LLT
07-13-2010, 07:54 AM
LB rankings: The NFL’s weakening strongside
By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
Jul 12, 12:18 pm EDT
There’s something really fascinating about rating the various linebacking corps in the NFL. Just as the fullback has generally disappeared from offensive football with so many offenses going with three-, four- and five-receiver sets, the strongside linebacker has also started to fade into oblivion.
The fade is not as drastic as with the fullback because there are still tight ends to be battled in the running game and covered in the passing game. Still, a position that was once second only to defensive tackles in terms of toughness is now a spot full of faceless players who don’t remind anybody of Andre Tippett.
As with the defensive line rankings, the prevalence of the 3-4 defense made ranking the league’s linebackers difficult. Teams with four-linebacker sets, as you will see, tend to get ranked much higher because they have the pass rushers.
Here’s the rundown:
1. Pittsburgh: With LaMarr Woodley(notes) and James Harrison(notes), the Steelers have the best combination of accomplished pass rushers among 3-4 defenses in the NFL. In fact, it’s not real close. The only team that could close the gap anytime soon is Dallas if Anthony Spencer(notes) improves. When you add in inside linebackers James Farrior(notes) and Lawrence Timmons(notes) (seven sacks last season), you have the best overall linebacking corps in the league by a pretty good margin. Dallas is really good, but the Steelers are special.
No team in the NFL comes close to matching the Steelers' stellar linebacking corps, which includes James Harrison.
(Mark Duncan/AP)
2. Dallas: Critics of DeMarcus Ware(notes) like to point out that his sacks (11) dropped by nearly 50 percent last season from 2008 and that his total tackles also saw a precipitous lag, dropping all the way to a career-low 57. Unfortunately, those critics also don’t draw up blocking schemes to deal with Ware, which is why he continues to be considered one of the most dynamic forces in the game. On the other side, Anthony Spencer made progress last season, collecting six sacks, mostly during an impressive run during the second half of the season. Inside linebackers Bradie James(notes) and Keith Brooking(notes) are solid, but the depth is untested.
3. Green Bay: Someday in the near future, NFL people will talk about how the Packers linebacking corps is like some four-headed nightmare. With Nick Barnett(notes), Clay Matthews(notes), Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk(notes) (who is almost an afterthought in this group), the Packers have the best combination of great tacklers against the run and potential pass-rush stars. Throw in the fact that Barnett is the only one older than 26 (he’s 29), and you have the makings of something marvelous. Matthews was terrific all season, and Jones was a late-season revelation with all four of his sacks coming in the last five games.
4. San Francisco: If you like good run defense, this group is excellent. Starting with stud Patrick Willis(notes), the 49ers linebacking corps is very much in the image of coach Mike Singletary, a Hall of Fame linebacker, in his playing days. They don’t miss a lot of tackles, and they play with great intensity. With Willis and fellow inside linebacker Takeo Spikes(notes) playing behind a line that does a nice job of holding the point against the run, the 49ers are very much a classic 1980s-style defense. Too bad it’s 2010, and you have to play a lot more pass defense. That’s where the 49ers need to get a lot more out of outside linebackers Manny Lawson(notes) (who had a career-high six and a half sacks last season) and Parys Haralson(notes) (five sacks). If Lawson can finally overcome the injuries he has suffered, this group can be very good. The depth is excellent.
5. New York Jets: A quick prediction: By the end of the season, Jets fans will love Jason Taylor(notes), the same guy who used to taunt them as a Dolphins star. Taylor may be near the end, but he still has enough athletic ability to cause problems for offenses. Fortunately for him, he joins a deep and smart linebacking corps, which means he won’t have to play a lot. With Bart Scott(notes), David Harris(notes), Calvin Pace(notes) and Bryan Thomas(notes), the Jets have a great mix of players with enough talent to allow head coach Rex Ryan to run all his exotic blitzes. None of these guys are great, but all of them are very good.
6. Chicago: Oh, Brian Urlacher(notes), where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday that you were this frenetic slice of pure energy, the rare middle linebacker who could run all over the field, intercepting passes, sacking the quarterback or chasing a ballcarrier all the way to the sideline. Sadly, it has been about two years since we saw that version of Urlacher. Injuries sidelined him last season, but fortunately it was a wrist injury, not a leg problem. Still, at 32, you have to wonder how much time he has left. Lance Briggs(notes) is terrific next to him and Hunter Hillenmeyer(notes) is a solid pro. If Urlacher is healthy, this group is as good as it gets among the 4-3 schemes. If not, they’re just average.
