Neal The Tweener

[pbmax]

Mike Neal has some company. Rex Ryan has similar ideas. Hybrid 3-4 here we come!

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/06/jets_quinton_coples_still_tryi_1.html

[Upnorth]

He mentioned rep a couple of times, mad's lord of the rats thread is really affecting the league

[3irty1]

Hmmm. Not sure what's going on with the Jets but Mike Neals experiments at OLB probably have more to do with Clay Matthews than with Mike Neal. If Neal can stand up and shift into Matthews spot, Matthews is free to go anywhere.

[wist43]

I wouldn't bitch about the 2-4 if we had more size, and more options meandering around the LOS presnap.

The way Baltimore ran it, they had guys wandering around the line in the 260-270 lbs range - that gave them a lot of size up front, and offered a lot of options for their pass rush. Capers 2-4 is much more static, and our players are smaller.

I thought about Neal in this role last year, but dismissed it b/c I didn't think he was athletic or fast enough to carry out all of the other non-rush duties. If they do stand Neal up, I'll certainly be pulling for it to work - the idea is a step in the right direction IMO.

[pbmax]

Who was on the field for the Ravens 2-4. Suggs and Kruger almost certainly. Ngata? And who else?

[pbmax]

Hmmm. Not sure what's going on with the Jets but Mike Neals experiments at OLB probably have more to do with Clay Matthews than with Mike Neal. If Neal can stand up and shift into Matthews spot, Matthews is free to go anywhere.

Could be. But does Neal start at DE (in a 3 man line) and stand up, allowing Mattthews to move?

Or does he line up at OLB in a base 3-4 with Matthews elsewhere?

Putting him at OLB with a 3 man line means it would be easy to force him into coverage.

My first guess is that its a 3-4 personnel package that can then morph into a 2-4 look with Matthews as nickel or rover. Gives some flexibility to D without needing to substitute. But you would seem to want to pass on it.

[rbaloha1]

Hmmm. Not sure what's going on with the Jets but Mike Neals experiments at OLB probably have more to do with Clay Matthews than with Mike Neal. If Neal can stand up and shift into Matthews spot, Matthews is free to go anywhere.

Naah -- Neal is a scrub one dimensional d-lineman that could be a late cut.

[Bossman641]

Naah -- Neal is a scrub one dimensional d-lineman that could be a late cut.

Capers is wasting time cross-training a cut candidate?

[rbaloha1]

Capers is wasting time cross-training a cut candidate?

Maybe.

[Carolina_Packer]

I wouldn't bitch about the 2-4 if we had more size, and more options meandering around the LOS presnap.

The way Baltimore ran it, they had guys wandering around the line in the 260-270 lbs range - that gave them a lot of size up front, and offered a lot of options for their pass rush. Capers 2-4 is much more static, and our players are smaller.

I thought about Neal in this role last year, but dismissed it b/c I didn't think he was athletic or fast enough to carry out all of the other non-rush duties. If they do stand Neal up, I'll certainly be pulling for it to work - the idea is a step in the right direction IMO.

He's been hard to depend on, given injury history and his suspension last year. I hope it works too. He needs to find a role and show what he's got. Maybe this will give him that opportunity.

[rbaloha1]

He's been hard to depend on, given injury history and his suspension last year. I hope it works too. He needs to find a role and show what he's got. Maybe this will give him that opportunity.

Certainly this is Neal's last chance. Packers are probably fed up with his injury issues.

[3irty1]

Back in 2006 Capers did similar stuff with Vonnie Holiday back when they ran a 3-4/4-3 hybrid. For the most part that team would run a 4 man front in obvious passing situations and a 3 man front otherwise. Capers had some fancy presnap moves though where he'd shift Holiday into a 7-tech and the rest of the DL would shift to the right with him. Their strong-side DE was Kevin Carter who was big for a 4-3 DE at 290 lbs so it was no big deal for him to move inside. This shift would essentially shift from a 4-3 to a 3-4 or 4-3 under depending on where Jason Taylor went after being displaced by Holiday. Since it was all presnap, this kind of stuff made for a lot of timeouts called by the offense and a lot of Jason Taylor going unblocked or being blocked by TE's and RB's and some very effective zone blitzes. He won DPOY that year.

[Upnorth]

Back in 2006 Capers did similar stuff with Vonnie Holiday back when they ran a 3-4/4-3 hybrid. For the most part that team would run a 4 man front in obvious passing situations and a 3 man front otherwise. Capers had some fancy presnap moves though where he'd shift Holiday into a 7-tech and the rest of the DL would shift to the right with him. Their strong-side DE was Kevin Carter who was big for a 4-3 DE at 290 lbs so it was no big deal for him to move inside. This shift would essentially shift from a 4-3 to a 3-4 or 4-3 under depending on where Jason Taylor went after being displaced by Holiday. Since it was all presnap, this kind of stuff made for a lot of timeouts called by the offense and a lot of Jason Taylor going unblocked or being blocked by TE's and RB's and some very effective zone blitzes. He won DPOY that year.

I remember watching clips of Jason Taylor from that year and thinking he was a beast at first, but he played with some very talented and underpraised people around him. The real question is who do we have that could fill Kevin Carter's role? Is JOnes that guy?

[Patler]

I remember watching clips of Jason Taylor from that year and thinking he was a beast at first, but he played with some very talented and underpraised people around him. The real question is who do we have that could fill Kevin Carter's role? Is JOnes that guy?

Johnny Jolly.

[Upnorth]

Johnny Jolly.

So thats why he bulked up in prison