Barton played a Pro Bowl type season two years ago and was injured last year. Now everyone seems to have him out of the staring lineup. Is he such a bad fit for the 3-4?
I don't know who you are talking about as I have not seen anyone discount Barton to this point... Barton is a cornerstone on our defense and we will be a hundred times better off for having him back on the team. He will have a place in the starting lineup for sure.
Who's everyone? I havent seen anyone omit him, its just where they place him where disagreements occur. As it stands... OLB-Thomas ILB-Barton ILB-Vilma OLB-Hobson
That's good to hear! With the Schlegel pick and all the talk about Chatman competing for a starting spot I thought Mangini was not very high on Barton. So could Barton play both ILB and OLB?
I agree with this. I think our 3-4 will put much more pressure on opposing Qb's. Linebackers stunting all over the place.
I kind of think Mangini is going to be rotating players all over the place... we're going to see frequent play from Vilma, Barton, Hobson, Thomas, Kassel, Chatham, and now Schlegel depending on the situation. For example, Thomas may come in on a passing down, while Kassel may be in on a running down.
No way. Barton cant play OLB to save his life. Thomas and Hobson are our best blitzers by far, they will be the OLBs. Just because we signed Kassell dosent mean hell start, but that dosent mean he wont get PT either
Versatility seems to be a running similarity in most of our picks. I fully agree with you. People will be rotated in and out very frequently with these new guys. Not only does it keeps our players fresh, but it will keep the other team guessing.
The staff is going to have a lot of experimenting to do. Hate to say it, but with this kind of personnel change and system change and coaching change, it'll take some time to mesh.
Agreed, depth is very important OLB-Thomas/Johnson ILB-Barton/Schlegal ILB-Vilma/Kassell OLB-Hobson/Chatham
I really wonder how Bryan Thomas would do playing outside linebacker. For now, I think I'd want to keep him a pass rush specialist. I don't know if he could play against the run.
These outside linbackers, and linebackers in general should expect a lot of conditioning in this years training camp. Imagine what skulls has in store for these guys this year.
