Ochmed Jones

Could he work in our defense?

If we move Wilfork to DE and let Love take over at NT, we could stand Miller up on Wilfork's outside shoulder on Mayo's side of the defense.

What does that do? If makes running that way really hard (by going through Wilfork and Mayo, with presumably Chung filling), even though Miller does not project as a sturdy run stopper and it upgrades pass rushing, via Miller, nearly 100% over Ninkovich or TBC while also improving coverage, again via Miller.

The other side of the defense would have Ty Warren with some combination of Cunningham, Spikes, Guyton, Ninkovich and Fletcher.

The suddenness of Miller coming off the edge would cause opposing offenses to slide coverage which opens huge lanes for Spikes or Guyton or Fletcher to blitz through.

So could OLB Miller work in our defense?

everlong

I posted this in another thread but to add to your thoughts.

Von Miller, LB, Texas A&M: It might be too easy to put Miller on this list, but with all of the hype leading up to this week in Mobile, the A&M linebacker still had to show up and play. He did get a chance to display his ability to rush off of the edge in one-on-ones and you can see his natural speed and athletic ability when he is playing in space—because he can close on the ball carrier. That’s very noticeable. However, what stood out even more was watching Miller drop into coverage. He moves like a strong safety playing the curl-to-flat reads in Cover 3. How high does he go? It is still early in this process, but the talk down in Mobile had Miller pegged as a legit top ten pick after this week. If he tests well in Indy, we should see that happen.

Five players that stood out at the Senior Bowl | National Football Post

SENIOR BOWL PRACTICE, TUESDAY: When watching tight ends, it is nearly impossible not to also watch a team's linebackers, both in their ability to hold up against run blocking, as well as in coverage. The top linebacker on the field today was Texas A&M star Von Miller--and that's not even considering his work as a pass rusher in one-on-one drills. Miller surprised scouts at Monday's weigh-in with his thick lower body, which he used to hold up Williams and Stocker when man-up on run plays. His coverage skills are what really stood out, though, as the quick Williams could not separate from Miller on out routes because of the former Aggie's own lateral agility and speed. A linebacker with Miller's closing speed to the quarterback, who also can be effective in coverage, is destined for a slot in the top 20 overall selections. - Chad Reuter, NFLDraftScout.com

Von Miller, Texas A&M, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com

With his 6' 2-3" and 240-245 depending on the source I had kind of written him off for the Patriots and if he's going in the top ten I probably still can but if he's able to gain leverage on the edge in the run game and drop into coverage and has that elite burst along with several pass moves I have to wonder if that moves him into the conversation. Cameron Wake is 6' 3" 250 and does a good, not great, job against the run. 5-10 pounds in the NFL conditioning program....

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convertedpatsfan

There would be a lot of "ifs" involved.

First, Miller would have to drop to a point where we could even draft him.

Love at NT didn't look pretty at times. Of course it was also his rookie season, and he could make a huge leap in the off-season, but again, another "if."

I like Wilfork at end. If we can't get good value on a DE, I wonder if BB would contemplate taking a DT like Phil Taylor and move Wilfork out to DE. That presents another question though of how he'd handle the move full-time, not to mention the questions surrounding a rookie DT.

And the other thing about Miller is he can't set the edge consistently right now. But just because a guy can't do something doesn't mean he couldn't learn and improve. He just hasn't had to do it often.

From what I've read, he's not just an athlete, but works hard, has good technique, and is very coachable. He's improved dramatically over the past year, so while there are certain holes in his game, we shouldn't say that it will always be that way.

So I wouldn't be against it if he dropped in the draft, but he'd have to drop a lot before we got a chance at him, and even then, we probably still wouldn't draft him.

Sciz

If the goal is to have a truly elite defense, and I think that's always the case with BB, then the plan should not be to cover up a weak link by putting him next to a strong link, but to have multiple strong links. Miller next to Wilfork isn't nearly as good against the run as Vrabel next to Seymour. We should be striving for the later, not the former.

Seneschal2

They played opposite sides.

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Sciz

You get the point

NePatriots

It is standard practice for the Patriots to shade towards their ROLB in the run game. I don't like Von Miller for the Pats 3-4, but Ochmed's premise is not off base.

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TheBaronPatriot

One piece that is often discounted here is the player's work ethic. Is he a selfless team first guy? Does he work hard? Does he a have a desire to learn? Does he love the game?

Given all these I think the answer is yes and don't see why he couldn't learn to set the edge given coaching.

But I think his draft position is going to be really affected by his 40 time. If he runs in the 4.7s we may have a chance at him - but if he runs a 4.5 he's probably out of reach.

Another aspect of this angle is that he has shown remarkable abilities as a coverage man with very little experience. So we would have the flexibility to use him in coverage as well as a rushing the qb.

MaineMan

So, to me it sounds like you're proposing to have 7-8 in the box on every play in order to accomodate ONE new player who may or may not turn out to be a stud pass-rusher in the NFL. And we'd have to spend a significant chunk of our existing picks to move up to get him?

Ochmed Jones

This situation is only possible IF Miller falls to #17. Again IF Miler fell to #17, BB's phone will be ringing off the hook, but if BB is serious about fielding the best team possible, he has to consider Miller at #17 even if Miller is not a 100% fit.