Working under the assumption that an every-down backer will get the majority of the specialty package snaps.

Homer notes and opinions welcome as always.

Players in blue are wearing the communicator

Baltimore: Lewis, Scott, Suggs, (Reed)
Buffalo: Posluszny, Mitchell
Cincinnati: Jones, Johnson
Cleveland: Jackson, Wimbley (Davis, Williams run pass platoon)
Denver: Winborn, Woodyard, Williams (inj), Webster (inj)
Houston: Ryans, Adibi
Indianapolis: Brackett, Keiaho
Jacksonville: Smith
Kansas City: Boiman, Johnson, Thomas (inj), Edwards (inj)
Miami: Crowder, Porter, Roth
New England: Vrabel, Mayo (not likely to use a helmet comm according to Belichick), Woods
New York Jets: Harris (inj), Barton, Pace (possibly Rhodes)
Oakland: Morrison, Howard
Pittsburgh: Farrior, Harrison, Woodley
San Diego: Cooper, Phillips
Tennessee: Bulluck, Thornton

Arizona: Dansby, Okeafor
Atlanta: Brooking, Boley
Carolina: Davis, Beason
Chicago: Urlacher, Briggs
Dallas: Ware (James)
Detroit: Sims, Lenon
Green Bay: Hawk, Chillar Barnett (inj)
Minnesota: Leber, Greenway
New Orleans: Vilma, Fujita
New York Giants: Pierce
Philadelphia: Bradley, Jordan
St. Louis: Witherspoon, Tinoisamoa
San Francisco: Willis, Lawson (Lewis)
Seattle: Tatupu, Peterson
Tampa Bay: Ruud
Washington: Fletcher, McIntosh

You think Hayes will take Dansby's spot if he leaves?

Also I would be shocked if Brooks wasnt the MLB for cincy if healthy. And Geathers moved back to DE at the end of the season.

Nice thread Jene

I'm not sure what the Cardinals' long term plan may be. You'd think they'd prioritize Dansby in free agency over Pace, but try to bring both back. All the speculation I've seen suggests Dansby will be franchised. I can't imagine they'd be excited with Beisel playing WLB/WILB.

I get the impression that Curnutte and Hobson are throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall so far hoping something sticks, but that's not really their MO. I think the Bengals might be strongly considering the 3-4 if Thurman and Henderson (or Pollack) are ready. Either way, both have printed stories hinting that Geathers may be on his way back to OLB. I agree though, with Justin Smith an unlikely signing (and Bryan Robinson even less so), you have to think Geathers is a DE until and if the scheme officially changes.

I'm not disagreeing on Brooks either, necessarily, but he was getting reps as a SLB before the suspensions and injuries of 2006 forced the switch. Part of what attracted the team to him was apparently their belief he could rush from outside. If that's true, it may not be completely out of the range of possibility to see Brooks/Thurman/Johnson/Geathers in a 3-4.

Now I'm the one throwing stuff on the wall.

Thoughts on Leon Williams? Any chance he starts in Cle?? I think he is a every down LB if he does...

Always a chance. My expectations have been tempered since he wasn't able to push Davis out of the lineup on base downs last year. If he starts, he's definitely an every down player as he's already knocked Davis from the nickel packages.

Early speculation in Cleveland is that Andra may be cut by the end of the month. The front 7 doesn't need overhauled, but there is going to be some re-construction. I would remove Peek from the list until the offseason is over, everything I've been hearing says that Cleveland likes him but not in the starting role. I'd expect them to bring someone else in to at least compete for time if not bump Peek back to a reserve role.

Other teams --> at least add Durant in () next to Jax, I believe Peterson's going to be a cap casualty making room for the young stud. I think it's safe to remove Lenon from Detroit for now at least. I'd be very surprised if Detroit did not bring someone else in.

Overall, solid stuff as always Jene. I know my member since date is less than a week old but I've been reading your material for over a year.

seemed like Hagler was coming in for Keiaho in many passing downs when they did run a nickel last half of the year(could be keiaho's injured arm). The colts however in many passing downs seem to shoot straight to a dime and just leave Brackett on the field as the only LB. Keiaho played well enuff in passing situations but seemd like his injury or colts scheme did keep him off the field in more passing situations than i liked to see(keiaho owner).

Do you have a link to the Davis information? I'd love to see the context there.

Derrick Brooks is back again? Wow!

