Shaq and the draft.

[Missouri Cat Fan]

I'm not sure what your thoughts are, but last year Shaq looked so lost on defense. Not having a leader like Luke in charge of reading the defense and getting everyone in the right spot. Luke will always be one of the best LB in the game. Even if he left in his prime. Linebacker has always been a strength of our team. We have to be able to stop the run which would ease our pressure on play action for our suspect secondary. I'm mean are we all sold on Perryman being our MLB? I mean he LOST his job with the Chargers last year. Has on average the last 4 years, missed 5 1/4 games a year. Another year of Linebackers not knowing what to do will not do us any good at stopping the run. Is there a linebacker in the draft that could possibly fill this HUGE Void? I do absolutely love Shaq and JC. They need a strong leader in the middle. Maybe Rice from Georgia? Britt from Bama? Just curious what thoughts are out there. 

Luke, may your Jedi skills, provide you the life you want. 

[Shocker]

He had his best season statistical speaking.  He needs to get more credit.  

[imminent rogaine]

Don’t think perryman is more than a bandaid upgrade over Whitehead. I’ve said this before but I like the value of Cam McGrone in the 3rd as a traditional MLB.
I would love to find an LB that excels in coverage that could maybe take over for Shaq after a year - but with the amount of needs we have, that is a luxury. Shaq is a good, valuable, vet, and really any issues with him stem directly from his contract. unfortunately we had been counting on him being more than that for a long time and it just never happened. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by imminent rogaine

[Mistuh Jones]

I'll still take a ballhawking safety so Chinn can be nickel LB full time 

[TheCasillas]

3 minutes ago, Trainwreck said:

Sometimes, racking up tackles doesn’t mean you’re a good defender. Richard Marshall was a great fantasy corner but a terrible player on the field. 

show me a 4-3 linebacker that had an amazing season with very little tackles....

[Mage]

I thought Shaq was fine last year.

[pantherclaw]

Shag had a good year last year. 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

Shaq is a decent starting LB. Nothing more, nothing less. Why we paid him like a top tier LB always baffled me.

[JawnyBlaze]

Shaq is mediocre. He’s fine as a borderline starter but not worth half what we’re paying him. Perryman is an ok stopgap while we take some gambles on mid round LBs. Wouldn’t mind one this year in the third or later, seems like there’s often gems at the LB spots found in the middle rounds, much better value than spending a higher round pick where we need to be focusing on OL, QB and secondary.  

[gofightwin]

21 minutes ago, TheCasillas said:

show me a 4-3 linebacker that had an amazing season with very little tackles....

Making a tackle and being where you were supposed to be are two very different things. 

[Missouri Cat Fan]

Let's see what this game shows... Where the $/*% are our Linebackers? I hate seeing this but it's the truth. It's a luxury? They just are out of place non stop. Getting sucked in on the snap and it's bounced outside. Wait let's run up the middle. Guess who is tackling Rojo. Our secondary. All the time. All year long. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/WATB.Sports/videos/rojo-goes-off-vs-panthers-11152020/359021518732734/

[Khyber53]

Shaq had a very good year, excellent if you take into account he was having to cover for Whitehead being out of place and being afraid to tackle. On just about any other team in the league, Shaq would be heralded as their best linebacker and a leader on the field.

Here, there will always be Luke's Jedi-ghost image on the field to compare him to. It's not fair to the guy, but that's what happens when you play alongside one of the best to ever play the game, not to mention Thomas Davis on the other side. 

Honestly, Shaq's an excellent guy to have out there on every down. If we can get some decent (not even good) play from the MLB that ends up starting, then Shaq will finally get the credit he really deserves. 

[Shocker]

4 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

Shaq had a very good year, excellent if you take into account he was having to cover for Whitehead being out of place and being afraid to tackle. On just about any other team in the league, Shaq would be heralded as their best linebacker and a leader on the field.

Here, there will always be Luke's Jedi-ghost image on the field to compare him to. It's not fair to the guy, but that's what happens when you play alongside one of the best to ever play the game, not to mention Thomas Davis on the other side. 

Honestly, Shaq's an excellent guy to have out there on every down. If we can get some decent (not even good) play from the MLB that ends up starting, then Shaq will finally get the credit he really deserves. 

Agree...there is this idea that everyone on the team needs to be an All Pro on a team friendly deal.  Thats isn’t realistic.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Shocker

[Missouri Cat Fan]

8 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

Shaq had a very good year, excellent if you take into account he was having to cover for Whitehead being out of place and being afraid to tackle. On just about any other team in the league, Shaq would be heralded as their best linebacker and a leader on the field.

Here, there will always be Luke's Jedi-ghost image on the field to compare him to. It's not fair to the guy, but that's what happens when you play alongside one of the best to ever play the game, not to mention Thomas Davis on the other side. 

Honestly, Shaq's an excellent guy to have out there on every down. If we can get some decent (not even good) play from the MLB that ends up starting, then Shaq will finally get the credit he really deserves. 

I personally referred to him looking lost at times. Maybe he was seeing ghosts? Lol. We just need a Mike to allow our Sam and Will to do their jobs where they are suppose to. If we get a good one, I can see our defense returning to top 10 easily. Which if you know Rhule, he is All about smash mouth football. Look at tape at Rutgers. He went to Baylor and everyone in Texas in HS runs spread and RPO. So he had to adapt. But his passion is smash mouth.