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Too early to slot him in a tier. He's unproven and unlikely to play in subpackages ahead of Weatherspoon and Nicholas unless he really surprises. Put him in the back half of the upside roster tier and roster him only in deeper leagues.
The article linked below talks about possibility of moving Foster outside. Something to definitely watch to see if Bucs bring in a MLB through free agency. Moving Mason Foster could make sense for Bucs
'rlwomack said:
Talked about this a little in the 2012 scheme thread last week and then on Twitter as part of a discussion on whether a team in the top ten (I.e. the Buccaneers) might be willing to take a chance on Luke Kuechly after his combine performance. Certainly seems like the Bucs are thinking about remaking the LB group.
Not sure about Hawthorne. I think he's more Stephen Tulloch than Barrett Ruud, but the knees could scare teams looking to invest in Hawthorne, unsure of whether he can play every down. The Seahawks have some nice young talent at linebacker, but it's worrisome that they aren't in a hurry to bring him back.I think Connor is a base defensive player only, either 4-3 MLB / 3-4 SILB. The speculation about the Eagles is interesting, but Connor is a long shot to earn more fantasy value than he's had in the past two seasons.
He's been dinged up frequently over the past two seasons and it's limited his power between the tackles and range. There's some upside with him, but I don't think he'll have a sustained run of LB1 numbers like he did at the end of his rookie season again. The big plays are a big bonus, though, and give him strong LB3 consideration with a little upside.
Growing into a nice player, but plays a position that will severely limit his tackle upside, even if he continues in an every-down role. Needs to finish better as a pass rusher on passing downs to jump into anything resembling Von Miller potential.
If TB signs him, they would presumably be giving him a contract paying him like an every down player. He doesn't have elite range, but neither did Channing Crowder in a similar scheme in his best Miami season(s). I think it'd be a good landing spot for him.
Thanks, Jene!! I am praying for him to land there!!
Think Connor likely slated to play in the base with Carter playing in nickel packages. Hope everyone has been following along on Twitter. Braking news and lots of good discussion over past three days.
I would assume the same assessment now that he's on Atlanta?
I strongly suspect that Weatherspoon and Nicholas will be the nickel backers in Atlanta, whether Tatupu starts in the base or not.
Yes, very interested in Ryan's prospects now. I'm also interested in why you have Tulloch OUT of the top 20 LBs. He signed a nice deal yesterday keeping him in Detroit for the foreseeable future, and he's getting paid as if he'll be used as a 3-down MLB in a 4-3 scheme (hard to come by these days). He led the Lions in solos, was #13 in solos in the league for LBs - and was a top 10 LB in my league (fairly standard IDP scoring).'blend said:
Ryans will be somewhere in the LB2 tier, yes.At the time the first version of these tiers were written, Tulloch wasn't certain to return to Detroit after a solid but not elite statistical finish in the anchor solo tackle category (just 84). Also, Tulloch isn't necessarily outside the top 20 linebackers. He's in a large group that extends from the mid teens to the low twenties depending on how you rank him inside those two LB2 tiers.Now that he's settled back in Detroit, he'll probably slide up a few spots in preference in the tier I currently have him in at minimum. My next update (post FA) will be another gut feel set of tiers. Shortly after the draft, I'll do a full set of projections to cross-check myself and make sure I'm not under/over rating any particular player because of my gut / eyes-on feeling.
Jene -Thanks for the response. I'm looking to do something similar myself this year, but really don't know how to tackle the job (pardon the pun). Where does one start in an effort to do a IDP projection? I'm kinda thinking of looking at the solo tackle numbers for the past few years (#1 LB was 115 last year, 114 the year before), finding that average (114.5), then giving that projection to the #1 LB on my list (lets assume D'Qwell)..and then going on down the list. Good place to start?
If you project numbers that way, you'll be confirming any pre-set bias you have in your rankings and the projections won't hold much value.Every year, I'll find that a player I really like on film is in a tier higher than he should be (or, more often, the reverse) because I've misread his statistical upside. I'll run a set of numbers (objectively and totally separate from my pre-conceived tier bias) and be surprised at what I see when I sort. When that happens, I give that particular projection a hard look and try to decide where the disconnect lies.
Ralph Vacchiano@TheBlueScreenReplyJerry Reese was asked who the Giants' MLB would be if they had a game tomorrow. His answer: "I’m not sure." #NYGReese then mentioned three "interesting candidates for that job": Mark Herzlich, Greg Jones and ... Michael Boley. #NYG
To Jene Bramel or anyone with some input on Ninkovich lb ranking
I've seen more than one report that suggested the Texans' opinion of Sharpton had something to do with the decision to deal Ryans. I'm not sure I'm buying that given that he played less than 100 snaps before tearing a quad tendon last year and didn't set the field on fire before a shoulder injury ended his 2010 season. I think he's the current favorite to play inside next to Cushing, but his upside is limited unless he wins a job on passing downs.
I think Vilma will be suspended for a significant number of games. I also think that Lofton outside and Vilma inside is questionable, though it wouldn't be as shocking in a Spagnuolo defense. Taken together, I think Lofton is the MLB this year, despite suggestions that he could play OLB alongside Vilma. Whether he remains a LB2+ or better fantasy play is dependent on whether the Saints leave him in subpackages. Vilma's presence on the active roster would confuse that picture for sure.
He should probably be in back half of the second tier of rush LBs. I'm generally not a fan of rush OLBs without double digit sack upside, but Ninkovich played well enough last year to earn consideration there.
With how things ended I think the giants will prolly be looking for another starting quality lb'er but not necessarily a MLB. Boley basically played the role last year with the high amount of nickel they played last year. They played alot due to injury but with how things ended and the fact vick/rg3/romo are in the division big nickel will likely be the base formation anyways'Fiddles said:
They also signed Lofa Tatupu.
Weatherspoon is unquestionably an every-down WLB/WILB.
Unsigned players or, in Vilma's case, pending suspension. I'm projecting those players into an expected best case scenario.
It's doubtful, but the Packers have said that he'll get a chance to compete with AJ Hawk this summer.
The + notation means he's moved up a tier (roughly) since the previously posted tiers.In this case, that's because I believe he'll be an every-down player this year.
EJ remains unsigned and the Vikings seem to have little interest in re-signing him currently. I think he'll find a job shortly after the draft.I've seen some early hype on Jasper Brinkley, but I'm not buying it. He's a two down thumper. I was a little surprised that Erin didn't get more love on the free agent market, but he's clearly the better subpackage option to me. The Vikings seemed to believe so last year, when Erin played on passing downs ahead of EJ when EJ seemed near full health.
I'm a Butler owner but didn't get to see him in action (difficult to watch games in Australia). Is this ranking based largely on his situation or does he have the skill to keep this type of ranking up regardless of situation down the road?I'm also a McCarthy owner and want to know if the hype around these guys is for real or are they likely to crash and burn if the situation changes. I liked both players enough out of college to draft them in my dynasty IDP rookie drafts, but never expected them to make Tier 1 LB type status in the same region as Willis and Ray Lewis. Every year around this time there are guys at LB overhyped because of situation and short term production. Do they have the skill to continue this long term?'Jene Bramel said:
I doubt it too. I expect them to bring someone else or draft someone before using him, but it's hard to guess what Thompson has planned. The draft should give a glimpse into his thinking, but I would hold onto Smith for now.They haven't had good success with last LB picks besides Bishop. I expect them to pick someone high.'Jene Bramel said:
