Pace has the same body type as Adalius Thomas, who the Pats thought was better suited as an ILB. Pace is athletic, but not as athletic and fast as some of the premier 3-4 OLBs, and the known 3-4 OLBs. His size and speed might be better suited as a big 3-4 ILB next to Harris. This means if we get Gholston, we don't have to platoon players, and we don't have to start Barton, a player not strongly suited for the 3-4. Our LB lineup would look like... WOLB - Bryan Thomas ILB - Calvin Pace ILB - David Harris SOLB - Vernon Gholston
Thats big time, imagine if we finish off our secondary by adding Shepherd and upgrade one of the defensive end positions in the draft (maybe round 2?)
I don't see that happening. Pace should be best at SLB. That's where he played for the Cardinals last year.
I'd rather Thomas at WLB and Pace at SLB, with Gholston starting out as a situational pass-rusher. I don't want either Thomas or Gholston at SLB, they're both better rushing from the weak side.
No Calvin Pace can not play ILB to answer the question. And I agree with everything 10Pennington10 said above...
Why can't he. What skills that a 3-4 ILB is supposed to have that Pace does not have. His athletic ability could fit in very well at ILB, as he is not as fast as most premier pass-rusher.
No they aren't. Thomas is because he is not a strong, bull-rushing LB, and on the weak side, the OLB usually uses more finesse moves and also is put into coverage. Where as the strong side is for your strongest OLB, which Gholston would be. Gholston would fit perfectly at SLB, as he can bull-rush and shed not only a tackle, but also a tight end, who usually play on the strong side.
If they're both starting, then Gholston would play the strong side. But that shouldn't be the case. Once Gholston becomes the player we expect, Pace would play on the strong side (he's bigger and stronger and that was his position last year) and Gholston would play the weak side (he's faster, more of a natural pass-rusher, and can contain a cutback or outlet pass). Pace is more of a complete linebacker than pass-rusher, he can play coverage and play the run. With that said he's also a good strong rusher, so he fits in perfectly on the strong side. Using him inside will at times contain him.
Calvin Pace was once a DE, he was converted to stand up and play OLB. Thats where he is best, putting him at ILB would defeat the purpose of even signing this guy. Look around the league, you need a big athletic OLB in the 3-4 that can put pressure on the QB. Calvin Pace is that man.
Our current other ILB is Barton, who really doesn't fit the position. Not bad, but not special. I'm actually in love with your LB starters. Pace has the size and talent to play inside or outside, so WTF not? Then we just need to decide if Poteat is the starting answer at #2 CB. Other than that, what a crazy defense.
Looking at it again... WOLB - Bryan Thomas - All-Pro ILB - Calvin Pace - All-Pro ILB - David Harris - HOF Potential SOLB - Vernon Gholston - HOF Potential
calvin pace would play on the outside, he is a prototypical olb and if we signed him to play the inside it would be a complete waste of money, we will draft an ilb who is a good tackler and can shed blocks, it is more likely that pace play DE than ILB, look for pace to line up at DE when we do 4-3 set ups, jenkins drob ellis and maybe pace or gholston in a 4-3 is pretty damn good, and mangini is no fool and if we hold on to drob look for us to use a lot of 4-3 on passing downs
Trust me, I agree with you completely, but that lineup just looked too good to be true. It's not our money, so does Pace look better at ILB that Barton?
maybe a little but id prefer to have barton and a rookie in the middle with pace on the outside, hopefully draft gholston and trade bryan thomas... barton going to be in his 3rd year in the same scheme, i look for him to have a solid year considering offenses are ganna have less lineman to block lbs bc of jenkins, the free olinmen will focus on david harris, giving barton a chance to do what he does best-make tackles
Iunno the idea's not exactly crazy. Vrabel has played both ILB and OLB for the Pats, and versatility is just as important in this 2-gap 3-4 as an elite skill. Mangini comes from a coaching tree that emphasizes moving and constantly rotating the linebackers around because those are the guys are the playmakers in the 3-4. Under Parcells, DeMarcus Ware lined up everywhere...LOLB, ROLB, SILB, WILB. Vrabel has done the same for BB. I'm pretty sure Colvin and McGinest did the same. Versatility is also key on some of the leagues better D's like the Ravens and Steelers. Alot of emphasis is put on having that one big pass rusher that makes team shit their pants, but a defensive coordinator can game plan for one guy. I mean look at the Giants or Pats... the pass rush can from anyone amongst Strahan, Osi, Tuck, Vrabel, Thomas, Cofield, Colvin, Seymour, Warren, and Green. I probably even missed a couple guys there. Obviously it takes a special kind of guy to accept this kind of role in a defense. Defensive players, especially pass rushers, tend to have that aggressive mentality and such. So say if we did sign Pace, that probably means this FO considers him to be or sees the potential to be a good all around LBer and player in this D. If we did sign him and draft Gholston...well that gives Mangini/Sutton/other D coaches quite a few pieces to play around with.
Dolphins | Team close to signing Pace Sat, 1 Mar 2008 15:41:01 -0800 Bob McManaman, of the Arizona Republic, reports the Miami Dolphins are close to signing free-agent LB Calvin Pace (Cardinals).
Calvin Pace is not an ILB he is outside thats where he blossomed last year and thats where he belongs
