Linebacker Alignment-Poll

I have heard a number of different scenarios for their LB alignment this season and i am wondering what the overall take on it is? How will they line them up?


Damn, I had the first option picked and when I went to post it changed it to number 3.

I have Mayo as the MIKE, Collins WILL and Hightower as the SAM

I don't know if a mod can change my vote to option 1 but would love it if they could?

Not all options are available. My preferred and probable is Mayo Will, Hightower Mike, and Collins Sam.

AzPatsFan said:

Not all options are available. My preferred and probable is Mayo Will, Hightower Mike, and Collins Sam.

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Mayo was playing Will at the start of the season last year and Collins looks to be more of a coverage LB, thus he would be covering TEs as the Sam. Hightower's natural position in college was Mike and he played some MLB last year.

My preferred option would be:

Mayo-Collins

Anderson & Hightower can spell them, Hightower can also come in for Ninkovich at times as a DE too.

AzPatsFan said:

Not all options are available. My preferred and probable is Mayo Will, Hightower Mike, and Collins Sam.

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Yeah if Hightower is lining up at LB, that would be my preference. Otherwise, if Anderson shows enough to bump him down to DE on the majority of passing downs, my preference would be Anderson - Will, Mayo - Mike, Collins - Sam. It puts the two most athletic LB's on the outside to maximize their coverage abilities and Mayo in a spot where he doesn't have to cover as much while still being able to call the plays for the front seven.

Big-T said:

My preferred option would be:

Mayo-Collins

Anderson & Hightower can spell them, Hightower can also come in for Ninkovich at times as a DE too.

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I imagine this will be the most common LB allignment with all the nickel and dime packages the defense is likely to be playing

I think the most effective alignment would be –

Sam LB – Hightower
Mike LB – Mayo
Will LB – Collins

For some reason however, I think Belichick disagrees and will go with –

Sam LB – Collins
Mike LB – Hightower
Will LB – Mayo

Like I said last year ... just call it a 6-5 or 5-6 defense and move on from those old terms.

They will line up alphabetically by height.

Brady6 said:

I think the most effective alignment would be –

Sam LB – Hightower
Mike LB – Mayo
Will LB – Collins

For some reason however, I think Belichick disagrees and will go with –

Sam LB – Collins
Mike LB – Hightower
Will LB – Mayo

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Either of these would be effective in a base defense. In sub I'd like to see Hightower compete for DE reps, Collins/Mayo as the LBs, and Anderson compete for reps as a hybrid LB/S.

This is one of the great questions we are going to be looking for when we all traipse down to Foxboro for TC. I have a couple of thoughts

I can see us using Mayo in the middle and Hightower at the Sam against some teams, and Hightower in the middle and Mayo at the Will against others. It will depend on the match ups.

I also feel that we are going to see some kind of 4-2-5 most of the time as a base alignment. Sometimes that "5" will include a LB and sometimes not. It will depend on again on the match ups.

Its interesting, both Collins and Hightower can both be effective as edge rushers. Who knows. Perhaps we might see some more 3-4 this year with Hightower and Collins coming off the edge as OLB's. There are some many possible alignments. You don't have to worry. Pick one...any one, and you'll probably see it at some point.

mayoclinic said:

Either of these would be effective in a base defense. In sub I'd like to see Hightower compete for DE reps, Collins/Mayo as the LBs, and Anderson compete for reps as a hybrid LB/S.

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Honestly in my opinion if we were to use any player as a DE in sub packages I would want it to be Collins. He is the most explosive defensive player we have and if you put him at LE against a slow footed RT he would win that matchup 99.9% of the time.

Brady6 said:

Honestly in my opinion if we were to use any player as a DE in sub packages I would want it to be Collins. He is the most explosive defensive player we have and if you put him at LE against a slow footed RT he would win that matchup 99.9% of the time.

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I think he'd get eaten alive against NFL tackles lining up ON the line, if Collins is pass rushing I want him coming from a few yards back where he can be up to speed and use his true athletic ability to sneak between the guard/center and blow up the RB, we saw that more than a few times late last year and I personally believe thats his most effective role as a pass rusher.

