Chris Jones in 9 career playoff games: 0 sacks

[CasselGotPeedOn]

Only 4 Qb hits. He does have 9 passes defended which seems really high, so that's good. And yes, he did have a very important pass defended in last years SB, we might not have won the game without it. But at some point he needs to get his fair share of the blame for his inability to be effective as a pass rusher in the playoffs. Not to mention the dumbass personal foul penalties.

[htismaqe]

LB just isn't that much of a weakness.

We have several upcoming FA's at DB, a massive contract in Clark that isn't returning on the investment, and literally need warm bodies opposite him.

I'm really not sure why everybody is so obsessed with LB's. They're not that valuable in this day and age.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

Daelin Hayes in the 3rd-5th round.

If we don’t get one in the first 2 rounds, I’m all for it.

[ThaVirus]

Linebacker definitely needs to be addressed if only for the fact that Neimann is playing far too many snaps

[HC_Chief]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

LB just isn't that much of a weakness.

We have several upcoming FA's at DB, a massive contract in Clark that isn't returning on the investment, and literally need warm bodies opposite him.

I'm really not sure why everybody is so obsessed with LB's. They're not that valuable in this day and age.

Probably because we just watched our team get whipped by a team with three really good LBs. Those dudes swarmed and made plays. We also watched Niemann consistently suck ass all year...again. And he is our best coverage LB, if playing time and down & distance are any indication, i.e. he is the guy we bring in on "passing downs". Hitchens is supposed to be a run stuffer, but is a lower second to high third tier LB in this league at best, and wasn't particularly effective against the run (tends to flow to incorrect gaps and/or trail plays). Wilson appears to have physical talent at times, and absolutely nothing at other times. Gay made a couple of explosive straight-line plays; maybe he can be the playmaker, but jury is out due to lack of playing time. I mean, if Niemann, Wilson, and Hitchens, all three who range from mediocre to piss poor over the season were above him in the depth chart, that does not bode well for the dude's ability. It has to be mental, because he has shown physical explosiveness on a few plays.

It would be nice to be able to blitz a LB and have them actually consistently make plays. You can then run zone blitzes more effectively, and fake blitzes, dropping the LB to hot zones for INTs. Right now we have to do that with our DBs. It often works, but also leaves huge gaps when it doesn't...and we have seen many teams take advantage of that. It would also be nice to have someone that can actually cover a RB flare. FFS, we are awful at that.

We aren't going to fix the edge until Clark is gone. That won't happen until 2022. Quality edge rushers don't come cheap (see: Clark). We can get creative on the line, maybe rotate Jones outside on some plays, utilize our depth at DT, and get someone at the next level that can also make plays w/o vacating.

Or then again, maybe we just need better coaching in the LB corps?

[ChiefBlueCFC]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Meh. Wilson and Hitchens both had solid seasons. We need to find an edge rusher.

Edge is definitely huge... Tanoh really was disappointing this season. Thought he was gonna be a lot more productive.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by HC_Chief

Probably because we just watched our team get whipped by a team with three really good LBs. Those dudes swarmed and made plays. We also watched Niemann consistently suck ass all year...again. And he is our best coverage LB, if playing time and down & distance are any indication, i.e. he is the guy we bring in on "passing downs". Hitchens is supposed to be a run stuffer, but is a lower second to high third tier LB in this league at best, and wasn't particularly effective against the run (tends to flow to incorrect gaps and/or trail plays). Wilson appears to have physical talent at times, and absolutely nothing at other times. Gay made a couple of explosive straight-line plays; maybe he can be the playmaker, but jury is out due to lack of playing time. I mean, if Niemann, Wilson, and Hitchens, all three who range from mediocre to piss poor over the season were above him in the depth chart, that does not bode well for the dude's ability. It has to be mental, because he has shown physical explosiveness on a few plays.

It would be nice to be able to blitz a LB and have them actually consistently make plays. You can then run zone blitzes more effectively, and fake blitzes, dropping the LB to hot zones for INTs. Right now we have to do that with our DBs. It often works, but also leaves huge gaps when it doesn't...and we have seen many teams take advantage of that. It would also be nice to have someone that can actually cover a RB flare. FFS, we are awful at that.

We aren't going to fix the edge until Clark is gone. That won't happen until 2022. Quality edge rushers don't come cheap (see: Clark). We can get creative on the line, maybe rotate Jones outside on some plays, utilize our depth at DT, and get someone at the next level that can also make plays w/o vacating.

Or then again, maybe we just need better coaching in the LB corps?

The team that just "whipped us" plays a 3-4 and the two LB's that actually MADE the difference would be defensive ends in a 4-3.

The only reason White and David were such a factor was because Pat had to get rid of the ball in a panic on nearly every snap.

I'm not sure what more there is to say - you're overrating the LB position by quite a bit.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Linebacker definitely needs to be addressed if only for the fact that Neimann is playing far too many snaps

Gay will take those snaps. I'm guessing we could see a mid-round LB as well.

[JakeF]

improved linebacker play really helped Tampa Bay this year.

White and Barrett were both impact players for them. Our LB's just racked up tackles because of Defense stayed on the field so long.

Sacks, INT, FF, PD, TFL weren't part of LB's games.

Soft LB's and weak Dline play make it very difficult on Spags to call a decent Defense.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Linebacker definitely needs to be addressed if only for the fact that Neimann is playing far too many snaps

It was addressed last year in terms of big investment.

Gay was basically a red shirt this year.

He’ll be ready to roll in 2021 next to Hitchens.

They’ll probably draft or sign another guy for base.

[KC_Connection]

Chris Jones basically won us a SB and is undeniably one of the best in the game at what he does. He's good in my books.

[JakeF]

Originally Posted by kcclone

Veach and Reid have their work cut out. Gotta keep adding talent through the draft if you want to stay in contention.

They should have done part of this work last offseason. If they had we probably win back-to-back Super Bowls.

[lcarus]

I said this in the other thread, but Jones gets double-teamed more than Asa Akira. The defense is ok. We just need another edge rusher.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by lcarus

I said this in the other thread, but Jones gets double-teamed more than Asa Akira. The defense is ok. We just need another edge rusher.

So much THIS.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by JakeF

improved linebacker play really helped Tampa Bay this year.

White and Barrett were both impact players for them. Our LB's just racked up tackles because of Defense stayed on the field so long.

Sacks, INT, FF, PD, TFL weren't part of LB's games.

Soft LB's and weak Dline play make it very difficult on Spags to call a decent Defense.

Our broken and inept oline made them look more stellar than skill level.

Spags didn't adjust. He runs the same thing 97 percent of the time. Rush four straight or blitz straight. We do not stunt, we do not hide coverage. Our rush would get better with those adjustments.

Same thing with beinemy. He didn't adjust to our poor line play and their coverage. If my qb only has seconds and they are double and triple covering my best two threats past 10 yards. I call quick slants and death by a thousand cuts.

I don't keep calling deep or slow developing plays.

This team was ill prepared by the coaches again and this time the players talent didn't overcome.


Started with those ****ing timeouts.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by JakeF

They should have done part of this work last offseason. If they had we probably win back-to-back Super Bowls.

Good ****ing God you're a miserable ****.