WHen a published report is made I'll post it. One of the writers for the Plain Dealer was on a local Cleveland radio station this week, when the subject of the LB corps came up he mentioned that from his communications with the Browns front office and coaches some re-construction is in order notably getting younger in key spots which led him to believe the days of McGinest and Davis in Cleveland are numbered. From watching Davis this year, I agree; he's lost a step. The only way he's back is if he re-negotiates his contract to that of a veteran 2-down backup. Since I believe someone else will sign him with the hopes of using him as a starting 2 down LB for at least one more season I believe he is gone.

this thread should be pinned at the top of the IDP forum

Some guys I think are less than 50% likely to stay on the list are Lenon, Spikes, Tinoisamoa, and Simoneau.

Any chance either Barnes or Bradley make it as 3 down LB's in '08?

Depends on Spikes. Bradley doesn't crack the lineup if he returns and is able to play at his prior level. Should Spikes not recover or return to Philly, it'll depend on what the Eagles want to do with Gocong in the nickel. There were a few instances where Gocong was used as a pass rusher and there were three backers on the field, but it was rare (out of a 3-3-5 or modified 4-2-5 look). I think it's probably unlikely that Bradley would play in every subpackage.

Barnes is different. He's very likely to have a bigger role on passing downs next season. Given that Jarrett Johnson wasn't particularly impressive, Barnes has a legitimate chance to play on early downs as well.

How about Winborn, Jamie DEN?

The staff seems content with this guy and he DID close out the season in the 3-DN.

Depends on the draft, I know, but what's the skinny?

Rocky Mountain News (Feb 12)
SHOP TALK: Denver has been shopping weak-side linebacker Ian Gold, which would open a spot for Jamie Winborn if talks turn into action. Gold also could be released, given his $4.9 million salary-cap figure and a $500,000 roster bonus due in early March.

Still, we're talking about a guy who's been on six teams in four seasons and has yet to stay healthy when playing full time. If he starts over Gold, though, he's the favorite to play every down ahead of Webster.

Something about the whole Baltimore LBer situation has been bothering me. With the loss of Adalius Thomas a lot the coverage responsibilities fell onto Bart Scott. I believe Scott acquitted himself will in pass coverage, but the Ravens lost a lot of sacks from it. The previous season Thomas/Scott had over 20 sacks and last year Scott/Johnson had 3. The obvious situation would be to replace Johnson with a pure pass rusher like Barnes. However, I believe they would rather free up Scott to go back to more of a free lancing LBer that he was in 06. I don't believe Barnes has the skill set to contribute in that scenario. I look for the Ravens to address this situation in Free Ageny and turn to Barnes (or combination) as a last resort.

I could be totally wrong, that's just my guy feeling as of now.

I would think LB is area Denver will address in the draft and or free agency. They could even do something like sign ... say a Kawika Mitchell, stick him in the middle, and move DJ back outside. Slowik has a history with UFA Na'il Diggs, they were together 5 years in Green Bay, and Diggs started will for him when he was the DC in '04.

Baltimore: Lewis, Scott
Buffalo: Crowell, Posluszny
Cincinnati: ??? (could be anyone)
Cleveland: Jackson, Wimbley
Denver: Williams (Koutouvides, Bailey?)
Houston: Ryans, Greenwood
Indianapolis: Brackett, Keiaho
Jacksonville: Peterson, Smith
Kansas City: Edwards, Johnson
Miami: Crowder, Porter
New England: Vrabel, Thomas
New York Jets: Harris, Thomas, Pace
Oakland: Morrison, Howard
Pittsburgh: Farrior, Harrison, Woodley
San Diego: Cooper, Merriman, Phillips
Tennessee: Bulluck, Thornton

Arizona: Dansby, Hayes, Okeafor
Atlanta: Brooking, Boley
Carolina: Davis, Beason
Chicago: Urlacher, Briggs
Dallas: Thomas (prob), Ware
Detroit: Sims, Lenon
Green Bay: Hawk, Barnett
Minnesota: Henderson, Greenway
New Orleans: Vilma, Fujita (Morgan darkhorse)
New York Giants: Pierce, Kiwanuka
Philadelphia: Gaither, ?Bradley, ?Gocong
St. Louis: Witherspoon
San Francisco: Willis, Lawson
Seattle: Tatupu, Peterson
Tampa Bay: Ruud, Brooks
Washington: Fletcher, Washington

Just the time of year to begin the speculations:

NYG: Kiwanuka moves to DE when Strahan retires....Wilkerson steps into a three down role?

JAC: Durant replaces Smith....finally?

NYJ: Projecting Bryan Thomas into a three down role is a leap in Faith? How does this happen?

STL: Spoon and Who? leads to a great shot for the heir in waiting to come from the Draft?

It'll be interesting to follow these through training camp and to see: Was Up?

