Let's Discuss This Idea Before It's Too Late

[panthers55]

Brown's issues are not his physical attributes but what he does with them. His technique is pretty basic and his spin move is all there is. And mind you, it certainly isn't a great move yet. He has to be more creative and develop several moves which he can use to "out technique" the opponent with leverage and unpredictability . Having a pretty steady and strong motor would help too.

He has the tools to be effective. He just needs to step up his game at DE instead of trying something else.

[ed bell]

I'd be willing to bet there is serious work going on behind the scenes with Brown's technique but we'll have to wait until he has some real, prolonged playing time under his belt to see the progress. The "spin-move" has probably served him well since he started playing DE and why wouldn't he continue to lean on it? Problem for him now is the folks he will line up against can use that against him if he does it too often. Something the college kids couldn't do. If he can start using other methods, the spin move will work it's way back into his effective tool-kit. Again, he just turned 23 on August 8th.

[FuzzyPanther]

I wouldn't mind seeing Brown line up at WLB. I've thought all along he looked more like a LB than DE. I think it would be worth a shot.

WLB in 4-3 covers the first man out of the box!

Big problem; New Orleans lines up in 21 personnel (heavy run formation) and R. Bush motions out of the backfield, into the slot, then Brown is responsible for Man-to-Man if that's the called coverage. Brown cannot cover ANYTHING, much less RBush out of the backfield. (That equals auto-6-points for Saints unless Brees has a seizure after the snap).

Forget it. No. No. No. Tampa 2 is the base defense we're running, the LB's have to have SPEED in this defense, and there's no substitute for it.

[smash_n_dash]

I know there are about a half dozen LB threads but I didn't know which one to discuss this in.

Assumming that the team gels with the current lineup of Beason-Connor-Anderson what are we going to do if/when Davis comes back next season? Is Beason going back to MLB and Connor becoming a backup/trade bait? Or perhaps Davis can play another position as well, such as safety?

[twylyght]

Our linebacker lineup isn't permanently set yet. So lets discuss this idea

Since reading the idea of moving Brown to linebacker and Norwood to DE, idk. James back to WLB, Beastson is MLB, I dont see what's wrong trying Brown out for SLB, he's got the size. I dont think it would be a hard job for Brown neither

I'm still iffy on Brown being an great DE and I'm iffy on our linebacker lineup

We got Johnson, Norwood (who I believe given a chance will be a better pass rusher than Brown), Brayton, Hardy, I say we keep Moore, Eric that is, and we will blitz our linebackers from time to time

What you think? And I know Weakside is the focal point, but we lost Davis. Injuries are a part of the game, and dont mean we should just take our best linebacker and move him just cause we can. IMO we still have a lot of time to try it

No need to hit the panic button yet. As Beason gets more practice and gametime in, he will be fine. It would be worse to abandon the season gameplan now and flail about just looking for answers. We have the personnel to get this done. It's simply now a matter of nailing down the basics and executing

[Peppers90 NC]

who the hell here has ever seen e brown play olb in a 4-3 defense?

[mountainpantherfan]

No one ever saw Davis play OLB and Beason started out at Miami as a FB before switching to Safety and then eventually OLB. He had never played MLB before having to move inside after Morgan got another concussion during the season.

Here's the problem I have with what we currently have on the roster. IMO, Hardy and Brayton will end up being the starters by Game 1. Then you have Charles Johnson and E. Moore is playing really better right now than Brown is. Also, Norwood is better suited for DE.

So what do you do with Brown?

Well, the coaches are the ones that are going to decide this and it might very well be to keep him at DE and hope he progresses. But testing him out at LB would make sence to me.

[Peppers90 NC]

No one ever saw Davis play OLB and Beason started out at Miami as a FB before switching to Safety and then eventually OLB. He had never played MLB before having to move inside after Morgan got another concussion during the season.

Here's the problem I have with what we currently have on the roster. IMO, Hardy and Brayton will end up being the starters by Game 1. Then you have Charles Johnson and E. Moore is playing really better right now than Brown is. Also, Norwood is better suited for DE.

So what do you do with Brown?

Well, the coaches are the ones that are going to decide this and it might very well be to keep him at DE and hope he progresses. But testing him out at LB would make sence to me.

False, he played OLB before being converted to safety at Georgia.

[SorthNarolina]

I think Norwood is only going to play LB as a pass rusher. He could probably start if we had Davis around. It would be pretty much like playing a 5-2 instead of a 4-3.

[beastson]

^ Probably.... but when you look at the situation it all revolves around Beast at middle

For NC, no noone has seen Brown play OLB, but how you going to to see when you haven't tried it out?

[Peppers90 NC]

I just dont get how most were up on Brown going into this season and then all over him after one preseason game and some fluffy notes by our lame Observer reporters. Changing him to a more complex position in this scheme will only set him back, not help him move forward.

Also, comparing him to Davis or others who have switch positions doesnt fully understand our scheme or football in general. In a 3-4, Brown would be an OLB, but who here has seen him use coverage ability to play any linebacker position in our system?

Lastly, we dont blitz much from the LB anyway, so passing downs, Norwood would most likely be lined up at the end position, otherwise we are tipping our hand that he is blitzing.

[Peppers90 NC]

^ Probably.... but when you look at the situation it all revolves around Beast at middle

For NC, no noone has seen Brown play OLB, but how you going to to see when you haven't tried it out?

I trust people who are on the field every day rather than the meatballs on this forum to make that judgement. It would be different IF we ran a different system, but we dont.

[holycrikey]

right LBs, adjust the lineup.

Beaston-MLB-his home

Conner-SLB-let dan take on TEs/FBs/dirty work

Anderson-WLB-he showed play-maker skills here while filling in for davis(i was shock, gave up on him in 2008)

i hope the panthers wake up and at-least try this setup.

\

Agreed. Beason needs to be at MLB. He is built for it and runs it just about as well as any MLB in the league. There is no need to move the guy. I think Anderson and Conner need to attack the SLB and WLB. That is especially true for Anderson. He showed the sparks of being successful there.

I just don't buy into shifting Beason to OLB. Just don't get it.

[blackcatgrowl]

I just dont get how most were up on Brown going into this season and then all over him after one preseason game and some fluffy notes by our lame Observer reporters. Changing him to a more complex position in this scheme will only set him back, not help him move forward.

Also, comparing him to Davis or others who have switch positions doesnt fully understand our scheme or football in general. In a 3-4, Brown would be an OLB, but who here has seen him use coverage ability to play any linebacker position in our system?

Lastly, we dont blitz much from the LB anyway, so passing downs, Norwood would most likely be lined up at the end position, otherwise we are tipping our hand that he is blitzing.

Sorry, but if he doesn't have the size, power, or speed to be a DE, then making him a LB might be a good move. And playing LB might require more awareness, but there's nothing to indicate he couldn't handle the move.

Besides, Brown was considered a possible OLB right before his draft day:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft09/columns/story?columnist=mcshay_todd&id=3700830

I'd rather the FO go with what works best instead of forcing people into positions they don't excel in. This is the NFL, if you aren't producing @ 100%, your team will suffer for it.