Outside Of The Box Idea For A Safety

[Munch4455]

What about Lavonte David?

He is undersized at LB, 6'1" 225 lbs. However, scouting reports have said he is pretty intelligent when it comes to coverage.

Did a nice job of locating and picking up crossers in underneath zone coverage. Stayed at linebacker depth when matched up in man coverage and back stayed in to help out in pass protection.

Coverage/Zone Defense Skills

David’s athleticism and overall awareness serves him well in coverage. He has enough speed and fluid enough hips to cover running backs coming out of the backfield and tight ends down the seam. In zone, he displays good footwork and balance when breaking on the football and routinely gets a hand on the football to break up the pass although he doesn’t come away with as many interceptions as you would expect.

Excellent coverage linebacker due to his athleticism and fluidity. Can stick with most backs and tight ends. Shows the ability to make plays on the ball as he sticks his inside hand out to knock the ball away. Can stick with most tight ends in man coverage but can be out-muscled at times. Has to clean up his footwork as he’ll stumble occasionally.

If he can run a 4.5 at the combine at 225, do you think he would be worth a shot? From what I understand he flies all over the field, only downer is he will likely go early-mid 2nd round. We could kinda try out the opposite with what we did with TD when we drafted him.

Note: He would likely find playing SS easier(playing closer to the line in some situations like a LB, and the fact that 4.5 isnt blistering speed, its usually adequate with a SS), meaning Godfrey would move to FS, not a position he is unfamiliar with.

[Miaoww]

He's a WLB if ever I saw one.

[Munch4455]

I think at 225 he would get bullied a lot at the line of scrimmage bc he doesnt have the elite quickness to get around big OL like typical undersized OLB's. Thats where I kinda got the idea that if he plays safety, he could still be effective at the line of scrimmage on 1st down, but play more to his strength/size by playing in the secondary on 2nd/3rd.

[rayzor]

you can convert CBs to safety and you can convert safeties to LBs but i don't know about moving LB to safety. just seems that you might pick up some toughness, but you'd lose a lot in coverage ability.

it just seems to be one of those position changes that are unnecessary and that won't work out to well. we've had enough of that.

if you want someone to play safety, let them have experience doing that or playing CB in a zone defense.

[Munch4455]

He could play a similar role to what Troy Polamalu plays. And no, in no way am I saying he could or would be as good as Polamalu, but Polamalu plays most of his time near the line of scrimmage as a 5th LB for Pitt(4th for us in our scenario). And while he gets int's, Polamalu has never been known as a lights out coverage guy.

[rayzor]

i'm tired of position changes.

[Munch4455]

So far I think we are 2-4 with position changes.

Success: Thomas Davis S>>>>>LB

Charles Godfrey CB>>>>>S

Failure: Sherrod Martin CB>>>>>S

Armanti Edwards QB>>>>>WR

I dont count OLB to DE, they are pretty much the same position depending on the defensive scheme.

[Mvp2014]

If he can't cover WR's in college he sure as hell can't in the NFL.

[Mvp2014]

So far I think we are 2-4 with position changes.

Success: Thomas Davis S>>>>>LB

Charles Godfrey CB>>>>>S

Failure: Sherrod Martin CB>>>>>S

Armanti Edwards QB>>>>>WR

I dont count OLB to DE, they are pretty much the same position depending on the defensive scheme.

I wouldnt call TD a success. If we left him at safety he'd probably be healthy every year.

[MHS831]

i'm tired of position changes.

Getting ready to post the exact same statement.

We need (arguably) a free safety. David would be closer to a SS. Besides, I happen to like him at WLB.

[MHS831]

So far I think we are 2-4 with position changes.

Success: Thomas Davis S>>>>>LB

Charles Godfrey CB>>>>>S

Failure: Sherrod Martin CB>>>>>S

Armanti Edwards QB>>>>>WR

I dont count OLB to DE, they are pretty much the same position depending on the defensive scheme.

I would consider Goodson at Slot WR opposed to letting him rot.

Do not forget that Schwartz and Wharton were OTs in college and as rookies, Beason was an OLB (for the most part) in college and as a rookie, and TD played SS here as a rookie as well. So, we are not only switching them as we draft them, we are moving them after they are drafted. When you switch a player, there are new things to learn, and reaction time and instincts are much slower for a good while. All teams do it, but every time you do it, there is more at stake than attributes such as skill sets and athleticism.

[Guest Bwood15]

No more CB's to safety, safeties to CB, LB to safety, safety to LB....

[MHS831]

With the Panthers, the "outside the box" idea is to draft a S.

I like Markelle Martin, and I do not like any other FS. If I convert a CB to S, maybe Lynn.

I found the Meeks firing interesting. All season long, the DBs were getting confused and doing a lot of finger pointing. Fundamentals were poor. I want Safeties that tackle and hit, but Martin has some talent. When you think opposed to instinctively react, you are beat. You are not going 100% when you are thinking. Martin's problems could have been coaching.

Imagine you were the DC and you were bascially demoted (needed a job) to DB coach. The players see your demotion. You feel demoted. Perhaps it was not a good idea to retain Meeks. Maybe he was ineffective and lacked intensity.

[SOJA]

So far I think we are 2-4 with position changes.

Success: Thomas Davis S>>>>>LB

Charles Godfrey CB>>>>>S

Failure: Sherrod Martin CB>>>>>S

Armanti Edwards QB>>>>>WR

I dont count OLB to DE, they are pretty much the same position depending on the defensive scheme.

lulz Sherrod was a safety coming out of Troy. We tried to convert him to corner. He got time back at safety when Godfrey got hurt, and he struggled to learn coverages at corner