Position analysis: linebackers

1) Seems pretty clear the Panthers aren't pencilling Davis in as a starting Linebacker. Which side DOES the Joker line up on? Or rather, which other LB leaves the field in this formation?
2) How much of a drop are we talking between Witherspoon and Ciurciu?
3) Will Seward and Tufts be enough to cover the Mike when Morgan goes down again?

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Panthers.com

In just their second season, the Carolina Panthers set the bar pretty high for all future linebacking corps with Sam Mills, Lamar Lathon and Kevin Greene, all of whom went to the Pro Bowl in 1996. While none of Carolina's linebackers made it to Hawaii this year, it was arguably the most talented group since then.

Dan Morgan, Will Witherspoon and Brandon Short were the starters. Chris Draft, Thomas Davis, Adam Seward, Vinny Ciurciu and Sean Tufts all contributed off the bench.

Witherspoon, a potential unrestricted free agent, led the team with 109 tackles and 13 passes defensed. He also posted two interceptions, returning one 35 yards for a touchdown in a victory over the New York Jets. Morgan paced the linebackers with three sacks and six quarterback pressures. He also forced one fumble and recovered another. Veterans Short and Draft fit in nicely replacing departed Pro Bowler Mark Fields, and rookie Thomas Davis made plays in a special role.

"Will Witherspoon was our (weakside) linebacker," said linebackers coach Ken Flajole. "He knows our system and has been a productive player for us. Behind him, we moved Vinny Ciurciu from the Mike (middle) linebacker position because we thought the Will position was a little more compatable with his skills and what we ask our linebackers to do. We expect him to continue to improve."

On the opposite side, Flajole and the Panthers looked to a pair of veterans to hold down the fort.

"At our Sam (strong) linebacker position, we had Brandon Short and Chris Draft," said Flajole. "Those guys have done a nice job for us and they'll continue to get better as they grow in their understanding of what we're doing defensively. We should be in great shape there. Hopefully, those guys will stay healthy. Knock on wood."

Unfortunately, that didn't work for Morgan, who missed three games and parts of two others with various injuries but still posted 90 tackles.

"At the Mike position, Dan Morgan has been the starter for us and has been a Pro Bowl player," Flajole said. "When Dan's healthy, I think he's as good a player as there is in the League. He's definitely one of the top linebackers in the NFC at the Mike position. He'll continue to be a great player for us.

"Behind him we have two young guys. First is Adam Seward, who we drafted in the fifth round from Nevada-Las Vegas. Adam really showed great promise as a young guy. He had a foot injury, which necessitated us putting him on injured reserve last season. I'm cautiously optimistic about Adam. I think in the limited time that he did play for us in the preseason and early regular season, he showed great potential at the Mike for us. Obviously he'd be a great backup for us and give us some flexibility as far as players at other positions if we needed to move somebody to create depth at other positions. We'll get him back this spring. He'll give us a chance to be a solid two-deep at the Mike.

"We also have a guy in Sean Tufts who we drafted two years ago in the sixth round. Sean did a nice job backing up Dan. Hopefully we've got good depth there."

In addition, the Panthers experimented with Davis, the rookie first-round pick from Georgia. Davis played mainly at defensive back but came in as a linebacker during special situations.

"We moved Thomas Davis into our nickel package sometimes where he played what we call our Joker position," said Flajole. "It's like a linebacker position. We do different things with him. He's been a great addition for us because he brings size and speed onto the field, which is more than your typical strong safety. The Joker is a nice word for simply an extra linebacker.

"We factored him into a lot of things. We blitzed him. We put him in coverage. We spied him on quarterbacks. His first year he did a great job. He'll continue to get better in his understanding of the linebacker stuff we ask him to do in our subpackages. He'll be a nice addition for us there. He was a very good blitzer, probably because of his innate physical skills. He has great takeoff. He can run. As his technique gets better as a pass rusher, he'll only continue to improve."

In all, the linebackers were a strength of the team, a fine tribute to the leader they lost in April in Mills. They strived to play up to the standards Mills set as a player and a position coach, and they did very well for themselves in that effort.

 

He'll be a starting LB this year, either we re-sign Spoon and cut Short replacing him with Davis or we lose Spoon in FA and Davis starts there.

that is just my opinion of coarse.

Tons, Ciurciu is a special teams guy.

