(09-28-2017, 08:31 AM)kckolbe Wrote:See, *I* thought the weight would be a problem, but if you watch the OC v SJS game, Lewith owned Jenkins, who is a POWER back, stopping him constantly for short yardage. Yes, that is anecdotal evidence, but by all logic, Lewith should have been getting trucked with his low weight and lower strength.
In Verns' case, you can very much argue that a high TPE player is cleaning up the mess from rookies around him. I completely buy it, especially given that Verns' numbers were so much lower last year. For Lewith, though, I really can't explain it. And he isn't just doing well, he is #1 in tackles.
Tuck has well over 400 TPE. While he may be benefiting from playing DT as a DE, he would be good regardless. Lewith is arguably the best LB in the league in stats despite having UNDER 200 TPE, less than some S3 LBs. The two situations are not comparable. I am not saying that DE at DT isn't an issue, but I don't see how people can be more outraged at that than Lewith's completely undeserved success.
I think one thing one the LB front is that we're considering racking up tackles to be a success. That just means they're fast. I can look up missed tackles later, but they're probably high in those categories. I think the same could be said for Lewith who is surrounded by a bunch of terrible LBs.
Our gameplan against the Otters was to pound the ball into Verns all game because he was a safety playing LB and the result was Mack having one of his best games and us getting the win despite Verns having a million tackles.
Theoretically you could apply the same idea to people who are playing DEs instead of DTs in the middle. I think the biggest advantage being utilized by teams is lining DEs up in the middle is because they're generally higher TPE than DTs around the league and most teams have shitty offensive lines in the interior. If I can line up a player with 500+ TPE against a player with 100, I'm going to do it.
If we're going to limit where people can line-up I think all offensive lineman should also have to declare as a guard, tackle, or center so they're as limited as DL.
[div align=\"center\"][/div]