Quote:
Originally Posted by Alo  Yep. Durability's a concern with Fujita -- he's missed twelve games in the past two years -- but speed ain't an issue. |
Yep, and he is also by far the Browns best linebacker and still probably their best defensive player, period. Durability has been a concern for Fuje, but that is par for the course with our FA acquisitions going on twelve years now.
I appreciate PGL's effort above, but to not have Fuje even included as a starter for his argument regarding Miller is off base. First off, Fuje is better than anybody we have at either the Sam, Mike or Will. It's more a matter of placing him not where he is best suited, but where the other guys are best suited and Fuje fills whatever slot is left.
He is easily the best cover backer, blitzer and run stopper of the aforementioned three, and while Fuje has been piling up injuries of late, Jackson is being referenced here and this guy has barely played for two years.
IMO, this is the best lineup for the three (assuming we don't draft Miller)--Gocong at the Mike, Fuje at the Sam and Jackson at the Will. This would allow Jackson to finally be able to utilize his strength, which is chasing down from the backside and enabling his quickness to shine. He has never been good at shedding blocks at the POA. Gocong is the best candidate for the Mike because his strengths are in the running game and the occasional inside blitz. He can't cover TE's on a consistent basis like Fuje, who can also play stout against the run over there and get to the QB off the edge.
It gets to me sometimes that people don't see the stud that Fuje is. I was excited as hell when we acquired him and the proof was in the pudding regarding his effect last year after he went down. 31 is not that old at all if he can keep his body together, he is a premier linebacker and a guy that can be huge in this team building for the future. You have to have some guys like him around when you are going into a total transition like we are, and he can hold it together out there with the new scheming lineups and calls. The guy is a QB on defense and a smart one.
That said, I love the thought of Von Miller and have said so for months. If he is there, it is a no brainer. All this 3/4 or 4/3 nonsense is just that, nonsense with the talent of Miller, there is all sorts of things you can do with him off the edge and I would put him on the weakside in a heartbeat. At that point, you would have Fuje at Sam and Gocong/Jackson fighting it out in the middle with the loser being the primary backup for the rotation.
Much like Watt, Miller was originally categorized as strictly a 3/4 guy by the supposed experts. This is ludicrous, as both would be tremendous in the 4/3. Watt and Miller are my two favorite guys in the draft, and I have said for months that Watt would be a huge addition for this team. He can lineup anywhere, but primarily he would play LDE and kick inside for passing situations. The bottom line is, when you have a guy with Watt's versatility, you can use personnel around him accordingly. Another words, if you do catch a nice edge rusher that can play LDE, Watt can become your 3 tech or vice versa. Bottom line is, you are getting your money's worth with Watt because he doesn't need to come off the field and has mad potential to get way better.
Guys like Fuje and Watt are huge in that they would be 3 down players, solid leaders and hard workers. Don't confuse hard worker with overachiever though, Watt has mad skills as proven by his numbers in college and his combine stats, which were sick.
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04-17-2011
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