/McClain- DLawrence...............
.......Wilson......................JSmith..........................SLee

Doesn't look that bad to me
 

xwalker

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As a preface...I am well aware that we haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher this season but, then again, teams haven't been THAT committed to the run against us for a variety of reasons - like Pittsburg did on Sunday, teams focus their attack through the air. Teams are averaging only about 20 rush attempts total per game and we have faced 183 TOTAL rush attempts this year - league's lowest totals. While we're #3 overall against the run, we are also allowing 4.1 yards/carry (tied with a number of teams for 11th best yards/attempt)...decent yards per average but not like a Baltimore's 3.3 (they're ELITE in this metric so far). The one game, I recall, when we really needed to stop the run and give the ball back to our offense was that first one against the Gmen...they gashed us at critical closing moments of that game when we knew it was coming and no other team has really been in a position of trying to run out the clock on us...I suppose that's what happens when you're riding an 8-game win streak ;). Despite these lofty stats, my gut tells me that our D could use a bit more "stoutness" through the middle as a potential tweak between now and season's end.

Which brings me to my main point...the play of our LB's in general and the MLB position in particular. I know our shared hope is for Jaylon Smith to come back better than ever (being a glass half full type I am saying he's our version of Bobby Wagner/Luke Kuechley by start of next season). Of course Mr. Lee is his usual beastly self (although I'd like to see him get about 3-4 picks between now and season's end as is his norm) and I am actually digging the recent play of Wilson on the strong side...he's seems to bring some explosiveness and athleticism to the unit that we lost with RoMac, who I am afraid is gone for good (I'm not THAT much of an optimist ;)). What Wilson has lacked in recognition and discipline should diminish with his increased reps and I think he will be a very instinctive playmaker for us (particularly when his used, albeit limited, as a blitzer).

Granted, I am not tracking it all that closely in my game viewings, but I do see Hitch and Durant seemingly sharing the duties with Hitch (I'm assuming) getting the bulk of the snaps. My impressions are they seem to be often lost/wiped out in the middle and making very few notable plays, apart from Durant's pass break up on the slant against the Niners on 4th down. Durant has had some other flashes, but even his potential bigger plays have been met with seemingly boneheaded breakdowns in technique, such as the inadvertent facemark on the big sack of Rodgers (he used poor form) and even the penalty he drew last Sunday when he was in on the hit on Big Ben (should've ended the drive but he again drew a personal foul). Net net, it seems that Durant's physical skills have tapered off from his 2014 season when I thought he was one of the unsung heroes of that defense. Hitch basically seems to be playing out of position...he's a gamer but just can't hold up physically and would be better suited as Lee's backup and perhaps playing on passing downs.

So...what to do now? They benched Mayowa recently for lack of production...should we expect similar cutthroat decisions from the coaches on the MLB play? I've heard some love expressed in the forum for Zzeocha and Gachkar played with some thump last year. Should we continue to roll with what we've got or are others feeling similarly that we have better options on the roster to step in and make a bigger impact?
Check the rushing stats for the Giants and Niners games. I show both of them with over 100 yards rushing.
 

Setackin

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.............TCrawford- Collins- Thornton/McClain- DLawrence...............
.......Wilson......................JSmith..........................SLee

Doesn't look that bad to me
If u want to seriously contend for SBs over the next 8 or so years, this group need big improvement
 

xwalker

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As a preface...I am well aware that we haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher this season but, then again, teams haven't been THAT committed to the run against us for a variety of reasons - like Pittsburg did on Sunday, teams focus their attack through the air. Teams are averaging only about 20 rush attempts total per game and we have faced 183 TOTAL rush attempts this year - league's lowest totals. While we're #3 overall against the run, we are also allowing 4.1 yards/carry (tied with a number of teams for 11th best yards/attempt)...decent yards per average but not like a Baltimore's 3.3 (they're ELITE in this metric so far). The one game, I recall, when we really needed to stop the run and give the ball back to our offense was that first one against the Gmen...they gashed us at critical closing moments of that game when we knew it was coming and no other team has really been in a position of trying to run out the clock on us...I suppose that's what happens when you're riding an 8-game win streak ;). Despite these lofty stats, my gut tells me that our D could use a bit more "stoutness" through the middle as a potential tweak between now and season's end.

