i apologize..i see what youre saying. I just get annoyed with so many posters who feel that it is Vilmas fault our D stinks and want to trade him. He is the best defensive talent on our team so we shoudl play aroudn him, like the way the Ravens funnel to Ray Lewis. If anything, run the 4-3 and improve the players on this D that arent doing their jobs, like Hobson, Thomas, and Barrett.
very true about our corners having to cover for like 5 minutes cuz we get no pressure...i just always thought barrett was average at best...we almost had antoine winfield damnit haha...remember that offseason?
If we ever get the front 7 solved, and have an effective Deep LB corps, Hobson will make a great situational back-up. He has a decent burst the LOS, occassionally can get a good pass rus and is smart. Unfortunately he doesnt fight off blocks and doesnt rush the passer consistently as a starter.
That $25M extention last year to Bryan (invisible) Thomas was about as stupid as the Schlegel pick. He brings NO pass rush.
yeah, he moved up from terrible to maybe passable. He made a few plays early. He still won't stick his nose in a pile. He is NOT a superstar. If he is our best player, we are sunk. I hope Chad has a 4000 yard season in him and TJ runs for 1800. We aren't stopping anyone.
It's pretty simple, we just don't have the players to have good defense whether it's 4-3 or 3-4. Hobson is not a great anything. He would be a solid backup but thats about it. The 3-4 does not work without a real nose tackle. Without a true 2 gap nose tackle that can't be blocked by one guy the defense does not work. If you have that huge nose tackle (Wilfork, Jamal Williams, Hampton) it takes the center and a guard to negate the nose tackle. This leaves a middle linebacker with space to flow to the ball carrier. If the nose tackle only demands one blocker then the middle linebackers will both find 300 pound guards knocking them back. At this point you pretty much can't stop the run as we've noticed. Our pass rush is non existent because we don't have any players that can beat someone one on one. So instead of everyone bitching about our defense look for positives going forward. Can Kenyon Coleman be a solid 3-4 DE? Are Harris and Revis as good as we think? The bottom line is that this upcoming offseason the front office has to do everything in their power to find a true nose tackle and a pass rusher off the edge. Unfortunately you can't fix everything in one offseason so hopefully they can get one of those positions filled.
okay dreessen... Seeing how Hobson is probably our best linebacker along the line of scrimmage, I'm pretty sure he could be effective at ILB when engaging the offesive line. Plus speed is not as big a factor at 34ILB. But we'll probably never know..
What does that even mean? The best linebacker along the line of scrimmage? Why are you pretty sure he could be effective at ILB? Has he proven to you that he can shed a 300 pound guard?
Yes. He's shown to be better taking on a 300 pound guard than Vilma, Barton and Thomas. His problem as many have stated is taking guys on in space because he's not overly fast. Moving him to 34 ILB would take him out of space and into traffic where he would probably be more effective.
Could he be more effective? Absolutely. Does that mean he's good? No. He's a borderline backup with no speed who can't tackle in space. He never beats anyone one on one. Where is his value? Last year he had a couple of sacks when left unblocked.
Haha okay pal the NFL is all about the scheme and where you put your players. There's been many situations where a guy moves positions and plays miles better than before... Hobson should be playing ILB not OLB and I'll leave it at that.
But you still have not proven why that is the case. When he came into the league he started at strong side in the 4-3. He was pretty much useless in this role. Remember he even lost his job to Mark Brown at one point. I think that speaks volumes. So if he was a crappy 4-3 strong side backer what makes you think he is going to be a good insider 3-4 backer? I agree that he is more suited to play inside then outside since he is horrible in space and not fast. But that doesn't mean that he's actually going to be a good player in that role and I feel pretty confident that Mangini knows more about what Hobson can do then you do.
