03-30-2019, 07:44 PM
(03-30-2019, 05:43 PM)Okeana Wrote: The real poster child was Troy Polamalu. Why are you arguing about drafting a LB? everyone knows we need linebackers bro so stop beating a dead horse. Williams is coming to the end of his contract and adding talent is never a bad thing because there are plenty of times you can fit 3 safeties on the field. I think what most people myself included have realized is that this safety class is really strong while the linebackers are really thin. Devin White is a great prospect, but he is scary as **** to me because he's really not a great linebacker. The guy wins on his athletic talent at the college level, but when he gets to the league and he needs to have those linebacker fundamentals he will be found wanting. This draft is going to be interesting depending on who drops, if trades are available, and how we address needs without overreaching. I was a guy who was a big supporter of the John Ross pick and I learned a valuable lesson in that draft which is never overdraft a position of need because of potential.
As was posted in another thread, LB is one of the most bust resistant positions to take in the 1st. The more you can keep your linebackers on the field in coverage situations the better your run defense will be. I’ll keep beating the horse because our base is so bad teams will simply come out heavy and throw against a base d or they will run on your big nickle formation like the Patriots did to the Chargers. It’s not like our run defense was great last year anyways, so again getting better LBs on the field in all situations is imperative.
The other concern is that it’s not a seamless transition to just say “hey safety play LB”. Those guys have played with space historically so asking them to give up depth and take on blockers creates new opportunities to bust. It’s easy to say the fundamentals of some of the LB’s are sketchy, but how good of LB fundamentals do you think these safeties have?