(pending trade rumors of CB Hall)

Kiwanuka stays at SAM, and G-men draft rookie with 1st rd pick that beats out Wilkenson.

great work as always but I'm unsure myself if Vilma even plays till late in the season or plays a top level once he does return

Does Danny Clark beat out Wilkinson?

The final two years on Browns ILB Andra Davis' contract have voided.
He'll be in a contract year and make $1.675 million in 2008. Willie McGinest also had his pay cut to $900,000 after not achieving certain bonus standards. The Cleveland Plain Dealer refers to both as "former starters." It looks like Leon Williams will be lining up next to D'Qwell Jackson more this year.
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/plaindeale....xml&coll=2

Clark isn't a great fit at WLB. In some ways, though, neither was Kawika Mitchell. I'd guess he's more likely to provide depth and special teams help. Wilkinson hasn't exactly been promising though, so I suppose anything's possible.

Any updates here as a result of recent LB free agent moves?

I'm still a little hesitant to proclaim Wilhelm an every down backer, but he's has as good a shot as a few others I've listed. Haggans would have a better than average shot in Arizona, I suppose, but the rest are probably still in flux until the post-draft minicamps. See anything that looks funny?

Cleveland: Jackson, Wimbley, Peek -> Williams?
Denver: Williams, Gold -> Gold now gone. Bailey?
Jacksonville: Peterson, Smith -> What has to happen for Durant to supplant Smith?
Kansas City: Edwards, Johnson -> Demorrio 2-down for now?
Miami: Crowder, Porter -> Who's the 3rd?
New England: Vrabel, Thomas -> Who's the 3rd?
New York Jets: Harris, Thomas, Hobson -> Pace?
San Diego: Cooper, Merriman, Phillips -> Can Wilhelm supplant Copper or one of the OLBs?

Atlanta: Brooking, Boley -> With Brooking aging, does Nicholas have the skills?
Dallas: James, Ware -> Thomas?
Detroit: Sims, Lenon -> Status quo for now?
New Orleans: Simoneau, Fujita -> Vilma, Morgan?
New York Giants: Pierce, Kiwanuka, Mitchell -> Mitchell now gone
Philadelphia: Gaither, Spikes -> Spikes now gone
St. Louis: Witherspoon, Tinoisamoa -> Tino now gone
Washington: Fletcher, Washington -> McIntosh?

There's an updated, post-FA post at #19 that addresses many of these situations. I'm trying not to speculate on the others until I can make a clear argument.

I think the following are reasonable assumptions, however, since that post:

Leon Williams IN (CLE)
Boss Bailey IN over Niko Koutouvides (DEN)
Jason Taylor IN (MIA)


With the recent news that Mike Peterson and Daryl Smith are reasonably safe in their current positions, I'm more hesitant to put Justin Durant in over Smith, though I think he's the better all-around talent.

I'm still not convinced that we'll see Donnie Edwards in the middle, and not at all sure that Demorrio will take his WLB job.

I suppose I'd have to put Tedy Bruschi in for now, but have a feeling that the Pats will bring someone in again -- they haven't had Bruschi on the field for 60 snaps (even when healthy) for two seasons now.

I think Matt Wilhelm plays more nickel snaps, but haven't seen any independent confirmation and he's definitely behind Stephen Cooper.

I think Stephen Nicholas is better in pass rush than coverage, but it's possible he bumps Brooking.

I'm hesitant to add Rocky McIntosh until he's deemed fully healthy and we learn what Blache wants to do with Marcus Washington in passing situations.

How about Culberson, Quinton ® in STL?

His resume is as a special teamer who started in Week #17....10/1 with a FR.

He's got a shot as the SLB and at the 3-Down business?

I still think a healthy Tinoisamoa is the other nickel backer, but he's been about as healthy as Dan Morgan in recent years. Magaw is well versed in all things Ram related. Might be worth a PM to him with a link to your post.

culberson is definitely in the mix to be the SLB... i think he has edge over draft, primary backup at all three LB positions...

i agree with jene, if healthy, spoon & tino likely candidates for nickle LB roles, but also that tino has not been very reliable lately...

i don't think LB is as high on heirarchy of rams draft priority list, as positions like DL, CB, WR, OT... but perhaps it should be... they did just re-up tinoisamoa recently, which could steer them away from a high pick spent on LB... i think they would really like a player from above position list with 2.2 (with the caveat & proviso that there is a good alignment of BPA with positional team need at that juncture... i think there will be, most likely at WR or CB)... though good LBs like connor, mayo & lofton could be there... spoon does have versatility & athleticism to move to WLB, if it came to that...

at this point, though, i think rams have too many other holes on both sides of the ball of more pressing urgency... frankly, it looks like a several year rebuild is in order, some of their core talent (pace, little, holt) is aging, so it probably just isn't realistic that they could address all the holes this year (in terms of needed upgrades at weak starter positions, as well as depth at critically important positions)... depending on how tino looks in '08, if he doesn't rebound, that may well be an area they take a hard look at next year, if not this one...

