Prompt 2
Season 43 should henceforth be known as the season of the linebacker. At the time of the draft this wasn't the case, only one of the top six tpe earning linebackers was actually a line back at the time. The following players underwent position changes that added to the extreme depth at the position
Crasher Wake - drafted as a defensive linemanan and then changed to a linebacker post draft
Thomas Sutha - drafted as a wide receiver and then changed to a linebacker this offseason
Alistair Adebam - drafted as a defensive lineman and he just spent his first season at the backer position
Ignatious Cleetington - Cleetington was a Tight End before being drafted by the Sailfish where he changed to a Linebacker
Josh Gibson - spent two season with New Orleans playing the free safety position before changing to the linebacker position
Those five linebackers are joined by Cheecago Boucher as the top six linebackers from that class (based on TPE)
So what have these six achieved?
Lets start with the biggest let down of the 6
Gibson has had some alright performances once he moved into the front seven but he has never been able to keep the momentum going to put up a full season of solid performances.
He flamed out last season in the second half of the season as he mirrored New Orleans downfall.
To go to the other extreme you have Crasher Wake, in an unbelievable season he put together 110 tackles and 23 sacks. Wake was second team all pro and defensive player of the year. Wake will continue to shoulder the load of the Austin defense as he continues into his prime.
Boucher was a solid contributor on the surprise packet Yellowknife team. A third straight season of 10 plus sacks and 97 tackles in the most recent season is evidence of the sneaky production that Boucher produces. The young LB duo of Boucher and Dangerson will keep Yellowknife's defense sharp for the next few seasons.
Adebam made the swap from the defensive line to the line backing Corp of the Second Line. With four young studs the NOLA LB room is stacked. Adebam showed up even without the positional experience that he will gain in the seasons to come. Adebam had 10 plus sacks, 85+ Tackles and a defensive touchdown when he ran back a pick six. It was a productive move for Adebam who will be fighting for opportunities to make plays in a defense that is loaded with TPE.
Talking about a stacked linebacking corp, the Sailfish have linebacking talent coming out of their gills. Cleetington was able to show up with 10 plus sacks and 85 plus tackles. Similarly to Adebam, he was also able to run an int back for a pick six for his first career defensive tackle.
Rounding out the group is Sutha, with the move across from WR this offseason we will see the number one overall pick of this class on the defensive side of the ball for the first time. With a hefty tpe penalty against him and a lack of positional experience, Sutha could have a lean season ahead. But I don't think that will be the case, I think AZ and Lemon are good enough to squeeze every last bit of production from a low TPE build.
But who will be the best of the bunch when father time comes knocking, personally my money is on Wake. He already has the lead over the rest of the bunch on league wide accolades and pure numbers. On top of this he is the clear leader in a front seven that is losing TPE at a pretty quick pace I think we are going to see some monumental Wake seasons.
Season 43 should henceforth be known as the season of the linebacker. At the time of the draft this wasn't the case, only one of the top six tpe earning linebackers was actually a line back at the time. The following players underwent position changes that added to the extreme depth at the position
Crasher Wake - drafted as a defensive linemanan and then changed to a linebacker post draft
Thomas Sutha - drafted as a wide receiver and then changed to a linebacker this offseason
Alistair Adebam - drafted as a defensive lineman and he just spent his first season at the backer position
Ignatious Cleetington - Cleetington was a Tight End before being drafted by the Sailfish where he changed to a Linebacker
Josh Gibson - spent two season with New Orleans playing the free safety position before changing to the linebacker position
Those five linebackers are joined by Cheecago Boucher as the top six linebackers from that class (based on TPE)
So what have these six achieved?
Lets start with the biggest let down of the 6
Gibson has had some alright performances once he moved into the front seven but he has never been able to keep the momentum going to put up a full season of solid performances.
He flamed out last season in the second half of the season as he mirrored New Orleans downfall.
To go to the other extreme you have Crasher Wake, in an unbelievable season he put together 110 tackles and 23 sacks. Wake was second team all pro and defensive player of the year. Wake will continue to shoulder the load of the Austin defense as he continues into his prime.
Boucher was a solid contributor on the surprise packet Yellowknife team. A third straight season of 10 plus sacks and 97 tackles in the most recent season is evidence of the sneaky production that Boucher produces. The young LB duo of Boucher and Dangerson will keep Yellowknife's defense sharp for the next few seasons.
Adebam made the swap from the defensive line to the line backing Corp of the Second Line. With four young studs the NOLA LB room is stacked. Adebam showed up even without the positional experience that he will gain in the seasons to come. Adebam had 10 plus sacks, 85+ Tackles and a defensive touchdown when he ran back a pick six. It was a productive move for Adebam who will be fighting for opportunities to make plays in a defense that is loaded with TPE.
Talking about a stacked linebacking corp, the Sailfish have linebacking talent coming out of their gills. Cleetington was able to show up with 10 plus sacks and 85 plus tackles. Similarly to Adebam, he was also able to run an int back for a pick six for his first career defensive tackle.
Rounding out the group is Sutha, with the move across from WR this offseason we will see the number one overall pick of this class on the defensive side of the ball for the first time. With a hefty tpe penalty against him and a lack of positional experience, Sutha could have a lean season ahead. But I don't think that will be the case, I think AZ and Lemon are good enough to squeeze every last bit of production from a low TPE build.
But who will be the best of the bunch when father time comes knocking, personally my money is on Wake. He already has the lead over the rest of the bunch on league wide accolades and pure numbers. On top of this he is the clear leader in a front seven that is losing TPE at a pretty quick pace I think we are going to see some monumental Wake seasons.