Sticking with the 43?

[Refuse To Lose]

I know we used it last yr but is BB going to finally do the smart thing and move this D to a 43 fulltime? im all for it because its a lot easier to build a 43 defense than it is a BB 34

posted on PF..

Greg A. Bedard ‏@GregABedard

DE Michael Johnson would have been a top target for the Patriots. Bengals will tag him

followed by :

Greg A. Bedard ‏@GregABedard

Not a dartboard RT @SashV_: wheres that comment coming from about Patriots and Johnson?



its not concrete but is it a sign we stick with the 43? i know some fans on PF think we still might run a 34 but it makes no sense imo. our pass rush and coverage both suck and you're doing it no favors by taking our best pass rusher and having him occasionally drop in coverage. not to mention how bad TE/rbs are gonna eat us up when we add 4th lb who cant cover.

i would also entertain the thought of trading spikes since hes in his last yr and he doesnt fit a 43.

oh and one other thought. does this mean they view armond armstead as a DT.. seems like it would be overkill to have him @ DE and still target johnson..

thoughts?

[Nastradamus]

I definitely think Armstead is seen as a DT.

[Hyped]

Whether we play 3-4 vs. 4-3 doesn't matter as long as we have a solid secondary....we need to have a solid secondary....grrr...

[RD]

Brandon Spikes is perfectly fine in a 4-3 alignment at mike.

And I personally like the ability to alter the look anytime you want. The flexibility to use either scheme makes it harder to game plan against, and hope we keep using a mix of fronts.

[Underdog]

Yeah, they're only in base D like 40% of the time these days, anyway...it's kind of a moot point. It's basically Vince, Mayo, and mix and match 3-5 other guys depending on the situation.

[Refuse To Lose]

Brandon Spikes is perfectly fine in a 4-3 alignment at mike.

And I personally like the ability to alter the look anytime you want. The flexibility to use either scheme makes it harder to game plan against, and hope we keep using a mix of fronts.

no thanks.. his 5.0 speed shows when he is asked to turn and cover and it becomes even more apparent with this team cus we got 2 other lbs who cant cover.


why would this team want to keep this LB core together when they have obvious flaws?? ive seen some suggest we use another high pick on a coverage LB.. just shows you how incredibly stupid this Defense sounds

1 top 10 pick, another 1st rd pick, and a 2nd yet they still cant cover.. now we got to use another high pick

as it stands i dont think there is any 43 team that has used higher picks on their lbs

and its easy as hell to game plan against this defense.. throw, throw, and throw some more.. defense cant generate enough pressure nor can they cover

[Refuse To Lose]

Yeah, they're only in base D like 40% of the time these days, anyway...it's kind of a moot point. It's basically Vince, Mayo, and mix and match 3-5 other guys depending on the situation.

even more reason to move him.

do you really think its a smart investment to re-sign/extend a guy who only really plays on run downs??

and people wonder why we cant get pressure/cover.. the guys u are re-signing do absolutely nothing to change that

vince and mayo are our highest paid defensive players and neither brings anything to help our pass rush/coverage.. we dont need anymore of those types

vince at least has an excuse since BB turned him into a NT. mayo on the other hand......

[ItIsWhatItIs]

no thanks.. his 5.0 speed shows when he is asked to turn and cover and it becomes even more apparent with this team cus we got 2 other lbs who cant cover.


why would this team want to keep this LB core together when they have obvious flaws?? ive seen some suggest we use another high pick on a coverage LB.. just shows you how incredibly stupid this Defense sounds

1 top 10 pick, another 1st rd pick, and a 2nd yet they still cant cover.. now we got to use another high pick

as it stands i dont think there is any 43 team that has used higher picks on their lbs

and its easy as hell to game plan against this defense.. throw, throw, and throw some more.. defense cant generate enough pressure nor can they cover

There is pretty much no team in the NFL that has three three-down LBs. Spikes is perfectly fine for what he was drafted as - a 2-down LB. He's great in the red zone and short yardage and is literally the best run-stopping LB in the NFL. He is never on the field in nickel anymore.

Mayo is perfectly capable in all phases of the game - he's not a Ray Lewis / Patrick Willis talent, but a very good all-around LB. Donta' Hightower is the wild card. He showed flashes of being a perfect complement to Mayo - good zone defense, sniffs out trick plays, can rush the passer on blitzes. If he improves his drop-back coverage and overall consistency, they will have the 2nd-best LB corps in the NFL after the Niners.

LB is the least of the team's concerns on defense. They need help literally everywhere before that spot. They need another DT next to Wilfork, better depth at DE, another 2-3 corners, and a safety to pair with McCourty. If they want to draft a cover LB late a la Gary Guyton, fine by me, but otherwise they're far better served improving the gaping holes instead of trying to take a unit that is very good and make it dominant.

[Refuse To Lose]

3 3-down lbs??? man this team is struggling to find 1.. maybe thats why BB prefers to use a S in coverage

and mayo is so overrated by this fan base


go watch the last SB vs the giants.. BB put mayo in perfect position to make a play and he just watched the ball sail in front of him

[Refuse To Lose]

T

LB is the least of the team's concerns on defense. They need help literally everywhere before that spot. They need another DT next to Wilfork, better depth at DE, another 2-3 corners, and a safety to pair with McCourty. If they want to draft a cover LB late a la Gary Guyton, fine by me, but otherwise they're far better served improving the gaping holes instead of trying to take a unit that is very good and make it dominant.

so we're giving up on wilson, bequette, and francis already


might as well use every pick on offense then since Brady is our only hope

[ItIsWhatItIs]

Where did I say the team has 3 three-down LBs? Spikes is clearly a 2-down LB. Mayo is about as good a 3-down LB as you can get. Hightower is TBD but has the skills IMO. Nowadays you don't need 3 three-down LBs, as 3rd down almost always is a nickel down.

And you're right, the one bad play where he got deked out by Victor-freaking-Cruz should tell you how he is in coverage. I'll prefer to go with Pro Football Focus, which tracks every play in every game and had Mayo on its Pro Bowl / All Pro roster. If Mayo isn't a 3-down LB, then the only 3-down LB in the NFL is Patrick Willis.

EDIT - by your same logic, we should watch Spikes' fantastic interception in the Super Bowl and believe he is a great cover LB.

[ItIsWhatItIs]

so we're giving up on wilson, bequette, and francis already


might as well use every pick on offense then since Brady is our only hope

Nope, not giving up on them, but Bequette played less than 50 snaps. You can't go into a year relying on a guy who had a full year of camp and practice and got under a game's worth of snaps. Francis is a fine 4th DE but he's not the quick-twitch athlete you need at DE these days. Best case is he slowly hones his craft a la Ninkovich and becomes a solid 6-8 sacks/yr guy.

No idea what to expect out of Wilson - he made some big plays but he also got torched horribly a few times while Gregory was out. And you really need 3-4 safeties nowadays for nickel and injury insurance. No reason Wilson couldn't have a solid role here as well as another safety that we draft/sign.