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I also read the "roster" experiments are going to end tomorrow night, so we'll have to tune in. I have a feeling both Timmons and Woodley will be starting by the end of the season.
The pick of Timmons was seen as a harbinger for the 4-3. He's your racehorse WLB. He probably fits better in the 4-3 than the 3-4, and yes, Woodley would be useful as a 4-3 DE, his college position. jmho,
yeah I hear you on the Timmons part, but as for Woodley I remember reading that although he was a 4-3 DE in college, he may not fit that in the NFLThe pick of Timmons was seen as a harbinger for the 4-3. He's your racehorse WLB. He probably fits better in the 4-3 than the 3-4, and yes, Woodley would be useful as a 4-3 DE, his college position. jmho,
It's still not clear.I've argued this offseason that Tomlin may argue that he's on board with the LeBeau 3-4 and that the Tampa-2 concept can be melded in somewhat -- the Cover-2 part for certain -- but there's a bunch of things that suggest otherwise.1. Tomlin drafted with positional versatility in mind.Steelers passed Anthony Spencer for Lawrence Timmons. If they wanted the best 3-4 OLB prospect on the board at the time, Spencer was the pick. Timmons did well as a pass rusher at FSU but it remains to be seen if any of that translates to the NFL. As CC mentioned, Timmons also looks like a Tampa-2 WLB to me, though I know Sig and Cecil disagree that he's athletic enough to have the rangy impact that the better Tampa-2 WLB have had. Lamarr Woodley didn't get a lot of play as a tweener but is the kind of guy that can handle a 3-4 OLB role and a 4-3 RDE role. First two picks of the Tomlin era and both are future fits in "his" defense but are good transitional players in the meantime.2. Tomlin working overtime to revitalize Ike Taylor.Taylor is a prototypical Cover-2 guy. Big, physical, questionable in man coverage, good ball skills, aggressive in run support.3. LeBeau ain't getting any younger.At some point, unless this team rebounds in a big way, Tomlin is not going to continue to shelve his preferred scheme. LeBeau is older. The OLBs remaining are nice, but Haggans and Harrison are the weakest group in years. If the 3-4 doesn't look like it's usual self, with the number of teams competing for those prospects, it won't be shocking to see the team draft/sign a quick cover MLB and make the switch.Based on Woodley's success in coverage and transition to an upright pass rusher this preseason, it doesn't appear that any switch is imminent for 2007. If this team finishes 7-9 or 8-8 this season, though, the 2007-08 offseason might get pretty interesting, especially if James Farrior looks to be declining.
