kearly":2l20c12l said:
SAM linebacker is the one linebacker spot in a 4-3 that frequently lines up near the LOS a bit like an extra DE. What makes Wright a really nice SAM is that against the run, he's so strong against blocks that it's like having another 5-tech up there. In that one respect, he's an elite player. But in coverage he was frequently exposed last year for lacking speed. He runs a 4.75 on a team where every other LB runs in the 4.4s or low 4.5s. There were quite a few times last year where offenses exposed him on deep coverages. Think about how Kam Chancellor is a mild liability on deep coverage, and he runs a 4.62 for comparison.
That's why I think this move to WILL seems just a little insane to me. WILL is the most coverage intensive of the LB spots, and attacks the LOS the least. Basically, it plays away from Wright's strength and further exposes his biggest weakness. It'd almost be like making Jesus Montero a bench catcher for his defense (Montero has some potential as a hitter, but is atrocious as a catcher). I don't think this Wright-WILL experiment will be a disaster necessarily, but if you didn't like Leroy Hill at WILL last year you won't like Wright at WILL this year. It also seems wholly unnecessary given that we already have several LBs that are great fits to play WILL and there won't be a lot of WILL snaps to begin with.
In Pete I trust, but even very bright people have blind spots. I'm wondering if this might be one of those times.
I think you could be looking at it the wrong way, and there could be more to this that meets the casual eye of inspection and inquiry. However, before I explain myself, I will indulge the audience into something that become sort of my trademark:
Compare & Contrast time.
K.J. Wright:
Height: 6033
Weight: 246
40 Yrd Dash: 4.71
20 Yrd Dash: 2.65
10 Yrd Dash: 1.65
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 20
Vertical Jump: 34
Broad Jump: 10'00"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.35
3-Cone Drill: 7.21
Lance Briggs: ILB in college, in the NFL, he became one of the best WLB of this past decade.
Height: 6005
Weight: 242
40 Yrd Dash: 4.75
20 Yrd Dash: 2.76
10 Yrd Dash: 1.66
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 25
Vertical Jump: 33
Broad Jump: 09'05
LaVonte David: Even as a rookie, was one of the better WLB in the NFL in 2012 and a 2nd helping of Derrick Brooks for the Buccaneers.
Height: 6005
Weight: 233
40 Yrd Dash: 4.57
20 Yrd Dash: 2.59
10 Yrd Dash: 1.56
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 19
Vertical Jump: 36 1/2
Broad Jump: 09'11"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.22
3-Cone Drill: 7.28
LeRoy Hill: ILB in college, played SLB after Jaime Sharper injured out, then moved WLB when the Seahawks acquired… Julian Peterson, who from what I could find ran a 4.68 forty at 230 pounds.
Height: 6010
Weight: 229
40 Yrd Dash: 4.65
20 Yrd Dash: 2.72
10 Yrd Dash: 1.65
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 25
Vertical Jump: 34
Broad Jump: 09'08"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.11
3-Cone Drill: 7.23
Will Witherspoon: Another comparable LBer to Wright in the sense that Witherspoon has played MLB, SLB, and WLB plus doesn’t possess great timed speed.
Height: 6014
Weight: 231
40 Yrd Dash: 4.68
20 Yrd Dash: 2.76
10 Yrd Dash: 1.73
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 25
Vertical Jump: 38
Broad Jump: 10'02"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.21
3-Cone Drill: 7.09
Alec Ogletree: 3-4 ILB in college, 1st 4-3 LBer in the NFL Draft 2013. Working at SAM but perhaps a better fit at WILL because of his tentative nature at engaging blockers and shedding blocks to make a tackle.
Height: 6024
Weight: 242
40 Yrd Dash: 4.68
20 Yrd Dash: 2.66
10 Yrd Dash: 1.56
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 20
Vertical Jump: 33 1/2
Broad Jump: 10'02"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.39
3-Cone Drill: 7.16
So while K.J. Wright is not the fastest overall at 246 pounds… he however compares favorably well to Lance Briggs.
Wright’s 10/20 yards splits are pretty exceptional as well considering his overall size especially compared to someone like Lavonte David (-.10, -.06), LeRoy Hill (even, +.07), and Will Witherspoon (+.08, +.11) as Wright outweighed them by 13 to 17 pounds.
Also, it could be his SIZE + LENGTH that is so intriguing in coverage his 6’3, 246 frame plus 35 inch arms makes him a perfect candidate to cover TEs. Seahawks probably know his coverage ability is not quite as good as the rest of his skills but that’s exactly why they would move him over to WILL, to give him the opportunity and experience to further develop his overall game to make him a complete LBer.
Also I think the move could have a little something to help protecting K.J. Wright from injuries specifically concussion. Wright isn’t the strongest LBer, even though he excels and has the size to consistently take on blockers.
Carroll on WILL (via Fieldgulls):
"The Will linebacker is aligned against the offensive guard to his side of the field. He is basically a protected player in this alignment and should make a lot of tackles. He has to control his weak-side A gap and play relative to the Mike linebacker and the Free Safety. In coverage, he often plays the short middle.
"The Will linebacker can be a smaller player. He is generally protected in the defensive schemes and will not see as many blocks. All you want him to do most plays is flow and chase the football. We want our fastest linebacker at this position."
In K.J. Wright’s case his football intelligence and his length could make up for his lack of overall speed (like Sherman, and to a lesser extent Browner) as long as he’s comfortable and knows what he’s doing when he’s in coverage but again you need reps and experience to become automatic. In Carroll’s scheme he will be a “protected” player meaning he’ll have the easiest opportunities to seek and destroy almost freely in Run Defense ala Lance Briggs and the result of not taking on blocks or having to be the first person to stuff or blow up a gap on the strong side will keep him healthier, which in turn keeps him on the field.
I think the Seahawks will keep 2 LBers on the field 90% of the time, those LBers need to stay healthy, consistently effective as they are well-rounded. As we know, the LBers are going to be Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright.
So while everyone thought WLB was going to be unimportant position in consideration to the scheme and sub-packages, possibly SLB is the one that becomes a little more diluted in the sense that you’ll see the Seahawks use their LEOS when all of them are healthy and able to play (you’ll see guys like Irvin, Avril, and Powell take snaps at SAM) and while guys like Morgan, Smith, Bradford, and Toomer are smaller than Wright… they are much stronger with the first three averaging 27.66 reps to Wright’s 20. All of them possess the top end speed to factor more as pass-rushers with 4.5 speed (Bradford, Toomer) and 4.4 speed (Smith, Morgan) compared to Wright’s 4.7 speed.
If anything, it could also be that Quinn just prefers his LBers well-rounded and able to play all positions and we’ll see Wright back at SLB when the season starts.
However, I just don't believe or agree that Wright can’t handle the position of playing WILL. I think he can become a Lance Brigg’s type of player in Run Defense and can be one of the better LBers in coverage specifically vs TEs once he irons out the wrinkles and nuances of being a coverage LBer. I’m not just being overly optimistic, Wright is a very smart and talented player, and while he was more than a solid SAM LBer and excelled over a bum like Aaron Curry, I think he could eventually become a great fit at WLB being in a “protected” role as well as using his incredible length to become a consistent 100+ tackler and a solid play-maker when in coverage.