7. Denver: Any group that starts with outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil(notes) (17 sacks) and inside linebacker D.J. Williams(notes) is going to be very good. Dumervil is really fun to watch because of his ability to leverage just about any blocker despite being only 5-foot-11. Dumervil spins and gyrates and just plain causes problems if he’s not double-teamed. If Robert Ayers(notes) comes along, this group could be excellent and give the Broncos a collection of game-changing players as part of a really good defense.
8. Washington: As the Redskins switch to a 3-4 defense, they appear to have a great combination of outside linebackers on paper with Brian Orakpo(notes) (11 sacks) coming off a terrific season and veteran Andre Carter(notes) (11 sacks) on the other side. The problem is that the 3-4 also requires at least some semblance of pass coverage skills for its outside linebackers to go from very good to great. Carter, who is going into his 10th season, has never really played standing up. He has been an end for almost his entire career. As smart as he is, that’s a troubling situation. In the middle, London Fletcher(notes) and Rocky McIntosh(notes) are solid. Don’t buy the hype of Fletcher being some great player because he’s coming off a Pro Bowl season. Fletcher is just a plugger – a good one, but a plugger nonetheless. Bottom line, this group could be great or it could be average.
9. Buffalo: If inside linebacker Paul Posluszny(notes) could just stay healthy, he’d probably be a star very quickly. Last season, he missed four games because of injury (he missed 13 as a rookie in 2007) and still had 110 tackles. Fellow inside man Kawika Mitchell(notes) is a solid pro and should get pushed a little by Andra Davis(notes). But the real question for the Bills is whether former defensive ends Chris Kelsay(notes) and Aaron Schobel(notes) will be able to make the transition to outside linebacker. When healthy, both have been solid pass rushers from the end spot. Now, they will have to play standing up all the time and sometimes in pass coverage.
10. Minnesota: Some people disagree with my belief that middle linebackers are basically replaceable parts in this era of the NFL, with even the very good ones being little more than pluggers. For proof of my contention, let’s examine E.J. Henderson(notes), who missed the final four games of last season with an injury after being on pace for one of the best seasons of his seven-year career. The Vikings put Jasper Brinkley(notes) in the lineup after Henderson went down and didn’t miss a beat, making it to within an overtime loss of reaching the Super Bowl. Anyway, Chad Greenway(notes) had another fine season and Ben Leber(notes) continues to be an above-average player. This group doesn’t make a lot of big plays, but it works well behind the strong defensive line
See Complete List at:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-lbrankings071210
By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
Jul 12, 12:18 pm EDT
There’s something really fascinating about rating the various linebacking corps in the NFL. Just as the fullback has generally disappeared from offensive football with so many offenses going with three-, four- and five-receiver sets, the strongside linebacker has also started to fade into oblivion.
The fade is not as drastic as with the fullback because there are still tight ends to be battled in the running game and covered in the passing game. Still, a position that was once second only to defensive tackles in terms of toughness is now a spot full of faceless players who don’t remind anybody of Andre Tippett.
As with the defensive line rankings, the prevalence of the 3-4 defense made ranking the league’s linebackers difficult. Teams with four-linebacker sets, as you will see, tend to get ranked much higher because they have the pass rushers.
Here’s the rundown:
1. Pittsburgh: With LaMarr Woodley(notes) and James Harrison(notes), the Steelers have the best combination of accomplished pass rushers among 3-4 defenses in the NFL. In fact, it’s not real close. The only team that could close the gap anytime soon is Dallas if Anthony Spencer(notes) improves. When you add in inside linebackers James Farrior(notes) and Lawrence Timmons(notes) (seven sacks last season), you have the best overall linebacking corps in the league by a pretty good margin. Dallas is really good, but the Steelers are special.
No team in the NFL comes close to matching the Steelers' stellar linebacking corps, which includes James Harrison.
(Mark Duncan/AP)
2. Dallas: Critics of DeMarcus Ware(notes) like to point out that his sacks (11) dropped by nearly 50 percent last season from 2008 and that his total tackles also saw a precipitous lag, dropping all the way to a career-low 57. Unfortunately, those critics also don’t draw up blocking schemes to deal with Ware, which is why he continues to be considered one of the most dynamic forces in the game. On the other side, Anthony Spencer made progress last season, collecting six sacks, mostly during an impressive run during the second half of the season. Inside linebackers Bradie James(notes) and Keith Brooking(notes) are solid, but the depth is untested.
3. Green Bay: Someday in the near future, NFL people will talk about how the Packers linebacking corps is like some four-headed nightmare. With Nick Barnett(notes), Clay Matthews(notes), Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk(notes) (who is almost an afterthought in this group), the Packers have the best combination of great tacklers against the run and potential pass-rush stars. Throw in the fact that Barnett is the only one older than 26 (he’s 29), and you have the makings of something marvelous. Matthews was terrific all season, and Jones was a late-season revelation with all four of his sacks coming in the last five games.
