Yep, I kind of thought you meant Wake would spell Landry bit didnt think that post was totally clear.
For IDP the 3 down LB is the holy grail. So Wake replacing Landry means Landry has no chance at 3DLB.
Your last post basically says Finch will be a 3 down LB, playing olb on regular downs then DE slot in nickel.
Landry's issues come down to only using the speed rush and that NFL linemen can block that. His speed move also leaves him in a bad position to stop the run if he read the play wrong. Occasionally he will get through and he looks like a gem of a speedy defender when he does, but this ignores all the other downs.
The Titans worked with him an absolute ton last year and this year. Vrabel called him out to the press (he almost never does that) pointing out that he must get comfy with the other moves and use them. Using them in practice means little if he won't use them in a game.
Finch is not supposed to be there and not supposed to be this good. A year ago, no one would have predicted that a DE from Temple would have one of the highest LB ratings by PFF for the second half of the year. Most predicted the Titans would have LB issues with Morgan and Rak retiring. Some probably thought Woodyard (or Wake) would retire by now. Brown had struggled to stop the run throughout college and his rookie year and suddenly last year he's got a nose for it and is a solid ILB. It's surprising or shocking for them to be in such good shape at LB. Finch rocks though and everyone that reviews him (including BB) praises the guy.
Any coach worth his salt should be able to get a player to learn new techniques. Camp pics show Landry working with just about every coach, including the OL coach. They have definitely coached him up. I would guess that now it comes down to if he's hard-headed and if he can, not just learn the new techniques but, use the new techniques well.
I would bet that things click for Landry at some point and they have to decide again whether Finch or Landry should be the 3 down OLB. When is that? Week four? eight? Finch is a tough smart sonofa. He is not the elite athlete Landry is. Finch has better production. Do you go with production or potential?
Also, and this is no small thing, Evans IS playing OLB some this year and Brown has been seen doing so too in camp- granted Evans has done it a ton and Brown just in spots. The Titans love Woodyard, Brown, and Evans. With only two starting ILB spots, there's a desire to get the other on the field. This may cost Landry or Finch some stats.
The Pats hybrid 4-3 3-4 D and Lebeau's 5-3 are both being used. Lebeau's has been used since before he got there. I think Evans and Brown play OLB in this 5-3 and only then- I've got nothing to go on but my experience watching. I don't understand the 4-3 3-4 hybrid. This is new this year and something Pees and Vrabel know well and were trying to get the team used to last year. This D looks too weak to me on the weakside. If I were a QB, I'd audible and attack that and to me this shouldn't work, yet BB has done it well for a long time. Tip of hat to BB, I'm not sure Vrabel or Pees can pull it off. Regardless, the weakside LB would have to be the most sure tackler and best coverage guy they have and that'd be Evans.
The Titans backups showed these Ds and the Eagles made one pump fake or a fake handoff and threw to the TE with ease. The Titans changed to a 3 safety look and while it was well covered, their safeties couldn't stop Goedert. In the practice videos, Brady just snaps n throws and they can't do a thing. The weakside LB can't be up enough as he's on an island. In the 5-3, the 3 are back too far too.
Lebeau used the 5-3 to throw the kitchen sink at a D. It was good luck passing before our DL gets to the QB. It was an obvious 3rd down defense. I'm really questioning whether these two Ds are going to work during any other downs.
The three safety look the Titans used for years but didn't last year. Hooker is a classic rookie safety. He might get burned but he's gonna smack ya if he does. Otherwise, he's pretty solid and looks to be a future good player. The goal is really to let Byard be the play maker he can be. We saw it a couple years ago under Lebeau and if Byard can have Polomalu like freedom, he can get to spots where he can make a game changing play. The issue then was he's not Polomalu and gets badly burned sometimes too. Byard's a stud and I think it's worth a try again and using it in spots is probably the right move to make