sportsjabber.net

The Jets LB core has a LOT of false presumption. What’s the name you hear most? Probably Bart Scott. Maybe Calvin Pace. Well I’ll break down each section to show who the real best LB is.

PASS RUSH:

1) Calvin Pace. Not an outstanding pass rusher, but he’s decent. He did have 8 sacks even with the 4 game suspension. He gets a lot of 1 on 1’s in this D, he doesn’t convert nearly as much as he should. We really need another pass rusher.

2) Jamal Westerman. As an undrafted rookie last year, he really impressed me and the Jets coaching staff. He’s a pure pass rusher. He played DE in college too, so the transition to ILB in 1 year and still being that successful was very impressive.

3) David Harris. He’s outstanding at the delayed blitz, but he won’t beat many linemen 1 on 1. He’s great at disguising his blitz though and gets in there a very good % of the time.

4) Bryan Thomas. Not a great pass rusher, but he’s not terrible at it. He’s just bleh at it.

5) Bart Scott. Pass rushing just isn’t his thing. The only time he’ll get in there is if the D-Line does a great job and he comes in unblocked.

RUN DEFENSE:

1) David Harris. This is BY FAR the #1. He’s an unbelievable LB against the run, one of the best in the league at it.

2) Calvin Pace. He’s better than people give him credit at run stuffing. He can really hold his own out there and make a lot of plays.

3) Bart Scott. He’s a very north-south player. He’ll get pushed back a ton when he’s blocked, but he’s very good at slipping by blockers. Don’t expect him to take a FB head on, but he’s great at maneuvering around them and getting the tackle.

4) Bryan Thomas. He’s a veryyyy good tackler, but he can’t shed blocks and he gets pushed around a lot. He’ll never miss a tackle if he gets his hands on someone though.

5) Jamal Westerman. Don’t put this guy in on running situations. He’s not used to LB at all, and it shows. He improved at it over the course of the year, but he’s still not very good at it.

PASS DEFENSE:

1) Bart Scott. He is a very good pass defender. He’s quick enough to cover any TE and he has very good ball skills. He’s always been known for his pass D.

2) David Harris. He does it all. He’s a very good pass defender, especially dropping back into zone coverage. He can also keep up with most RB’s and never misses a tackle if it gets caught on him. His specialty is absolutely creaming any slot receiver or RB who tries to go over the middle.

3) Jamal Westerman. He’s still very inexperienced at pass D, but he was pretty good at it. He’s by far our quickest LB, which helps him a lot in that category.

4) Bryan Thomas. He’s nothing special at it, but he’s not terrible either.

5) Calvin Pace. If he’s not rushing the passer, something’s wrong. He can’t cover AT ALL.

TOTALS:

David Harris: 6
Calvin Pace: 8
Bart Scott: 9
Jamal Westerman: 10
Bryan Thomas: 12

Clearly our best and most rounded LB is David Harris. It shouldn’t surprise people too much, but when people think Jets LB’s they think Bart Scott. That definitely should not be the case, David Harris is the man of the LB core.

http://forums.sportsjabber.net/sjforums/showthread.php?t=51306