$16m in Cap Space, are we gonna spend it?

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by Hoover

Moving on from Gay was the right move. You can’t tie up a bunch of money in your LB core. They will sign Bolton, Chenal is on a rookie deal, and Tranquil provides you great depth and really not much drop off from Gay. Win/win.

If Willie had shown any and I mean ANY improvement mentally over the last two seasons he would be here instead of Tranquil. But he's basically been the exact same player since midway through year two. He's physically really damn impressive and sometimes just has days where that's enough to take over a quarter or two but just lost other times.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

If Willie had shown any and I mean ANY improvement mentally over the last two seasons he would be here instead of Tranquil. But he's basically been the exact same player since midway through year two. He's physically really damn impressive and sometimes just has days where that's enough to take over a quarter or two but just lost other times.

I think Spags sometimes overvalues smarts over athleticism, though.

Easy for us to love him up now (as well we should) but this is still the guy who had Sorensen, Niemann and Hitchens out there because "they're steady...."

I think he sees the only way to mitigate risk as being a reliable decisionmaker. If a guy like Tranquill is where he's supposed to be, he'll keep a play from being TOO bad, even if he gets beat. Whereas if someone completely blows coverage, it's a big play waiting to happen.

There's some truth there, but I don't think it gives credit to how often someone like Gay could just use ungodly freak athleticism to make up for a mental mistake. And he did it OFTEN. Nor does it acknowledge that sometimes knowing where to be means precisely ****-all if you can't be there on time. And that happened with Hitchens and Sorensen OFTEN.

Given his druthers, he'll take smart and slower over dumb and faster every time. And I think that's a little dogmatic. I think it becomes something of a balancing act and I think Gay is a guy who's athleticism can paper over some of the mental mistakes and make some splash plays that most guys in this league just can't make.

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I think Spags sometimes overvalues smarts over athleticism, though.

Easy for us to love him up now (as well we should) but this is still the guy who had Sorensen, Niemann and Hitchens out there because "they're steady...."

I think he sees the only way to mitigate risk as being a reliable decisionmaker. If a guy like Tranquill is where he's supposed to be, he'll keep a play from being TOO bad, even if he gets beat. Whereas if someone completely blows coverage, it's a big play waiting to happen.

There's some truth there, but I don't think it gives credit to how often someone like Gay could just use ungodly freak athleticism to make up for a mental mistake. And he did it OFTEN. Nor does it acknowledge that sometimes knowing where to be means precisely ****-all if you can't be there on time. And that happened with Hitchens and Sorensen OFTEN.

Given his druthers, he'll take smart and slower over dumb and faster every time. And I think that's a little dogmatic. I think it becomes something of a balancing act and I think Gay is a guy who's athleticism can paper over some of the mental mistakes and make some splash plays that most guys in this league just can't make.

If I was Spags and it was my money, job and reputation I’d probably feel the same. But one willie gay wild card sure spiced it up next to a steady Bolton type.

[Delano]

I think signing a veteran left tackle is a definite need if Thuney’s pec is at all in question. You can’t trot a green tackle out there next to hobbled Thuney or young guard.

[Sofa King]

Originally Posted by Delano

I think signing a veteran left tackle is a definite need if Thuney’s pec is at all in question. You can’t trot a green tackle out there next to hobbled Thuney or young guard.

It sure would be nice to have a proper Thuney update.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

If Willie had shown any and I mean ANY improvement mentally over the last two seasons he would be here instead of Tranquil. But he's basically been the exact same player since midway through year two. He's physically really damn impressive and sometimes just has days where that's enough to take over a quarter or two but just lost other times.

When everyone was healthy Gay was down to playing something like 25% of the defensive snaps wasn't he?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

When everyone was healthy Gay was down to playing something like 25% of the defensive snaps wasn't he?

No - typically in the 50-60% range; nearer 70-80% when guys were hurt.

He was our clear LB2 last year.

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

When everyone was healthy Gay was down to playing something like 25% of the defensive snaps wasn't he?

I want to say it was 27 maybe and somewhere I saw he had a high run blitz rate but I really don't remember that I guess. He was a few trick pony that they didn't trust to read a play.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

I want to say it was 27 maybe and somewhere I saw he had a high run blitz rate but I really don't remember that I guess. He was a few trick pony that they didn't trust to read a play.

Let's go with "not a cerebral player" in a very complex defensive scheme.

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Let's go with "not a cerebral player" in a very complex defensive scheme.

Kind of breaks my heart. I was fully chubbed when we drafted Willie. Absolute freak specimen. You could argue he was more successful than the freak LB's that the Cardinals reached on in back to back drafts though.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

I want to say it was 27 maybe and somewhere I saw he had a high run blitz rate but I really don't remember that I guess. He was a few trick pony that they didn't trust to read a play.

Nope.

I mean he played 52% of the snaps in the SB when we were featuring Chenal (along with a healthy Bolton and Tranquil) to neutralize Kittle.

He was always a 50% of the snaps player - just check the game logs. And when the LB corps was dinged up, he was invariably north of 70% and even surpassed 90% on occasion.

He was a very very important part of the defense. He's not irreplaceable - but we'll have to make sacrifices elsewhere to do so (or lean heavier into sub packages which can open us up to misdirection).

I'd caution against downplaying his contributions here. He was awfully good for us.