Ninkovich and Jones - Over 90% of Reps - Has Anything Changed?

Perhaps, Buchanan will come in a bit more often.

To me, the hope is Will Smith. Otherwise, we are again very, very weak in base DE depth.

If Smith has anything left, he can provide some relief for the starters. At very least, he could be an inactive player, an insurance policy in case of a serious injury.

I think Dominique Easley is the best bet to change those numbers.

What's changed is the base is a 3-4 now and Ninkovich and Jones will be playing mostly OLB, which Hightower will significantly contribute to that rotation.

All I know is, if Chandler Jones plays like he did the other night at OLB, keep him in as much as possible.

mgteich said:

Perhaps, Buchanan will come in a bit more often.

To me, the hope is Will Smith. Otherwise, we are again very, very weak in base DE depth.

If Smith has anything left, he can provide some relief for the starters. At very least, he could be an inactive player, an insurance policy in case of a serious injury.

Click to expand...

Will Smith in the base, which is the perfect role for him, and why I think he was brought here.
People viewing him as a pass rush specialist don't know the player. He could be effective though in the small DT pass rusher role in dime.
Buchanan looks like the guy to back up in sub.
Bequette would be the other choice, but yuck.

I think there is another way to go, but IMO, while it may he may be the best player for the spot, its not the best way to use him, and that is playing Easley at DE in the 43 base.
Personally, I do not want to see Easley ever lined up outside the outside shoulder of a G, and I would like to see his snaps in the base limited so that he can be most effective in the 60% of the snaps we are in sub.

Marqui said:

What's changed is the base is a 3-4 now and Ninkovich and Jones will be playing mostly OLB, which Hightower will significantly contribute to that rotation.

Click to expand...

I do not see this happening in the regular season, for a multitude of reasons.
I think most of the board feels the same way, and I think that MGs question is based upon that.

Given your answer, who is going to rush the passer?

AndyJohnson said:

I do not see this happening in the regular season, for a multitude of reasons.
I think most of the board feels the same way, and I think that MGs question is based upon that.

Given your answer, who is going to rush the passer?

Click to expand...

Jones, Kelly, Easley, Ninkovich, Hightower.

Marqui said:

Jones, Kelly, Easley, Ninkovich, Hightower.

Click to expand...

You want to play a defense that only allows one of these 3 to rush, while another is in coverage and a 3rd is on the bench.
It also asks Easley to rush against an OT instead of a G where he would be 100% more effective. Same with Tommy Kelly.
Your plan would give us the worst pass rush we have had in a decade.(in base D without blitzing a ton)

Darius Fleming seems like he might get some snaps if Nink needs a breather.

At Notre Dame he played both 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE. In his 4 years there he had 32 TFL and 14.5 sacks.

He also came on some in his last two years in coverage as a 3-4 OLB.

JMC00 said:

Darius Fleming seems like he might get some snaps if Nink needs a breather.

At Notre Dame he played both 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE. In his 4 years there he had 32 TFL and 14.5 sacks.

He also came on some in his last two years in coverage as a 3-4 OLB.

Click to expand...

I'm hoping to see Hightower in this role, as I think he's stronger than Fleming, but I haven't seen him in this role except in passing situations, so that's a projection akin to those who put Cannon in as our starting guard.

We saw Jones and Nink become less effective late in the year and many hope they will have a more balanced rotation. A reasonable concern as it is not yet clear who that might be.

Joey007 said:

All I know is, if Chandler Jones plays like he did the other night at OLB, keep him in as much as possible.

Click to expand...

Someone put up the All22 from the Steelers game last year and he was stood up a lot in that game too and was causing havoc, having that running start seems to really suit him.

patchick said:

I think Dominique Easley is the best bet to change those numbers.

Click to expand...

It seems not.

I still don't have Moore making the roster.

As has been stated, Hightower and Fleming could get some DE reps.

mgteich said:

To me, the hope is Will Smith.

Click to expand...

So much for that hope.

Well since jones is about to have 20 sacks this year...just keep him in 24/7

mgteich said:

It seems not.

Click to expand...

Are you concluding that Easley won't be getting DE snaps because Kelly was cut? It seems like a pretty big leap to me, especially given that Smith was cut as well.

patchick said:

Are you concluding that Easley won't be getting DE snaps because Kelly was cut? It seems like a pretty big leap to me, especially given that Smith was cut as well.

Click to expand...

It is not a dis on Easley. I think that he will be our starting DT, replacing Kelly in almost all set where kelly would have played. Considering that most of us thought of Kelly as the clear #2 DT, I see replacing kelly as "enough" of a role for Kelly.

I don't see Easley as a DE.

mgteich said:

I still don't have Moore making the roster...

Click to expand...

I didn't either, until the Fresh Prince was released today.

Y'all forget that Worthy plays best as a penetrating DT. More so than Easly who has swung both ways as both a DT and DE.

Plus Chris and Joe may not be quite the chopped liver of raw rookies, forced to play all the snaps.