Id rather have this 95 than that 95...

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Good enough on the practice squad and special teams to stick around...

[Boltjolt]

We also have Keiser at OLB (mentioned cuz I keep forgetting about him, hope he makes me remember him during the season, lol).

Who?

[oneinchpunch]

Good enough on the practice squad and special teams to stick around...

But not the depth the team needed

[Steve]

You need more than 3 OLBers to sport the 3-4, sport. I was for drafting another OLB high, though I would have kept Barnes for depth as well. Barnes ain't all that old, just 28. He is strictly an outside pass rush specialist but you have to have at least 5 OLBers for a 3-4 defense.

I don't agree that Barnes left to play more. I am not sure he has a guarantee from the Jets he is going to play more either. He left because he wasn't even offered a contract here and went to the Jets because that is where he got the most money.

Either way it is obvious that TT thought we would go through the season without a single injury in our OLB unit. Why else would he have gone after Freeney so quickly and aggressively when Ingram got hurt. I don't recall Freeney's name to have been mentioned when talking about the Chargers prior to Ingram's injury. Word was that he was a better match for Denver but they didn't want to meet his asking price.

My understanding of it is Barnes was promised a chance to win the starting WOLB/WDE job in the Jets D. He will be used in the same role as Terrell Suggs is for Baltimore (same scheme). They are so cap poor, that Barnes is about the only pass rusher they could have afforded to get, plus he was a favorite of Ryan back in Baltimore. But they haven't promised him a starting job, and he may only be used on passing situations, although if he is used as a starter, he is basically still just a pass rusher. I got this from an old college roomate I talk to every once in a while, he got it from talk radio, so sorry no link.

AS far as our OLB situation goes, in the short term, this may be a tough year. English has to play a lot, which is a good thing because we still have him and he will be a FA, so we finally know what he can do. If he can't produce now, then he signs at league min or moves on. JJ is winding up his career, so he may still have some time left, but this may be his last year. We will have to see how it goes. I think we can probably get next season too, since he is mostly a run down guy. The rookie is a good long term move, but typically mid-round DE switching to 34 OLB don't produce that much as rookies. It's a big step up, and he didn't play among the big boys in college football. Long term I love him, especially since he will be active on sundays to play ST, so he will get some reps on D too. But it is a bit much to think he will produce much. That leaves Freeney. I still think he can be a good player, especially in the Barnes role of situational rusher. But unlike Barnes he can't play ST, he has been hurt a lot lately, and he is going to start slowing down some soon. Maybe next year, but we need to keep adding pass rushers to build up our rush. If English doesn't step up and take some pressure off of Freeney, then it could be a long season for our pass rush.

[Beerman]

Jay Glazer@JayGlazer 2:34 PM
I'm getting too old for this crap. Ridiculous MMA workout w Danny Amendola, Kyle Long, Datone Jones, Larry English & Brian Banks