Larry English or Clay Matthews

[captain stone]

Another poss. reason:
BB has had chances to draft/sign UVA LBs in the past, and has passed each time.

 

[dryheat44]

Here's some reasons:

- Sintim is athletically limited.
- Sintim has stiff hips and appears to have limited ball skills and coverage ability.
- Sinitm has experience but his ceiling is probably not very high.
- 3-4 OLB experience may not necessarily mean that Sintim won't have a big learning curve with BB's playbook and complex schemes.
- Sintim may be better suited to 3-4 SILB where he will have to learn a new position anyway.

Monty Beisel and Victor Hobson are good examples of athletically limited players who just didn't have what it took to play in the Pats' system. I don't see Sintim ever being more than a solid player at best. Barwin could potentially be a pro bowl player in a few years.

Well, Monty Beisel's a Coward, a we tried to shoehorn both of those guys into an unfamiliar positions...JUST LIKE WE'D BE DOING WITH BARWIN.

Athletically limited? Limited to what? I'm not looking for a guy to break Strahan's sack record, or that can hurdle a Volkswagen. I want a guy who can line up outside, rush the passer, and set the edge. Sintim's been doing that for 40+ games at a high level. WHY would Sintim be a better fit at the Mike? With all due respect, that's dumb. If that were his better position, that's where he would have played the last four years. Maybe Belichick puts him there to fill a need, but it's clearly not his best position. I'm not really concerned that Barwin will get to the finish line a foot ahead, or that his vertical is higher, or that he'd be a better player in the charity basketball games...if they still do those.

I mean, yes, I understand the arguments you've listed above, and they're common ones we hear every year when the guys with production get outshined by the guys with the elite workout numbers. I just have a hard time agreeing with them. Mike Vrabel is an "athletically limited" player. Rodney Harrison is absolutely "athletically limited", and was in his prime. Tom Freakin' Brady is severely limited athletically. Who cares -- a player is a player.