Raiders Franchise LB Wimbley

[mario]

Did we let Wimbley go too early? He had a hell of a season, and is getting franchised by the Raiders. He doesn't play DE for them, but OLD in a 4-3, and is used as the primary 5th rusher.

[Brown Warrior]

What's OLD?

[Brown Warrior]

Yeah, I see he plays 4-3 OLB, which is kind of odd, huh? He had 58 tackles and 9 sacks. At the time, I thought it was a pretty weird trade.

[Alo]

Still having Wimbley & Corey Williams around would have made the transition to a 4-3 a lot easier. That said, the 3rd the team got for Wimbley turned into Freckles, so it wasn't a bad move.

[PlaygroundLegend]

I think that fact above prves that Miller can play 4-3 OLB and still rack up sacks

[Brown Warrior]

I believe Wimbley puts his hand down on passing downs... but I guess Miller could do that, too.

[mario]

I think our lack of creative pressure didn't help him. Wimbley seems to be good one on one, but can't beat a double team, and does struggle against the elite tackles (as does everybody). A "rush" for the Browns in the Romeo years was a 4 man rush, which is pretty basic and seen nearly ever snap in a 4-3.

Either way the young gun is going to get a second pay day, good for him.

[Fooleeze]

I really liked Wimbley, and was upset that the previous regime forgot how to use him. Glad to see he's playing well, but wish it was here!

[Vegasdogg]

He isn't worth $9M+ per season that his franchise tag got him. No way no how.

[Solon16]

Would absolutely love him back now with a 4-3...may even give Dqwell a chance in this Defense...but not for any real money. Miscast...right Vegas

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Solon16

Would absolutely love him back now with a 4-3...may even give Dqwell a chance in this Defense...but not for any real money. Miscast...right Vegas

I also read Corey Willimas had an awesome year in Detroit's 4-3. Savage added exclusively 4-3 guys for a Head Coach that wanted stout 2 gappers up front. The problem with Wimbley being drafted in the upper half of round was we could have had LaMarr Woodley as late as round 2 for a 3-4 scheme. This is ANOTHER example of reaching on a designated pass rusher when this kind of prototype is available near the bottom of round one and top of round 2. Actually, the 2010 sack leaders shows some guys that came out of round 3, round 4, round 5 and the land of the undrafted without one guy being drafted as high as #9 overall. Compelling evidence against reaching IMO.

Remember when the consensus wouldn't consider Clay Matthews for the upper half of round 1 where we were drafting? There was alot of "Promising prospect, good motor but not as high as #13." I wasn't smart enough to resist the consensus. FWIW, he was available all the way down at #26 overall. Meanwhile the Buffalo Bills drafted Aaron Maybin out of Penn State at #11 overall in 09 while Washington drafted Brian Orakpo at #13 overall. Better high jumpers = better draft jumpers. Matthews was the better football player; because out of those 3 guys - he's easily the best against the RUN too. For example, jarring the football loose from Mendenhall on SB Sunday behind the line of scrimmage.

I think JJ Watt gets the same reluctance from fans that Matthews got because they want to see a good jumper and a great 40 yard dash more than they want the comfort of a complete DE. JJ may not have the sexy sack volume per say; BUT I can't tell you how many times his blocked/deflected passes in the QB's face on 3rd down got his defense off the field or in the end zone. 21 tackles for a loss slam dunks explosive at the snap. And if one wants to question how fast he can run down an athletic QB down with serious wheels - the video in a couple threads of Terrell Pryor's nightmare sums it up better than words.

[Enigmatic Evil]

I'm not miffed by this at all, a lot of us predicted that Wimbley would probably have a solid year for the Raiders and I wasn't surprised by that at all. I WAS surprised by the franchise tag though. Wimbley does not deserve that tag honestly, but maybe he is a 'critical' component of that D, and I thought they were also going to let Asomunga (or whatever his name is) walk. -s- I like who WE franchised. That's what is important.