2007 Three Down LB's (1 Viewer)

I'm curious about this again this year.... things have changed on some teams, how do you folks see it shaking out this year?

Players who's value I expect to see go up in a 3 down role so far are Gaither and Crowell, but how about Washington's LB's? Who will have the 3 down roles in SD? AZ is another team I'm unsure of at this point. Denver is another team I'm not sure of. This isn't a strong year for LB's in the draft, so outside of perhaps 3 players, I don't think the three vs. two down LB's will change much.

As for the Jets, Vilma is really the only guy that is one the field every down. That fact didn't show up in his stats however. Who are the best coverage LB's? Are INT's and passes defensed the best way to gauge which ones are best in coverage? Is there a better way to determine who the best coverage 3 down LB's are? I'm interested in this from both a FF standpoint and the on field value of these players to their individual teams... so homers, please chime in if you can!

As a Green Bay Homer - Hawk and Barnett will be 3 down backers. There is a chance now that they signed Barnett to a long term deal that he will be moved to the outside and Hodge will get the chance to battle it out with Poppinga for MLB but I'm not sure either would be the 3 down linebackers on the Packers.

Washington's tough to guess right now.

Fletcher will be one. Marcus Washington could be the other, but there are worries (mostly from fans and the media) that the organization has doubts about his health. If he's not healthy, then we have to watch to see who wins the WLB spot between Marshall and Rocky. And, I guess it's possible one of them could play in the nickel package while the other plays in the 4-3, but I doubt it.

Okay, I’ll take a shot at this post-draft.

Arizona: Dansby, Hayes, Okeafor/Berry (rush OLBs)

Atlanta: Brooking, Boley often, Williams if healthy

Baltimore: Lewis, Scott

Buffalo: Posluszny, Crowell

Carolina: Morgan, Davis (Beason may play over a safety)

Chicago: Urlacher, Briggs

Cincinnati: Johnson (Brooks with a good camp otherwise Miller in the nickel)

Cleveland: Davis, Wimbley, possibly Jackson, probably Peek

Dallas: Ware, Spencer, probably Ayodele (sounds like James will be a two down guy)

Denver: Williams, Gold

Detroit: Sims, Lewis

Green Bay: Hawk, Barnett

Houston: Ryans, Greenwood

Indianapolis: Brackett, probably Keiaho

Jacksonville: Peterson, Smith

Kansas City: Edwards, Johnson

Miami: Thomas, Porter (though there are unconfirmed rumblings that Crowder may be phasing Thomas out)

Minnesota: Henderson, Greenway

New England: Vrabel, Thomas, Colvin, rarely Bruschi

New Orleans: Fujita, Simmons

New York Giants: Pierce, probably Kiwanuka, possibly Mitchell

New York Jets: Vilma, Thomas (Hobson/Bowens probably rotate, Harris questionable)

Oakland: Morrison, Howard

Philadelphia: Spikes, Gaither

Pittsburgh: Farrior, Haggans, Timmons

San Diego: Merriman, Phillips, Cooper/Wilhelm undetermined

San Francisco: ??? best guess = Lawson, Willis, Moore

Saint Louis: Witherspoon, Tinoisamoa

Seattle: Tatupu, Peterson, sometimes Hill

Tampa Bay: Brooks, June

Tennessee: Bulluck, Thornton

Washington: Fletcher, Washington if healthy

dgreen said:

Washington's tough to guess right now.Fletcher will be one. Marcus Washington could be the other, but there are worries (mostly from fans and the media) that the organization has doubts about his health. If he's not healthy, then we have to watch to see who wins the WLB spot between Marshall and Rocky. And, I guess it's possible one of them could play in the nickel package while the other plays in the 4-3, but I doubt it.

Click to expand...

Fletcher's the only certainty.Gibbs said they were hoping to use Washington more on 3rd downs as a blitzer, which makes sense given their poor pass rush and the fact that Washington is their most talented blitzing LB. That may mean that their nickel would then be a 3-3-5 set up, with the third LB probably being Marshall given that he too is good in pass coverage. I don't project Marshall to start, though, unless Rocky is injured.