Can't Cover Tight Ends

[dolpns13]

Because we never invest in good linebackers. And have adopted the bengals sorry defensive scheme!,

YES BING BING BING! I don’t understand why we suck the bengals nuts defensively. Promoting their crappy ass cornerbacks coaches to DCs every chance we get. It’s ridiculous.

 

[MiamiMuss]

I can't recall the last time we have been able to cover a TE....This tally has been running 34 years.

 

[jazz015]

The demands on today's LB's are unrealistic, IMHO. They require 4.6 or below speed with fantastic agility to cover the ultra-quick slot WR's and RB's. Then they need the length to cover 6'6 TE's, and the power to stack and shed 320+ pound guards. How many athletes have all of those qualities? Very few … and they're rushing the passer or playing basketball. So today's new-age LB is a glorified speed safety, lining up at 6'1, 215 pounds with quickness to cover those RB's and shifty slot WR's, and enough speed to cover large amounts of ground as the offense spreads the defense out. That means most cannot play the run, and aren't big enough to cover TE's.

Guys like Baker and Kiko have the range, but aren't particularly good in coverage and cannot stack and shed well. Baker is too small to cover big TE's, and Kiko isn't quick enough to cover small slots. Raekwon McMillan is big enough to stack and shed and has the instincts to be a run defender, but he isn't quick or fast enough to cover. There simply aren't many Luke Keuchley type LB's out there, and they don't come cheap. So while all of these points are valid about how our LB corps have sucked since the Dansby/Burnett era … the game has also changed in even that short amount of time. Now, almost no LB corps can do it all. Coverage LB's are almost a myth, because even they can't cover both the 6'6 TE and the Jakeem Grant/Albert Wilson type WR. At best, they can cover one of those body types. So, unfortunately, we may have to start getting used to being an incomplete LB corps. But, between stopping the run, chasing plays, covering slots and covering TE's … we should be able to get 2 of the 4 eventually … at least I hope.

valid points my man. then we have to look at coaching and scheme as the issue. The problem is that Baker and Raekwon are inexperienced and will struggle early. The time to see if improvements are being made are in weeks 5-8. Can Burke get this defense in shape by then? If the Pats can do it every year then we need to figure it put as well

 

[Digital]

valid points my man. then we have to look at coaching and scheme as the issue. The problem is that Baker and Raekwon are inexperienced and will struggle early. The time to see if improvements are being made are in weeks 5-8. Can Burke get this defense in shape by then? If the Pats can do it every year then we need to figure it put as well

All true. Then again, it's hard to compare ourselves to the Patriots really, because they seem to run up against the rules from time to time. And by "time to time" I mean almost every year there is some controversy over either them blatantly cheating, or questionable exploitation of the rules. When the Dolphins even hold a party the entire nation gets in an uproar, so just imagine if we pushed the boundaries of the rules the way the Patriots do, LOL.