If Seward is healthy, I'm more then comfortable having he and Draft available to cover the middle.

 

I see nothing there that says "Davis isn't going to be a starter."
The Joker lines up strongside. He replaces the strongside linebacker, or middle linebacker, depending on how you want to view it - I'd assume that they'd just leave Morgan in there if he were the other nickel LB (as they used to do), so technically you could say that the nickel CB is a swap for Short. But since many teams' MLBs are situational runstoppers, the actual swap doesn't matter.

a nearly mortal drop. Ciurciu went to WLB because he runs around and can't take on blocks, and nothing more. He's here for ST duty, and really isn't a guy I'd want playing from scrimmage every down. Personally, I'd like a more traditional style WLB backing whoever starts.

Draft's here one more year, so even if we kept WW (which would likely mean Short's release, and therefore Davis/Draft at SLB), I'd expect Draft to move inside (whether he's starting at SLB or not). The other option would be putting Davis and Seward at SLB, and leaving Draft inside (another option that's fiscally taxing would be keeping both Short and Draft, and Witherspoon).

Long term, I like Seward at SLB or MLB, even though he got a small amount of time in preseason and in the NE game at WLB. He's got some short-range burst and cover skill, and I love this guy's versatility (his off-the-edge burst isn't what Fields' or Davis' is, because both of them have that 4.5 type speed, but he's still good enough that he could fit inside or out in a 3-4, IMO), and wish I'd known more about him pre-draft. He's a football player, plain and simple. In the end, if we had our roster, our FAs, and were $20 mil over the cap and starting to rebuild, I'd have no problem whatsoever starting both Davis and Seward this year. Granted, expectations would be les, and they'd both have growing pains, but I feel very good about both of them.

So I don't think we need a backup for wherever we put him. It'd be nice to draft a backup MLB that can at least go through the backup motions for a year if we do drop Short and put Draft outside, since I don't think very highly of either Ciurciu or Tufts from a potential/future standpoint.

We should go into the year with Morgan, Draft, Seward, Ciurciu or Tufts, and most likely Davis on the roster anyway, and that's 5 guys. Add in Short or Witherspoon and that's 6, so it's entirely possible we don't draft a guy or bring a guy in, unless it's for competition, but I kinda have an itch to bring in a guy. Oh well, looks like whatever we do we'll have enough linebackers.

 

Hmm, so if I understand correctly, the Joker is a nickle backer where two of the 4-3 linbackers come off the field and the Joker (replacing the Sam and Will) in addition to the 3rd CB plays the strong side. What do they call the Mike guy in this case?

 

"the player lying on the field, with the Labia problem"

 

no. The WLB usually stays, at least in most systems. In most systems, one of the other two LB spots stays, it's just often subbed out with another player unless the team has two starters good in coverage. If you want to consider the Joker taking the SLB's place being two completely separate positions and players, the MLB is replaced by the CB and the WLB has the traditional responsibilities of a MLB (calling the defense, the huddle, changes, etc).

 

How about this we draft Derrick Johnson instead of Thomas Davis and make him our starter at SLB from day one. We re-sign Spoon instead of Morgan and have WLB locked up for years. We are now faced with wether or not to bring back Morgan. We could either sign him cheap due to his market value being weak due to all his injuries or we could just go with Draft at MLB. Oh well, hindsight...

 

Derrick Johnson does not fit at SLB at all. While Davis is a bit light for some parts of SLB, he'll cover his gap and he'll take on a block. Plus, since the team had the choice between the two, they certainly must've felt that Davis was the better football player. I saw Johnson a couple times this year, and he was pretty good, but I saw no evidence that he was superior to Davis, and IMO doesn't make the plays Davis does.

 

Johnson is bigger than Davis and while he may not have been a huge playmaker this year he did start 16 games and make 79 tackles. I have not really seen Davis do much other than spy Vick. If he can be a full time starter he has not shown that yet.

 

bigger <> good fit. Granted, neither are a perfect fit, but you at least want a guy who can take on a blocker and push a back outside, rather than a guy who'll try to ankle tackle a few yards after he cuts back. Just as Witherspoon is decent in space but will take on a blocker, Davis will as well. Johnson actually got labeled, fairly or unfairly, as too soft to take on tackles, but one way or the other, he's a poor fit for SLB, while Davis is an average fit who you potentially put at SLB to make do with his athleticism.