Official Senior Bowl Thread

[barrett]

Originally Posted by jppaul

Is covering Antonio Gates not making a play?

That is my point. If a guy is capable of covering Antonio Gates, then he is not playing SLB.

[jppaul]

But if he is at WLB then he is not covering Gates.

[barrett]

Well honestly no LB is covering Gates or the top TEs in man coverage, or at least not well. Those guys are covered by safeties on almost every pass route.

But either way my point is that (1) guys who can cover Antonio Gates 1 on 1 are not playing SLB and (2) NFL teams don't ask their SLB to man up on a TE like gates so its irrelevant. In a 4-3 about %90 of the SLB's job is to fill the hole and tackle in the run game. And they all exit the game in passing situations, and most play less than the nickel corner. They are part time players. It is not a speed position or one that requires huge talent. For the most part it is veteran guys who don't get paid much. Bentley played the role for us very well.

[jppaul]

Originally Posted by barrett

Well honestly no LB is covering Gates or the top TEs in man coverage, or at least not well. Those guys are covered by safeties on almost every pass route.

But either way my point is that (1) guys who can cover Antonio Gates 1 on 1 are not playing SLB and (2) NFL teams don't ask their SLB to man up on a TE like gates so its irrelevant. In a 4-3 about %90 of the SLB's job is to fill the hole and tackle in the run game. And they all exit the game in passing situations, and most play less than the nickel corner. They are part time players. It is not a speed position or one that requires huge talent. For the most part it is veteran guys who don't get paid much. Bentley played the role for us very well.

Barrett, I understand your point, I just disagree with you. A SLB who can cover Gates and does cover Gates allows the safety to stay deep, which is an asset because the CHargers run Gates in the seams and the intermediate middle to get the remaining safety to bite so that they can go over the top to Jackson. Having a SLB who can cover him would not be a waste of resources. Sometimes the Broncos use arguably the top corner in the game to cover Gates, that is not a waste of resources, and the question becomes relevant.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by jppaul

Barrett, I understand your point, I just disagree with you. A SLB who can cover Gates and does cover Gates allows the safety to stay deep, which is an asset because the CHargers run Gates in the seams and the intermediate middle to get the remaining safety to bite so that they can go over the top to Jackson. Having a SLB who can cover him would not be a waste of resources. Sometimes the Broncos use arguably the top corner in the game to cover Gates, that is not a waste of resources, and the question becomes relevant.

You're fooling yourself if you think any of the SLB prospects can cover Gates. I'd be suprised if any of the safety prospects can cover the top TEs in the NFL.

As for the SLB position and it's relevance in the NFL, I give you 3 names...Chris Gocong, Marcus Washington, and Danny Clark. Do you know who they are? Don't feel bad if you don't. Nobody does. But they are the starting SLBs on the best 4-3 defenses in the NFL.

[jppaul]

Originally Posted by barrett

You're fooling yourself if you think any of the SLB prospects can cover Gates. I'd be suprised if any of the safety prospects can cover the top TEs in the NFL.

As for the SLB position and it's relevance in the NFL, I give you 3 names...Chris Gocong, Marcus Washington, and Danny Clark. Do you know who they are? Don't feel bad if you don't. Nobody does. But they are the starting SLBs on the best 4-3 defenses in the NFL.

Chris Gocong played for the eagles last time I checked. Marcus Washington was another good linebacker that the Colts lost in free agency, and now plays for the Redskins. He has lost a step though and is not nearly as efficient as he used to be. Danny Clark played Strongside for us a couple years ago, I think we got him from the Raiders, although I am not sure where he ended up, we let him depart via free agency.

[jppaul]

Originally Posted by barrett

You're fooling yourself if you think any of the SLB prospects can cover Gates. I'd be suprised if any of the safety prospects can cover the top TEs in the NFL.

As for the SLB position and it's relevance in the NFL, I give you 3 names...Chris Gocong, Marcus Washington, and Danny Clark. Do you know who they are? Don't feel bad if you don't. Nobody does. But they are the starting SLBs on the best 4-3 defenses in the NFL.

Lets try a name: D.J. Williams? You probably should feel bad if you don't recognize that one?

Granted, there is not alot of name recognition with SLB but they certainly serve an important role. That being noted I am alright with Drafting Cushing and putting him on the WLB. Adibi is a good prospect but I have questions about his ability to stay healthy.

I would take him in the first, Michael Johnson or Paul Kruger in the second, Rashad Johnson or Patrick Chung in the third, Myron Pryor or Jarron Gilbert in the fourth, Pat White or Rhett Bhomar in the fifth, Graham Cano in the 6th, Deandre Wright in the 7th.

Then the LB core would look like:

[barrett]

Originally Posted by jppaul

Lets try a name: D.J. Williams? You probably should feel bad if you don't recognize that one?

Granted, there is not alot of name recognition with SLB but they certainly serve an important role. That being noted I am alright with Drafting Cushing and putting him on the WLB. Adibi is a good prospect but I have questions about his ability to stay healthy.

I would take him in the first, Michael Johnson or Paul Kruger in the second, Rashad Johnson or Patrick Chung in the third, Myron Pryor or Jarron Gilbert in the fourth, Pat White or Rhett Bhomar in the fifth, Graham Cano in the 6th, Deandre Wright in the 7th.

Then the LB core would look like:

And do you know what the Broncos got for the 1st round pick they invested in Williams? All of 6.5 sacks and 2 INTs in 5 years. Now he plays solid, but that is just my point. SLB is a place to put a solid guy. If you put an athlete there, you are wasting them. They simply don't get a chance to make plays.

Now if you want Cushing in particular and think he can play the WLB, then I won't argue with you. I don't know enough about him to say, but if he can, then I could see picking him in the right circumstance. The WLB is still not a huge impact position in the 4-3, but they are 3 down players who have chances to make plays, so if a guy is a great enough WLB, they could have a 1st round impact. I would still go another direction unless BPA clearly indicated he was head and shoulders above the available DL and FS prospects, but a great WLB could be a big plus for us.

But a "great" SLB is just not worth a 1st round pick if you plan to play him at SLB.