AndyJohnson

This was brought up in another thread but I think it warrants its own.
When Wilfork was drafted there was talk of him playing DE. He played there some last season.
Seynour started as a NT and was moved to DE because he could have more impact there. (Warren also started on the nose, but under different circumstances)
Brace is back, and of course there are miles and miles to go before we can be comfortable that he belongs on the field, but on the day he was drafted he was expected to be a stout run defender.
There is alredy an ongoing discussion about him at DE, however, he would definitely be better inside.
Assuming Brace is one of our 3 best run defending DL by the end of preseason, would BB play him on the nose and move Wilfork to DE?
I'm not taking a side either way on this yet, pimarily because I just havent seen enough of Brace to judge him, but I have no doubt that Wilfork can be effective at DE.
Thoughts?

mgteich

I have no question with regard to Wilfork being effective at DE. However, he is all-pro at NT. It would indeed great if Brace was so good at NT that we couldn't afford to keep him out of the starting lineup.

Personally, I just don't see Brace with that kind of potential.

BelichickFan

I would never hurt our up the middle run defense to put Vince on one side. I know they did it for a specific matcup agaisnt Miami but this doesn't interest me at all. Having Wilfork, Mayo, Spikes up the middle and largely forcing teams to run outside of the Guards is a great start to the run defense even if there are problems further out.

AndyJohnson

He doesnt need to be another Wilfork, just an effective space eater, who can hold the los vsthe double. (I know that is saying a lot)
With Wilfork and Warren flanking him and Mayo and Spikes behind him, holding his ground will be plenty.

Frezo

What would VW be doing differently than at NT?

AndyJohnson

If those 2 are on the field together, you would like the man over the T to be the more mobile one, both because of potentially having a larger area of the field to defend, and for pass rushing. I wouldn't expect Wilfork to be a great pass rusher, but I can see him bull ruishing some Ts one on one. He also wont be neutralized by doubleteams in the running game.

Frezo

So he would likely have to utilize more lateral movement at times?

Fencer

I think Wilfork's understanding of the defense, technique, etc. are solid enough by now that he could, at least in theory, play DE at a very high level. And he surely has most of the physical skill set as well.

So this could be different from efforts like Vrabel at ILB, Thomas at ILB, or Faulk as feature back.

My concern would be pass rushing skills -- but would the team's pass rush be any better with, say, Wilfork at NT and a revived Brace at DE than vice-versa?

So yeah -- it's not a ridiculous possibility.

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RayClay

Suppose it depends on where Brace hurts you least. Wilfork is very athletic. Brace has long arms. Without Seymour and Warren, I don't think any combinations are out of the picture depending on matchups.

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RayClay

Wilfork would have some pass rushing ability, he used to be fairly fast. Brace would probably be like watching the slow motion replay, except it would be in real time.

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