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- Jun 24, 2010
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- 33,911
- Name
- Stu
I think you hit it on the head. We need work and health at our other LB positions as well as needing likely a true 3-4 NT.In defense of Tree you would have to account & consider the play & performance of his other LB'ers would you not?
Tree did not get much help from OLB'er Rob Quinn in his ugly romps working back from the LOS. OLB'er Quinn was a fish out of water each & every time he was asked to move out in space & offered up ZERO help to Tree. Quinn may have upped his game some over the later half of the season in the sacks & pressures but RQ's other tasks & assignments I would describe as in "FAIL MODE".
The 31 yr old battle horse OLB'er Conner Barwin season was filled with some periods of time where he was dealing with a injured knee & a broken arm. CB missed most of 4 gms & parts of 2 others meaning some other LB'er was playing in his spot. CB is a 6-5 255 pound pass rusher not a mobile rangy LB'er type in space either. CB better skills are near the LOS & pressuring the passer.
When CB was not on the field his place was taken by a 2017 3rd draft day selection rookie named Samson Ebukam. SE has promise but his rookie season was not a good overall season when asked to start. The injures issues with CB led to starts by Ebukam & Carlos Thompson next to Tree, all firsts for these two super green young LB'ers.I thought Carlos play well enough as a reserve LB'er but I did not see him as a starter in the NFL.
If the above was not enough lest discuss Mark Barron some more. MB did not get any regular reps in this 34 Defense until the regular season started @ inside next to Tree. That's not a positive guys! He entered the beginning of 2017 injured & ended the 2017 season injured. MB has some wear & tear on his soon to be 29 yr old safety sized frame. CB is close to 6-3 but plays in the 220 to 225 pound area. MB has a gimpy damage Knee & a lingering Achilles issue.
MB gave out @ ILB'er Cory Littleton came in. Cory has always been a OLB'er or a standup pass rushing DE in college & NFL. CL was shifted inside late in pre season due mostly for a lack of ILB'er prospect on the roster. CL is over 6-3 & rangy thin 220/225 lb player. He has the the lower body of a wide out. CL flashed @ time bt was lost the rest of the time. IMO when we see CL in 2018 ...Wade will have him back @ OLB'er position where it better fit his Skills & Talents.
After a career-high 136 tackles (98 solo) in 2016, Alec Ogletree dipped to 95 (63 solo) through 15 games this season.We do know that this was AO first season playing in the 34D in the NFL. With all that was going on around him this season @ the other 3 LB'ing posts Would it be too much to ask that we bring their performances into the equation too? AO badly injured his elbow in wk #13 & he wore a large brace all the way thru wk#17. I find it hard to find too much wrong with AO after I look @ the Rams total LB'ing unit performance.
I would like to invite my fellow Rams fans here who differ from my opinion her to tell me where I am off the mark?
If we are expecting our ILBs to be stopping the run, the RB will already have gotten to the second level in most cases unless our ILB has shot the gap. That kind of ILB is also likely to get sucked in by play action and get burned by the TEs and RBs leaking out which is a huge part of the game these days.
I know you don't like Barron in a 3-4 role but I do and I would rather us work on the other LB position as well as finding a starting NT that fits Wade's system.
