mayoclinic

Saying Barr and Ansah are the same kind of player is ridiculous.

Ansah is 6'6" 270# and many think he's playing upwards of 280#, and could play around 290#. He's fluid in space and plays standing up, but he's not going to be a coverage LB. He moves all around the front 7 including DT. He's JPP meets JJ Watt. There may be more space skills than either of those guys, but I doubt anyone will be drafting him to play OLB in the pros.

Barr is going to be a linebacker, whether in a 3-4 or a 4-3 scheme. Not a DE, except very situationally. He could bulk up and play 3-4 OLB, but he could very easily be a 4-3 WILL or SAM as well. He played safety in high school as well as RB, and he played a hybrid RB/FB/TE position at UCLA for 2 years. He's very fluid in space, and matches up very well with RBs and TEs, having played that position on offense (he could probably be used as a 2-way player in a limited role). He's a terrific speed rusher who has a great first step, but he's not a one trick pony by any means. In the Stanford game his role was mainly to shadow the TEs. I don't really care what his speed is listed as right now, it hasn't been timed, and he's shown in game situations that he can match up well with TEs like Zac Ertz - the kind of guys that give us fits. At 6'4" he has good length as well.

Personally, if I'm trying to take the Pats' defense to the next level, I'm looking to add some pieces that will give me optimum versatility. Adding Ansah and Barr in addition to what we already have does that. Ansah could move inside on NASCAR packages with Ninkovich or Hightower at LDE and Barr at OLB. Hightower could play SAM, move inside to MLB for Spikes in situations requiring more coverage, or move up to DE. Barr could play a hybrid LB/S role in some situations, and move up to DE in others. We could play 1-6 amoeboid formations with guys standing up and not knowing who is coming up and who is staying back, since all of Ansah, Barr, Hightower, Mayo, Spikes and Jones can drop into coverage or rush. And there's tremendous depth in case of injuries, which have tested us the past several years.

I think it's exactly what we need.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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patsfaninpa

I see a different player when I watch Barr. Anyone can "drop" into coverage. Does he have the hips to turn and run with a te or rb? I don't see it.

Merril Hoge's Tie Knot

But Hightower, Barr, and Ninkovich are all similar players. That's why I don't think it's a need. I think it's a luxury we can afford. I'd still take him at 62. He's be two good to pass up. This is all hypothetical because he's a first rounder.

mayoclinic

?

I don't see Hightower and Barr as similar at all.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Merril Hoge's Tie Knot

They don't look similar, but are they not both versatile OLBs that can rush the edge/blitz? I don't think he's much like David. That might be why we feel differently. He's the PAC-12's Jarvis Jones IMO.

I'm having trouble seeing them all take the field regularly. Maybe if I thought Chandler was better suited to move inside in the Nascar. Then you could go Nink-Ansah-Jones-Hightower with Mayo and Barr out back, but that's crazy.

manxman2601

This I agree with.

mayoclinic

Again, I don't think he's like Jarvis Jones at all. I think that UCLA uses him a lot to pass rush, but he has much more coverage ability than Jones. Against Stanford UCLA used him almost exclusively to shadow the TEs. He also has good physicality for his frame - UCLA averaged something like 227 YPG rushing when he played blocking FB last year, which was cut almost in half when he missed some time with an ankle injury.

I think you could do a lot of stuff with Barr because of his combined ability to come on the blitz as a pass rusher or drop into coverage effectively. Personally, at this point I don't think you need them all to take the field regularly to get value from them. The 49ers may have 10 guys play 90% of the defensive snaps, but we haven't had that kind of history. I'd rather have guys rotate in and out to stay fresh and have multiple starting caliber guys in case of injury. So far this season Ninkovich has played around 84% of the defensive snaps, Spikes around 75%, Jones around 68% and Hightower around 46%. Some of that's been due to injuries. But I think there's room to rotate guys in and get value from them, without playing 90%+ of the snaps like Mayo or McCourty. JMHO.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Merril Hoge's Tie Knot

I don't think you can spend first rounders on rotational players. It's a poor allocation of resources.

In your fantasy draft when you get him a 62, that's fine. I already said I'd do that, but it's fantasy.

mayoclinic

If I spent I 1st on Barr, it would be with the plan of moving Hightower to LDE. In this scenario I would have Ansah at LDE. Using a late 2nd on Barr as a rotational guy with the versatility to play different roles is another matter. BB's shown that he values that kind of versatility to the value of a mid/late 2nd round pick (see: Shane Vereen; Tavon Wilson).

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Snake Eyes

The Bills have mentioned that they are looking for a QB and wont be afraid to trade up for him. Also, I think the Raiders might be interested, Palmer is pretty washed up, and Mallet would be a great fit with his cannon arm to get the ball downfield to their speed receivers.

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