I just don't see him as an on-the-line defender, LOVE him blitzing up the middle though.

strngplyr said:

I think he'd get eaten alive against NFL tackles lining up ON the line, if Collins is pass rushing I want him coming from a few yards back where he can be up to speed and use his true athletic ability to sneak between the guard/center and blow up the RB, we saw that more than a few times late last year and I personally believe thats his most effective role as a pass rusher.

I just don't see him as an on-the-line defender, LOVE him blitzing up the middle though.

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I agree with this. I don't think Collins is strong enough to be a line player, whereas Hightower is; but I agree that Collins could be a devastating blitzer. With a NASCAR line of Ninkovich-Easley-Jones-Hightower and with Mayo and Anderson as a hybrid LB/S there's tremendous potential for blitzing Collins, or getting creative with fire zone blitzes and dropping one of the ends into zone coverage. Anderson allows you to blitz Collins and still be able to match up TEs with a LB.

I love the thought of Easley exploding off the snap and Collins following him right up the middle on a delayed blitz. There should be plenty of opportunities to create nightmarish mismatches.

strngplyr said:

I think he'd get eaten alive against NFL tackles lining up ON the line, if Collins is pass rushing I want him coming from a few yards back where he can be up to speed and use his true athletic ability to sneak between the guard/center and blow up the RB, we saw that more than a few times late last year and I personally believe thats his most effective role as a pass rusher.

I just don't see him as an on-the-line defender, LOVE him blitzing up the middle though.

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He single handedly blew up both the center and the guard on a B-gap blitz against the Colts in the divisional game. In all, I agree with this stance and have since before 2013.

In base it is quite simple but since most snaps are in sub my guess is that Mayo and Collins will get the majority of the reps in a 4-2-5 alignment with Hightower and Anderson joining in from time to time.

Mayo seems more of an MLB by orientation, while Hightower seems more like on OLB. By that I mean Mayo is the solid guy who won't let any play past him, while Hightower wants to make the "big" plays. So notwithstanding measurables, I can see a base with Mayo in the middle and Hightower on the outside.

But as people have been pointing out, sub is a bigger consideration these days than base anyway. I'd further note that when there are a lot of sub downs, guys rotate at certain roles, especially the ones up front. So if we hypothesize a 4-2-5 standard sub package, where the 5 are guys who'd be listed as DBs on anybody's depth chart and the 2 are (injuries permitting) faster LBs, then the 4 are likely to have a lot of guys rotating in and out, be it Wilfork on the inside (I can't see him playing all sub snaps and I can't see him playing none)or a variety of rushers at the ends.

What's more, if at least one of the 4 is a guy who could conceivably drop back in coverage, such as Hightower, BB will be all the happier.

But to Ken's point -- yes, against teams with good TEs that Browner isn't assigned to cover, I can envision a "base" defense with sub concepts, but with Collins playing a DB's role.

I don't see Hightower as having the quickness to be consistently good in coverage. If Anderson plays well, he might push Hightower into more of a rotational role. Perhaps Collins/Anderson might be our best set of Lbers for a coverage nickel package.

Don't get me wrong, I like Hightower but I feel Mike is his most natural position.

Fencer said:

Mayo seems more of an MLB by orientation, while Hightower seems more like on OLB. By that I mean Mayo is the solid guy who won't let any play past him, while Hightower wants to make the "big" plays. So notwithstanding measurables, I can see a base with Mayo in the middle and Hightower on the outside.

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Same conclusion, different logic.
Mayo belongs in the middle because he excels at the #1 skill of a top MLB, reading and instinctively getting to the right spot. He plays fast for a LB and can make plays sideline to sideline.
Hightower is an enormous LB who can do everything you need in a SAM, taking on the TE, setting the edge, playing strong at the point of attack.

With the base defense becoming more and more rare I expect more weird stuff like a 4-2 or 5-2. The 4-3 "base" might be used like 15- 25% of the time.