Starting LBs this season | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Starting LBs this season

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EireTiger

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Based on various reports nationally and in the local media, this is who I think will end up starting...

WLB: Jelani Jenkins - Was the Dolphins best LB last year, his experience should only lead to improvement this year.

SLB: Koa Misi - Moving back to his natural position, should be a big improvement over Wheeler. I know there have been reports about him staying inside but the reports about the front office preferring Sheppard could lead to Misi going back to his more effective position.

MLB: Kelvin Sheppard - MLB in 4-3 alignment is his natural position and what he played in college, played well for us after being picked up the 2nd week of the season. Will be an improvement over Misi in the Middle. Sheppard is a much better fit here than in the 3-4 Indy runs.

This will be an improved unit, especially against the run. Any thoughts?
 
You could be right but i don't think Sheppard would be good no matter what position he plays. Ideally Mcain steps up and Misi stays healthy and plays Mike

Personally my Mike options would be Misi then Tripp then Vigil then Sheppard
 
I gotta see more and hear more on it first in practices, OTAs... pre season games etc... first.

i not sure on Sheppard yet, Tripp, McCain and what not.... but we really havent fixed anything yet. We will see if Hull and Vigil can battle their way into the mix as well. hopefully these young LBs are ready to step up and prove though

but as of not I see it being WLB- Jenkins, MLB- Misi, SLB- McCain.... and obviously I would rather be able to switch Misi back to his more natural position, but at this time not sure if its best for the defense as a whole yet.
 
You would think getting McCain on the field would be a priority? The kid has the 'tude we need and adds significantly to our core athleticism...

Unsure if Misi is the answer -- still seems better suited to 3-4 IMO. But what do I know...

I'd like to see someone like Hull grab the MLB position and not let go.
 
Hopefully either Kelvin Sheppard, Zach Vigil, or Mike Hull can take the MLB spot, so the SLB spot can be manned by Koa Misi & Chris McCain (rotating in on obvious passing downs).
 
BigNastyFish said:
You would think getting McCain on the field would be a priority? The kid has the 'tude we need and adds significantly to our core athleticism...

Unsure if Misi is the answer -- still seems better suited to 3-4 IMO. But what do I know...

I'd like to see someone like Hull grab the MLB position and not let go.
Click to expand...

It looks like McCain will at least get the opportunity this season...I believe Philbin has already said McCain will be getting his reps at Sam...
 
BigNastyFish said:
You would think getting McCain on the field would be a priority? The kid has the 'tude we need and adds significantly to our core athleticism...

Unsure if Misi is the answer -- still seems better suited to 3-4 IMO. But what do I know...

I'd like to see someone like Hull grab the MLB position and not let go.
Click to expand...

Hull will ideally play weakside. Vigil is intriguing at Mike
 
EireTiger said:
Based on various reports nationally and in the local media, this is who I think will end up starting...

WLB: Jelani Jenkins - Was the Dolphins best LB last year, his experience should only lead to improvement this year.

SLB: Koa Misi - Moving back to his natural position, should be a big improvement over Wheeler. I know there have been reports about him staying inside but the reports about the front office preferring Sheppard could lead to Misi going back to his more effective position.

MLB: Kelvin Sheppard - MLB in 4-3 alignment is his natural position and what he played in college, played well for us after being picked up the 2nd week of the season. Will be an improvement over Misi in the Middle. Sheppard is a much better fit here than in the 3-4 Indy runs.

This will be an improved unit, especially against the run. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

That's a bunch of hot garbage if you ask me, we have not one proven LB on the roster, everything is hope he is better than last yr.....Misi is not starting material, he has underachieved since day one, when you move a LB around from position to position that means he's not good enough at any of them...Jenkins won the right to get on the field because of injuries, he did play well at times, I am excited to see him this yr but not happy that he is our best going into the season at this point....would be nice if we had two solid LB ahead of him and be able to work him in in situations.....I hope I am wrong but I am not feeling this crew of LB not to mention who is going to back them up?
 
jvw said:
That's a bunch of hot garbage if you ask me, we have not one proven LB on the roster, everything is hope he is better than last yr.....Misi is not starting material, he has underachieved since day one, when you move a LB around from position to position that means he's not good enough at any of them...Jenkins won the right to get on the field because of injuries, he did play well at times, I am excited to see him this yr but not happy that he is our best going into the season at this point....would be nice if we had two solid LB ahead of him and be able to work him in in situations.....I hope I am wrong but I am not feeling this crew of LB not to mention who is going to back them up?
Click to expand...

Misi and Jenkins are proven starters in the NFL. Your desire for all-pros at every level is what is hot garbage here. We also have plenty of depth. Unproven in some aspects but plenty of depth in our LB corp.
 
Yea, I don't know if our LBs are "garbage." No, I don't think so. Definitely needs force inside and more development / depth. I think best case is -- we find the solution (albeit not "dominance") inside and McCain gets on the field as a legit terrorist psycho dog. Plus --we will NOT resemble the same team on the DL interior -- which of course helps the LBs a lot. There's some degree of hope. But we also have to trust Philbin/Coyle to handle this situation correctly -- that's a tall order IMO.
 
Too early to tell.

Also would be instructive to know what formations we ran last season and what percentage of the time we were in them. I know Coyle and Philbin want to simplify the defense in terms of complexity of packages, but it's a given we won't be in base package more than about 30-40% of the time.
 
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