Do We Need A New LB Coach To Develop The Kids?

[DarrylS]

The question posed is do we need a new LB coach?? We have one, Jerod Mayo, is it a given the he will be gone??

Previous to this year always thought Bentley was a role player... not an every down player.

 

[Steve102]

The question posed is do we need a new LB coach?? We have one, Jerod Mayo, is it a given the he will be gone??

Previous to this year always thought Bentley was a role player... not an every down player.

I think we need to go out of house, yes.

 

[masterbouncer]

Apologies if I have got this wrong but I looked at the Game Book team stats on the Pats website for Bentley over 16 games. (played in 16 , did not play in one.

For tackles and assists Bentley lead the team in 6 games and in another 5 , he was in the top 5. I am aware from others posts that stats dont always show a true picture of a players skill etc.

I am not trying to give Bentley a boost and he is very slow and poor in coverage. But maybe the stats do show that he could be a player for specific downs ???

On the other hand if he gets cut or does not make the team others will get a chance

and thats fine as long as he is on a cheap rookie contract or a low value contract extended, but not if he is demanding 5M+ a year or something in that range, you can get such players as UDFA as well to play only a specific role in a system (run def), the price is the leading decision maker on him as he will be FA and I hope the Pats don't pay him a Wise contract, like 6M in the books for nothing

 

[50-yard-line]

You nailed it. All this athleticism and his play declined. Same with Winovich. Both are cheap, so I guess it doesn’t hurt to keep them but if someone offered up a 5th or higher, I take it and move on.

Winovich, sure - he's on his last year. Uche? Not a chance. With both of them, the problem is that they're not getting the most out of their talent.

If the pats are dangling them for a 5th each, I'm grabbing them, and tossing in a seventh for Harry, as well.

how many times do we have to see BB grab a player who simply isn't being used correctly, only to turn that guy into something really good, at least short term - Ayers, Hicks, Vrabel, Simon, etc. - before we realize that this team, too, isn't immune from misusing their own players?

 

[Sciz]

Apologies if I have got this wrong but I looked at the Game Book team stats on the Pats website for Bentley over 16 games. (played in 16 , did not play in one.

For tackles and assists Bentley lead the team in 6 games and in another 5 , he was in the top 5. I am aware from others posts that stats dont always show a true picture of a players skill etc.

I am not trying to give Bentley a boost and he is very slow and poor in coverage. But maybe the stats do show that he could be a player for specific downs ???

On the other hand if he gets cut or does not make the team others will get a chance

I think it's bigger than Bentley himself in that the decision to re-sign Bentley or not could be the most obvious sign of whether the defense will continue to be what it has been (built around power, to put it very, very simply) or whether they'll use this upcoming offseason as an opportunity to look for something different from their linebackers and adjust the whole defense accordingly. As long as Bentley is paid well enough for him to choose to re-sign with the Patriots, it's unlikely that we'd see a drastic philosophical change away from his playing style.

 

[holyredeemer]

Winovich, sure - he's on his last year. Uche? Not a chance. With both of them, the problem is that they're not getting the most out of their talent.

If the pats are dangling them for a 5th each, I'm grabbing them, and tossing in a seventh for Harry, as well.

how many times do we have to see BB grab a player who simply isn't being used correctly, only to turn that guy into something really good, at least short term - Ayers, Hicks, Vrabel, Simon, etc. - before we realize that this team, too, isn't immune from misusing their own players?

Neither one of them fit what we do. Neither can set the edge. Which is a hard requirement to see the field. If BB plans on changing things up to get a better use of their talents, then I’d be all for it. I like both players. They’re tweeners without a home here. Don’t know why we’d keep them to just warm up the bench. I guess their speed is great playing scout team d to prepare our offense.

