Ah, Kiko Alonso. Where to begin?
My disdain for this player has only grown due to the irrational praise he receives. I compare him to an ankle biting chihuahua running around enthusiastically, yet aimlessly, arriving late to jump on the pile which fluffs his tackle numbers or getting run over in what I refer to as YAK (Yards After Kiko). Not to mention him straightening out his tight-fitting, little half shirt after every whistle as if lineman have trouble removing him from the play and have some need to grab cloth in order to be effective.
His single highest accomplishment this season was an interception resulting from a bluff call in sinking off the LOS. Which ironically is the same feat performed by defensive lineman Wake and Phillips, all of whom were beneficiaries of a well-timed defensive call. That is until we ran into the Patriots who baited VJ by using the exact same formation to extract the same exact same defensive play call that the Chargers saw in that situation with of course a small wrinkle of an under pivot route just outside Alonso's misdirected drop zone to obtain a 77 yard TD.
Anyways, the question that has encircled Alonso all season long is where is his best fit. Middle or Weak side backer?
I touched on this slightly earlier in another thread but I'll explain the responsibilities of the two positions in our scheme in more detail here and provide the advantages and disadvantages he would face in either spot.
Run defense:
The primary run keys for MLBs lie b/w the guards (B gap to B gap) and for the WLB its the tackle (C & D gap). Depending on the Force call and whether that designates the DE, SLB, or secondary defender to eliminate the leading edge blocker, generally speaking the
MLB must be a downhill aggressor and initiate shock, shed, and replace at a higher rate then the WLB and hard fill the interior gaps, and
WLB has to spill playside runs to S or CB support, and provide containment on backside runs.
Alonso is very poor playing the run in the middle and is easily washed out and overtaken by blockers.
Advantage: WLB
Pass defense:
Depending on the Cover call out of our base form, the
MLB has Hook or Hole (aka middle, "the Pipe") zone coverage responsibilities. The MLB typically drops under Crossers, in between Level concepts, & over Drags, and
WLB has Curl to Flat zone coverage responsibilities is aligned to the Open or Split end side where the in-line TE is not, but a split or flexed receiver is.
Alonso has shown he has regained his S2S range, but still has difficulty carrying coverage up and across the field. Thus moving him to weakside backer in our base D would force him to cover the Slot WR, a flexed pass receiving TE or in some cases the X or Z WR in open space. Not ideal.
Advantage: MLB
Overall those are not advantages he provides, necessarily as it pertains to where can he be put to negate the least amount of damage. I expect a lot out of a middle linebacker. He's the main cog in both the pass and run game and must be a force to be reckoned with. My conclusion: I hope his future as a Miami Dolphin is as small as his stature and is as short as his inability to be an effective and consistent playmaker at LB.
Flame away. :fire:
