Michael Johnson moved to LB too? (1 Viewer)

[cr8f]

Bengals | Johnson could be X-Factor Sun Jun 20, 03:30 PM

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Bengals will utilize the 3-4 defense in 2010 without committing to it full-time. Coinciding with that, the paper reported that Michael Johnson has blown the doors off of what the coaches expected and is figured to help them this season. As such, he's been moved to linebacker, but defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer says he could line up anywhere. He has been working as a strong-side linebacker. "I really, really, really like him as a football player," Zimmer said. "He's doing some terrific things. I'm expecting him to have a dang good year."

ROTO still has him as a DE so this year may be good.

 

[Weiner Dog]

Article?

Any mention of Rivers and/or Rey-Rey?

 

[JOBOOZOSO]

I had him queued up in Dynasty Experts League for past 48 hrs. I landed him a few hours ago.

Nice. Talk about him all you want now.

There is strong possibility he'll keep DL status if coach-speak turn out to be true - coaches say he will line up at end on 3rd down passing plays.

 

[Anthony Borbely]

Bengals | Johnson could be X-Factor Sun Jun 20, 03:30 PMThe Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Bengals will utilize the 3-4 defense in 2010 without committing to it full-time. Coinciding with that, the paper reported that Michael Johnson has blown the doors off of what the coaches expected and is figured to help them this season. As such, he's been moved to linebacker, but defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer says he could line up anywhere. He has been working as a strong-side linebacker. "I really, really, really like him as a football player," Zimmer said. "He's doing some terrific things. I'm expecting him to have a dang good year."ROTO still has him as a DE so this year may be good.

Can you please post a link for this? We really have to have links posted for significant things like this because there are some articles written that are more opinion than fact and we need to be able to see the actual article to determine that.

 

[cr8f]

It came from the blog. It said it was from the Cin Enquirer but when you clicked on thelink took you to CBS with no story.

I did find this separately.

How many reps at linebacker does Michael Johnson get with the first unit? He got his share since Rey Maualuga was out after having leg surgery a couple weeks ago, but Brandon Johnson also saw some time there as well.

He could keep his DL status for this year since he is still there at ROTO. but at Bengals.com he is listed as a LB but when you click on his name it says DE.

He's listed at 6-7. A 6-7 SLB? I hope he plays enough DE to stay there officially.

 

[cr8f]

Bengals | Johnson could be X-Factor Sun Jun 20, 03:30 PM

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Bengals will utilize the 3-4 defense in 2010 without committing to it full-time. Coinciding with that, the paper reported that Michael Johnson has blown the doors off of what the coaches expected and is figured to help them this season. As such, he's been moved to linebacker, but defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer says he could line up anywhere. He has been working as a strong-side linebacker. "I really, really, really like him as a football player," Zimmer said. "He's doing some terrific things. I'm expecting him to have a dang good year."

ROTO still has him as a DE so this year may be good.

Can you please post a link for this? We really have to have links posted for significant things like this because there are some articles written that are more opinion than fact and we need to be able to see the actual article to determine that.

http://subscribers.footballguys.com/apps/news.php#2697

 

[Jene Bramel]

I thought this had been posted somewhere already.

June 18 minicamp blog

Zimmer quotes from June 16

Speculation from late May OTAs

Johnson versatility piece from Geoff Hobson June 16

OTA preview May 5 from Hobson

Johnson has been taking lots of snaps at SLB since early in the OTA season. It would appear that lots of three man changeup fronts are being installed, which is ironic since this is the first offseason in years that we've not been speculating about the Bengals doing some 3-4 and the Bengals' defense was the most consistent it had been in years last year.

Unfortunately, Rey Maualuga missed most of last week's minicamp with a leg injury, so it's still not clear whether or not Johnson's linebacker time will come mostly in a 3-4 or 3-3-5 nickel or whether Johnson is the odds-on 4-3 SLB with Maualuga in the middle or relegated to a reserve role. Now's the time to make your move on Maualuga and I completely agree that Johnson has a good chance to be the LB classified as DL du jour this year.

 

[cr8f]

I thought this had been posted somewhere already.

June 18 minicamp blog

Zimmer quotes from June 16

Speculation from late May OTAs

Johnson versatility piece from Geoff Hobson June 16

OTA preview May 5 from Hobson

Johnson has been taking lots of snaps at SLB since early in the OTA season. It would appear that lots of three man changeup fronts are being installed, which is ironic since this is the first offseason in years that we've not been speculating about the Bengals doing some 3-4 and the Bengals' defense was the most consistent it had been in years last year.

Unfortunately, Rey Maualuga missed most of last week's minicamp with a leg injury, so it's still not clear whether or not Johnson's linebacker time will come mostly in a 3-4 or 3-3-5 nickel or whether Johnson is the odds-on 4-3 SLB with Maualuga in the middle or relegated to a reserve role. Now's the time to make your move on Maualuga and I completely agree that Johnson has a good chance to be the LB classified as DL du jour this year.

