I expect Schlegel to transition into the strong ILB spot this year. I think he is the long term answer at that spot but the average 3-4 ILB rarely sees the field in his first two seasons. If you look around the league it's a position that is filled with veterans, players who have spent 2 or 3 seasons being groomed or who have played well in a 4-3 and been acquired to play for a 3-4 team. The only player I can think of who started in a 3-4 in the last few years as a rookie is the linebacker from Maryland Jackson that the Browns drafted last year. It's a very difficult position to learn because it's so different from a 4-3 ILB. instead of flowing east and west to the ball the linebacker moves north to south taking on 300 pound guards and filling gaps. Thats why Schlegel is perfect for the job, he's not that fast but he's big and tough and probably insane. I'm hoping that the front office trades Barton for a 4th or 5th round pick and just let's Schlegel start from training camp. Hobson and Thomas outside with Vilma and Schlegel is a nice start with the improving defensive line. I do think they will try and draft a pass rusher like Woodley to develop and use in specific pass rushing situations.
No he would not be a bust, the history of 34 ILB's and the time it takes for them to learn the position seems to be a minimum 2 seasons so if he doesn't play 16 games that doesn't mean he's a bust. I think Mangini is more concerned with him learning the linebacker position then becoming a special teams star.
And your a Jet fan because? That has to be one of the dumbest things I think I've ever heard anyone say. You want one of our players to not be successful? Why do you waste so much time posting about this guy, if you truly don't care? What is this hate you have for this guy? One other thing, If we had a GREAT run stuffer in the middle of our Dline, then maybe ALL of our linebackers would excel, but we don't have one of those..Change you avatar and your attitude, you will earn more credibility, and respect.
And your argument is a good one? Speaking on pure speculation, but having actually seen nothing to back it up......good argument.
If he sits on the inactive list most of the season I think it would be an indication that the coaches didnt think he was developing as quickly as he hoped and I think a more legitimate reason to think he might be a bust. I havent heard anything about them trying to lock Hobson up since Cimini or someone speculated about it in January. They might do that, but if they are looking to draft an OLB or pick one up through FA I would think that Hobson's is the one whose job is in danger. Many seem confident that he can just step into the ILB job no problem. I didnt see any evidence that Hobson was physical enough to play ILB last season. He maybe. The Jets may try him there and that would be bad for Schlegel. We'll see. You might be right. Never said you couldnt be. Just said you didnt have enough evidence to call him a bust after his rookie season.
what is your hate for dewayne? you seem to want him to fail, even to the point of telling me i lose credibility by having his avatar. and if you could point out when i said i didnt want AS to be successfull that would be great.
You hit the nail on the head... I would even like to see Hobson inside this year with Vilma and Barton or Woodley/Moses (If we are luck) on the outside. But Schlegel is not the ost athletic but is strong and has not fear to fill the gap and take on guards.
Yeah know I really like what Hobson did last year outside. I'm not against him playing inside but he seemed to really become a better player outside in the 3-4 then he was at strong side in the 4-3 taking on TE's and RT's. He has good size and he's pretty quick although he's not anywhere near the level olf the Ware's, Merriman's etc... I think his value is that he can rush the passer, he can play the run and he can drop into coverage. Most weakside 3-4 backers are really just pass rushers and it's easier to game plan against that. I think Hobson and Thomas in their 2nd years in this defense will only get better especially if we can continue to build the line in front of them. If we can get a nose tackle it will make the job of the other 10 defensive players a lot easier.
The fact that I have seen nothing, IS my point. Thank you for helping my argument again, I appreciate it. The guy is very slow, and was picked 3 rounds early according to most- combine that with the fact that he didn't even dress makes me believe he sucks. Not to mention the 2 preseason games, where he made 2 horrible plays in a 1 minute span. One going for a TD 100% because he blew the play, and the other I believe was a flag on him-- both plays he looked totally lost, and sloppy-- he looked like a fat highschool kid trying to play.
Its your inexplicable hostility that makes your posts seem like the ravings of someone who is ill informermed. Most of your posts sound like the kind of thing someone who has been made to look foolish because they are in over their head would spew in attempt to save face all the while making themselves look more foolish. 15. Again, Schlegel dressed for four games. I know, I know thats not many, but I'm not willing to conceed that he didnt dress at all. The two plays you are refering too were in the same preseason game. They were against Washington. They were close together and both of them I'm sure were probably two of the worst plays the guy has ever had. On the first he tripped while changing directions in coverage against a TE and fell down. The TE caught the ball and scored. It wasnt a good play, but the TE didnt score because he out ran Schlegel. Schlegel fell down. Not to gracefull but he wasnt lost and it wasnt because he was too slow. About two plays before that he had good coverge on the same guy forcing the QB to throw the ball high and incomplete. The second was a pass interference call on a sideline pass to an RB. The guy was open, Schlegel closed the ground between them and knocked the ball away. Unfortunately, he did it without turning his head to look for the ball. If he had turned his head it would have been a great play. But here's the real point. You have decided that the guy sucks based on two plays in HIS SECOND PROFESSIONAL GAME ever. He played well the rest of the preseason. I defy you to name a specific play where he looked lost. Whether he looked sloppy I suppose is a matter of opinion. Football teams and players usually arent evaluated on how well they keep their shirts tucked, how neat their hair is, if they've shaved or if they look heavy. They're usually judged on how well they play. And, the simple truth is you really havent seen enough of Schlegels play to call him a bust. And its unreasonable to assume any rookie is a bust because he was drafted higher than you thought he should have been and he didnt play as much as you thought he should have played. You can hold that opinion if you want to, but dont expect others to not call you on how ill informed and shortsighted it is.
