:clap:

Sure - I'd like to see him clean that up. We all would.

But what if that comes at the cost of the energy? What if breaking down and making some of those tackles means he's not out there playing with his hair on fire?

I'm not saying 'sound' and 'fast' are mutually exclusive...but they might be. That's just how it goes sometimes.

So if you can have a guy who plays at 90% of that intensity level but is more sound in his technique or you can keep this guy, which would you prefer?

Honestly, given my druthers, I'd take the current version of Gay over that hypothetical one. Because again - Bolton's here. Nick can be the steady, dependable, drop you when he gets his hand on you player. But I want guys nervous when Gay's on the field because sure - maybe you can make him miss, but if you don't he's gonna drive himself through your spine.

I don't want to worry so much about filing his horns that we take the bull out of him in the process.

That’s what makes Bolton better than Gay IMO. Willie is more athletic. It’s really not close. But Bolton is like a Jack of all trades. He’s good at everything. It’s amazing how reliable and smart he is.

Willie has potential but he makes a lot of mental errors like that whiffed tackle that was a 25 yard swing. He’s got potential but needs to clean that up

I just don't see either as better. They're just really different.

Bolton simply doesn't have a weakness. He's a 4-pitch pitcher with good command but no wipeout putaway pitch. Gay is a guy who has 4 pitches; his changeup and curve suck but the fastball/slider combo is hell on wheels.

So don't try to make Gay waste time/energy getting beat with his curveball and don't expect Bolton to get his fastball to Gay's level. Let them be who they are and lean into their respective strengths without saying that one of them is inherently 'better' than the other.

Because I think both of them make the other guy better. Neither one of them will be as good without the other guy but either of them could be equally good for any given team depending on the needs of that team.

Gonna bump a previous post in this thread to make my point a bit:

If you spend so much time telling Willie Gay that he needs to come in under control and make sure he never gets put in the spin cycle, you're gonna lose this kind of reckless abandon, IMO. You can't have a thought in your head to blow a play apart like that other than "See run fit, kill run fit - hope ballcarrier is there when I'm done" He's not looking around the G to find the ballcarrier. He's not going Derrick Johnson out there and looking to knife the gap. He's looking to find a mother****er and hit him. He has his eyes on his target from the moment the ball is snapped and smokes him. Then after he stops the guy, he finds someone else and suddenly he's wrecked an entire gap precisely BECAUSE he's just playing downhill.

Let the guy play at 100 mph - it's what makes him so appealing and what makes him so damn nasty to play against.

Let Bolton do the cipherin' out there.

Great points. Literally every offensive player is going to know where he is on the field at all times. That's a huge thing.

The tackling will come even if he has to do Derrick Johnson style tackles. The fact that he reacts and gets to the ball so quick is what matters most. He can read a play and get to the ball faster than the majority of LBs in the league.

Derrick Johnson had the right amount of energy and still able to tackle. That would be have.

Heads up play. Gay snatched that ball from
Between his cheeks.

Bolton will get most of the glory on the defensive side and rightfully so, but Willie is my unsung hero.

Really, all of the linebackers played an impeccable game, including Chenal who I noticed out there quite a bit.

uh yeah

6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL?

stud

Yep, Chenal played a hell of a game.

Gay also had 8 total tackles and led the team with 2 TFLs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Watching the film back... Willie Gay was tremendous <br><br>Playing in space, taking away throwing lanes, pursuit on perimeter - and in particular, I love how fast/violent he triggers downhill and inserts himself into LOS. And doesn&#39;t get jarred or knocked off when battling OL <a href="https://t.co/NQES0wJyTn">pic.twitter.com/NQES0wJyTn</a></p>&mdash; Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenFennell_NFL/status/1625889760630677504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Willie Gay had his best performance in coverage and maybe his best career performance period in this game. In the Super Bowl. He's become a really good coverage LB. Like probably, easily, top-10.

Willie has damn near become a must keep. I would prefer to try and get a deal done with him the off-season at a lower rate.. but he might be wise not to take it

This isn’t a criticism… but Bolton is good. Very good. But he will never be a Warner/Wagner. He’s just athletically limited. And that’s what makes this duo so perfect for each other. Bolton is Mr reliable. Reads the run great, doesn’t miss tackles, gets the reads right. Etc. While Willie is your heat seeking missle