The mistake of letting DJ go in the first place? Kind of like Parker? :shake:

Letting them both go was the right move. Not replacing them with somebody better was the mistake.

Right on

Old and slow isn’t what the defense needs

Indeed. The Chiefs already have “Old and Slow” and his name is Bob Sutton..... :thumb:

It sure beats dumb and slow

That would be my argument.

FAX

It doesn’t really matter how smart he is. He’s to slow.

You can’t make up for that

It may seem like I disagree with you on stuff, Mr. O.city. Sorry about that if you get that impression. It's just discussion, after all.

But that is freaking wrong, man!!! (Actually, it's sort of right, too.)

DJ learned how to scout and prepare as well as any linebacker in the league. Knowing what to expect gives you the advantage even if you're a step or two slow. He also developed a technique that allowed him to skim by blocks instead of engaging them. That's a very special skill that he's refined.

You see it all the time (you saw it Sunday night with Brady). Experience can make a slow guy faster and lack of experience can make a fast guy look slow. He actually had 3 solo tackles in his last game with the Fade. Ragland had 4. Thing is, DJ had about 1/10 the number of snaps.

What he can't do is cover worth a damn anymore.

FAX

Which any team will / should exploit it often.

You would have to limit his exposure in that regard, to be sure, Mr. ROYC75.

But, in all honesty, is Ragbags significantly better?

Look, I'm not advocating for getting the band back together because it would be cool to see. I sincerely believe that having a functioning brain that knows how to properly scout and prepare for the enemy would help us in the middle.

DJ can do that ... and I believe that would help this defense in the short term.

FAX

The problem I see with this is, say DJ is in a play, he see's the offense lined up, calls the defensive play. Then the QB see's that DJ is in, audible, play is taking DJ out in the flat, across the middle, DJ can't keep up.

Now the only thing DJ is good for now is Red Zone and goal line, limited range to cover. He can still read a HB and shoot the gap, he was always excellent at that. Now that can be a benefit to the defense.

Goes along with the bend don't break, but we need stops before they get FG's too. Him coaching from the sideline is only as good as any defensive coach in charge of LB's.

young and slow might be worse. they will double down on young and slow.

Makes sense ...

I suppose I should clarify why I'm down with this idea in the first place ...

I've been watching a lot of film and the most conspicuous issue I see with the MLBs is hesitation at the snap. At first, I thought they were just having trouble shedding blocks. Then, I thought maybe they simply weren't hitting the correct gaps (which might explain why they were taking bad angles and the blocks were thusly more effective). Finally, I realized that the issue is more fundamental. They're guessing out there. Now, I don't know the calls, obviously, so I'm not completely certain that's the case. However, it appears to me that they are hesitating at the snap. Can't read ... can't react.

To me, that means one of two things; either they're presented with un-scouted formations or they're simply unsure of their responsibility. If it's the latter, that's on the coaches. If it's the former, they need to do more film work.

If any of that is true, it boils down to this; knowing and expecting is a ton better than guessing and indecisive. In that light, I view DJ as a net positive (if I'm right, of course).

Again, I can't prove it. But that's what it looks like from this monitor.

FAX

Nice having you back around, FAX.