Saints LBs (1 Viewer)

It's looking like Te'o at MLB, Klein at SLB (but staying on the field in sub packages) and then a fight between Robertson and Anzalone at WLB?

Anyone have any insight on who wins the WLB job?

It's been all Klein and Anzalone in PS games when it counts and mostly nickel, they have hardly been in base in first halves.  Te'o hasn't sniffed the field until those two exit.  It's currently Klein at MIKE and Anzalone at WILL and both have played 3 downs.

Hankmoody said:

It's been all Klein and Anzalone in PS games when it counts and mostly nickel, they have hardly been in base in first halves.  Te'o hasn't sniffed the field until those two exit.  It's currently Klein at MIKE and Anzalone at WILL and both have played 3 downs.

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Obviously you have first-hand knowledge so no disrespect, just doing my due diligence on a very fluid situation.

All the depth charts I can find list Teo as MLB (I get the accuracy of those, but still...)

More important, week 1/2 preseason articles from Mr. Norton reference Klein playing the strong side.

I'm really liking AJ Klein but was hoping to you could add anything at all that help reconcile what you're seeing vs. most other sources out there. Specifically, "when it counts" and why that is different than the start of the game.

Cheers.

I have Klein and have been following the news blurbs, which confirm what Hank is seeing AND what the sources show for positional designations. I posted this last week in the "all 32 teams" thread, and it does look like Klein is the 3 down LB to own, with Anzalone likely to be the other 3 down LB to own. 

Copied over:

Well, then this blurb popped through the news cycle at MFL:

"(RotoWire) Klein made six tackles (four solo) and notched a quarterback hit and a half sack in Sunday's preseason game against the Chargers. According to Mike Triplett of ESPN.com, Klein looks like a lock to start at linebacker for the Saints in Week 1.

Analysis: Klein signed a three-year, $15 million deal on the first day of free agency, as the Saints lured the four-year veteran away from the rival Panthers. The 6-foot-1, 240-pound linebacker was terrific in his second preseason game in New Orleans and has taken over as the commanding "quarterback" of the Saints' defense, playing a dual role as a strong-side linebacker in base defense and the middle linebacker on passing downs. While Klein has never recorded more that 55 tackles in a season, the former fifth-round draft pick looks like a cinch to surpass his career highs as long as he stays healthy."

nevermind on that question about Klein's value.... lol

PhantomJB said:

Obviously you have first-hand knowledge so no disrespect, just doing my due diligence on a very fluid situation.

All the depth charts I can find list Teo as MLB (I get the accuracy of those, but still...)

More important, week 1/2 preseason articles from Mr. Norton reference Klein playing the strong side.

I'm really liking AJ Klein but was hoping to you could add anything at all that help reconcile what you're seeing vs. most other sources out there. Specifically, "when it counts" and why that is different than the start of the game.

Cheers.

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I DVR all of the games and watch most of them.  My reports are from my eyeballs.  Take that as you will. 

"When it counts" is the start of the game, specifically when all of the other "starters" are still in there, especially the DL.  Once the front 4 are gone the LB reps become less valuable in terms of season prep and more about evaluating what a LB can do on their own.  Klein and Anzalone are gone at that point.  This looks like the coaches have made up their minds at the position.  Te'o and Robertson aren't playing with the starters, haven't for the last two games.

I'm quite high on Klein, especially for his entrance price.  If people are still sleeping on him I'll happily take him cheap.  This has the looks of a 2016 Zach Brown/Jerrel Freeman coming into an open opportunity and putting up low LB1 numbers.

Hankmoody said:

I DVR all of the games and watch most of them.  My reports are from my eyeballs.  Take that as you will. 

"When it counts" is the start of the game, specifically when all of the other "starters" are still in there, especially the DL.  Once the front 4 are gone the LB reps become less valuable in terms of season prep and more about evaluating what a LB can do on their own.  Klein and Anzalone are gone at that point.  This looks like the coaches have made up their minds at the position.  Te'o and Robertson aren't playing with the starters, haven't for the last two games.

I'm quite high on Klein, especially for his entrance price.  If people are still sleeping on him I'll happily take him cheap.  This has the looks of a 2016 Zach Brown/Jerrel Freeman coming into an open opportunity and putting up low LB1 numbers.

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Awesome. Thanks. Firsthand accounts like these are very helpful in identifying sleepers that only emerge during the preseason.

Hankmoody said:

I DVR all of the games and watch most of them.  My reports are from my eyeballs.  Take that as you will. 

"When it counts" is the start of the game, specifically when all of the other "starters" are still in there, especially the DL.  Once the front 4 are gone the LB reps become less valuable in terms of season prep and more about evaluating what a LB can do on their own.  Klein and Anzalone are gone at that point.  This looks like the coaches have made up their minds at the position.  Te'o and Robertson aren't playing with the starters, haven't for the last two games.

I'm quite high on Klein, especially for his entrance price.  If people are still sleeping on him I'll happily take him cheap.  This has the looks of a 2016 Zach Brown/Jerrel Freeman coming into an open opportunity and putting up low LB1 numbers.

Click to expand...

Te'o is technically still a starter at base MIKE but in the early part of the last couple preseason games they've been in nickel on almost every down. Well, at least in the 2nd preseason game, I only watched the first drive or so of the 3rd game just to confirm that Anzalone was still starting. In the 2nd game they were in nickel the entire first quarter, but when they pinned down LAC in the early part of the 2nd quarter, with their starters still in, they went to a base formation with Te'o at MIKE, Klein at SAM and Anzalone at WILL. A little while later they went to their second rotation with Te'o and Robertson in nickel. Te'o will probably have some usable weeks if you can predict when they will be in base, or in case Klein gets injured, but the guys to own based on their usage the last couple weeks are clearly Klein and Anzalone.

I wasn't sure if they were just taking a long look at Anzalone in the 2nd game, but when they continued rolling with him in the 3rd game it seems clear that they are going with him over Robertson. So to me this situation isn't that fluid any longer, they seem to have settled on their first and second rotation.