Alex Brown says Khalil Mack was redundant with Quinn

[Bearly]

My thoughts exactly.

So him and Quinn are redundant but Mack and Bosa aren't?

I get the difference in schemes but Mack plays 'LB' about as much as an end drops off in a 4-3. He's a lineman.

Alex Brown also thinks we can trade those 2 2nd round picks for the 11th or 12th pick in the draft when you'd be lucky to get to inside 20 so...

 

[ijustposthere]

I love how much fans worship former players as analysts. Even though, I think Brown is pretty good, I don't think ever having good players is redundant.

 

[Bearly]

I love how much fans worship former players as analysts. Even though, I think Brown is pretty good, I don't think ever having good players is redundant.

I like him too but think he missed here and the thing about former players is that they often don't prepare enough and podcasts in general are guys forcing opinions.

 

[Shepard]

Loved Alex Brown the player, not sold on a few of his hottakes here though. I do think he's right about Nichols - if you actually watch him his game is using his excelent first step and good hand technique to get quick penetration into a single gap which is much better suited for a 3T than the NT they asked him to be.

Same- love AB.

However, to say Mack doesn't fit a scheme...I'd say whatever fit that scheme is has issues. You find a way to use a guy like Mack no matter the scheme.

With that being said- Mack's numbers have been in decline the last three years and hes had challenges staying healthy every year in Chicago. Getting a 2nd while clearing him off the books while you re-tool things as an organization appears to be a good move, but we'll see.

 

[hebs]

I always thought Nichols was more of a 3T than what we had him doing. I also think he will be a better player at that position. It would be nice to lock him up, but idk how cheap he would be.

 

[SlickWilly]

You do know that they run a 3-4, right?

The Edge of a 3-4 is different than the End of a 4-3. Mack’s always been a standup outside LB, rush Edge.

So, no, he complements Bosa, but, if you’d watched the vid, and head AB, you’d know that the two DE positions are different.

You should probably just admit you were wrong about this part, cause it's simply not true.

 

[dentfan]

You should probably just admit you were wrong about this part, cause it's simply not true.

Fair enough, Mack’s primarily been a standup 3-4 Edge.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Thanks, though I do disagree with him about Roquan losing weight and playing MLB. I’d really rather he played WLB. But, again, that’s Alex Brown, what do I know?

You might know a little more, actually.

The system Brown played in and knows is a modified Tampa two that ran everything through Urlacher.

The Dungy Tampa two runs it through the WLB, and that's what Flus knows.

They'll keep Smith at WLB, and his numbers are going to pop so much, meatballs will convince themselves he's actually playing MLB.

 

[JoJoBoxer]

If you didn’t listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video, you need to.

My man Alex Brown is dropping some knowledge here!

Alex Brown’s Main points:

1.) Mack was redundant with Quinn: Mack would have played LDE to Quinn’s RDE. In the scheme, LDE is attacking the strength of the D and is something Mack hasn’t really done, being a 3-4 OLB throughout his career.

2.) It doesn’t signal a rebuild so much due to it being Mack being out of position at the 4-3 LDE.

3.) He sees Gibson as a backup to RDE, not so much LDE, as he sees him more as a speed than power guy. Personally, I’m not sure since he played DL at Tulsa, but AB knows way more football than me.

4.) He thinks Nichols has been playing out of position at NT and will excel at 3tech. He predicted 8 sacks from him! He also said we should lock him down now.

5.) I completely agree with him that we should pay Roquan Smith! He had some nice ideas as to how and why.

Really, really informative show, especially if we are looking for a power LDE over a rushing RDE. Those are easier to find.

Alex Brown is a stupid fuck.

Watch where most of his damage comes from.

 

[Canth]

You might know a little more, actually.

The system Brown played in and knows is a modified Tampa two that ran everything through Urlacher.

The Dungy Tampa two runs it through the WLB, and that's what Flus knows.

They'll keep Smith at WLB, and his numbers are going to pop so much, meatballs will convince themselves he's actually playing MLB.

Yeah, I think Alex is wrong about where they will play Roquan. I think it is more likely that they do play him at that Will linebacker position like Eberflus had in Darius Leonard in Indy, how they had Sean Lee in Dallas, or Dungy had Derrick Brooks play in Tampa.

Not saying there is zero chance they leave Roquan in the middle, but it seems to be more likely he ends up as the Will in the 4-3 tampa hybrid.

 

[Canth]

Also, I found it very interesting how much he believes that Bilol NIchols can be a very good 3 technique. It will be interesting to see if the Bears sign him and if so, for how much.

 

[Canth]

I get the difference in schemes but Mack plays 'LB' about as much as an end drops off in a 4-3. He's a lineman.

Alex Brown also thinks we can trade those 2 2nd round picks for the 11th or 12th pick in the draft when you'd be lucky to get to inside 20 so...

Yeah, that trade up scenario was both unlikely and counter productive to what the Bears need right now. They have so many holes, and with a draft that is deep but has no clear stand-out guys...it would be dumb to trade up. The Bears are not 1 player away from competing for a championship. Quit talking about trading up like that one player will be enough to push the team over the edge.

 

[remydat]

I completely disagree with this statement. Mack has been attacking the strength of the offense his entire career by virtue of being constantly double teamed and schemed against. Brown’s argument is that Mack can’t take on double teams and can’t stop the run on the strong side, like he’s some pure finesse player. That is not the case at all, IMO. His speed/power balance is what makes him unique and a fit anywhere along the line.

