LB

[blueman]

Since this topic is generating a lot of posts, I thought I'd try and be proactive and give it ts own thread!

How about to start off, what do we need and what do we have?

For better or worse, Bradley is a cover 3 guy. That means LBs tend to come off the field a lot in favor of DBs, even to the extent of playing sans LBs ala the Baltimore playoff game - which was a weird anomaly as he pressed a lot and seems usually he doesn't when using a more traditional lineup. We saw last year TT bringing in a S/LB hybrid guy like White, who before injury was making his case to be the last LB off the field for us, and in later games Bradley used AP, a S with some LB in him, to play essentially the same spot in our D. Also late in the season Brown came on strong and showed what the other non-ILB LB spot should look like. Perryman has been damn good in the middle when he plays, problem being he doesn't last the season. So Bradley needs: a Donnie Edwards type who can play the run better, a ILB who can go sideline to sideline, and a S/LB hybrid on the other side.

White has that last spot locked IMO if he can come back healthy and strong. Perryman cannot be relied upon IMO, and if there was one gap in his skillset it was range. Brown also seems to have the DE with run game stopping power down, again if he can come back healthy. What's scary is all three of our top starters last season ended on IR. And we had next to bupkis behind them: Pullard is a nice guy but not good at anything. Emanuel is playing about 30 years too late, he can't move through traffic at the LB spot and has zero moves for even trying out at OLB (do not want to see him go toe to toe with OL who have set up for him, yikes!). Dzubnar can be a ST demon nut don't want him starting (has he ever under Bradley?). I don't know anything about Kyle Wilson but hes on the roster so throwing him out there. (Nwosu seems to have settles into the OLB rotation, so leaving him out of of this for now).

This looks the weakest position on the team. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of football nuance, but hoping others can fill in/correct what needs fixing. Most obvious, if we don't bring back Perryman then we have a huge hole to address somehow, most likely would seem via the draft where I think we have a good shot at Mack Wilson. Even if we do bring back Perryman, Wilson would be tough to pass on if he dropped to us IMO. But in that scenario would TT drop a 1st on what would be essentially a backup? Hell I would given the roster at this point.

Expecting a FA signing before the draft at this position, but ???

Thoughts?

[Formula 21]

[blueman]

Wonder why Bradley played those LBs against NE then? Was he trying to lose?

[Steve]

As far as how much they would be on the field, why would we play LB more? It just totally escapes my understanding why anyone would think it is a good idea.

It is not like we are the only NFL team that is playing their dime D more and more. EVERYONE is doing it. This is just a case of the Chargers being ahead of the curve.

It is not like the trend is new. Bill Walsh mentioned in an interview that defenses play their nickel more than their base personnel 50% of the time, when he took over the 49ers, which was the late 70's. We are talking that nickel and dime is the main defensive package for over 40 years. The fact is it is nothing new. And from there if the you want your best players on the field the majority of the time, you want them as part of your nickel or (for us) dime package.

With teams playing more and more WR, you have to ask how the LB would stand up in coverage. Add in that RB and TE are becoming more and more pass receivers than they are runners and blockers, how many traditional LB are any better at covering them. Do you see any LB we could possibly draft as being a good matchup vs Kareem Hunt, Sony Michael, Zeke Elliot or Alvin Kamara in coverage?

We managed to improve our run D from 31st last year, where we played a lot of LB, to 9th this year, playing a ton of dime. Clearly, we can stop the run using 6 DB. That is even with Brandon Mebane and the unsettled situation with Bosa being out and Liuget being suspended and then missing a ton of time. The run D still needs some work, but setting the D back by going away from what we do well is not the answer.

The players I would love would be Devin White, the MIKE LB from LSU. He is still learning to cover, but has the athletic skills to be on the field, and is physical between the tackles. Mack Wilson is totally miscast as a 34 LB in the Albama D, but if we can cover him up, let him run to the ball, and not have to take on blocks, he can make plays sideline to sideline.

[Steve]

Wonder why Bradley played those LBs against NE then? Was he trying to lose?