Which brings me to my main point...the play of our LB's in general and the MLB position in particular. I know our shared hope is for Jaylon Smith to come back better than ever (being a glass half full type I am saying he's our version of Bobby Wagner/Luke Kuechley by start of next season). Of course Mr. Lee is his usual beastly self (although I'd like to see him get about 3-4 picks between now and season's end as is his norm) and I am actually digging the recent play of Wilson on the strong side...he's seems to bring some explosiveness and athleticism to the unit that we lost with RoMac, who I am afraid is gone for good (I'm not THAT much of an optimist ;)). What Wilson has lacked in recognition and discipline should diminish with his increased reps and I think he will be a very instinctive playmaker for us (particularly when his used, albeit limited, as a blitzer).

Granted, I am not tracking it all that closely in my game viewings, but I do see Hitch and Durant seemingly sharing the duties with Hitch (I'm assuming) getting the bulk of the snaps. My impressions are they seem to be often lost/wiped out in the middle and making very few notable plays, apart from Durant's pass break up on the slant against the Niners on 4th down. Durant has had some other flashes, but even his potential bigger plays have been met with seemingly boneheaded breakdowns in technique, such as the inadvertent facemark on the big sack of Rodgers (he used poor form) and even the penalty he drew last Sunday when he was in on the hit on Big Ben (should've ended the drive but he again drew a personal foul). Net net, it seems that Durant's physical skills have tapered off from his 2014 season when I thought he was one of the unsung heroes of that defense. Hitch basically seems to be playing out of position...he's a gamer but just can't hold up physically and would be better suited as Lee's backup and perhaps playing on passing downs.

So...what to do now? They benched Mayowa recently for lack of production...should we expect similar cutthroat decisions from the coaches on the MLB play? I've heard some love expressed in the forum for Zzeocha and Gachkar played with some thump last year. Should we continue to roll with what we've got or are others feeling similarly that we have better options on the roster to step in and make a bigger impact?
Hitchens is fine against the run. If they made any change it would be because they found a better coverage player than either Durant or Hitchens.

Before getting injured, Mark Nzeocha looked terrific physically in the preseason. His issue was needing more reps which he didn't get because of the injury.

Wilson played 15 of 47 snaps on defense in the Cleveland game and 18 or 78 in the Eagles game.

I'm curious if the next in line to play MLB would be Wilson or Nzeocha. My guess is that right now it would be Wilson but if Jaylon Smith can't play next year, I think Nzeocha might become the starting MLB.


Wilson 6', 243, 33 3/4" arm length

Nzeocha 6'3", 239, 33" arm length

Side note: I guess the Cowboy like LBs with long arms because they both have well above average arm length.
 

xwalker

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Dallas hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. That doesn't account for team totals, which can be thrown off by QB scrambles or end arounds.
Giants Game:
Rashad Jennings 18 75 4.2 0 17
Shane Vereen 6 38 6.3 0 10
TEAM 24 113 4.7 0 17
 

robbieruff

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Dallas hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. That doesn't account for team totals, which can be thrown off by QB scrambles or end arounds.
Yes. This is what I was referring to in the original post.
 

robbieruff

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Hitchens is fine against the run. If they made any change it would be because they found a better coverage player than either Durant or Hitchens.

Before getting injured, Mark Nzeocha looked terrific physically in the preseason. His issue was needing more reps which he didn't get because of the injury.

Wilson played 15 of 47 snaps on defense in the Cleveland game and 18 or 78 in the Eagles game.

I'm curious if the next in line to play MLB would be Wilson or Nzeocha. My guess is that right now it would be Wilson but if Jaylon Smith can't play next year, I think Nzeocha might become the starting MLB.


Wilson 6', 243, 33 3/4" arm length

Nzeocha 6'3", 239, 33" arm length

Side note: I guess the Cowboy like LBs with long arms because they both have well above average arm length.
Excellent points. Had not thought of Wilson as a contingency there. And I think his relatively low snap totals are influenced in large part by teams trying to spread us out with 3 and 4 WR sets. We saw how our man Wilson can struggle in pass coverage (read the end of the Saints game last year). Lol.

Thx for the great insights. :)
 

robbieruff

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Check the rushing stats for the Giants and Niners games. I show both of them with over 100 yards rushing.
I think this was already addres but I was referring to individual player and not team stats.
 

Setackin

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who are you dumping and who are you replacing them with and at what cost? you said 3 starters
At least 1 or 2 from draft, 1 or 2 in FA. Dumping whoever the coaches deem the worst 3. Good thing about the front 7 is there isn't a lot of money tied in it.
 
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