Originally posted by JimDrinkAMiller:
I really shouldn't be the one correcting people as you can see my spelling is atrocious, and I spelt goldson as golston which wouldn't even be correct if I was talking about Vernon.
No worries at all...don't mind the corrections to fundamental mistakes.
Again brook's numbers are satisfactory no doubt just think he can be upgraded. He is approaching 30 and isn't very fast.
So ideally, you'd like the SAM to produce around double-digit sacks. The age thing isn't too much of a worry as he trains very hard and d/t a late start, doesn't have a ton of wear and tear on his tires. But I agree, he may end up being relegated to PT player by the end of 2014/start of 2015. But Cam Johnson, Darius Fleming and Lemonier are truly going to have to show a complete SAM skill set and be able to handle the FT duty (97% on the field for a long long back-to-back seasons where we go to the NFC Championship game and then the Superbowl).
Rogers was in the pro-bowl in 2011 but does that mean he was a top 10 corner in the league in 11? def not in my opinion as obviously I'm not a rogers fan. I can bring up plenty of examples of people that made the pro-bowl that aren't in the top 10 at their position. Phillip Rivers comes to mind.
Agreed about Rogers and the pro bowls...they are usually a year or two behind and miss the boat often (popularity contest). But all-pro is different. Any time ANY SAM OLB in the 3-4 makes that list, THAT is saying something b/c he is seen as valuable as a WILL who is putting up the glorified (by design) sack numbers that everyone lusts over. That's special. And to get that recognition by his peers says even more. In fact, like I said previously, Brooks has been the one getting double-teams the past two years and Aldon has benefited. Playing the SAM is the equivalent to playing NT where the guy next to you, Justin Smith, gets all the press.
Brooks has never reached 10 sacks and that would be fine if he made up for it with his run defense and pass coverage. His run defense is there but he can't guard these tight ends or halfbacks very well and has a hard time keeping up with faster qbs. The league is constantly changing and teams need to adapt. Will Lemonier start this year? no probably not. But can he? I don't see any reason why he couldn't. A lot of you are making it seem like it would be near impossible and that isn't the case. The same thing applies to Tank and Mac.
It's interesting you bring up VD b/c I agree with you there as well. He is one of, if not the best TE in the game and his hands have been excellent the past two years...no longer an issue. But if we don't use him in the passing game what good is he? Brooks is the same way. If we don't rush him from the WILL spot, move him around, have him walk back and forth standing up pre-snap to rush the gaps on the OL, what good is he? He's playing straight up and defenses can continue to line their TE's and RB's on his strong side. This isn't Pittsburgh here. If you watch the way other teams utilize their OLB's it's very different (Green Bay, Denver, etc). Those defenses are designed to free up their OLB's and attack.
Brooks has to first read the play (run) and if it's a pass, play off and through one or two blockers in the sight-line of the QB and THEN rush him. On the flip side, Aldon is free to rush the passer the mass majority of the time with little worry if it's a run or dropping back in coverage (all from the blind side and with Justin taking on two OL - McDonald is not as good as this). This past year he had to play every snap, learn to play the run and set the edge but rarely dropped back. Nobody is talking about it but taking that many snaps and having to play the run more may have cost us the Superbowl with late injuries to both Smith's. Brooks also obviously played through his injury as well.
Now Lemonier didn't have quite the college career Brooks had but he looks like an absolute clone when you watch him. This 3-4 defense, as straight up as it is, like the WCO, still takes a few years to fully get. That's not a knock on Lemonier but on the scheme. He will sub Brooks here and there depending on his strengths and like Aldon, will be brought along slowly. The difference here is that Haralson was very weak for a WILL OLB...that is your pass rushing OLB position. Therefore, as a rookie, Aldon was allowed to pin his ears back on every play and rush the passer on passing downs...fresh off the bench. Then he had another off season to learn to play the run more and this next year, you can expect him to be a better more well-rounded WILL. This year we should expect him to disguise his rushes better, knock down a freaking pass for a change with that 20 foot wing span, get an INT dropping back in zone, seal the edge much better, diagnose plays better, etc.
If Lemonier shows some ability to pass rush along with Johnson/Fleming, we should expect both Brooks and Aldon to be spelled here and there. But neither will be starters unless they have the full playbook down and show a complete skill set esp. at the SAM (many more responsibilities over the WILL).
Bottom line: If you put Brooks at WILL all year long, there is NO doubt he would easily have double-digit sacks. Hell, he's physically hurt about 1/2 a dozen QB's from the SAM. Imagine him from the blind side? He'd snap a spine! LOL
[ Edited by NCommand on Jun 2, 2013 at 8:38 AM ]
