There's a chance that when all is said and done, Miami could find itself moving back to a 4-3 defense. I think Mike Nolan has fallen pretty much out of favor here. He entered the season as the most obvious choice as interim Head Coach if Tony Sparano were to be fired, but now it's gotten to where not only will Steve Ross keep Tony on as long as possible, but if he does fire him then Karl Dorrell or Todd Bowles might get the interim job. I've talked about some possibilities for our Defensive Coordinator, someone like Jim Leavitt. He would run a 4-3 defense, IMO...even though he coaches linebackers in a 3-4 defense right now. To me, between Karlos Dansby, Kevin Burnett and Koa Misi, the Dolphins have some outside linebackers for a 4-3 defense. They would have to work on the defensive line some, depending on the nature of the 4-3 they want to employ. But I think they need a true Mike. So my question to you guys is, who do you like at that position and why? For me, my favorite guys are Vontaze Burfict, Shayne Skov, Luke Kuechly and Tank Carder. You give me any one of those four and I'd be a happy man. They all present something different. The most explosive and fast players are clearly (to me) Vontaze Burfict and Tank Carder. They move as well as anyone, whip to the ball carrier like a wet snake. Vontaze adds a little more strength and ability to shed blockers than Tank Carder, who can get washed out sometimes because of his size. But Carder adds back a little more brains that Vontaze can sometimes show, because Burfict still can't shake those dumb penalties. I watch Carder and he plays with some emotion, and he explodes through these hits, he can intimidate people and I like that. He's also pretty well-rounded in that you know he can play in your nickel defense. TCU's base defense is basically a nickel defense. Burfict has the ability to be an elite player. He's got that in him because of his incredible explosiveness and his instincts to the ball. He's a guy I would love to have in the middle of my defense because I know the opposing offense is going to have to think about him, one way or another. They'll hate him, they'll complain about him being a dirty player, but they'll be thinking about him, and he's going to piss them off. He has the potential to be a centerpiece in a truly scary, attitude-driven, swarming defense. I've heard Simon bandy about the "Taylor Mays" label with him and I don't see that. I saw it in Taylor Mays, I hated Taylor Mays as much as the next guy, but I don't see that in Vontaze Burfict. He makes a LOT of plays out there that Taylor Mays just never made. That interception he had against Barkley was an incredible play. He goes to rush the passer and recognizes the rollout instantly, flattens out but gets tangled up with an offensive lineman and doubled over. Barkley throws the ball while he's off-balance from the block by the offensive lineman but somehow Burfict's still got his eyes on Barkley through the line while folded over, and he just pops up and plucks the ball from the air like it was meant for him. How he made that play, I don't know. That was one hell of a play. His eyes are great. Shayne Skov is an extremely smooth player, and very, very strong, not to mention heady. He's probably the most well-rounded of the four and might be my overall favorite. He can pass rush and he's got great balance to stay dangerous even while being blocked. He can overwhelm the ball and has great size. The only weakness is he can have his tackles broken at times, and he's not as fast as Burfict or Carder. Kuechly is extremely heady and the trait that both he and Skov have in common is they're both in tune with the ball to a very high degree. To me his big weaknesses are he's not big or strong like Burfict or Skov, and he's not very fast. He's agile, he can strafe, he can move side to side and change directions, and he can handle blocks...but you can outrun him, IMO. Tank Carder's draft stock has taken a hit this year but make no mistake about that. That's because of the defense being a lot more porous in general. But the defense is generally more porous because of the secondary and there's not much Tank can do about that. They're not a team that's built to be all that strong against the run with their 4-2-5 defense, and Carder is asked to play an unselfish role filling gaps. But I look at his explosiveness at the point of the tackle, his speed, and I wonder what he can't do in the middle of a 4-3 defense where he's protected a little bit and allowed to really track the ball. The guys that I've tried to like, but just can't...are Dont'a Hightower and Manti Te'o. Dont'a Hightower is humungous. His thighs and lower body are incredible. But no matter how you look at it, he's not fast or agile. He's an avalanche that starts with a single rock fall...not all that scary at the beginning but scary as hell by the end. I'm just not sure how that translates at the next level. I don't think he can be explosive enough and he may have to move to a different position. Manti Te'o isn't a bad player. I'm not nearly as uncomfortable with him as I am Dont'a Hightower. But he takes so many false steps all over the place, he's not at all a smooth player that is in tune with the ball. He's pretty athletic though, and he changes directions really well, and so he bails himself out of a lot of situations. With time I think he could be a good player, as his instincts come on and he's coached better. But I'm just not sure that he will make that jump, and if I do assume he will, I'm not sure it will happen soon. I think of Travis Lewis as probably the best linebacker when it comes to coverage and the potential to be a terror on nickel downs. But he's not very in tune with the ball on run defense, he's not explosive or overwhelming at the point of attack and he doesn't handle blocks very well. Audie Cole is huge and he can run and change directions like a man smaller than his 6'4" and 240+ lbs stature. However, the man is just not very physical, nor is he a killer. He doesn't have a very good killer instinct or a very good trigger. Chris Galippo is a guy that has always interested me.
