Other starting OLB - Whose gonna get it?

[Yoop]

[QUOTE=Smidgeon;603611]I voted for Jones. Yes, he was playing hurt last year, but he stepped up impressively his rookie year after Kampman went down. I like that his strength is pass coverage and defending the flats. With the Packers' defense apparently focused on stopping the pass and letting other teams run (except in short yardage), I think having a player like Jones opposite Matthews would be a bonus.

The caveat to my choice is that he might not be "tough" enough for the spot. Then again, I don't think Burnett is "tough" either, but I'm really excited about what he'll do as a strong safety because of his coverage skills.

Is that where Buffalo intends to play Barnett? didn't here that.

anyway I think Jones is Barnett, I think he's good against the pass and the run, I dont think he is a LOS inside backer as Hawk or Bishop is, but more along the way Barnett played it, some said Barnett couldn't play the edge, or wouldn't do well at it, I feel the same with Jones mostly.

I like either Z ombo or Walden at OLB

[smuggler]

No, Buffalo intends to play Barnett at MLB. We intend to play Morgan Burnett as starting strong safety. He isn't particularly hard-nosed, but he is decent in pass coverage and has range, can tackle.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Walden muscles in at linebacker

Locked in a three-way battle with Frank Zombo and Brad Jones - both of whom started games at the position before Walden took over - Walden has been the one who has charged out of the gate first.
...

Walden has a better idea of what Greene wants, and that's why he hit the weight room hard in the off-season.

"He wants us to be physical," Walden said. "When you're not being physical, there's a problem. What he's teaching us has worked for him and I'm sure it will work for us. We just have to make sure, especially as an outside linebacker, that we be physical. There's no ways around it.

"That was kind of my approach to be more physical and set up other things for me as far as pass rush and things of that nature."
...
The two things Walden holds over the other two linebackers is strength and versatility. Zombo improved greatly dropping into coverage and can rush the passer better than the other two, but he's not as stout at the line of scrimmage. Jones plays with good leverage at the line and also drops well into coverage, but he hasn't shown much pass rush ability.

That's where the power comes in. Walden would like to get opposing tackles worrying about his bull rush so he can counter and slip around them. The power is the part that's noticeable now.

"You can tell he was doing some good things in the off-season," guard T.J. Lang said. "Watching him on film, he's a good player. He's a guy who sticks out. He's having a great camp so far."

Because it's a three-man race, Capers has the option of going with just one or using all three. How he decides to use them in the regular season will depend a lot on the opponent unless one of the three just consistently outperforms the others.

"Each guy has his strengths and weaknesses," Capers said. "We use so many different personnel groups that if certain guys have their niche, we might fit them in different personnel groups. We'll do a lot of different things with those guys."

[woodbuck27]

1. Walden
2. Jones
3. Zombo

Walden is the most athletic, Jones is a decent backup, Zombo is just a guy.

That's good enough for me. WALDEN CAME TO US LATE LAST YEAR AND ADDED A SPARK TO THE TEAM, PLAYING EXTREMELY WELL.

GO PACK GO !

[bobblehead]

Walden muscles in at linebacker

Had to check to be sure, but I knew silverstein wrote that just by reading it. Jones hasn't shown much pass rush except for getting 4 sacks at the end of his rookie season then being hurt all of last season. Zombo is less stout at the LOS, but he pretty much plays the run best out of the three (many OLB's with more experience get schooled by atlanta's run game). He seems to have no bead on the skill sets of the players at all.

I have very little feel for Walden's game as I never focused on him, but I have a really good feel for the other 2. Zombo is NOT better than Jones in either coverage or pass rush, that I am sure of (unless he REALLY improved in coverage.)

[vince]

All three of these guys are still developing (hopefully), so perhaps Walden is now a stout run defender and Zombo has improved in space, but based on what we've seen last year and the year prior in Jones, I agree with pretty much everything you've said about all three of these guys Bobble.

It sounds like Francois and Smith are doing a pretty good job at ILB thus far, which may negate the need for Jones to play both as has been speculated. I don't think Jones will be the guy they use for primary run support though, which means to me that he won't be the guy who "starts." Walden looks good and he's obviously confident in what he's doing. I'm guessing he and Zombo will rotate in and out in base 3-4 and base nickel on early downs while Jones will specialize in obvious passing downs, as he is clearly the best cover man of the three. I'll try a JH approach with these guys.

Rushing the QB
1. Jones
2. Walden
3. Zombo

Run Support
1. Zombo
2. Walden
3. Jones

Coverage
1. Jones
2. Walden
3. Zombo

Average
Jones - 1.67
Walden - 2.00
Zombo - 2.33

That undeniable scientific evidence proves that Jones is the best of the three overall, with his strengths coming most in clear passing situations. Walden has the broadest skillset of the three, suggesting he'll play on early downs - especially against pass-first teams. Zombo will get more playing time on early downs against teams who like to pound the ball more.

