Elephant OLB/DE

[StevePatsFan]

Gholston looks like the OLB in the mix. CLong looks more like the true DE, but I'd love to see if he has the tools to play in coverage on a TE or RB.

I'm not sure why there's a call for pass rushing OLB talent. We have Colvin, Vrabel and Thomas, all at their prime, and three of the very best in the NFL. And Woods looks promising. If you're not seeing the number of sacks that you want out of this defensive front, realize that the pass rushers are responsible, first and foremost, for containing the run and preventing the scramble, then collapsing the pocket, and only then in getting the sack. That's just the scheme.

The real gap is ILB, where Bruschi is getting blocked off running plays way too easy, and Seau is just at the end of his run. Vrabel and Thomas have the smarts and athleticism to play inside, but they are natural on the outside. We need the interior run stopper that we've been calling for, for years. I just dont know who that's going to be. Laurinaitis or Maualuga?

I agree with you about most of this, but BB might really see AD as a Middle LB. Now of course we need more than just AD in the middle, and I am totally on board for drafting an AJ Hawk type Mike LB, I am just theorizing that if BB has to use that pick that high he might want to add a game changer off the edge with a pick that high.

 

[dryheat44]

Yeah? Your point? He's always been on the goal-line package.

Only in garbage time. He's never been in the goal-line while the game was in question. Never. That was (I think) a nine-point game at the time of the goal-line stand.

 

[spacecrime]

The real gap is ILB,

I agree. It's just that an Elephant OLD comes are very infrequently. Gholston is way too light for the position. (Gholston may be a great OLB, and a fine pick, but I was wondering about WMG position. Might not see another one for another ten years.

What I find interesting is that with Beck playing like crap, Miami may use the first pick on a QB. Sure, they'll screw it up, but it will leave the second pick wide open.

I know lots of people are saying to trade the pick, and I agree that is what I'd like, but it is hard to trade down from that high. It takes too much to move up to #2 from anywhere further than #8 or #9, and those teams usually wait to see what falls after 3 or 4 picks. We aren't the only guys that realize very little value can be had at #2.

Perhaps if Miami takes a QB, and another team wants teh other QB desperately, they might trade down.

But I'm still looking to see who we might take if no one will trade.

 

[BelichickFan]

Gholston is way too light for the position.

McGinest is listed at 6'5", 268; Gholston is listed at 6'4", 260. If those numbers are right I don't see what's way too light. Vrabel is 6'4", 261 - the Elephant was a Pete Carrol thing anyway, wasn't it ?

 

[PonyExpress]

top candidates seem to be Gholston, C. Long (if he proves agile enough) and D. Harvey, who measured in at 260 lbs this year, not the 250 he's listed at.

 

[dryheat44]

McGinest is listed at 6'5", 268; Gholston is listed at 6'4", 260. If those numbers are right I don't see what's way too light. Vrabel is 6'4", 261 - the Elephant was a Pete Carrol thing anyway, wasn't it ?

No, it was a Parcells/Belichick thing. With Carrol, Willie was a straight-up DE.

 

[BelichickFan]

No, it was a Parcells/Belichick thing. With Carrol, Willie was a straight-up DE.

It was here with Pete Carrol too, from a 1997 article :

"The underpinnings of this D will be Slade and McGinest, with the latter playing the "elephant," a role out of the 49ers' system in which a pass rusher constantly moves around on the line of scrimmage, looking for a crevice through which to attack the quarterback."

I still don't know why people think McGinest could play it but Vrabel (or Gholston) can't.

 

[dryheat44]

I still don't know why people think McGinest could play it but Vrabel (or Gholston) can't.

I agree. It's not like there's a height/weight requirement. Just high football IQ and sick athleticism. Colvin could do it for us. So could Harrison. Heck, Dan Klecko could come back and do it for us.

I don't know why the perception is out there that Belichick wants an elephant. There's only so many Lawrence Taylors in the world....and with today's drug testing I don't even know if Lawrence Taylor could be Lawrence Taylor.

I'm pretty sure Belichick would much rather have four linebackers, each of whom could be a dedicated pass rusher on any given play. His whole defense, unlike the Wade Phillips 3-4, is to not let the offense know where the blitzing linebacker is coming from. Having an elephant is counter-productive to that, unless he's so gifted that he can get the quarterback consistently with a neon sign over him that says "I'm Blitzing". Basically, in recent times, that's Lawrence Taylor and that Packers/Niners/Cowboys rushing specialist...Tim Harris? That doesn't sound right.