12-08-2020, 01:59 PM
Our entire defense has looked pretty bad, but I think the hardest position to evaluate is LB.
With DBs sometimes you can't tell who has made a mistake in a blown coverage, but you can still see how a guy can cover when he is locked up on a receiver.
It is hard to judge DTs by their raw stats because sometimes they are just required to maintain their run fit assignment or eat up blockers, but you can still see who can shed blockers, hold their ground, and/or beat O-linemen one-on-one.
But LBs often look lost or our of position because of the scheme or their assignment. And a lot of broken tackles are caused by not being squared up in the hole and/or having to attempt arm tackles. Also LBs often get washed out of a play because the D-linemen are not keeping them clean of blockers.
A lot of people want to blame the D-line for most of the problems stopping the run game, but I have seen a lot of plays against the Bengal defense where the yardage gained is due to the RB cutting back into a wide open portion of the field. That is usually a problem with LBs instead of D-line. But again it is hard to say why the LBs are not there to make the tackle.
Other than Bynes we have a very young LB corps. Josh has played the most snaps (71%) but Germaine Pratt, in only his second season is next (61%) followed by two rookies, Logan Wilson (41%) and Akeem Davis-Gaither (28%). Right now it is hard to say if LB is a major need or not because it is hard to evaluate the play of these LBs.
Thoughts?
With DBs sometimes you can't tell who has made a mistake in a blown coverage, but you can still see how a guy can cover when he is locked up on a receiver.
It is hard to judge DTs by their raw stats because sometimes they are just required to maintain their run fit assignment or eat up blockers, but you can still see who can shed blockers, hold their ground, and/or beat O-linemen one-on-one.
But LBs often look lost or our of position because of the scheme or their assignment. And a lot of broken tackles are caused by not being squared up in the hole and/or having to attempt arm tackles. Also LBs often get washed out of a play because the D-linemen are not keeping them clean of blockers.
A lot of people want to blame the D-line for most of the problems stopping the run game, but I have seen a lot of plays against the Bengal defense where the yardage gained is due to the RB cutting back into a wide open portion of the field. That is usually a problem with LBs instead of D-line. But again it is hard to say why the LBs are not there to make the tackle.
Other than Bynes we have a very young LB corps. Josh has played the most snaps (71%) but Germaine Pratt, in only his second season is next (61%) followed by two rookies, Logan Wilson (41%) and Akeem Davis-Gaither (28%). Right now it is hard to say if LB is a major need or not because it is hard to evaluate the play of these LBs.
Thoughts?