First thing is against a pro style offense (NE), I think the idea was to play more size and have players who could take on the similar sized offensive players. LB take on TE and FB by keying and diagnosing the play. So, we opened up with more LB on the field. While we did start out with the LB on the field, we were still playing our dime package some when the 43 look didn't work. The real problem was that the DL and LB were not getting off of blocks and when they were in getting off the block, they couldn't make the tackle. They did a lot better in the 2nd half, but add in the mismal 1st half, plus the horrible field position and the punt, and there was not way to come back.

Vs Baltimore, even though they play a lot of extra TE and FB, they are really an option offense. To stop the option, defenses always want to have speed on the field. So, the fact that we sacrificed size to get speed on the field is not much of a shock. We did align the DL inside more to force the Big OL players from getting out to block the little DB. The execution was excellent vs Baltimore.

[Panamamike]

[Steve]

I don't know about playing Man D. I mean, I know where that is coming from, and all things being equal it is a good adjustment to make. However, if we play zone D the vast majority of the season and then you suddenly do something different, that they rarely do (play man coverage), can you really expect the D to go out and execute at a high level? Especially when you consider that the guys in our secondary and LB are not good man coverage players

The thing I was thinking is going to more of a press zone D. Cover 2 teams used to play a lot of press cover 2 that would drive Brady crazy, in the past. That coverage has largely fallen from favor lately, but it has the essential element for playoff football. Pressing the NE WR and receivers at the line makes it hard for them to get open quick, which gives our pass rush a chance. It takes Brady out of his quick passing game by ruining the timing on routes. Man or zone, pressing the receivers is something I think you have to do to in the playoffs. Our DB lined up on the NE WR when they spread us out, but we didn't press them. We let them free release and the rest is history.

The hard part is that there is building the roster to beat NE vs building the roster to be good in the regular season. I think you can beat Baltimore by going with speed/DB on the field. Even though they will expand on their O, and have a lot more options for Lamar Jackson next year, the core of their option/zone read/RPO offense is going to be that it attacks the line quickly and defenses need to be able to match the speed. We may have to use more than 1 pass coverage against them next time.

Vs NE it is a whole different ball game. They have TE and FB who can block, most teams don't, or if they do it is only 1 guy. We don't need to try and match up against a team with 1 "extra" blocker. We may play a dime package, but at its core is a 44 alignment, leaving 8 in the box and giving us an extra hitman they can't block (easily). And for every extra WR they bring in to block our DB, that player brings the DB over him to become another run defender.

NE has a couple of TE who can block and Devlin at FB. They are not incredible blockers, but they are good and they can hit moving targets. Small Db slashing in are very, very hard to block. Most of the time, backup TE and FB end up whiffing. So, even in goalline and short yardage, the size advantage of having bigger bodies is usually negligible. Sure, you have extra blockers, but how much does that help if they can't hit the player who fires in and fills their gap. As of now, only NE is a team that is really a matchup problem for us.

Do we sell out to beat NE and run the risk of being a wild card every year? I actually am not that worried about the matchup problems in the run game. We need to replace Mebane, so go out and get a run stuffing DT. Danny Shelton is my preference, but whoever is fine. The thing that killed us as much as the running game vs NE was their passes to the RB (hopefully adding Wilson or White at MLB will fix that) and their quick passing game. Our DB are not good press coverage guys. Hayward specifically, is at his best in man off and off zone coverage. He runs with the receiver and adjusts to the ball. Davis and Williams are more or less about the same, although since we play mostly off zone, it's hard to tell. The only secondary who is really good at it is Derwin James. But if you look at the playoffs (every year not just this year), almost every team plays press coverage to disrupt the quick pass game. Do we need to rebuild the secondary? And do we go out and get little quick CB who can specifically press Edelman and the other "smallish" NE WR, who teams find so hard to press at the line.

[blueman]

White would be awesome but not available I think. Wilson is still my top choice at #28. We need to get better at LB to beat NE, as Steve points out.

[like54ninjas]

[La Costa Boy]

[QUOTE=like54ninjas;n697983]draft (starting) ranked prospects at any position, regardless of PON, when left on the board.[/QUOTE]

When i first read this I immediately thought of Keenan Allen

[Steve]

If you look at what Telesco has done in FA, he normally tries to acquire FA help, so that we don't have a PON in the sense that we have to draft a rookie to start. Then he can afford to draft Best Available. With our lack of salary cap space, it will be interesting to see if he can manage that again.

[blueman]

Especially at LB, which looks to have slim pickings.