I don't get any of you guys that are comparing Dewayne and the scrub linebacker. For starters Dewayne is playing out of position and doing a fairly decent job at it and I don't see how you can defend the Shlegel pick when we could have had him as a 6th, 7th or even undrafted FA. The fact that many teams didn't even have him on their draft board is a sign that it was a bad pick. That is why everyone that is participating in this thread is mad with the Shlegel pick. We aren't saying he is a bust (players that lack skill aren't considered busts; just bad players), we are saying that there is no reason he should have gone in the 3rd round.
Joe: I agree with your statements about DRob. I honestly think that Pouha's injury forced the Jets to scramble the D line. I think the original idea for the D line was to have DRob and Ellis play end with Pouha at NT. Then you had Kimo and the others as back up. However , if you dont think that many of the people here are calling him a bust I suggest you reread alot of the posts. In addition, I'm willing to concede and have conceded that by draft day definitions he was a reach though you have no way of knowing how many teams had him on their board or where -- maybe the reason so few teams had him rated was that so few run the 3-4? The idea though that he is without skills is silly. What you are essentially saying is that the Jets didnt just pick a guy too early but the scouts, coaches and front office picked a guy who has no football skills. There are really only two knocks you can make about his on the field play. 1) he's not particularly fast in a 40 yd spring 2) his coverage skills still need to be developed. The guy is big, strong, fast over short distances, reads and reacts well, he's smart and can be a signal caller. Arent these the attributes you look for in a 3-4 ILB more than sprint speed and great coverage skills? He was All Mountain West as a sophomore and played MLB on the nations #1 rush D in 05. I'm pretty sure he's got some skills.
If i am ill informed in my opinion because I haven't seen him play much, than how are you any less ill informed about your opinion that he will be good? We've seen the same preseason games- mentioned the same 2 horrible plays, and saw him on specials in 4 games. How can YOU make your judgement that he is going to be good, and I can't make mine? Our opinions differ, but because you are take the easy way, and just stick with the FO decisions, that makes me ill informed? BS. I question my teams decisions, that's what makes me a good, intelligent fan. I don't just blindly follow like a sheep, accepting every move they make. When a pick is questionable from the start, and the guy doesn't even see the field, I would be wrong to think that the player will be making an impact any time soon. That would be an ill informed opinion. By the way, when I referred to him as being "sloppy" I was referring to his play, not his appearance-
My statement that he will be good is based on having watched every game he played at Ohio State -- some in person -- two games while he was at Air Force one against ND where he had 19 tackles and the bowl game against Va Tech when he was at Air Force and had 18 or 19 tackles, and the four preseason games he played for the Jets and the four games I saw him play during the season on ST. In the preseason he made 12 tackles in just over 8 quarters of play or two games. Over a 16 game season that translates to 96 tackles. In the Philadelphia game I saw him read and react to a reciever screen and make a TFL, I saw him anihilate a blocking back to the extent that the guy was pushed over backwards and ended up knocking the guy with the ball down, and I saw him read and split through the O line to make a stop for no yds on the Eagles first play with a first and goal on their last drive of the game. I saw him on ST run in the preseason run past a blocker and absolutely destroy the KO returner, I saw him stay in his lane punish blockers, destroy wedges, break up walls of blockers and generally disrupt many of the Kick Returns he faced. On punt and kick returns I saw him deliver at least two knock down blocks (not counting the block in the back penalty). To me these things indicate that he can and will play. Defending the FO decision to choose Schlegel is not the easy path. The media and most fans agree with you that he was a reach and a bust. The easy path is to say "He's a bust/ a bum/ he sucks/ he blows because he was a reach and he didnt play." This is the more widely held opinion and this is about the extent of the argument you and the others who feel as you have put up to support your easily drawn conclusion. I think this FO has and will make mistakes. Drafting Schlegel may prove to be a mistake despite what I think. But, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt about a player who may have been drafted with an eye toward the near rather than the immediate future. You'll notice, if you read all my posts, that I have said on more than one occasion that this is my opinion and that I could be wrong. You are the one who proclaimed and still continues to proclaim Schlegel as an absolute bust with no equivocation.
Dewayne is not necessarily a bust, because at times he has shown to dominate games and is just a little inconsistent at times. If you look the next couple of DT's taken in that draft are not really even playing (Sullivan and Kennedy). The bottom line is that if Schlegel was picked in the 5th or 6th round most anti-Shlegel posters wouldn't be knocking him because late 2nd day picks are usually projected as backup/situational players. Most people expect first day picks to eventually start and there have been very few signs when you say Shlegel will be a solid player some day.
AND I EXPECT 1ST ROUNDERS TO PERFORM A LOT BETTER THAN DEWAYNE HAS!! I want every JET to do very well including Dewayne, but I don't think its fair to throw Schlegel under the bus so soon.
What's the knock on dwayne? He's produced from day one, and all the coaches have supported him. He's a young kid-- younger than AS in fact, and he has played well since he got here.
You said it he's played well....and well doesn't cut it when your the 4th pick overall and have now be here for 4 years!!! People want to knock Schlegel and he was a 3rd round pick...I'm not saying he's going to some great LB but atleast give him a chance. If he doesn't play that much this year than I would agree that he will probably be a bust. The only reason I started on Dewayne was becaue of biggundewayne63 avatar and his attitude about Schlegel.