Eh, I have a few issues with Burfict. I think he will fall to the bottom of round 1 IMO. I like him. But not a top half of round 1 guy. Also, other then that pick on Barkley, when has he made these game changing plays Dansby was suppose to be making?
Burfict is an insane athlete, BUT he seems to lack in the sanity department. Get him a little bit more stable then draft him.
Several tackles for loss, sacks and goal line stand tackles immediately come to mind, just from this year.
I think Burfict is out of the question because I expect him to be a top 10 pick, and that area is QB or bust for me. Though I suppose if Nick Fairley could fall all the way to 13 for being a dirty player with character concerns, so can Burfict. He's going to be an absolute beast in the NFL though imo. I really like Kuechly though and would have no problems trading up into the 1st to take him since I'm not sure he'll fall out of the 1st, not with the absolutely ridiculous season he's having.
Were they KTFO your own teammate crazy? http://content.usatoday.com/communi...rizona-state-vontaze-burfict-fight-teammate/1
Burfict is actually the only middle linebacker I've paid attention to this year...I've seen Tank through out his Career, but I've watched most of Burficts games this year, and I can safely say he does not have a big time sack this year. I've seen him make tackles for loss, but I assumed we were talking about game changing plays, I've seen Burnett make a big tackle for loss this year. And I've seen Dansby make extremely big plays with Arizona. He's been here for 1 and a half years, had a good first year and a down 2nd season in which he has been plagued by injuries, and our entire fan base just seems to think he's this average player that can't make plays all the sudden. And that does bother me to be honest.
I'am about balance on both sides, not just loading an andrew Luck, or anyone else for that matter, up with weapons, we need two players that bring that specific identity that has been lacking here for a very long time, on both sides, along with the athleticism to match..I would like Tank to be that guy for our defense, his speed off recognition is unmatched in this draft imo, his impact velocity is violent, and he causes issues with ball carriers,mentally and physically..I think VB would be worth the risk, if he happens to drop..
yeah but Iam not sure I trust that defense come crunch time..I really don't want our identity to be all offense..I think You build an all around team with an Andrew Luck, don't think he needs to be in a high powered offense that sacrifices defensive integrity to get the best out of his skillset and his intangibles..I believe he has the ability to inspire and motivate a whole team to elevate their play, and I think with the way he plays the game, backing him up with a good defense is important.. If were at the top of the 2nd round, and Tank or Broyles is there for the taking, I go with Tank.
This all depends heavily on what kind of 4-3 you want to run. Do you want a Jim Johnson 4-3, do you want the Mike two-gapping, is he protected? The players I would pick change based on that. If I needed a Jeremiah Trotter MLB, Hightower is my guy and I plug him in and watch Dansby and Burnett play great ball on the outsides. If I want to protect the MLB I go get Tank Carder. If I want a mix where sometimes I'll shift to a double three technique and need a big Mike I want Burfict. He can fit in either defense. All in all the MLB that allows Burnett and Dansby to have the best protection possible and allows them to roam sideline-to-sideline is the best guy for Miami. Hightower is someone that unlike a traditional Mike can take on block after block.
Two gapping is not a hard job for a MLB. You can plug in a Brandon Spikes-like player, but you could also get a guy like Burfict or Carder.
If you're suggesting Spikes-Hightower have similarities I agree. I agree on Burfict as well and Carder based on the defense he plays in probably already takes a beating in the run game. I'd prefer the bigger guys like Hightower and Burfict though for blitzing and just for the wear and tear they are going to take at that spot. All of them can do it, I don't doubt that. Hightower though would be a guy that needs very solid, range OLBs.
With Burnett & Dansby, I'd rather have Hightower. We've already seen how much our defense misses Crowder sacrificing his body to blow up blockers for his teammates, and IMO Hightower offers more as a blitzer. I don't have a problem taking the leader of the #1 defense in football and a guy who seems to possess an understanding of the chess side of the game. IMO at least 1 key addition needs to be made to the defense this offseason if we want to progress.
What I'm mainly saying is that two gapping for a MIKE is not real hard to do. You don't have to have a specific type of MIKE to do that. It's not like the DL position.
