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Figured we needed a thread to talk about this position since Jamie got cut.

What to do with Kirksey?

Kirksey will remain this year.

He'll be cut or traded after the season. I would bet on that.

Whenever Kirksey is gone is when the second linebacker spot will be addressed.

Jamie Collins is gone so if we don't pick up a LBer in FA then we should take a look Devin White or Devin Bush at #17 or the best DT on the board ...

I agree. However, we might think Mosley is a serious option? I also think Peppers would excel in that hybrid / safety role. We have options and we have the cap and picks.

Draft his replacement, sign Landon and play either Peppers or Landon at LB imo

I am thinking Mosley is a serious target.

Hmmm... Maybe we just sign Terrell Suggs for our 2019-2020 Championship title run... than we replace him for our 2020-2021 Championship title run.

You are going to be seriously disappointed if you think that.

This is not a horrible idea and probably what I prefer.

I like your positive thinking LOL

Yeah, I agree...

Didn't say I was hoping he would be, just thinking out loud. If he is not, I would hardly be disappointed.

I wonder if Avery is penciled in to take Collins place since we get Kirksey back ....

If we get a shot at White ... me thinks Joe becomes a situational dude at best ... he’s not a good tackler and he’s not good at shedding blocks and that adds up to being not good against the run ...

IMO Joe is way overrated in these here parts ...

Lots of options and lots of cap space .... and we could do a lot worse than Joe ... he is very very smart and excels in pass coverage ...

A few things I've posted about over the last few months are signing KJ Wright, and drafting Devin White or Devin Bush. I don't think White will be around when we draft, and I'm not sure we'd trade up to get him. I could see a Mark Barron signing as well (or in lieu of Wright)

Devin Bush I commented on in the Dorsey's Choice thread:



I think Terrill Hanks from Buffalo and/or Emeke Egbule from Houston would both be good mid-late round additions as well.

No offense, but I think that is a horrible idea. Drafting his replacement and also signing an expensive FA like Landon Collins to play out of position is not a good idea.

Teams that got cute w/their linebackers like the Chargers and Rams paid dearly for it when they faced New England. It's a copy-cat league and playing DBs at LBer is not a good idea because other teams will use the same strategy that the Pats did.

Peppers (or Collins) is/are not just some DB who is pretending to be a linebacker though.

I should have said that I didn't understand the part about drafting Kirksey's replacement. Maybe CHS was saying Kirksey was a backup so we can draft a backup linebacker?

I pretty much agree. Position changes don't usually work, though I always thought Cribbs would have been a HOF type safety.

We messed up there.

Like I said.........no offense. I'm not dogging you.

I think it is unwise to play guys out of position. I think there are good reasons why Collins and Barron were not retained.

Collins is a safety who lacks coverage ability. Physical strong safeties are about the easiest guys to find. They are all over the place.

Barron was a safety who got moved to LBer because he couldn't cover well enough. He was exposed against the run.

I prefer Joe S. to either of those guys. He plays the pass better and while he has a hard time shedding blocks, he is a bit better against the run.

Peppers is the hybrid. I would put him next to Schobert and Collins at safety.

All of this is assuming Kirksey isn’t around. If he is, maintain the status quo one more year.

Drafting White or signing Mosely would be much better options.

Going to the theatre, so I'll be on tomorrow for more clarification, but draft a LB who you can groom to take over Kirksey's position in a year or two, but still provides immediate depth.

Also New England very rarely plays with three off the line linebackers (Not sure how people want to classify Simon) and use Chung as a linebacker.

If Brady is as good as advertised, why in God's name would someone play 3 linebackers against him? But Vers does have a point that the Pats cut up the nickel, but through the ground primarily, not through the air.

I think with Collins gone, we will likely draft 2 LB's this year.

As others mentioned, we gotta start thinking replacements for all our current starters (Kirksey & Schobert).

Turk, I don't think we need to replace Schobert.

What don't you like about him?

It's not so much that they're changing positions, it's that the position of linebacker has changed. You can't put out three or four linebackers when the offense is putting out 3 WRs, you're going to get torched in the air. And if a defense puts out 5 DBs to match against 3+ WRs, then they just opened up the running game? So what's a defense to do? Exactly what they did in the 70's and 80's, by playing a safety in the box. If you look back at Jabrill when he played at Michigan, he plays that safety/linebacker role. When BB was here, he called that position between safety and SAM linebacker the star position. Saban took it a step further once he got to the college game and will pull out the will linebacker for another DB called money.

Anyway, the point is, as offenses adapt to more modern schemes, so do defenses. Everyone plays someone at the linebacker/safety position now. BB does it a lot with Chung.

You make valid points, but what you are failing to address is that when defenses evolve, so do offenses.

People become enamored w/trends as if they are the end-all answers. I think one should always be on the cutting edge, but going all in on trends is a mistake.

Kaep was all that. Then defenses figured him out and he sucked. The Wildcat was all that and defenses adjusted and it is now next to meaningless. The Wide 9 was a rage and offenses adjusted and it is now exploited.

The Chargers D w/all those DBs against Indy was thought to be brilliant. Here comes NE and they pounded the Chargers on the ground and with passes to the flat because the weak-ass LBer [sic] had to sell out to stop the run.

The Rams D was said to be great because of their acquisitions, but Barron was a huge liability against the power run game because he didn't have the size to combat huge blockers.

New ideas are cool and some are incorporated. But, they are not the end all and too many people who never played the game and only know the game through tweets and reading don't realize that.

Why? Because Baltimore has stated they are interested in Signing him back?

Maybe and maybe not.

Why?

Because they also said AT THE RIGHT PRICE.

We'll see. I'm betting Mosley says EAT DIRT when he sees the money they offer.

No doubt is a game of strategy. The team that makes the best moves and countermoves is usually the one to take the King.

Yeah, I don't think it is an accident that BB and the Pats either win it all or are in the mix each and every year.

Did you ever watch the NFL Networks Football Life episode that addressed the Browns move from Cleveland? It was more of a tribute to Belichick and the staff that he built here in Cleveland. Saban, Ferentz, Ozzie, Dimitroff, Pioli, Savage, Mangini, Jim Schwartz, Lombardi, etc were all part of the Browns staff. They interviewed those guys and many spoke of how detailed and thorough BB was. It was a great inside look on how to run a football organization. I read something recently about how the greatness of New England was built from the ashes of BB's time in Cleveland.

I'm getting off track. I just think we should be careful about going all-in on some of the recent tendencies. I think it's wise to incorporate the new ideas, but I think it's even more wise to figure out how to exploit the teams that heavily rely on them. That's what the greatest coach in the history of the NFL does.

Montez Sweat is an edge rusher, but we should absolutely draft him at 17.

TJ Edwards is my favorite middle day prospect I've seen so far. He's not going to blow anyone away with his athleticism, but the man is great at reading the offense pre snap. I can't remember a college linebacker who can diagnose plays as quickly as he can.

I just don't think he is THAT good. As a 4-3 MLB, I expect a lot more. I want an enforcer. Someone who can impose their will, especially in the run game.

I just think he's average in a lot of things, a la Andra Davis, DQwell Jackson..

He’s also excellent in coverage in a league that passes more than ever.

Someone posted some PFF stats during the season of Schobert, that in a typical cryptic fashion gave the impression that he was excellent in coverage. I asked the board to give an explanation of PFFs breakdown, and know one knew what those stats actually meant.

IMHO, I wouldn't use the word excellent in regards to his cover skills. Per my eye test, I still see him as average.