Yeah a bit of a delusional take. Mack has played on the left side quite a bit and was graded as 4, 6 and 1 in run D from 2018-2020. It is quite absued to say he doesnt fit as a LDE in a 4-3 when he is tailor made for it given his strength and speed combo.

 

[Bearly]

Yeah, that trade up scenario was both unlikely and counter productive to what the Bears need right now. They have so many holes, and with a draft that is deep but has no clear stand-out guys...it would be dumb to trade up. The Bears are not 1 player away from competing for a championship. Quit talking about trading up like that one player will be enough to push the team over the edge.

For me, trade ups are relative to what's received based on need so I don't immediately hate them. I didn't mind last year's at all for instance. As long as Poles doesn't develop tunnel vision about a particular player and does the smartest man in the room thing like Pace, I'll judge on an individual basis. All that said, I think we're adding picks before giving them up this year but it could be a bit of both on draft day.

 

[remydat]

You might know a little more, actually.

The system Brown played in and knows is a modified Tampa two that ran everything through Urlacher.

The Dungy Tampa two runs it through the WLB, and that's what Flus knows.

They'll keep Smith at WLB, and his numbers are going to pop so much, meatballs will convince themselves he's actually playing MLB.

This isn't really true. Both schemes funnel plays to the WILL. Urlacher was just unique as a MIKE in that he could cover the intermediate to deep middle and still make plays underneath in the run and pass game.

That is the main difference between Lovie's Tampa 2 and the classic Cover 2. Urlacher helped the 2 deep safeties by being able to carry a WR running deep up the seam for longer than your traditional MIKE while still being able to recover fast enough to shut down the underneath stuff as well.

Yeah, I think Alex is wrong about where they will play Roquan. I think it is more likely that they do play him at that Will linebacker position like Eberflus had in Darius Leonard in Indy, how they had Sean Lee in Dallas, or Dungy had Derrick Brooks play in Tampa.

Not saying there is zero chance they leave Roquan in the middle, but it seems to be more likely he ends up as the Will in the 4-3 tampa hybrid.

The problem with Quan in the middle is he is fucking terrible taking on blocks and he will have to take on more blocks in the middle.

Urlacher also wasnt great at taking on blocks but he was also 6-4 and 250 with speed so he could still get thru blocks even if his technique left a lot to be desired.

Quan is built more like Briggs in that 6-1, 230 range. It is best to put those guys at WILL where their being undersized is not as much of an issue. They need to get a MIKE that is better taking on blocks but also agile enough to play pass coverage.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

This isn't really true. Both schemes funnel plays to the WILL. Urlacher was just unique as a MIKE in that he could cover the intermediate to deep middle and still make plays underneath in the run and pass game.

That is the main difference between Lovie's Tampa 2 and the classic Cover 2. Urlacher helped the 2 deep safeties by being able to carry a WR running deep up the seam for longer than your traditional MIKE while still being able to recover fast enough to shut down the underneath stuff as well.

I'm going to have to disagree with you considering that I've heard a couple of different guests on the score who coached that team who stated exactly what I said, which is where I got it.

Lovie recognized he had a unicorn in urlacher and adjusted the Tampa two funnel everything to him.

I'll take what they said over you. ?

 

[remydat]

I'm going to have to disagree with you considering that I've heard a couple of different guests on the score who coached that team who stated exactly what I said, which is where I got it.

Lovie recognized he had a unicorn in urlacher and adjusted the Tampa two funnel everything to him.

I'll take what they said over you. ?

Nope. This isnt something Lovie chooses. As teams run strong side more and as everyone has one gap to cover, it is the O that leaves the WILL unblocked more often than not on the basis that the WILL will be too far away from the play if you run to the strong side.

That is why the WILL in a Tampa 2 is usually a smaller faster guy as he will naturallly be left unblocked more and thus will have to be able to chase down a play from the backside before the RB can get thru the hole.

Under Jauron there was more ability to funnel plays to Urlacher because Juaron played a 2 gap scheme that used 2 nose tackle types to keep blockers off Urlacher in Traylor and Washington but in a one gap scheme the MLB will naturally be blocked more than the Will because they are in the middle of the D so will have to be accounted for on most run plays as they are too close to the action.

The D is designed to funnel things back to the backside. It was just the case that if you have to cut back backside because the D closed down the hole at the point of attack you have to get past the MIKE before you reach the WILL. Urlacher was just so good that he would make a lot of tackles before the RB made it all the way back to the WILL.

With a MIKE that isnt as big, fast and agile, they would hold their block allowing the unblocked WILL to make the play.

 

[pdxbearsfan]

If you didn’t listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video, you need to.

My man Alex Brown is dropping some knowledge here!

Alex Brown’s Main points:

1.) Mack was redundant with Quinn: Mack would have played LDE to Quinn’s RDE. In the scheme, LDE is attacking the strength of the D and is something Mack hasn’t really done, being a 3-4 OLB throughout his career.

2.) It doesn’t signal a rebuild so much due to it being Mack being out of position at the 4-3 LDE.

3.) He sees Gibson as a backup to RDE, not so much LDE, as he sees him more as a speed than power guy. Personally, I’m not sure since he played DL at Tulsa, but AB knows way more football than me.

4.) He thinks Nichols has been playing out of position at NT and will excel at 3tech. He predicted 8 sacks from him! He also said we should lock him down now.

5.) I completely agree with him that we should pay Roquan Smith! He had some nice ideas as to how and why.

Really, really informative show, especially if we are looking for a power LDE over a rushing RDE. Those are easier to find.

Great post, thanks!