I missed those threads.

Green Bay played some 2 man fronts last year so what they do will probably change too.

Jenkins has been playing some LB too.

Packers Try Jenkins At OLB

Posted by Rob Demovsky June 21st, 2010, 3:29 pm

Last season, Green Bay Packers defensive end Cullen Jenkins was one of a couple of players who complained that coordinator Dom Capers wasn’t using the team’s playmakers enough.

Today, during the first day of the Packers’ mandatory minicamp, Jenkins was in a significant playmaking position. Jenkins took several snaps at left outside linebacker, a big change for a player who played his entire NFL career with his hand on the ground as defensive lineman.

“I always feel like I can pass rush; it’s just a matter of what they ask me to do on particular plays,” Jenkins said. “I’ve been working on my pass rush to improve it. Me and Trgo (defensive line coach Mike Trgovac) have been talking about positives and negatives from last year.”

Jenkins still played his share of snaps as a defensive end in the base 3-4 defense, but in several drills today in which Capers employed his nickel package, Jenkins was at LOLB. And it wasn’t exclusively rushing the quarterback. He dropped into coverage on several plays, and the 6-foot-2, 305-pounder said he felt comfortable doing so.

He said he hopes to shed a few more pounds and play this season at between 295 and 300 pounds. Other than a handful of snaps standing up last season, he hasn’t played off the line of scrimmage since his freshman year at Central Michigan.

“They’ve been moving me around a lot and having me try different things just in case,” said Jenkins, who was second on the team with 4.5 sacks last season. “You never know what you’re actually going to carry into the season, but we’re experimenting with different things. I feel pretty fast this year, and it’s pretty cool to be (playing standing) up, actually.”

– Rob Demovsky, rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com

http://twitter.com/RobDemovsky

 

[Anthony Borbely]

Link

With one of those new breed, defensive end Michael Johnson, now listed as a linebacker, there are 12 guys for eight or nine spots. If they stick with Johnson’s current designation, they could count him as one of their seven linebackers and keep eight others on the defensive line but also use Johnson as an end on passing downs.

 

[JOBOOZOSO]

Boooooooooooooo

 

[Polyethylene Bag]

 

[cr8f]

Drafted Ayers and Johnson last year both LB'ers now.

 

[buck56]

Is there any chance that MFL leaves him at DE?

Or any chance Cincy moves him back to DE?

Have been getting trade offers for him, and trying to decide if i should unload him before some owners see this. IMHO, hes not much of a fantasy factor at OLB.

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

Drafted Ayers and Johnson last year both LB'ers now.

You really should have known about Ayers.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Is there any chance that MFL leaves him at DE?Or any chance Cincy moves him back to DE?Have been getting trade offers for him, and trying to decide if i should unload him before some owners see this. IMHO, hes not much of a fantasy factor at OLB.

Rotoworld currently has him listed as a LB, so MFL will reflect that after the training camp positional update. There's always a chance that, despite the practice snaps and the official roster, Johnson sees more snaps at DE. Something major would have to happen in camp to shuffle the official depth chart.Right now, though, every indication is that he'll be a LB on MFL.

 

[gandalas]

On the other hand, you should have really jumped on Aaron Kampman once he got traded out of Green Bay and before MFL changed him back to DE.

I offered a trade for him right away, and got him rather cheaply, if he can even be a top-20 DE again (which is not that hard to do in fantasy...)

Another player you may want to target right now in DT-required leagues is Randy Starks from Miami. He is moving to NT in the dolphins defense, but he is still listed as DE in MFL. He should have top-15 DT stats, if all the rumors coming out of MIA about plans for his usage are correct.

I did make a mistake in trading for Hali last offseason, so I have been bitten on both ends by MFL not being up-to-date on position designations.

 

[buck56]

Jene, do you think Geathers or Dunlap will be the benificiery of this move, and will either play 3 downs?

 

[Jene Bramel]

Jene, do you think Geathers or Dunlap will be the benificiery of this move, and will either play 3 downs?

No real beneficiary. Geathers was already an every-down player. Dunlap might slot into Johnson's former nickel three-technique role, but I think Johnson will still see some snaps there. I'm interested to see how the timeshare plays out at all these positions.

 

[ClownDogs]

On the other hand, you should have really jumped on Aaron Kampman once he got traded out of Green Bay and before MFL changed him back to DE.

I offered a trade for him right away, and got him rather cheaply, if he can even be a top-20 DE again (which is not that hard to do in fantasy...)

Another player you may want to target right now in DT-required leagues is Randy Starks from Miami. He is moving to NT in the dolphins defense, but he is still listed as DE in MFL. He should have top-15 DT stats, if all the rumors coming out of MIA about plans for his usage are correct.

I did make a mistake in trading for Hali last offseason, so I have been bitten on both ends by MFL not being up-to-date on position designations.

Isn't the bolded part backwards? Wouldn't u want a player listed as DT playing DE? Not a player listed as DE playing DT?

