I'd like to see Josh Mauga get some playing time in passing situations. I think that guy is going to be our UDFA gem and I think he's the best coverage ILB we have on the team. Scott's had a couple of poor games. He does look a little worn out. That doesn't mean he isn't a huge asset though; it just means we need to spell him a bit.
BGA analysis on Mauga in the Ravens game. Food for thought (I have no opinion on this as of yet, but wanted to share for discussion purposes): One move I would probably not advocate at this stage would be to use Bart Scott on the outside and Josh Mauga next to David Harris. While I have no doubt that Scott would do a good job in that role, Mauga saw some playing time last night and did not really shine. He did record one pressure, but the run defense looks less sturdy whenever he’s in the game.
To answer the original post, I'm sure they are trying out Mauga at ILB and OLB, and trying to figure out how best to replace BT. Depending on how that works out, Scott's role might increase to include playing OLB in certain situations. Westerman and Maybin are probably also in the picture.
Like I said, I wouldn't really want him on the field on 1st and 2nd down. But in clear passing situations, I think he could do well covering the middle of the field. I don't think Westerman has Rex's confidence. If he did, Rex would have given him Thomas' spot off the bat. But he was real wishy-washy: "Uh, we may try Mauga, we got Maybin who did pretty well... we also have Westerman..." That doesn't sound like the same confidence Rex had in the guy before the preseason.
I don't really trust any of our backup LBs. Mauga, Westerman, McIntyre, and Maybin are all limited, particularly against the run. As for Scott, he's been missing more tackles, but he's been more active defensively. He's always been overpaid since the second we got him. But give me a list of free agents, and the vast majority will be overpaid, at least Scott is still productive and helped bring Rex's defense to New York.
Scott isn't great in coverage, but he was fantastic the first 3 weeks of the year IMO. Still a good player, but I'd love to take Vontaze Burfict to replace him in a year or two.
