Zach Thomas played LB during a time when both DT's were space eaters, keeping the LB's clean to chase and fill. Today, the Dolphins and most defenses are using DT's who are penetrators, not space eaters, so the goal of today's DT is to BEAT the block, not occupy it so the LB is free. That wouldn't work today.
Baker can't work in a 34 because he's not long enough or powerful enough to stack and shed, meaning all the offense needs to do in the run game is put a guard or center on him and he's washed out of the play, leaving the hole open to gash into the secondary for chunk yardage. We saw that plenty in Baker's rookie season, but too many fans were unaware that it was Baker's fault because he wasn't even in the TV picture. Hell, much of the time people who didn't know any better blamed it on Kiko when he tried to catch the guy that Baker ran right through the hole where Baker was supposed to be. And this is in a 43 … it requires more stack and shed ability in a 34 because you're dealing with OL more often.
Face it, there is one thing everyone loves about Jerome Baker … SPEED. He definitely has elite speed. But he is sized like a safety, runs like a safety, and cannot shed blocks. Either he doesn't grind enough, study enough, or he's not smart enough to learn his assignment … whichever it is, it needs to change for him to become a good LB. He is nowhere close to being assignment-sound, and that's what you need your LB's to be.
Baker's speed is impressive. But that's about all at this point. Here's hoping he becomes a solid LB.
