CK everyone has been talking about LB's but you are the first that I've seen that have put the word "speed" in front of the word LB. That is exactly what we need....speed LB's like the Seahawks, the Falcons, etc...these guys have to be able to move. That is why I was kind of disappointed that we still wanted Misi on the team. I saw the stat where our run defense was much better with Misi in the game...however, I just want the team to move in another direction....
I don't think Misi is a bad player, he just isn't a playmaker. I'd love to pick up Jarrad (or Reddick).
I think if you're focusing on Koa Misi then you're focusing on the wrong things. The linebackers of this team are Kiko Alonso and Lawrence Timmons. You have to focus on them.
There is the potential for Koa Misi to take some snaps as the third linebacker. Miami ends up with more linebacker snaps than most because they seem allergic to true dime packages. Half of NFL teams use dime packages liberally, a fifth all the way up to a third or in KC's case nearly half of the time. Miami doesn't use dime at all. So they've got at least two linebackers on the field at all times, and since Miami goes into base about a third of the time, that means they're pretty linebacker-centric for a 4-3 team.
In that way if Miami wanted to go ahead and sign a Zach Brown, or if they'd wanted to go BIG and go after Dont'a Hightower, in ADDITION to Lawrence Timmons and Kiko Alonso, they could've justified it. Just make some minor adjustments to rotation and each guy could get 900 snaps.
As things stand we're looking like we'll be more straight ahead Alonso/Timmons on every snap, with Koa Misi coming onto the field maybe a third of the time. In that vein, are you really going to look at that dude that comes on a third of the time and say, rawr rawr rawr you suck overpaid not playmaker etc etc?
That's why I say you're focusing on the wrong thing if you're looking at Koa Misi. He's a good backup, a good rotational guy. There are things he can do that give the defense multiplicity (e.g. playing 3-4 OLB, which he used to do here in Miami the first couple years he was drafted). He's a standout run defender, I don't care who comes out of where trying to tell me differently.
How long is Lawrence Timmons going to be here? That's one question, one reason why you'd ultimately add a Jarrad Davis. You say OK, even as a rookie I'm going to get Jarrad Davis on the field nearly as much as Kiko and Timmons, relegating Koa Misi to a backup position (his salary adjustment makes him little more than a Spencer Paysinger in terms of salary fit), and then long term you say Timmons will be off the roster by 2019 and Jarrad Davis is the man pairing with Kiko Alonso from then on.
That's totally defensible. I could dig that.
Will it be the top idea in the room when they're picking at 22 overall? I'm not so sure about that.