4. San Francisco: If you like good run defense, this group is excellent. Starting with stud Patrick Willis(notes), the 49ers linebacking corps is very much in the image of coach Mike Singletary, a Hall of Fame linebacker, in his playing days. They don’t miss a lot of tackles, and they play with great intensity. With Willis and fellow inside linebacker Takeo Spikes(notes) playing behind a line that does a nice job of holding the point against the run, the 49ers are very much a classic 1980s-style defense. Too bad it’s 2010, and you have to play a lot more pass defense. That’s where the 49ers need to get a lot more out of outside linebackers Manny Lawson(notes) (who had a career-high six and a half sacks last season) and Parys Haralson(notes) (five sacks). If Lawson can finally overcome the injuries he has suffered, this group can be very good. The depth is excellent.
5. New York Jets: A quick prediction: By the end of the season, Jets fans will love Jason Taylor(notes), the same guy who used to taunt them as a Dolphins star. Taylor may be near the end, but he still has enough athletic ability to cause problems for offenses. Fortunately for him, he joins a deep and smart linebacking corps, which means he won’t have to play a lot. With Bart Scott(notes), David Harris(notes), Calvin Pace(notes) and Bryan Thomas(notes), the Jets have a great mix of players with enough talent to allow head coach Rex Ryan to run all his exotic blitzes. None of these guys are great, but all of them are very good.
6. Chicago: Oh, Brian Urlacher(notes), where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday that you were this frenetic slice of pure energy, the rare middle linebacker who could run all over the field, intercepting passes, sacking the quarterback or chasing a ballcarrier all the way to the sideline. Sadly, it has been about two years since we saw that version of Urlacher. Injuries sidelined him last season, but fortunately it was a wrist injury, not a leg problem. Still, at 32, you have to wonder how much time he has left. Lance Briggs(notes) is terrific next to him and Hunter Hillenmeyer(notes) is a solid pro. If Urlacher is healthy, this group is as good as it gets among the 4-3 schemes. If not, they’re just average.
7. Denver: Any group that starts with outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil(notes) (17 sacks) and inside linebacker D.J. Williams(notes) is going to be very good. Dumervil is really fun to watch because of his ability to leverage just about any blocker despite being only 5-foot-11. Dumervil spins and gyrates and just plain causes problems if he’s not double-teamed. If Robert Ayers(notes) comes along, this group could be excellent and give the Broncos a collection of game-changing players as part of a really good defense.
8. Washington: As the Redskins switch to a 3-4 defense, they appear to have a great combination of outside linebackers on paper with Brian Orakpo(notes) (11 sacks) coming off a terrific season and veteran Andre Carter(notes) (11 sacks) on the other side. The problem is that the 3-4 also requires at least some semblance of pass coverage skills for its outside linebackers to go from very good to great. Carter, who is going into his 10th season, has never really played standing up. He has been an end for almost his entire career. As smart as he is, that’s a troubling situation. In the middle, London Fletcher(notes) and Rocky McIntosh(notes) are solid. Don’t buy the hype of Fletcher being some great player because he’s coming off a Pro Bowl season. Fletcher is just a plugger – a good one, but a plugger nonetheless. Bottom line, this group could be great or it could be average.
9. Buffalo: If inside linebacker Paul Posluszny(notes) could just stay healthy, he’d probably be a star very quickly. Last season, he missed four games because of injury (he missed 13 as a rookie in 2007) and still had 110 tackles. Fellow inside man Kawika Mitchell(notes) is a solid pro and should get pushed a little by Andra Davis(notes). But the real question for the Bills is whether former defensive ends Chris Kelsay(notes) and Aaron Schobel(notes) will be able to make the transition to outside linebacker. When healthy, both have been solid pass rushers from the end spot. Now, they will have to play standing up all the time and sometimes in pass coverage.
10. Minnesota: Some people disagree with my belief that middle linebackers are basically replaceable parts in this era of the NFL, with even the very good ones being little more than pluggers. For proof of my contention, let’s examine E.J. Henderson(notes), who missed the final four games of last season with an injury after being on pace for one of the best seasons of his seven-year career. The Vikings put Jasper Brinkley(notes) in the lineup after Henderson went down and didn’t miss a beat, making it to within an overtime loss of reaching the Super Bowl. Anyway, Chad Greenway(notes) had another fine season and Ben Leber(notes) continues to be an above-average player. This group doesn’t make a lot of big plays, but it works well behind the strong defensive line
See Complete List at:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-lbrankings071210