Ninko!!

[MaineMan]

Maybe Ninkovich would not be a starter on most teams,but he would certainly be one of the best backup linebackers in the NFL.

I think a few years down the road many will agree with this.

Maybe Ninkovich would not be a starter on most teams because most DCs don't approach the game through the same defensive concepts that BB does. OTOH, maybe Ninko would eventually have been similarly successful, but in different ways, had the Eagles or the Giants, say, decided to invest as patiently in developing him as BB has. Like Vrabel, Ninko has been a very solid player who makes the players around him "better", and he seems likely to remain so for a few years while other, more "dynamic rookie" players come and go around the league.

 

[AzPatsFan]

We should dig up the "Ninkovich is the worst starter in the league" threads.

I hope that stupidity is permanently put to rest.

It simply takes time to develop NFL linebackers. Tedy took 6 years, Vrabel almost 5. Ninko is not yet as steady as Mike Vrabel, but that will come with time and experience. Similarly Mayo is still developing and may have forund his true position as the weak ILB, and WLB in the 4-3, versus the 'MIKE' positions that he has been playing the majority of the time.

I think Ninko may actually have a faster burst, and might be a shade faster as a blitz sacker, but he does not have the size that Vrabel did, that allowed Mike to handle some power OTs. Ninko can be washed out by some pure power blockers.

You can see where the finishing touches are to be applied, to Belichick's next masterpiece being formed. He set out to reconstuct a Super Bowl team at the end of 2008, while Pitt, Indy, and as we will see the Ravens have continued to let their teams age away.

 

[nabwong]

The best compliment I can give Ninkovich is I felt yesterday that Vrabel never left.