Veikune?

[Shep]

Wonder what's going to happen with him this year. There are certainly openings for him to step up, either inside or outside. Ideally, he'd take Wimbley's spot, with Fujita and DQJ inside and Roth on the other side.

But I'm pretty sure we'll see some new faces. I'm all for Kirk Morrison.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Veikune is in a odd spot. I think that he is in a position where he absolutely HAS to step it up. But I can't see him playing inside linebacker which means his only spot is on the Outside right now. We've got some solid depth so that's the kind of battle I see being won out in training camp. I think that our linebacker situation will be one of the more interesting things to keep an eye on during training camp/pre season, and its Veikune's golden opportunity to make an impact.

I would LOVE if we got Kirk Morrison, but I'm not sure I see that happening.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Shep

Wonder what's going to happen with him this year. There are certainly openings for him to step up, either inside or outside. Ideally, he'd take Wimbley's spot, with Fujita and DQJ inside and Roth on the other side.

Do you realize you're benching David Bowens? WOW!

Here's how I rank our LBers today:
1. Roth
2. Bowens
3. Fujita
4. Jackson
5. Benard
6. Trusnik
7. Alex Hall
8. Kaluka Maiava
9 David Veikune

Do you know what the beauty of those first 6 as I see them is? They ALL can play inside or outside if need be. Fulita hasn't been playing in a 3-4 so I took that into consideration. Jackson needs to be MORE instinctive with his first step so he's making plays closer to the line of scrimmage and we're geting off the field the way Bowens got that done inside. Who knew Bowens would be BETTER inside than out when he was more used to playing outside?

I don't see this position as the same need I saw it in 2009. We're soooo much more promising and deep.
- Tom F.

[DawgFan]

Originally Posted by Shep

Wonder what's going to happen with him this year. There are certainly openings for him to step up, either inside or outside. Ideally, he'd take Wimbley's spot, with Fujita and DQJ inside and Roth on the other side.

But I'm pretty sure we'll see some new faces. I'm all for Kirk Morrison.

I agree with Fujita on the inside and Veikune likely either beside him (DQ gone) or on the outside....but Roth actually played DE most of the time last year. I don't see him as an OLB in our scheme. More likely it would be Benard playing OLB.

Likely LB lineup would be more:
OLB: Veikune or Benard/Bowens
ILB: Fujita/DQ or Miava

Keep in mind we still have Barton and Trusnick at ILB and Hall at OLB. I think we need to get another OLB to add depth.

[Enigmatic Evil]

I see Maiava as a backup LB at the start of the year, he'll have to earn his starters spot. I think Bowens, DQJ and Fujita are our definite starters right now. I see DQJ/Fujita as the ILB's going into the pre-season and I think Roth/Bowens will be our outside guys with Bernard, Maiava, Trusnik and Veikune all playing to get noticed, and possibly get a starting spot.

I think our underestimated depth at LB will make getting rid of DQJ that much easier, if a team offers for him I could see us just taking the second round pick. Though, its a bit early to tell. We can't trade him if we don't have him signed, can we?

[BernietheKid]

Originally Posted by Flugel

Do you realize you're benching David Bowens? WOW!

Here's how I rank our LBers today:
1. Roth
2. Bowens
3. Fujita
4. Jackson
5. Benard
6. Trusnik
7. Alex Hall
8. Kaluka Maiava
9 David Veikune

Do you know what the beauty of those first 6 as I see them is? They ALL can play inside or outside if need be. Fulita hasn't been playing in a 3-4 so I took that into consideration. Jackson needs to be MORE instinctive with his first step so he's making plays closer to the line of scrimmage and we're geting off the field the way Bowens got that done inside. Who knew Bowens would be BETTER inside than out when he was more used to playing outside?

I don't see this position as the same need I saw it in 2009. We're soooo much more promising and deep.
- Tom F.

Really Fluges? I see a bunch of guys that are backups and role players. I think Bowens played better on the inside at the end of the season but I don't want him starting for sixteen games at that spot. He looked awful slow at the beginning of the season until the weather got worse and it slowed everyone else down.

The are only two I could say that would be starters and that is Fujita and Roth. The rest for me are either playing out of position or back-ups and roleplayers/ST. We have depth but now we need to get some starters. Hey but that's JMO.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Good point Bernie. I think Roth's play last season earned him a starter spot and was part of what made Wimbley expendable. I think that Bernard and Maiava in particular have a ton of potential though. Bowens is veteran depth for us, as well as a good leadership presence in the locker room.

Veikune is the question mark to me. I don't really see where he fits in to this defense but thats where training camp/pre-season will start to tell that tale and we'll see if he is a bust or if there's some potential to him as well.

[BernietheKid]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic Evil

Good point Bernie. I think Roth's play last season earned him a starter spot and was part of what made Wimbley expendable. I think that Bernard and Maiava in particular have a ton of potential though. Bowens is veteran depth for us, as well as a good leadership presence in the locker room.

Veikune is the question mark to me. I don't really see where he fits in to this defense but thats where training camp/pre-season will start to tell that tale and we'll see if he is a bust or if there's some potential to him as well.

Good point about Bernard! I think that he has good potential. While I like Maiava's coverage skills, he reminds me too much of DQ as far as his size goes. So I don't know if he is an everydown ILB because I see him getting eaten up by blockers inside.

[NW Ohio Brownie]

I think Alex Hall won't be a Brown when camp breaks in late August.

