Until the new HC hiring and who the Defensive staff will be, we don’t know what style of D we are going to play, what type of players are going to be needed, who will stay, who will go…Everything is just up in the air for now.
Only time and hirings will tell how things unfold for us this offseason.

If we run a 3-4 then I think him and Woodyard would be the natural OLB, if we stick with a 4-3 I think that you have to put him back on the strong side, if he bitches about it then trade him. I am tired of hearing a professional athlete complain on where he plays, if you are getting millions of dollars, you line up where the coach tells you and play your guts out. But you nailed it on the head, Williams is not a playmaker and the weakside LB needs to be someone who forces fumbles, gets pressure on the Qb (although since they rarely blitzed him, I give him a pass on that), and generally disrupts things. I really think that either Maualuga, Spikes or Larsen will be playing the MLB next season.

Battle DJ and Woodyard for the WLB spot. Either that, or move WW to safety. I want the MLB spot filled either with a guy like Dansby in FA or with a high draft pick. And if Boss can’t return as SAM, then I’d like to give Larsen a shot there. In the end, WW is a pure Will. DJ could be a good Mike, but this defence needs a leader there and I think captaincy had a negative effect on DJ this season.

I love both DJ and WW … NOOOOOOOOOO And I bought DJ’s jersey a few years back hoping it wouldnt end up like my previous bad luck RB 26 jerseys of Portis and Bell. AHHHHHH haha.

I will say the man is consistent though, and you did allude to that in the post. Leading the league in tackling before that injury is no small thing either. But, I guess you may be right in calling for a player that can be and fulfill what the position demands.

1. Your statistics are misleading – they are as much a reflection of the systems run & DJ’s role in those systems as they are his abilities. After Champ, he is the most natural athlete on the team. He was a terror his rookie season at Will, 2nd in DROY. Then someone in the organization had a brain fart and brought back Ian Gold to play Will, shifting DJ to Sam. Now his role was to cover TE’s more than rush passers. He still did well. Then the shift to Mike and the Bates/Slowik experiments. I’ll bet DJ is looking forward to a new DC even more than we are.

2. Before you can answer where to play WW and DJ, you have to answer what defense are we playing?
          - Are we going to be a 3-4 and if so, Fairbanks or Phillips?
          - Or are we still 4-3 and are we going to play Tampa-2, go back to show-blitz, zone-blitz, or an Eagles/Giants
             type pressure defense?
            Each system has different roles for the different positions. You can’t really answer where a player should
            play, until you know what role he should play first.

3. I disagree with the view that DJ is not a play-maker (I’m interested in HT’s view on this). That hasn’t been the role asked of him, but when it was he was brilliant at it.

4. WW is probably only effective on the weak side. He’s too slow and stiff in the hips to play safety and I think he’s best at run stopping when he’s chasing the play down from behind instead of having it come right at him. DJ, on the other hand, has shown that he can play damn near anywhere we put him.

5. With the growing trend towards 2TE sets, TE shifts, and H-backs, I think the distinction between Sam and Will is starting to blurr.

6. The key is to find the combination of LBs that gives you the bast defense. The Ravens let Thomas go because, even though he was a great LB, they didn’t feel he fit in their scheme with the other LBs they had. So, assuming we stick with a fairly standard 4-3, with the current players I like DJ at Sam, Larson at Mike, WW at Will, with Winborn available for depth. However, that could change dramatically based on who we could draft or sign through FA. I could see WW being used in a situational role instead of starting depending on who else we have.

I really want to know what everyone wants.

What is the best type of defense for Denver Fans?

I think the ideal defense for Denver depends on what type of offense we’re going to run. I like high intensity, pressure, defenses. But it’s difficult to couple them with quick-strike pass oriented offenses. The O just doesn’t control the ball long enough for the D to get catch their breath, suck down some gatorade, and collect their thought. Eventually the defense tires, the pressure drops off and suddenly the other team is moving the ball at will. While I don’t like lower pressure, bend but don’t break, defense they are better suited to team that don’t rack up ToP. So, is Denver going to be a pass happy spread O, or are we going back to run first, ToP, offense that can still strike from anywhere?

The other issue is the personnel we have. There’s been a lot of talk about Tampa-2 lately. The T-2 requires mobile LBs, which we have, good safeties, Oh-no, and a D-line that can generate pressure without a lot of blitzing; strike two. Also, CBs in a T-2 have to be good tacklers, but not necessarily good cover guys. Champ can play anything, but that doesn’t sound like Bly to me. Doesn’t sound to me like T-2 is a good fit.

There’s the Eagles/Giants style of high-pressure defense. It’s typical in many ways, but relies on stiff run support and pressure to keep the CBs from being exposed. It requires good cover CBs (that’s a plus), run stopping linebackes, especially Mike (thats a ?-mark), and a run stuffing D-line. Doesn’t sound like a particular fit to me either.

The defense I think suits the player we have, assuming we go back to more of a ball control offense, is some sort of zone-blitz scheme like Blitzburg uses. The advantages of this high-pressure system are that it makes use of highly versatile lineman since they may be called upon to drop into pass coverage. Thomas got his pick from a zone blitz this year. Imagine Moss lined up at end, the full back scope him out to chip on his way out for a pass, but after the snap Moss doesn’t rush; he drops into coverage and the fullback misses WW on a stunt with Thomas. That’s a zone blitz. It requires versatility at every position but is very good at covering up weakness on the field. The DC can play to the strength of the defense and into the weakness of the offense; dictating the flow.

At any rate, that’s my 2 cents worth.

but id move him back. he played well there. plus, WW is a stud

I think he’d be a great fit in the “Big Nickel” role which I’d love to see us bring back. We still have to face Zach Miller and Antonio Gates twice a year, and if he’s not a starter, that’s one of the ways we can make use of him in the meantime.