Still a few situations up in the air, but I think it's reasonable to project Mayo and Rivers to an every down role right now. Gholston probably takes Thomas out of an every down role in New York. Dizon is likely an every down backer if he settles at MLB.

Baltimore: Lewis, Scott
Buffalo: Crowell, Posluszny
Cincinnati: Thurman, Rivers
Cleveland: Jackson, Wimbley
Denver: Williams, Bailey
Houston: Ryans, Greenwood
Indianapolis: Brackett, Keiaho
Jacksonville: Peterson, Smith
Kansas City: Edwards, Johnson
Miami: Crowder, Porter, Taylor
New England: Vrabel, Thomas, Mayo
New York Jets: Harris, Pace
Oakland: Morrison, Howard
Pittsburgh: Farrior, Harrison, Woodley
San Diego: Wilhelm, Merriman, Phillips
Tennessee: Bulluck, Thornton

Arizona: Dansby, Hayes, Okeafor
Atlanta: Brooking, Boley
Carolina: Davis, Beason
Chicago: Urlacher, Briggs
Dallas: Thomas (prob), Ware
Detroit: Sims, Lenon
Green Bay: Hawk, Barnett
Minnesota: Henderson, Greenway
New Orleans: Vilma, Fujita
New York Giants: Pierce, Kiwanuka
Philadelphia: Gaither, Gocong
St. Louis: Witherspoon, Tinoisamoa
San Francisco: Willis, Lawson
Seattle: Tatupu, Peterson
Tampa Bay: Ruud, Brooks
Washington: Fletcher, McIntosh, Washington

Im curious as how you see Thurman to return to an every down LB after coming off a 2 year suspension. I know he showed great vision and talent as a rookie, but I'm not convinced he can return to form immediately coming off a 2 year absence.

Yeah, I keep losing focus as I do these. Some teams have projected starters regardless of current depth chart (eg CIN); others are stuck in the current depth chart (eg DET). Getting flaky in my old age.

Anyway, Thurman's an athlete and arguably the best linebacker on the roster if ready to play. Brooks couldn't handle a three down role early last year and the only consistent LB in coverage in the past two seasons (Johnson) is gone. Though it may be wishful thinking, I'm anticipating him starting this year, and, if he does, he'll have proven himself ready for an every down role.

I also think Geathers will be at DE and Jeanty or Brooks will be the SAM.

How does the suspension affect the contract status - is he on the original timeline or has the suspension 'suspended' his contract as well, meaning he has at least two more years left on the contract at his original base salaries?

I think his contract is suspended.

Jene, what are the chances that Bradley plays 3 downs instead of Gocong?

Yes, I'm Bradley owner . . .

Very high with the news that he'll have the helmet with the headset in it.

I think it probably makes more sense to keep the first post updated this year. I think it's neat to see how things progress as the season rolls along, but it's probably too confusing to do it that way.

I'll bump the thread if/when I update independently of other questions.

Jene... why some teams have 2 every down LB and some teams have 3 every down LB ??

Nickel uses 2 and dime 1 right ?

Lots of potential reasons.

Nickel defenses are generally 4-2-5, but may have only one true linebacker (an extra safety in a linebacker role) or use a linebacker (or two) on the line in a three point stance. Many of the 3-4 teams keep at least three linebackers on the field on passing downs, despite lining up in a 4-2-5 look. Then there are situations like that of Dallas last year (or Houston earlier in the season) who had only one every down linebacker because of situational substitutions.

Some teams use a 3-3-5 nickel alignment. The Cardinals over the past two seasons had as many as four linebackers in on nickel downs in those situations.

The dime is almost always a single linebacker, though the Steelers zone blitz scheme will sometimes use a 1-5-5 type alignment with all sorts of funny combinations.

Not Lofton for Atlanta?

I'm not convinced he'll start over Brooking yet. If he does, it's no lock that he'll bump Brooking from the nickel. Both are certainly debatable, though.

Is Fletcher worth a 2nd round rookie pick in a dyno draft? start 3 LB. Current corps is a bit weak (Puz, Sims, Greenway, Crowell, Brooking)

What # pick? last year I gave pick 25 for DJ Williams

Hi Jene,

what do you expect from Keith Rivers in terms of numbers? 70 Tackles maybe more ?

Assuming Berry is out of gas, I would think LaBoy would be a 3-down LB as the WOLB for the Cards.