As far as Veikune, it would be great (although unlikely) if the light goes on for him this year and he can help us somewhere on defense consistently.

Therein lies the problem with our backers: we have plenty of guys but no one standout that teams have to worry about on each play. No great run-stuffer, no great pass rusher, you get the point.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by NW Ohio Brownie

I think Alex Hall won't be a Brown when camp breaks in late August.

As far as Veikune, it would be great (although unlikely) if the light goes on for him this year and he can help us somewhere on defense consistently.

Therein lies the problem with our backers: we have plenty of guys but no one standout that teams have to worry about on each play. No great run-stuffer, no great pass rusher, you get the point.

With what we have and what we may bring in, I think Veikune has a long way to go to get onto the field as a LB. I do expect him to be a big contributor in special teams this year.

Please don't underestimate Trusnik. He is young and talented and played very well down the stretch. Unless the Browns fall in love with a QB to take at #38 I would expect they may be looking at Sergio Kendel, Ricky Sapp or even Hughes. What would be nice is that they won't be forced into the starting lineup full time from day one.


Lots of options and also room for additions.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by BernietheKid

Really Fluges? I see a bunch of guys that are backups and role players. I think Bowens played better on the inside at the end of the season but I don't want him starting for sixteen games at that spot. He looked awful slow at the beginning of the season until the weather got worse and it slowed everyone else down.

The are only two I could say that would be starters and that is Fujita and Roth. The rest for me are either playing out of position or back-ups and roleplayers/ST. Hey but that's JMO.

That's a GOOD observation of speed Bernie. It's why I prefer to see Bowens inside again. It also lends some creedance to what I'm about to say. What I found refreshing about Bowens was 1st step instinct. You can play 1 full second faster WITH it. Not only that, when your ILBers are making tackles at the line of scrimmage instead of where the Safeties make tackles - you help your defense get off the field more consistently with in 4-6 plays. That's a trend I watch for. I ALWAYS loved the hustle of Jackson but it almost looks like he's in quick sand for a second at the snap before he high tails it into pursuit.

I used to be an OG that faced ALOT of ILBers when we saw alignments where there wasn't a girthy dude in a 4 point stance in front of me. Anyway, the ILBers that were instinctive were ALOT tougher to beat into position especially when plays went backside and they were almost stacked behind the NT. Guys that hesitated lost automatically and had to go tell their angry coaches "I got blocked." When it was straight ahead and we ran a 22 dive - that LBer better have had at least 1 step forward or I had a 5 yard head of steam with a 5'7" 215 FB with 4.6 forty speed for the physics of it all. He was built like Barney Rubble where there was no such thing as a text book tackle on that low center of gravity.

The best player I faced went to Michigan State and I'll tell you what - he had the best intincts I've ever seen. I thought I was quick for a high school OG; but this kid NEVER guessed wrong and we had some great collisions. The thing about it was he minimized my head of steam which also minimized the running lane. You don't coach this kind of thing - it's there or it's missing. He'd meet me halfway which basically told us we'd have to run OVER him as the only option. There will not be a running lane included here. We never quite ran him over. Now, I'm gonna give you another scenario about instincts with an ILBer.

There was an ILBer on the #1 ranked team in the state prior to us driving a tunnel through that ranking. He was ALOT like Jackson in the sense that I could block him and drive him backwards until he recovered and got a pursuit angle to make a tackle 20-25 yards downfield when I wasn't pancaking him. The LBer had a TERRIBLE first step so he was pretty much worthless when we ran the ball up inside. After our first TD, my coach came up to me all smiles and said they gotta prove they can stop the 22 dive or it's gonna be a long night. I said RUN IT!

I got a little goofey reminising about the 1920s BUT it certainly increased my understanding of the ILBer position considerably. It doesn't get any more up close and personal than blockign those suckers throughout your high school career. In the years I've watched Jackson - NOBODY feared our middle or him. Part of the reason he has alot of tackles is because he's a bullseye in the opponent's game plans, we couldn't get off the field and the other part is he has admirable hustle. I don't know how much more he can develop if he can't straighten out instinctiveness. I hope we trade him.

Sorry for rambling. Don't undersell 1st step instinct because Ray Lewis never timed well on the forty for the scouts so alot of people didn't trust what they saw from him on film. Shame on them right?

When I read the entire team stood up and applauded the announcement that Marcus Benard busted his tail all the way to the active roster, it only made sense he looked like Roethlisberger's biggest nightmare. I didn't see that from Jackson in 3-4 years. FWIW, we need to remember Fujita has been in the league for 10 years so what's to say he wasn't once where our younger guys like Benard, Trusnik and Maiava are at right now? Veikune may surprise some and have a breakout year. I thought Mangini did a terrific job in imporving the LBer posiiton before we even added Fujita. Let's hope I'm not regretting this statement in 2010. I've certainly been wrong alot in the past.
- Tom F.

[Alo]

The move to ILB really helped David Bowens. And based on how well he played at that spot in '08, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

However, Trusnik didn't look nearly as good when injuries and the Roth acquisition moved him inside. Hopefully, the Fujita/Wimbley moves will allow Trusnik to concentrate on OLB, which seems to be a much better spot for him.

At this point, Veikune probably needs to excel on specials to guarantee he'll be active on Sundays. But if Rob Ryan's going to use more creative fronts this year, it'd make sense to give Veikune an opportunity to carve out a role as a situational pass rusher.