I think you really hit on something here. I thought Wesley Woodyard played better than any other LB all season. He sure was a nice find as an undrafted guy.

I usually think these kinds of “grades” are always insane because there’s never a right answer, but in this case, there’s no way any LB group that consistently included Nate Freaking Webster can get a “B”, unless the “B” stands for REALLY, REALLY BAD.

This is was a god awful unit all year. I think D.J. really had an overrated year, but he was still okay. Woodyard was obviously a revelation, and I think a case could have been made for the “B” grade had Boss continued to play all year. I really thought Winborn only stood out because Webster was so terrible. And oh my god, was he ever terrible.

How many points the other team scored, or whether we won or lost, is not an accurate reflection of an individual LB’s performance. This is particularly so because the statisitc that most closely correlated with W/Ls this year was offensive turn-overs which had nothing to do with the defense. Here is an interesting statistic – tackles per game:

Webster ~ 6
Williams ~ 9 (he actually only played 40 quarters)
Bailey – 8
Winborn – 9
Larsen ~ 6
Woodyard – 11

What does that show us? Webster, in the Mike position, only accounted for 6 tackles per game. Contrast that with DJ who garnered almost 10 tackles per game playing Mike last year and you get an idea of the drop-off in production at Mike. Fortunately Nate is a UFA and the team has already given him permission to talk to other teams. He’s gone.

DJ provided solid production though not as high as last year. Considering that he played his last two games with a shoulder that required off-season surgery he probably did better than could be expected. Definitely a keeper.

Bailey provided reasonable production when he was on the field, but given his previous injury issues he’s probably on the bubble.

Winborn’s numbers are surprising. But when I think back, at times he seemed like a real force on the field; then other times he just disappeared. That makes me wonder how much was the player and how much was the coaching. I think he’s more natural at Will than Sam, but he probably should be kept around for depth at least.

Larsen’s numbers don’t indicate any greater production than Webster, but the unit as a whole seemed to play better with him in the game. He certainly did not have the problems with over-pursuit that Nate has. Hopefully the fullback experiment was just an aborted attempt to prove Shanny’s draft day genius and he is allowed to play LB fulltime. AT LB Larsen can contribute; at FB he’s of questionable value.

The numbers reflect the impact WW had on the field. The kid has a nose for the ball. I expect to see WW and Winborn complete at Will in camp with WW winning out except possibly in obvious running situation where Winborn’s size may give him a slight advantage.

Larson being the odd man out??? Seems to me he’s a very decent prospect for ILB- perhaps not a starter right away, but a solid back-up, at least. Sure, he hits hard from the FB position, but does he have the ability to carry the rock, out catch out of the backfield? I don’t believe we saw any of that last year. The lack of versatility at FB would make the O a bit more predictable.

And J. Winborn wasn’t wanted by Nolan in SF- I hope he’ll get a fair shot at competing in camp this year, but there could be some pre-conceived bias against him.

That’s the O-line, not the D-line, in the picture. Yes, they pay me to notice these kinds of things.

And for the record, my grade is a C-. The backups (WW and the Stormin’ Mormon) showed a lot more promise than the starters( Nate “Overpursued!” Webster, take a bow) and injuries, as everywhere, thinned the ranks. But I’m not going to give anyone on the defense too high marks this year, as while there were bright spots here and there (very, very there…) they never cohered as a unit, didn’t seem to have a consistent scheme, and were often and deservedly embarrassed. Needs fixing fast.

If I am looking at purely who would fit best in a 3-4, or 3-4 hydrid then I have a lot different take.

LB’s gone: Webster, Winborn (he clashes with Nolan and was not a fit in his defense before, thus the reason he left San Francisco), Niko, Haggans (although on measurables at 6’3 and 260 pounds he is probably best fit of all our LB’s at 3-4).

Keepers: DJ (who is big enough and strong enough to play outside)
                 Larsen (who is a pro-typical ILB n a 3-4. Reads play well, great gap control, sheds blockers and big hitter)
                 WW (who I think we should try at safety but we got to get him on the field).
                 Boss (but only if he restructures)

Here would be some options:

OLB: DJ/ WW, Moss or Doom (Pass rushers), Cushing/Boss
ILB: Larsen, DJ or draft Rey Rey.

I ahve said this many times over. I think our need in either a 3-4 (a rushing DE/LB type) or in a 4-3 (a strong side LB) overshadows our need for a MLB or ILB.

I would take Rey Rey, but I feel we have 2 guys already that could cover the ILB slots in Larsen and DJ. Play WW on the outside, and bring in a guy like Brian Cushing or Larry English. This helps our team more.

Then we have the option of a rotation with Doom and Moss as outside rushers that can rotate with WW and Cushing when needed. Brings so more many options and looks to the table.

Especially after hearing Jedi McD’s interview at www.denverbroncos.com he is going to be looking for players that bring a lot of variety to the table. Ones that can be used in different looks and situations.

Guys like Cushing and English bring more to the table than a guy like Rey or James L from OSU.

My 2 cents worth, but be prepared for some surprises from Jedi and the Good men!

PS: Check out Jedi Mc D’s interview. SO stoked we have him….I am jazzed for the future for sure!

