[papabear]

I think I accidentally hit the 7-8 button, but I meant 5-6....and that's being optimistic. There are some similarities with Babin, but I think there are superficial at best.

Cincinnati faces much stiffer competition than Western Michigan. They might not face an SEC schedule, but I don't think you could put those two schools on the same level. Barwin looks more physically impressive to me. Maybe the bad taste in my mouth from Babin is influencing that a little bit, but Barwin looks quicker and stronger to me.

They both did a position change, but Barwin at least got a year for a test drive at the College level as opposed to Babin who had never played LB before. There's still a learning curve their, but they are just two different situations IMO. Plus I liked the smarts I saw out of Barwin. It was just one play, but he sniffed out a screen to his side and jumped in the air to bat the ball down. Just one play, but that's a heady play for a kid with only year experience at the position. Besides this is the time of year to get overly optimistic about little things at practice.

The other big difference between the two is that Babin was expected to come out right away and start...Barwin is going to be asked to mainly do one thing this year. Rush the passer, and that happens to be his strong suit. He won't need to be able to handle 50-snaps a game and worry about the run and the pass. He's just going to come in and do his thing while learning the other nuances of the position slowly. His sack numbers will likely be vary low because he won't be on the filed as much as a full time starter might be. With Mario on the opposite side, and a hopefully improved pass rush he should get some chances though when he is on the filed.