Who will KJ displace ?

[Tical21]

Calitro for sure. He's an almost passable MLB, but that's it. Wagner played WILL last week in base. Mingo/KJ in nickel is the real discussion, and I think Mingo is in the process of winning that battle.

Wagner actually played MLB last week in base D. It might have looked like Cailtro was playing middle because Wagner was shifted over a lot to play against the Raiders 3 tighend packages.

No. Watch the tape. He played WILL so they could hide Calitro a little in coverage.

 

[lukerguy]

KJ is so much better than Callitro and it's not even close.

 

[daveyoung52]

My bad, and no disrespect to K.J., but with the time he's been out, was mixing him up with the guys stored on IR. :roll:

 

[Recon_Hawk]

Calitro for sure. He's an almost passable MLB, but that's it. Wagner played WILL last week in base. Mingo/KJ in nickel is the real discussion, and I think Mingo is in the process of winning that battle.

Wagner actually played MLB last week in base D. It might have looked like Cailtro was playing middle because Wagner was shifted over a lot to play against the Raiders 3 tighend packages.

No. Watch the tape. He played WILL so they could hide Calitro a little in coverage.

Here's the 1st three Base D plays of the game.

 

[sutz]

KJ is our second best LB. That's all that matters. They'll find a spot for him.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

They have a spot for KJ. He'll retake his starting role at WLB over Calitro.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

KJ still not getting the respect he deserves

Hard to command respect from the inactive list.

When KJ plays, he gets plenty of respect from his peers and teammates............he just so happened to play on a nasty defense full of great players, and vocal players.

I feel bad for KJ, he picked a bad year to have a serious injury trying to play for an extension going into free agency.

 

[vin.couve12]

Kind of have to disagree on that last part. KJ has been the weakest link in pass coverage for 3 years straight now. He gets picked on, in fact. On top of that, he lacks speed and gets outrun for big yards when giving up catches. Great at sniffing out a screen, can put himself in great position against the run, but is also not strong at the POA and lacks speed in coverage.

This won't be popular, but Mingo is not only the end of KJ's time here after the season, he's also an upgrade.

I think that you make a really good and misunderstood point here. While Mingo is not going to replace KJ on the weakside he could replace KJ as the LB that stays on the field in Nickel. There is no rule that says that it has to be the Will LB that stays on the field in Nickel. I think that KJ has really slowed down in coverage and that Mingo might be an improvement. If KJ becomes a two-down back there is no way that he gets re-signed (unless he is willing to take a BIG paycut).

Bingo

 

[Recon_Hawk]

Kind of have to disagree on that last part. KJ has been the weakest link in pass coverage for 3 years straight now. He gets picked on, in fact. On top of that, he lacks speed and gets outrun for big yards when giving up catches. Great at sniffing out a screen, can put himself in great position against the run, but is also not strong at the POA and lacks speed in coverage.

This won't be popular, but Mingo is not only the end of KJ's time here after the season, he's also an upgrade.

I think that you make a really good and misunderstood point here. While Mingo is not going to replace KJ on the weakside he could replace KJ as the LB that stays on the field in Nickel. There is no rule that says that it has to be the Will LB that stays on the field in Nickel. I think that KJ has really slowed down in coverage and that Mingo might be an improvement. If KJ becomes a two-down back there is no way that he gets re-signed (unless he is willing to take a BIG paycut).

To add to this, Mychal Kendricks might also be available in 2019 on a cheap prove it deal. I thought he played great for us during the short time he was active.

 

[zetes]

Kind of have to disagree on that last part. KJ has been the weakest link in pass coverage for 3 years straight now. He gets picked on, in fact. On top of that, he lacks speed and gets outrun for big yards when giving up catches. Great at sniffing out a screen, can put himself in great position against the run, but is also not strong at the POA and lacks speed in coverage.

This won't be popular, but Mingo is not only the end of KJ's time here after the season, he's also an upgrade.

I think that you make a really good and misunderstood point here. While Mingo is not going to replace KJ on the weakside he could replace KJ as the LB that stays on the field in Nickel. There is no rule that says that it has to be the Will LB that stays on the field in Nickel. I think that KJ has really slowed down in coverage and that Mingo might be an improvement. If KJ becomes a two-down back there is no way that he gets re-signed (unless he is willing to take a BIG paycut).

To add to this, Mychal Kendricks might also be available in 2019 on a cheap prove it deal. I thought he played great for us during the short time he was active.

This would be awesome if they get Kendricks in 2019. I thought he was looking great in his limited time here -- just think if he had a training camp to be fully immersed in the defense. KJ has been great for the Hawks but he is reaching that age and with injuries and surgeries creeping in THEN it is time to cut ties. Since he is FA at the end of the season then it will be easy to let him go. I'm sure Raiders will over pay for him since they will have massive cap and Gruden says he wants more ex-Seahawks. The one key to Patriots ability to stay competitive is cutting ties with very good players that have reached that point where their careers have most likely peaked.

Z.

 

[Tical21]

Calitro for sure. He's an almost passable MLB, but that's it. Wagner played WILL last week in base. Mingo/KJ in nickel is the real discussion, and I think Mingo is in the process of winning that battle.

Wagner actually played MLB last week in base D. It might have looked like Cailtro was playing middle because Wagner was shifted over a lot to play against the Raiders 3 tighend packages.

No. Watch the tape. He played WILL so they could hide Calitro a little in coverage.

Here's the 1st three Base D plays of the game.

I apologize, after re-watching the game, I think you're right, and have promptly swatted my source in the back of the head.

 

[vin.couve12]

Mike and Will in over and under fronts aren't as static as you might think. For instance, motion will often displace them due to the lack of time to make the shift. 1 tech and 3 tech are affected much the same.

Motion isn't always just for je offense to tip their hand to show man vs zone. Sometimes you might want to isolate players on the run game. Say maybe a 3 tech or a Will in the A gap.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Umm... I don’t think KJ was ir’d and he played in the pre-season so he wasn’t pup’d. He’s just been inactive but on roster unless 1. I’m misinformed or 2. I’m not understanding the op’s question.

 

[sutz]

Umm... I don’t think KJ was ir’d and he played in the pre-season so he wasn’t pup’d. He’s just been inactive but on roster unless 1. I’m misinformed or 2. I’m not understanding the op’s question.

I think you're right. Dickson was on NFI, though. It'll take a roster move once he gets activated. Not sure if NFI is like PUP or not, but we might get a two week exemption for him.

 

[AgentDib]

I apologize, after re-watching the game, I think you're right, and have promptly swatted my source in the back of the head.

Perhaps what you are thinking about is Mingo played some WILL in two LB sets alongside Wagner and the difference between the two can be pretty minor in certain looks.

 

[Tical21]

I apologize, after re-watching the game, I think you're right, and have promptly swatted my source in the back of the head.

Perhaps what you are thinking about is Mingo played some WILL in two LB sets alongside Wagner and the difference between the two can be pretty minor in certain looks.

Nah, a guy I trust a lot with film study told me they put Wagner at Will in base to hide Calitro in coverage, but I couldn't find any instances of that.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Still waiting to hear what happens with Kendricks, he not only looked really solid, I think the Hawks have a real shot at signing him to a nice cap friendly deal IF he's good to go with no more suspensions.