People are making a lot of good points. Winborn is a natural Will who may not fit the Jack in a 3-4 and has a history with Nolan – bad news for a good guy who is a backup/starter at Wil land never finds the right team. Tough business…

Larsen can hit hard anywhere. I thik that he is the defense’s form of Hillis in that as Weigmann pointed out, the offense went as Hillis went for the simple reason that Hillis made everyone more energised and confident (Yes, he’s also a heck of a RB). Larsen had a rep for that in college and our D responded the same way when he was on the field. I don’t believe in coincidence. The above point regarding our not knowing if he can catch or run with the ball is a good one as well. I’m hoping that McD and Nolan ignore the Shanahan Experiment for this young man. At the least, he’s a fine backup for ILB. I think we’ll be better if he starts. Emotion does win games. We, and some of the coaches, sometimes forget that. Since Nate is out anyway…

Great discussion. BTW, has anyone looked at Cody Brown for OLB? I saw a good discussion in the Sporting News this morning – he might be a mid-round steal for OLB. Very high grades in all phases, but is a tweener betwixt 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE.

Spencer Larsen.

The 3-4 plays up all of Spencer’s best attributes and diminishes his one knock, speed.

Boydy said it best but you can’t say enough about Spencer’s awesome gap control and play diagnosing capabilities.

All this stuff about our line backers is great but it means nothing if we do not get the one cog that makes the wheels turn. When ravens ran the 3-4 even ray Lewis could not stay productive without a blocker eating stud NT. Offensive linemen where getting to the second level and muddying thinks up for the LB’s.

Now if Rey Lewis complained of having trouble shedding O-linemen. I ask you, which one of our LB’s do you see shedding a blocker?

BJ is just what we need and he is coming at the perfect time. Hopefully, he didn’t play his way out of his mid-first round grade with his phenomenal performance at the senior bowl.

The one caveat to this is of course if we land Albert Hanseworth.

Why get Albert if we could have B.J.

I think B.J. will be an elite space eating nose tackle in the same breath as Albert, Nata, Williams, and Hampton.

So… Why pay way way more for middle (albeit Prime) of his career, injury history, anger prone, nose tackle.

BJ will be young, just like the rest of our team (improving our superbowl window) Athletic, a very very fast first step (demands two blockers at 345) and half the price!

I can’t wait till missing the playoffs is an earmark in history and seems like an impossibility!

would be awesome but there’s no way the Broncos have a shot at drafting him unless they can trade way up, from 12 to around 3 or 4, which is where he very likely will be chosen. Otherwise, they’ll have to look elsewhere. That’s the problem with going to the 3-4, finding huge, talented NT’s who can fill the gap is a challenge, they don’t grow on trees.

Anyway, good analysis Zappa, good fodder for discussion too. I think DJ is still clearly an elite LB, he had a subpar year for him but still solid, and he was both injured and had very little help out there. To me WW deserves every chance he can get to be a starter. Heck, if they’re worried he’s too small, making him a safety!

Winborn’s an okay backup but with Nolan he will probably be a goner. Webster, too. Larsen is intriguing. Bailey should be given another shot, given he was also injured. And they should look to draft one of those elite LBs with their first pick if they don’t move up or down with the slot. Too many good ones to pass it up.

I want the Broncos to start following the Steelers’ model for building a defense, with those kind of players. They have a long way to go but at least can start down that road this year with the draft.

Count me on the Rey train, I have visions of him planting Phylis into the turf of Mile High.

On the other hand, Mel Kiper has the Broncos nabbing BJ after all in his latest mock draft.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3850049

Of course the caveat is… this is Mel Kiper! he’s often off his wig.

He also ranks Rey M much further down than some people do on his big board.

 ………………… Igor Olshansky ……………………B.J. Raji …………….. Marcus Thomas………………

            
  …………..D.J. Williams ……….. W. Woodyard ……….. Spencer Larsen…………. Elvis Dumervil

Champ Baily ………………………………………………………………………………………..Dre Bly (RIP D Will)
   
………………………………………………………….Patrick Chung……………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………Nick Collins …………………………………………

is the 3-4 certain, now? i still don’t believe it is the way to go, especially for the next few seasons. i gotta think when they look at the defensive players we have, and what else is available out there, they will decide to use a 4-3 alignment. if i missed the announcement, please forgive me, i’ve been away.

as far as fits for the 3-4, i see d.j., boss, larsen, and ww being capable of doing it(tackling, that is). the rest have to go, including winborn. stats and praise be damned, he just sucks. like karl paymah sucks. moss, crowder, and our safeties will need to be replaced(hoping for barrett to come along), and doom is looking to be a situational player at this point. i want tacklers at lb in either formation. so, figuring that’s 2 rookies at lb, and boss will be hurt, that leaves us with about 5 lb’s for the 3-4 to come up with if we are backing up all positions. and then we need a whole new d-line, thomas/powell at end=no. backups? need them, too. is this making no sense to anyone but me? am i cuckoo?

already was there. still didn’t hear 3-4 from anyone, yet(still evaluating talent). the way he talks about creating a team, in all phases, is a little disturbing to me. i am sensitive to personnel changes on the offense at this time, i really like the starters. confident young man(i’m a decade older than he), and he does sound like a smart and driven coach. but are we that bad, that we have to blow up the coaching staff, the d, and part of the o and st? god, i hope we’re not that bad

I totally agree with your statements about Shanny and his idea of having the best players start. That is totally true because once the starters when out, we started playing better. Guru mentioned on one of his shows that starters can lose their jobs due to injury. Webster needs to go because he would have a good practice and get his spot back. I’m sorry, but I just don’t think a player should get his starting spot back based on practice.

Fantastic job. I look foward to more

Remember, all of the mock drafts last year but only Maylock got it right. The rest of the experts were a freakin joke. BJ will not be available at the 12 spot. I would guess we will pick up Rey at #12. Woodyard and Larsen were the only linebackers deserving of a passing grade last year. The others were a joke.