Honestly, I think he has the potential of reproducing the stats of Steve Foley's 2004 campaign. I dont know about your leagues, but that was an acceptable LB2 in mine.
Every year, a few OLB's playing in the 3-4 score well. Unfortunately, 3-4 OLB's rarely score well from one season to the next.Let's talk Foley since he was referenced...
Foley netted 10 sacks last year. These 10 sacks matched his CAREER totals from the prior five seasons. I highly doubt he was on any IDP roster prior to Week 1 of the '04 season. Fast forward to the '05 season...it's now only a matter of time until Merriman takes his job (assuming Merriman plays OLB, as opposed to DE).
Joey Porter has probably been the most consistent-scoring 3-4 OLB for the past few years. Porter has landed at least 54 tackles and five sacks in each of the past five seasons. This is fine and dandy, but one important question remains:
Which Porter will you get in '05?? The '02 Porter who had 89 tackles, 9 sacks, 4 INT's, and 10 PD's or the '04 Porters who had 54 tackles, 7 sacks, 1 INT, and 12 PD's?? It's a gamble I'm not willing to take.
I could see guys like Merriman (...and Ware...and Pollack...and Babin...and Chaun Thompson) becoming the new generation of Joey Porter. Unfortunately, the new generation of Joey Porter excites me about as much as the old the generation of Joey Porter.