04-04-2020, 10:19 PM
(04-03-2020, 11:28 AM)Synric Wrote: I'm not as high on the big 3 linebackers like everyone else.
Zack Baun is an edge defender that wants to switch to stack linebacker.
Patrick Queen is a solid coverage linebacker but is slow to read the run and his lack of length shows up in missed tackles in space.
Kenneth Murray is out of control he is all athleticism. Bad angles poor tackling and we have no idea what he will look like in coverage because Oklahoma rarely asked him to do it.
I think the guy that is criminally underrated is Troy Dye. We are talking about one of the better linebackers over the last 3 seasons. He has been a top coverage linebackers in college football, very good as a blitzer, and a tackling machine. His 2019 tape isn't as good as the previous two years is why he's falling but he also was playing with a broken thumb in a clubbed glove and a partially torn meniscus even then he still graded out as PFFs second highest linebacker 90.5.
I think your assessment of other linebackers is too critical.
1.) We are transitioning to a hybrid 3-4 and need a Sam. Either Sam Hubbard or Dunlap will take the second DE (Reader - NT, Atkins - DE) - probably Dunlap. With Hubbard outside, we have Bynes and Pratt (Pratt will most likely be the hybrid backer considering he transitioned to LB from safety) at MLB, and nothing else unless you want to start Lawson in the base.
2.) In nickel packages, Lawson will most likely be taken off the field allowing Hubbard to blitz and Bynes and Pratt to play coverage.
3.) Lawson is supposedly a liability in the run, so why would he even be playing in the base.
4.) Bynes is supposedly good in the run but not good in coverage.
5.) So our weaknesses are MLB in coverage and OLB against the run.
I would be happy if the Bengals chose Dye, but I don't think his film is as good as you remember - he is athletic and looks like a decent MLB but he does allow players to get open in coverage. I would rather pick him in the third.
Bynes is old - Queen would probably be an upgrade in the long run but is not an immediate need.
Murray plays the same position as Pratt.
Baun would be a better pick considering he is tailor made for a 3-4 sam and looks decent enough to play coverage in the NFL to keep him in the nickel while taking Bynes out. I see him as a more immediate need and I would not say we would be overreaching if he was still there whereas Dye would be a reach, imo. Queen shows more upside and would fit a need that will be an issue in one or two years. It might be smart to trade Lawson.
