Bime Mock 2.0. Post Diggs-Houston trade

[scar988]

To me, IDL are guys who never pick their hand off the dirt to play linebacker at all in their career. Like Calais Campbell. I'd have him as an IDL as well. Campbell has made a living playing 5T and rarely kicking out to a 6T, but 90% of the time, he's a 5T with 9% 3T and 1% 6T or farther out. That's the same role for Robinson, I'd agree with you there.

[Tugboat]

On 4/8/2024 at 3:47 PM, scar988 said:

To me, IDL are guys who never pick their hand off the dirt to play linebacker at all in their career. Like Calais Campbell. I'd have him as an IDL as well. Campbell has made a living playing 5T and rarely kicking out to a 6T, but 90% of the time, he's a 5T with 9% 3T and 1% 6T or farther out. That's the same role for Robinson, I'd agree with you there.

Again, i'm not saying he's strictly an Edge or an IDL.  He's basically the definition of a "tweener" to me.  He's a guy that bridges those two realms.  Halfway in between and which way you flip him really just depends on what scheme you're talking about plugging him into.  He's just a weird in between player who is a 4-3DE on the Edge of a DLine...or he's a 3-4DE on the Interior Defensive Line.  Just like Calais who was an "edge" rusher 5T at DE in the majority of his time in 4-3 derivatives, and an "IDL" 5T in 3-4 derivatives.

 

At the end of the day, it's kind of arbitrary.  You can list him wherever.  Heck, it'd be more descriptive to just break him down and call him a "DE" or just say he's a "5T" like Calais.  But that muddies the waters for characterizing a lot of other guys who might be anything from a 5/7/9T as an "edge" or might be a 3/5T as an IDL guy.  And i don't think we really disagree at all on how Darius Robinson ought to be used anyway - it's just a semantics/classification thing.  He's probably not going to be a guy that gets used as a stand up rush linebacker or drops in coverage much.  But if a team tries to turn him into a base 3T i think he'll also likely fail just the same.  He's a little bit of Edge and a little bit of IDL.  But not fully either.  🤷‍♀️  I happen like him better than any of the other Edge guys in this class as a 4-3DE even if that's as a "big end" rather than some Wide9 specialist.  And i like him more in that role than i do as an IDL guy.

Edited April 10 by Tugboat

[scar988]

1 hour ago, Tugboat said:

Again, i'm not saying he's strictly an Edge or an IDL.  He's basically the definition of a "tweener" to me.  He's a guy that bridges those two realms.  Halfway in between and which way you flip him really just depends on what scheme you're talking about plugging him into.  He's just a weird in between player who is a 4-3DE on the Edge of a DLine...or he's a 3-4DE on the Interior Defensive Line.  Just like Calais who was an "edge" rusher 5T at DE in the majority of his time in 4-3 derivatives, and an "IDL" 5T in 3-4 derivatives.

 

At the end of the day, it's kind of arbitrary.  You can list him wherever.  Heck, it'd be more descriptive to just break him down and call him a "DE" or just say he's a "5T" like Calais.  But that muddies the waters for characterizing a lot of other guys who might be anything from a 5/7/9T as an "edge" or might be a 3/5T as an IDL guy.  And i don't think we really disagree at all on how Darius Robinson ought to be used anyway - it's just a semantics/classification thing.  He's probably not going to be a guy that gets used as a stand up rush linebacker or drops in coverage much.  But if a team tries to turn him into a base 3T i think he'll also likely fail just the same.  He's a little bit of Edge and a little bit of IDL.  But not fully either.  🤷‍♀️  I happen like him better than any of the other Edge guys in this class as a 4-3DE even if that's as a "big end" rather than some Wide9 specialist.  And i like him more in that role than i do as an IDL guy.

That works. I also stopped using IDL designation and just use DL designation. If they don't pick their hand up (4-3 DE, 3-4DE, NT, DT) all get DL spots. (4-3 DE, 3-4 OLB). Guys like Robinson to me fit the DL tag specifically because they don't lift their hand up. Think Cameron Jordan. 

[Tugboat]

48 minutes ago, scar988 said:

That works. I also stopped using IDL designation and just use DL designation. If they don't pick their hand up (4-3 DE, 3-4DE, NT, DT) all get DL spots. (4-3 DE, 3-4 OLB). Guys like Robinson to me fit the DL tag specifically because they don't lift their hand up. Think Cameron Jordan. 

Yeah.  I'm not sure there's really a "perfect" way of breaking it down that works 100% of the time.  Short of getting super granular, which creates it's own problems.  It's really just a few weird "tweeners" that cause problems anyway.  Like NFL combine database just calls it "DE" and "DL" which works great for Robinson.  But then creates anomalies with "tweeners" on the other end.  It's guys like Gabe Murphy...who fits "Edge" a lot better than he fits "DE"...as a guy who is pretty much gonna have to be a 9T/Stand Up Rush LBer only.  Have a hard time seeing him as a "hand in the dirt" 4-3DE unless we're talking a hybrid front "LEO" type and he's certainly not going to be a 3-4DE of any sort whatsoever.  Should probably just call in an OLB - whether that's as a 3-4 rusher or as a 4-3 hybrid front Sam/Will blitzer type.  Like a Micah Parsons...who was generally type as a LBer in the draft and started that way, but now he's listed generously as a "DE".  🤷‍♀️  So there's always going to be anomalies and "tweeners" and niche guys that defy easy categorization.

 

Like Cam Jordan, i'd definitely call an IDL.  Even though he doesn't/hasn't always played there.  But to me, he's a guy who has always had a skillset that lends itself more toward that role.  He's got a similar sort of body to Robinson on paper...but i think he's built a little more stout and also demonstrated more of that 3-4DE skillset and ability to reduce down even more from there on tape, even as a prospect.  A guy who has the skillset to work on the interior, which i'm not sure i see as much of from Robinson.  But definitely another guy who might be right on or around that tipping point.  Just spills the other way for me, largely on skillset.

 

It's also just easier if you're actually "running a team".  You just classify everyone by the general roles you'd be drafting them for.  But as a fan trying to cobble things together in a more broad sense, and trying to be reasonably consistent year to year in the methodology to be able to look back and self-evaluate...it's kinda just about picking a method and dealing with the oddballs like Robinson as they come.