Real Defense Problem - Lack of Speed by LB | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Real Defense Problem - Lack of Speed by LB

BenchFiedler

BenchFiedler

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I just painfully re-watched the Bills game and it seems like their game plan was to take advantage of the lack of speed by our LB's.

2 plays that showed me our LB's are slow like turtles : The 4th down conversion and the TD run by Fitzpatrick.

Porter, Taylor, Crowder, Anderson, Wake, Ayodele, and Torbor.

I believe Torbor and Anderson could be the fastest LB on this team and should see the field more. Wake is fast but I did not mention his name because he is only used to rush the passer.

Last year, there were a couple of times that the QB sneak was the opponent's favorite play against the dolphins, I can see why now..
 
BenchFiedler said:
I just painfully re-watched the Bills game and it seems like their game plan was to take advantage of the lack of speed by our LB's.

2 plays that showed me our LB's are slow like turtles : The 4th down conversion and the TD run by Fitzpatrick.

Porter, Taylor, Crowder, Anderson, Wake, Ayodele, and Torbor.

I believe Torbor and Anderson could be the fastest LB on this team and should see the field more. Wake is fast but I did not mention his name because he is only used to rush the passer.

Last year, there were a couple of times that the QB sneak was the opponent's favorite play against the dolphins, I can see why now..
Click to expand...

you are exactly correct. we will draft at least 3 to 4 lbs this next draft.
 
LB's Anderson and Wake have that fire, youth, and speed needed to play the position with a high motor throughout....we definitely need a serious upgrades throughout and at DT, DE and Safety...so pretty much the whole "D"

I surely don't see Parcell's & Ireland taking a WR with our #1, or even our #2 due to these gaps.
 
McClain will help us out, Thomas Howard (6'3 240) from Oakland would be an interesting situational player. He's one of the fastest OLB's and can cover any back or TE, maybe we could sign him for 3rd down coverage! Just a thought!
 
BenchFiedler said:
I believe Torbor and Anderson could be the fastest LB on this team and should see the field more.
Click to expand...

Torbor made Fitzpatrick look like a world class sprinter on the touchdown run. Torbor is also slow. We do not have the players for the 3-4 defense. Ferguson is out, our ILBs suck, and our safeties are slow to respond. Whenever we rush an OLB, that entire half of the field is exposed. We have gotten killed by TEs all year because we do not have anyone to match up with a good TE.

Besides a WT, we need a NT, 4 LBs, and a SS in this draft. I hope they draft well.
 
enduro said:
you are exactly correct. we will draft at least 3 to 4 lbs this next draft.
Click to expand...

But why didnt they draft or sign speedy ILBs in 2009? It was a need and they didnt draft nor sign one.This mistake is gonna cost us the playoffs most likely.With some speedy ILBs we wouldnt be so vulnerable on D.
 
It seems to me that in our rush to be optimistic about the futures of Vontae Davis and Sean Smith, we all collectively want to take a blind eye to the fact that THE single biggest weakness on the defense is the fact that we're starting two ROOKIES at cornerback.

If you look through year after year of NFL history, you will not find many instances where a team has started two rookies at that position. There is a reason for that. These guys are responsible for a lot of the big plays that everyone is complaining about in the fourth quarter. That's not to say they're going to be horrible pros, but they're rookies. It's a fact of life. We should feel lucky the defense is any good at all when you're starting two rookies at that position.

We don't give them much help either. Our safeties are very involved in the run, by design, and our offensive formula of fantastic ball control with field goals instead of touchdowns capping off drives is a perfect formula for exposing the rookies in the fourth quarter. We have good offenses we're facing, they come out in the fourth quarter and realize they've hardly possessed the ball the entire game and yet they're only down by like one score at the most, if they're not tied, and so they come out with a sense of urgency, run the full offense because they're not being pressured by the scoreboard, they challenge the rookies and they win.
 
enduro said:
you are exactly correct. we will draft at least 3 to 4 lbs this next draft.
Click to expand...
our linebackers are slow....this is not news to me ! Ive been saying this for a while akin and crowder are the problem in the line backer area they are so slow they couldnt chase down most tightends
 
NO ILB is going to cover receiving TE and slot receivers. It will not happen .

Look BB he moved harrison to the hybrid/ILB and this year he picked up McGown on the FA market. A bigger safety who is not fast enough to cover on the outside but look at what he did against tony gonzolaes,dallas clark,shockey,keller and every top level TE he has covered. Non have had more than 2-3 catches .He went further and picked up pat chung who is 215LB and can play ILB in a 4-3 and tall .He is now splitting snaps with mcgown on covering TE>

Again it takes a defensive coach to say i have to get this resolved via FA and Draft.
 
ckparrothead said:
It seems to me that in our rush to be optimistic about the futures of Vontae Davis and Sean Smith, we all collectively want to take a blind eye to the fact that THE single biggest weakness on the defense is the fact that we're starting two ROOKIES at cornerback.

If you look through year after year of NFL history, you will not find many instances where a team has started two rookies at that position. There is a reason for that. These guys are responsible for a lot of the big plays that everyone is complaining about in the fourth quarter. That's not to say they're going to be horrible pros, but they're rookies. It's a fact of life. We should feel lucky the defense is any good at all when you're starting two rookies at that position.

We don't give them much help either. Our safeties are very involved in the run, by design, and our offensive formula of fantastic ball control with field goals instead of touchdowns capping off drives is a perfect formula for exposing the rookies in the fourth quarter. We have good offenses we're facing, they come out in the fourth quarter and realize they've hardly possessed the ball the entire game and yet they're only down by like one score at the most, if they're not tied, and so they come out with a sense of urgency, run the full offense because they're not being pressured by the scoreboard, they challenge the rookies and they win.
Click to expand...

You make a very good observation, but this does not explain our defensive problems versus the running game. We are getting killed between the tackles. This is a strong indicator that there is an issue with either NT, the ILBs, or both.
 
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