since the 2009 mock drafts have us taking a LB with the 7th pick, let's talk line backers. First topic: Bryan Thomas played the week side OLB (no TE) in his big contract year, then last year he got moved to the STRONG side OLB, which meant he faced at least double teams every snap. This year either pace or gholston will play the strong side, which means BT will move back to the week side, and his play will pick up dramatically. Second topic: Who will start at the strong side OLB? Pace or Gholston? I beleive pace will start the season leaving gholston to come in on 'specialty downs', like 3rd and long, where the offense has way fewer play options, which means gholston's assigmnet will be simple: kill the qb. no thinking or years of nfl experience required. Third Topic: Who will start inside next to Harris? Obviously Barton but he has maybe one year left in the tank. This means mangini will experiment with various alignments. i think we will see this on more than a few plays: gholston (strong side), harris, pace, BT (weak side) i know pace is a 'pass rusher' but he's played inside as well. most of his 'highlites' show him tackling in the middle of the field. plus with gholston replacing him on the outside there should not be much drop off in qb pressure. Summary: we have 4 excellent LBs in pace, harris, BT, gholston plus barton, so how would you align them?
I'd go ROLB - Gholston, Thomas ILB - Harris ILB - Barton LILB - Pace, Thomas As shown in Dallas both outside Linebackers (Ellis, Ware) can get plenty of QB pressures/sacks.
I think he's too big and not fast enough to play inside. To be a quality inside linebacker in the 3-4 you need to be closer to 240-250 and Pace is 270 which is perfect for Strongside Outside Linebacker
so maybe the jets didnt have any idea what they were talkin about when they said he can play inside as well....how big was Adalius Thomas???
I think we're just going to see a rotation at the OLB spots with Thomas (wolb) and Pace (solb) starting. Gholston will share time at wolb and thomas may share time at solb. Hopefully Gholston can take over the starting spot at wolb by mid season.
I think Pace will be solid I just dont think he will be a pro bowl type player. I think there is going to be alot of rotation among the LB especially now that we have all the proper types of players for our team I think we will start doing alot more kinds of defensive schemes and such.
I think you're going to see Barton and Harris on first and second downs. I'm guessing they're probably going to have a pass rush package with Thomas, Pace, and Gholston. Pace would likely move inside. Gholston is going to play the weak side. Pace is a strong side rusher and that's his strength. He's a little slow for the weak side. Ideally, Bryan Thomas' uninspired, vanilla ass should be glued to the bench. I don't think this guy enjoys playing football. He strikes me as the Courtney Brown type who is physically gifted but doesn't have the requisite mean streak or competitive fire. He's not a winning player. -X-
ROLB - Gholston, Bowens (strong side) ILB - Harris, Barton LOLB - Pace, Thomas (weak side) But I think this is only on paper, you are going to see many formations with Pace playing inside and out, and Bowens/Thomas shifting. Barton is going to be a weak link, IMO. But overall the starting LBs have the potential to be a strong unit.
I don't think we payed Pace more than Briggs so he can become Gholston's eventual backup. Thomas will be the one splitting time with Pace and Gholston IMO
I dont think we will know till we cut down our roster. Id like the two HB's we signed after the draft to make the team.
It would be terrifying to see (from left to right) Pace, Harris and Thomas with Gholston linining up all over the place. Exploit mismatches and keep the OL guessing.
