Linebacker Issues - Fixable? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Linebacker Issues - Fixable?

xSxPxHx

xSxPxHx

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I was wondering with all the contracts Dolphins paid out. Is there room for improvement for are these LB'rs we have are IT?! What do we do next year? Because our linebackers against the run have been horrid! Thoughts?
 
not fixable...to fix that would require lbs with instincts in the depth and we got none...we got a lot of athletes playing lb...misi is a keeper after that everyone else has underwhelmed...i would remake the unit this offseason...cut what i can that has a big cap #...if possible wheeler would be gone worst case i'd make him a bench player and just eat that money for one more season and replace him in the lineup via the draft or free agency

i would get rid of all that crap depth also...loaded with it...jenkins the only one i'd keep to see if he develops and if not special teams for lifer he would be...could be a late bloomer like kevin burnett was so you don't want to throw in the towel too early there but instinctually he's got a LONG LONG way to go to be a solid nfl starter
 
Misi is solid. Ellerbe is fine...overpaid but he isnt terrible. Wheeler is bad...but I dont know if we can cut him after this year. However, Id be looking in to bring in a legitimate LB. Maybe a Mike and move ellerbe out to OLB.
 
is Barr a 3-4 OLB or a 4-3 DE, or do we just try to Convert Jordan to OLB
 
hooshoops said:
not fixable...to fix that would require lbs with instincts in the depth and we got none...we got a lot of athletes playing lb...misi is a keeper after that everyone else has underwhelmed...i would remake the unit this offseason...cut what i can that has a big cap #...if possible wheeler would be gone worst case i'd make him a bench player and just eat that money for one more season and replace him in the lineup via the draft or free agency

i would get rid of all that crap depth also...loaded with it...jenkins the only one i'd keep to see if he develops and if not special teams for lifer he would be...could be a late bloomer like kevin burnett was so you don't want to throw in the towel too early there but instinctually he's got a LONG LONG way to go to be a solid nfl starter
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I disagree. It is not common for new players to perform well within their new defense their first year. We should evaluate them based upon their performance next year.
 
We took a serious downgrade letting Dansby and Burnett go and replacing them with Ellerbee and Wheeler. To add insult to injury we could have signed Wheeler at half a mil in 2012 but let him go to Oakland. Just a horrible signing by Ireland and agree with Hoops that he needs to see the bench.

Misi is the steadiest but doesn't stand out. That speaks volumes as to the state of that corps. I'd like to see Ellerbee get another year in this system but his play thus far has been disappointing.

Need to do some serious restructuring this off season.
 
FinHopeful said:
I disagree. It is not common for new players to perform well within their new defense their first year. We should evaluate them based upon their performance next year.
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you gonna teach em instincts huh??? good luck boss
 
Haha. These LBs have awful insticts. Misi is definitely a keeper though.

I would keep Jenkins since hes a fantastic athlete. See how he develops. Everyone else sucks especially Trusnick and Spitler. Ellerbe isn't that good and Wheeler is madly inconsistent.
 
MadDog 88 said:
We took a serious downgrade letting Dansby and Burnett go and replacing them with Ellerbee and Wheeler. To add insult to injury we could have signed Wheeler at half a mil in 2012 but let him go to Oakland. Just a horrible signing by Ireland and agree with Hoops that he needs to see the bench.

Misi is the steadiest but doesn't stand out. That speaks volumes as to the state of that corps. I'd like to see Ellerbee get another year in this system but his play thus far has been disappointing.

Need to do some serious restructuring this off season.
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This is debatable. Wheeler is a major downgrade. But people who say Ellerbe is a downgrade from Dansby are looking at this years performance. Its two different systems. Comparing Dolphins Dansby to this years Ellerbe is pretty even.

Anyways I wouldve kept Dansby just for the record.
 
Cam Wake, Olivier Vernon, and Dion Jordon should always be on the field.

So it makes sense to have Dion Jordan play OLB, and put Wheeler on the bench.
 
this should have been the year we redid the lb core...after this season...although if what we run is exactly what coyle wants to run dansby and burnett wouldn't have been great blitz lb fits...but these current guys we got touted as awesome with awesome sauce blitz backers is hot air also...they're like most lbs look good when clean to the qb otherwise struggle to get there...

and we ABSOLUTELY downgraded the read keys and instincts of the unit vs the inside and off tackle running game with our current additions...you kidding me is anyone ever later to the ball in the hole or to flow laterally than philip wheeler??? doesn't matter if he's clean or not he's gonna be a step late and a dollar short or he's gonna overrun it and allow the cutback to gouge us
 
Ellerbe is a solid complementary player. The problem is Miami brought him in to be a leader at LB. If Miami brought in an alpha LB, I think Ellerbe would benefit and play better. I could see him as a WLB in a 43 or an ILB in a 34.

Misi is a good player, but don't hold your breath on him making game changing plays. He's more of a plugger. I'd like to see him get better in coverage. he can come up downhill pretty well. Like his size/speed.

Wheeler has been an unbelievable disappointment. I have no idea what the front office was doing there. Bizarre.

Jenkins has a way to go, but he has the potential to be good in coverage, and definitely better than Wheeler. The other backups are awful with no upside to speak of.

Meanwhile, Dansby has been playing really well in Arizona. Check out this article.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/car...-return-arizona-cardinals.html?nclick_check=1
 
Wheeler is here for at least another year. His cap hit is $6.4 million ($5M salary and $1.4M prorated signing bonus). Naturally, cutting him would save $800k in cap, BUT, his salary is guaranteed next year so there is no sense in letting him go to collect $5M in free money AND sign elsewhere.

Ellerbe has been OK this year, Wheeler has been AWFUL though. This guy was suppose to be an answer to "coverage" He's an even bigger liability!!! He'll attempt to wall off a TE from cutting in or out, then the TE will go that way anyway on him and then Wheeler is screwed even more because his hips are completely flipped. Poor instincts, piss poor tackler. He surely bamboozled us for that contract.
 
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