Wilfork#75
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2010
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I dont get why Collins of/and style play remove Shazier as a option. Collins is a SOLB where Shazier is WOLB. And the point is NOT to have Shazier playing safety, but haveing one of Mayo, Shazier and Collins "Patroling".
KPL is a good pick later as "Fletcher" ST/Backup guy, but he's upside is limited, where Shazier is huge. Sure he have flaws in the game,all rookies have flaws.
The backup roll / picking is even more strange. #75 you lead the way yourself for a F...... NT. Thats my friend is as much of a backup roll as SS. NT/SS Round 3>
The reason I think Collins would cancel Shazier for me is I don't like Shazier as a base LBer for this team. I don't think he is very good against the run, he is an average tackler (he was a poor tackler in 2012), he isn't very good taking on blocks (weak, ends up on the ground way too much), I don't think he has great instincts and he's not very disciplined (shoots the wrong gaps, over-pursues). What I think his strengths are and what I think his best role would be is as a matchup weapon where he uses his freak athleticism to create havoc. Unfortunately I think that is Collins best role also, where he can be that 'heat seeking missile' and make plays. I don't think you can have too many of those types of players on the field at the same time though because it can open up holes in other areas and with Collins on the roster already I don't like the value of Shazier in the 1st round. We also have Mayo as a WLB so I think Shazier is a backup and roleplayer in any case.
In terms of KPL vs Shazier, they are essentially the same size (Shazier is 5lbs heavier). I think their roles would be similar and I would want to pair either of them with a more traditional LBer (I love the value of Max Bullough in the later rounds). I just think KPL (or any of the other athletic LBers in the middle rounds) offer more value than Shazier in the 1st.
Its funny you mentioned my wanting a NT because if we had a stronger run defending front 4 I would probably be more open to taking someone like Shazier. As I have said in other threads, the reason I want a NT is because with our ability to hopefully play more single safety press man coverage, if we can stop the run with limited resources up front we have more freedom to attack with out LBers. Unfortunately I don't have much confidence in Wilfork returning to his dominant self inside and the rest of our DT's aren't great run stuffers, that is why I would love to add Louis Nix inside. If we had a dominant run stuffing front 4 with our secondary I could see more playmaking out of our LBers, but if we move away from the bigger DTs like most people seem to want to, our LBers will have a much greater run stopping responsibility.