 

[SugarNuts]

On the other hand, you should have really jumped on Aaron Kampman once he got traded out of Green Bay and before MFL changed him back to DE.

I offered a trade for him right away, and got him rather cheaply, if he can even be a top-20 DE again (which is not that hard to do in fantasy...)

Another player you may want to target right now in DT-required leagues is Randy Starks from Miami. He is moving to NT in the dolphins defense, but he is still listed as DE in MFL. He should have top-15 DT stats, if all the rumors coming out of MIA about plans for his usage are correct.

I did make a mistake in trading for Hali last offseason, so I have been bitten on both ends by MFL not being up-to-date on position designations.

Isn't the bolded part backwards? Wouldn't u want a player listed as DT playing DE? Not a player listed as DE playing DT?

Not in DT required leagues (which I assume he is talking about)

 

[PhantomJB]

Does anyone have additional thoughts on Michael Johnson after last night's game?

From my vantage point, he definitely looked fast and covered a lot of space, though perhaps lacked some ball/tackling instincts playing up as a LB. Appeared to have a hand in the ground in a 4-3 formation on 3rd downs and looked strong, quick and comfortable there, as expected.

Mr. Norton's projections have him in the DE category with only 38 solos. Seems kind of light if he's going to be on the field with the first team.

38 17 8.0 2 1 0 2 116.75

 

[CaptainCrunch]

Does anyone have additional thoughts on Michael Johnson after last night's game?From my vantage point, he definitely looked fast and covered a lot of space, though perhaps lacked some ball/tackling instincts playing up as a LB. Appeared to have a hand in the ground in a 4-3 formation on 3rd downs and looked strong, quick and comfortable there, as expected.Mr. Norton's projections have him in the DE category with only 38 solos. Seems kind of light if he's going to be on the field with the first team.38 17 8.0 2 1 0 2 116.75

If he ends up with the first team- he will probably end up in the SLB spot. I think he will be of more value to owners in big play IDP leagues (high points for sacks, etc vs tackles). The real development here could be that Johnson's play might force Rey Rey to the middle and the Bengals will might finally have him replace Dhani Jones.

 

[gandalas]

On the other hand, you should have really jumped on Aaron Kampman once he got traded out of Green Bay and before MFL changed him back to DE.

I offered a trade for him right away, and got him rather cheaply, if he can even be a top-20 DE again (which is not that hard to do in fantasy...)

Another player you may want to target right now in DT-required leagues is Randy Starks from Miami. He is moving to NT in the dolphins defense, but he is still listed as DE in MFL. He should have top-15 DT stats, if all the rumors coming out of MIA about plans for his usage are correct.

I did make a mistake in trading for Hali last offseason, so I have been bitten on both ends by MFL not being up-to-date on position designations.

Isn't the bolded part backwards? Wouldn't u want a player listed as DT playing DE? Not a player listed as DE playing DT?

Not in DT required leagues (which I assume he is talking about)

Correct...Starks is currently listed at DE, where he was #11 at the position last season. However, that same total would have put him at #1 at DT. While I don't expect the same total of tackles this season, he should definitely be top-10, and push for top-5 status if all the glowing reviews the coaches are saying are true.

 

[saintfool]

Does anyone have additional thoughts on Michael Johnson after last night's game?

From my vantage point, he definitely looked fast and covered a lot of space, though perhaps lacked some ball/tackling instincts playing up as a LB. Appeared to have a hand in the ground in a 4-3 formation on 3rd downs and looked strong, quick and comfortable there, as expected.

Mr. Norton's projections have him in the DE category with only 38 solos. Seems kind of light if he's going to be on the field with the first team.

38 17 8.0 2 1 0 2 116.75

If he ends up with the first team- he will probably end up in the SLB spot. I think he will be of more value to owners in big play IDP leagues (high points for sacks, etc vs tackles). The real development here could be that Johnson's play might force Rey Rey to the middle and the Bengals will might finally have him replace Dhani Jones.

i suspect that to happen later in the year but not anytime soon. jones might have the production or the physical skills that the other LBs have but experience seems to serve him well. i have heard time and time again how they -zimmer and lewis - value his leadership. as long as that holds and he's not a liability on the field then jones won't get supplanted anytime soon.

 

[Jene Bramel]

I thought Johnson was very good at the point of attack last night as the SLB and he was able to dominate against the second team offensive line when moved around with the second team defense. If he continues to play that well against the run, he may force Lewis' hand with Maualuga sooner than expected. Should be interesting to see how things develop through the next three games.

 

[Patsfan39]

What are the chances Johnson stays listed as DE on MFL?

 

[cr8f]

What are the chances Johnson stays listed as DE on MFL?

Not good. MFL updates this month using rotoworlds depth charts and he is listed as a LB there right now.They could move Rey and start Johnson outside or go to more 3-4 looks. This could be interesting.

 

[Rushmore]

Johnson was one of the few bright spots from the game as a Bengals fan. I love this guy's potential.