I just have to laugh when I hear people say that former DE lacks toughness and grit. I think that too many people are using Tedy Bruschi as the gauge for Monty Beisel, but are expecting Beisel to be where Bruschi is today, not where Bruschi was after he was moved full time to OLB.
Now, that being said, I agree that Beisel needs to work on his tackling. I was blown away at how he would try and wrap up RBs high and try to bring them down as if they were a steer. Most times, they would break the tackle. Beisel was undersized when he got here weighing only 238 lbs. He needed to add a good 15 lbs to be effective so there was no way he was brought in to replace Ted Johnson. And it would be a fallacy on anyone's part who thought that. Beisel, from what I saw, wouldn't explode into his tackles. Maybe it was because of a lack of leg strength, I don't know.
I disagree that Beisel was slow to react. He may have been given up on plays, but I've seen a LOT of players including guys like Brady, Branch, Givens, and O-linemen give up on interceptions because they KNOW there is no way they are going to catch that player.
Beisel doesn't have BLAZING speed. And no one ever claimed he did.
I think that Beisel can be a very good special teamer and a Solid, but not spectacular reserve player. I honestly feel much more comfortable with the thought of Beisel coming off the bench than Izzo.