Sorry, I'm already scouting next year's linebacking class and looking at 2015 free agents. Blow this LB group up.

 

..... but with the bomb detonating prematurely just for fun..... like while he's still on his bicycle in the garage.
"Hey Ma, I'm leaving and I won't be home for dinn*BOOM*"

 

This could open the door for more base 3-4 sets. Misi and Ellerbe as Mike and Will just makes so much sense, and it would relegate Wheeler to the bench.

 

Is it? At this point it just looks like they are shifting everyone around. Misi to middle, Ellerbe to weak and Wheeler to strong.

 

What about OV at LB?

 

The fact that they've also moved Trusnik to the middle suggests that they're fundamentally altering the defensive scheme to do this, rather than putting Misi at Mike and keeping things the same.

 

I thought Trusnik lined up at backup MLB last year (when Spitler wasn't playing at least).

 

You owe me a coffee and a Logitec keyboard. Maybe a new monitor as well.

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Achmed! Is that you!!??

 

Ya, I think he ended up there. He's been primarily an ILB before in NY/Cleveland, but I think it indicates an interest in a certain style that they're moving him from primarily the "strong-side" position

 

I appreciate that they are aware of the situation and looking into alternatives. Misi has the skillset for mlb, it makes sense

 

We really, really seem to have personell custom suited to play a mean 3-4, but refuse to go that route.

 

It would work I think, but I'm not sure what the big benefit would be. You'd still only be getting two of Wake/Vernon/Jordan on the field in the base package.

 

Have been saying Misi should be at MLB..for yrs

Wheeler at Sam..seems problematic, he is not exactly stout at the POA, I'd heard that is where Jenkins was running with the second team, which still seems odd as his game is speed/range and better suited to the Will, Lb corps will be fast though.

Great unsaid in all of this is we have a "natural" Sam already on the roster, tall, fast, upped his strength, Dion Jordan is a DE though in their minds, we have a good backup DE in Shelby, so his slot in the rotation would not be a void.

Sometimes this staff boggles me, one step forward, two steps back

 

Well, I think that Jordan makes a better 3-4 OLB than he does a 4-3 end, for one. And Wake is awesome either way. It also would mean that Starks, Odrick and Mitchell all start, and one of Misi or Wheeler sits, which is a win. You could also have Vernon in there with the other two on pass rush downs of course.

 

He did. I think he played there against Baltimore when Ellerbe went out and the subsequent Buffalo game, IIRC.

 

Wake is a much better 4-3 DE than a 3-4 OLB, IMO.

 

IMO, it is not even close. Wake is a lot better as a 4-3 DE.

Dolphins don't have the linebackers for a 3-4.

 

I agree with you and i don't like it but that's the only option they has i guess.Failed on FA, didn't pick up LB at draft.

 

Nah, we have the OLB and ILB for a 3-4 covered, but not the d-line. It would take a draft similar to 2008 to get Miami the needed personal to run the 3-4 again, which could happen with new Head Coach.

 

Wake was a 3-4 OLB in 2010 and 2011. PFF had him at 25 sacks, 40 hits and 80 hurries those two years...on 928 pass rush snaps. That's a very high pressure percentage (15.6%).

It's even higher if you exclude his work from the right side of the defense. The coaches got wise to this by 2011 and had him working exclusively from the left side but in 2010 he worked the right side about 1/3rd of the time and was very ineffective there. It's just too alien to him. From the left side over the two seasons he had 24 sacks, 33 hits and 74 pressures on 781 pass rush snaps. The resulting 16.8% pressure percentage is borderline absurd, if you're familiar with these numbers as I am.

He also had a +3.1 rating in Run Defense in 2010, and a +8.0 in 2011 when they kept him exclusively to his natural side. His Stop Percentages (percentage of run plays where he had a solo tackle that resulted in an offensive failure) in the run game were easily in the upper half among 3-4 OLBs...12 out of 33 in 2010 and 11 out of 28 in 2011. Missed tackles weren't an issue for him. He spent 104 snaps out in coverage and allowed 145 yards on 12 of 14 passing, but that's over the course of two seasons so it's hardly much of a factor (5 yard a game?).

 

I'm sure some of your Junior High classmates will be excited to read your scouting reports...

 

He did. He started one game when Ellerbe was out. He was essentially the 2nd string MLB most if not all the season.

 

Wheeler has been a strongside guy his entire career, and played his career best in Oakland in a mostly on-the-line position. I think he's probably your best bet for improvement in shuffling that has occured at linebacker.