 

[Sciz]

These are the linebacker coaches (or ILB for those that are split) who are more likely to be available this offseason, since their head coaches have been fired:

Charlie Strong (Jaguars ILBs & AHC)
Reggie Herring (Broncos)
Adam Zimmer (Vikings LBs & co-DC)
Bill McGovern (Bears ILBs)
Anthony Campanile (Dolphins)
Kevin Sherrer (Giants)
Miles Smith (Texans)
Richard Smith (Raiders)

Strong and Sherrer will likely go back to college, given that they probably only came up to the NFL due to their prior experiences working with Urban Meyer and Joe Judge, respectively. Herring is 62 years old with 16 years in the NFL, all as LB coach, for four different teams. Zimmer and Miles Smith will probably both follow their dads. McGovern spent his early career touring the colleges of Massachusetts (Holy Cross, UMass, and BC) before mostly working in the NFL since 2013. Campanile is a great match on paper (played for Schiano at Rutgers, coached Uche at Michigan, coached for Flores in Miami), but Flores seems like the most likely of these head coaches to get re-hired. Richard Smith was the defensive coordinator that allowed 28-3 to happen and has been Gus Bradley's LB coach with the Chargers (2017-2020) and Raiders (2021) since then.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

A coach is like a chef.

even a Michelin chef needs decent ingredients to cook a great meal.

right now Mayo is working with Taco Bell ingredients and asked to turn that into a Michelin award worthy meal.

houston, we have a problem!

ps: even jets coaches have better ingredients to work with than Mayo. It’s just that jets coaches are literally former Taco Bell short order cooks!

 

[captain stone]

To answer the title question: Yes.

Bill needs to replace HALF of his defense, including coaches.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

He needs more TALENT GUYS

 

[captain stone]

He needs more TALENT GUYS

He needs Both.

 

[DaBruinz]

KVN - His season was a roller coaster this year. First couple of games he was ok.. Then he went to crap. Then it seemed they talked to him and he did a 180 and played well for a half dozen games, then he went to crap again.

I don't want him back.. I think that he's got too much of a mouth and that he influences the younger players too much..

Hightower should retire. He went from mediocre to start the season to just bad. Never thought I'd see the day when he had so many missed tackles..

Bentley - he's a free agent in a year where the Patriots have a much bigger priority in JC Jackson. Getting Jackson signed to a long term deal is a MUST. It has to be the #1 Priority for the Front office. I have zero issue with him walking.

Collins - I didn't want him brought back. He had 1 good play (the athletic interception) during his time and then he disappeared for the remainder of the season. His walking will be addition by subtraction in my honest opinion.

Winovich - The kid has talent and energy. The question is whether or not he's got the brain. I thought the Pats would transition him to ILB ala Bruschi, which would put his talents to better use. They haven't done that and he's been the 4th DE, playing more on ST than on DEF when he was healthy.

Uche - Kid had a long stint on the IR and then COVID before being "healthy" for the last 2 regular season games and the final game against the Bills. He's another one that has a ton of talent and energy.. But seems lost at times. I don't know if it's a lack of ability to recognize plays or the Patriots not using him right. On his rookie deal, so there is still time to save him if he's capable of being saved.

McMillan - he was the best ILB in camp. He showed the speed and awareness that should be a difference maker in 2022, provided he's got all his mobility back. Picked up the defense like a fish in water. Showed the ability to wear the green dot on the field. Pats signed him to a 2 year extension despite the injury..

McGrone/Perkins - McGrone spent the year on IR as expected so he's an unknown. As is Perkins, since they are transitioning him to being a pure OLB (not OLB/DEin the Judon mode).

Jennings - Not terribly fast. Season was lost to IR after a tumultuous COVID 2020 season. As with Uche and Winovich, he's on a cheap rookie deal so that's a bonus..

A big body to sit next to Barmore on the D-line will go a long way to helping the LB corps.


COACHING: You have Steve Belichick coaching the OLBs and Mayo on the ILBs. I don't know who coaches players like Judon/Van Noy who are Hybrids. Whether it's Covington or Steven. Steven was successful when he coached the DBs. DMac and others acknowledged that. As many say, you can't coach speed, and a lack of speed seems to be one of the biggest issues with the likes of Van Noy, Bentley and Hightower. Collins has the speed, but not the drive that's needed.

 

[DaBruinz]

He needs more TALENT GUYS

Talent without brains means nothing.

 

[DaBruinz]

The question posed is do we need a new LB coach?? We have one, Jerod Mayo, is it a given the he will be gone??

Previous to this year always thought Bentley was a role player... not an every down player.

Actually, the Pats have TWO LB coaches. One for ILB (Mayo) and one for OLB (Steven). No. It's not a given that Mayo is gone.