HighLineGRIZ said:I watch the LBs quite a bit, because that is the position I played. I agree with much of what Brian and Brant said. I think Coyle had the better year last year out of the starters. I think JP had a bit of a down year (compared to his monster SO year) and Tripp was often trying to do too much. Saying that, they all were still very very good and were the strength of our defense.
It's difficult to compare Coyle and Tripp, they are both very different players who have much different responsibilities. The coaching staff put a lot more responsibility on Tripp than most Will backers are tasked with. Given that he just made the switch from Sam to Will last year, it shouldn't surprise that he wasn't perfect last year. Given he has an entire year under his belt playing Will and that he will be able to concern himself more with the duties of that position, I think he has a monster year for us. He's clearly the most gifted talent we've had at LB in a long long time... I think Coyle has pro talent, but he isn't as athletic at Tripp and he isn't as versatile.
:agree: I agree with everything you said, HighLineGriz. :twocents:
Don't get me wrong, I love our linebackers, they are outstanding athletes. And the often make terrific plays! Potentially pro players. But that doesn't mean they didn't disappointed at times last season. What player or position doesn't? They were over-agressive, for example they would ignore reading their keys and automatically would fill for run, when it was obvious it was a play-action pass...leaving their #1 responsibility on the play wide open for the catch time after time. (Kanongata'a especially) That was my number one pet peeve with the outside backers. Also, when the linebackers drop back they need to identify the offensive player that is coming into their zone quicker and get on them quicker (see what routes are developing). Plus they really need to work on their pass defense when they actually decide to cover somebody. They don't make many plays on the ball, either to intercept it or defelect it. They wait until the ball is caught and then decide they better tackle them. I'm looking for a big year from our stud linebackers, but let's hope they have worked on their pass defense just as much as our secondary.