 

He's issue last season was a distinct lack of physicality, putting him their fulltime is not likely to suddenly turn him into Matt Roth.

 

Go ahead just blow it then.

 

A 3-4 OLB might "protect" him better vs. the run, but it's also an area where he needs to and should be expected to grow. If they can plausibly get him to improve in that area through weight game and technique and he can play a 6-technique type position in the base package, why not?

He's going to get significant coverage snaps regardless, and last year most of them were in Nickel situations. I think that's more valuable than base package coverage snaps. I'd also tend to think it wouldn't be a hard and fast rule that he's a defensive end. If it turns out Jordan is a magic bullet against elite tight ends, and teams are trying to throw against the Dolphins base package, they'd adjust.

 

Still awaiting word on whether Wheeler's position has actually changed at all.

I know there was an assumption that Ellerbe would move to Will and Wheeler to Sam but there's been no specific note of that. In fact I saw one note that specifically said Ellerbe was moving to Sam. I don't 100% trust the beat reporters to identify the different positions so I try not to take that note as gospel...but I'd also not necessarily assume that the shuffling at linebacker has involved Wheeler until we have more solid word that it has.

 

The rules on how the fronts are aligned in this defense are complicated enough that I think it's hard for anyone(much less our beat writers) to get it straight with an economy of words. Is Koa Misi a SAM because his positioning and alignment looks most frequently like that, or is he a WILL because despite that he's most frequently on the weakside of the formation?

 

I still think there's principles of Jack Dooley's Eagle Defense that are prevalent. It might just be because it's an Under front in reverse to keep Cam Wake on the left side, but in Jack Dooley's VaTech defense, they had their "Eagle Linebacker" (most athletic, best in coverage) line up on the tight end side along with their "Eagle" best pass-rusher, and strong safety, while using their bigger, more traditional SAM type of linebacker on the weak side. The theory being you had fewer, but bigger defenders to the offense's weakside, and more players with athleticism to the offense's strong side.

 

How does that compare to his numbers as a DE?

 

His DE numbers are much better, +53.8(+37.7 pass, +10.4 run, +4.2 penalty) in 2012 and +27.2(+27.7 pass, -0.2 run, +2.1 penalty) in 2013. 2012 was PFF's 2nd best season ever by a 4-3 end (since they starting keeping track in 2008) and 2013 was the 14th best.

There must be coverage numbers in the formula because the numbers don't add up.

 

No, his DE numbers are not much better. His overall score at 3-4 OLB in 2010 and 2011 were +38.5 and +41.1 respectively, and his pass rush numbers were +32.2 and +31.0. His PRP was about the same at OLB and DE over the last 4 years. So his 2012 numbers at DE were a bit better than his OLB numbers in 2010 and 2011, but his OLB numbers were a bit better than his 2013 DE numbers. I think he is about equivalent at OLB and DE. As long as his hand is down and he's on the edge, he's pretty damn good.

 

Misi's having moved to the Mike position is not really in question. We're curious about whether Wheeler has also moved from Will to Sam or whether Misi and Ellerbe just swapped.

 

I have a 16.9% pressure rate at DE in 2012 and 2013 which is ever so slightly higher than his LOLB number. However his run defense ratings were +10.4 and -0.2, which speaks of inconsistency. His Run Stop percentages told the same story, #10 out of 37 in 2012 and #20 out of 30 in 2013.

Jason Taylor thinks moving to OLB prolonged his career. It would certainly stand to reason that Cam Wake could reap the same benefit.

One could certainly argue that between Jared Odrick, Randy Starks, Earl Mitchell, Cam Wake and Dion Jordan, Miami has the personnel to be running a 3-4. Remember that was Earl Mitchell's job at Houston, he was a 3-4 NT despite his not looking the part.

But I think the coaches would argue that the defensive line is understaffed for the scheme. The Dolphins could achieve an active rotation at OLB with Olivier Vernon subbing in for Dion Jordan and Cameron Wake, and they could achieve an active rotation at ILB between Ellerbe, Wheeler and Misi...but who would rotate with Starks, Mitchell and Odrick? I think Derrick Shelby could sub in a bit but who knows if he'd be any good at it. They'd be stuck hoping that they're sitting on an unredeemed lotto ticket in A.J. Francis or Anthony Johnson.

 

Once you finish you can't complain.

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Imagining you complaining loudly as you fap.



Good stuff.