[pbmax]

Had to check to be sure, but I knew silverstein wrote that just by reading it. Jones hasn't shown much pass rush except for getting 4 sacks at the end of his rookie season then being hurt all of last season. Zombo is less stout at the LOS, but he pretty much plays the run best out of the three (many OLB's with more experience get schooled by atlanta's run game). He seems to have no bead on the skill sets of the players at all.

I have very little feel for Walden's game as I never focused on him, but I have a really good feel for the other 2. Zombo is NOT better than Jones in either coverage or pass rush, that I am sure of (unless he REALLY improved in coverage.)

I smell a PackerRats Project thread to straighten out conventional wisdom about the 3 OLBs.

[pbmax]

I think it might be a toss-up for QB pressure for Zombo v Walden. Zombo was better coming in off the line versus the tackle, not spectacular but was able to push the pocket in. Walden was much better as a blitzer than in-line pass rusher.

[sharpe1027]

I think it is Jones' position to lose, but they'll all play so who is the official starter may not reflect how many snaps the get as much as who they are playing and what packages they are in.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Strange that so many people can see these three in such different ways. My feeling has been:

Zombo - best pass rush potential, decent in the run game, terrible in coverage.
Jones - good in coverage, decent in the run game, not a great pass rusher.
Walden - good in coverage, athletic, tenacious but needs strength to help out his pass rush and run stopping.

Put the strengths of the three together and you have a pretty good LB.

[Bossman641]

FWIW, I considered Zombo to be the best of the 3 in the run game but then you have the JS saying he was the least stout at the LOS. I had completely forgot how awful he was in the regular season ATL game though.

I saw Zombo as the more physical OLB who had limited counter moves but had enough strength where he could occasionally push a tackle back and Walden as the less stout of the two but had more burst and quickness. Can't comment on Jones much cause I didn't pay attention to him last year before the injury. I just remember him never sticking out, either in a good or bad way.

My money is on Walden.

[vince]

Strange that so many people can see these three in such different ways. My feeling has been:

Zombo - best pass rush potential, decent in the run game, terrible in coverage.
Jones - good in coverage, decent in the run game, not a great pass rusher.
Walden - good in coverage, athletic, tenacious but needs strength to help out his pass rush and run stopping.

Put the strengths of the three together and you have a pretty good LB.

I'm not sure the differences are as dramatic as they seem in writing. I agree with most of what you said here, and if you break down pass rushing ability into bull rushing and speed rushing, the differences probably come even closer together. I would agree that Zombo has the best bull rush of the bunch and is tenacious. His sacks seemed to be more of the "coverage sack" variety than what I remember of Walden and Jones.

[rbaloha1]

I'm not sure the differences are as dramatic as they seem in writing. I agree with most of what you said here, and if you break down pass rushing ability into bull rushing and speed rushing, the differences probably come even closer together. I would agree that Zombo has the best bull rush of the bunch and is tenacious. His sacks seemed to be more of the "coverage sack" variety than what I remember of Walden and Jones.

Disagree with JS assessment of Zombo playing the run. IMO due to being a converted de Zombo's run technique was good -- watch the hand placement and the way he fought off blockers (ie Super Bowl).

While dropping into coverage was not as poor as AK it is a work in progress. (Again a converted de). From reports Walden is healed and playing the way Coach Greene preaches. A good battle in deed.

[pbmax]

Disagree with JS assessment of Zombo playing the run. IMO due to being a converted de Zombo's run technique was good -- watch the hand placement and the way he fought off blockers (ie Super Bowl).

While dropping into coverage was not as poor as AK it is a work in progress. (Again a converted de). From reports Walden is healed and playing the way Coach Greene preaches. A good battle in deed.

True, but as an OLB instead of DE, he also has containment responsibilities that he struggled with. So to echo vince's point that a lot of these differences are fine lines and responsibility dependent, Zombo does struggle in run D some of the time when he must play contain away from the play's action.

So his status compared to the other two depend on the opponent's tendency (and adjustments to seeing him there).

[vince]

Someone here said that there are about 5-10 plays that we remember about a player which shapes our perception of them. That makes some sense.

I recall Zombo being pretty stout against the run - at least when it comes right at him. In the Super Bowl, I remember the play I think rbaloha is referencing where Mendenhall was supposed to run off tackle and outside. Zombo quickly shed the blocker, forced the play up and made the tackle for a 4-yard loss. He pretty much single-handedly made the play. I remember that one. The times he lost contain I don't remember as much. I do remember Walden getting sucked inside and losing contain on some big gains though.