bobobonators

Youre missing his point however, and thats the key: not every other team in the NFL NEEDED a QB. We did and that is the difference. In actuality maybe like 6 to 10 teams actually passed on him and we were one of those teams.

Yup

Lmfao. T jackson plays in SB. Lmfao

EXACTLY. Kiko at WLB makes too much sense. The question is more about what route do we take to fill MLB. Draft? FA? We'll see Im personally not 100% sold on Mosley. But if the coaches are, so be it. No complaints. Borland is my favorite but it would be a bigger risk to pass on Mosley and rely on Borland. A bigger risk for coaching staff, that is bc the obvious pick would be Mosley. Brandon Spikes? I could see that. Beason? I could see that. Other people's thoughts?

Yup. We'll see how Schwartz plays it with our personnel.

Back to the MLB discussion, showing that I don't care about size, my favorite LB coming out of this year's draft (which others have mentioned as well): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCbBmcxmFHY

I agree, it is silly to argue size and weight and that was never my intention on this thread. But if you also want to be cute about it: Patrick Willis @ NFL combine: 6'1 242lbs Ray Lewis @ NFL combine: 6'1 240lbs Brian Urlacher @ NFL combine: 6'4 258lbs Kiko Alonso @ NFL combine: 6'3 238lbs Kiko was taller than both Willis and Lewis yet still weighed less. Urlacher was 20lbs heavier despite only being an inch taller. There's a reason why all those players "look" bulkier/bigger on the TV: because they all are.

Lmao. Statistics he says. Tell me, when you read this on espn or wherever you read it did you stop for a second and think for yourself? "Ok, what exactly am i reading here?" Who decided that 40 degrees should be used as the "cold" mark? Why not less than 30? Why not less than 42? 43? 44? Heck, im personally pretty cold at 45 or below. What would his reocord be then in games played at 45 or below compared to 45 and above? Tease me. Then, after choosing an completely subjective number of 40, we come up with a sample size of 120 on one end and 19 on the other and somehow conclude that the 19 is indicative of something. Perhaps in those 19 games Peyton wore boxers as opposed to briefs. That could just as easily help explain his losses as could the arbitrary comparison of him winning a game when its 41 out with a windchill of 30, to him losing a game when its 38 out with no windchill. Or maybe those 19 losses could better be explained by the fact that playoffs are naturally played in colder weather. And along with the colder weather comes better competition. Or maybe those 19 games are regular season games. Who the heck even knows by your lack of explanation. "Statistics". Lol

L M A O . Oh man. :/

On a lighter note http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CXBrHGQXE9o

Lol. I agree that we need a QB to play well and that, when its all said and done, is our biggest "need". My OP was intended more towards addressing personnel. QB is not a "need" imo in terms of actually having a player to play. EJ will most likely be that player. LB is not as clear cut bc the way I see it, we're clearly short 1 LB, whether it be at WLB or MLB is a different matter i suppose.

I dont know how this convo got sidetracked into a conversation about kiko's size. For me, its not about Kiko's size per se, its about my belief that Kiko's strengths are BEST-suiteed for the weak side LB spot and although he CAN play MLB, i dont think we would tap his full ability at that spot. Why do I feel this way? Because Kiko LOVES to be aggressive and attempt to blow up a play in the backfield. At the weak side, kiko can better use his explosiveness and quickness. He cann better use his aggressiveness and play in more open space to pursue the ball carrier or the QB. Where can a LB best be able to perform this function? AT THE WEAK SIDE, and not the mike (sorry if i offend by using the word Mike - dont want to come off as arrogant to some). At the Mike you have to be consistent against the run and you cant swing and miss in your assignment and i dont see Kiko excelling at that. Not bc hes "too small" but simply bc that is not his strong point. And yes, kiko had x amount of tackles last season, but they were done in a defensive alignment that had him playig on the weakside a lot, and quite frankly he was all over the field. Having kiko play mlb in a 4-3 for an entire season is a different animal. id also like to see what schemes schwarz comes up with. Anyway, from the responses i see that the majority of people feel that MLB is not a critical need, with a few disagreeing. I posed this thread as a question, not a statement. Though i dont feel kiko is undersized to play MLB, those who say Kiko is the same size as Willis, Lewis or Urlacher are being a bit silly. I dont care what theyre "listed" at, kiko is the smallest of that group. Ill leave that size comparison topic there.

LMFAO. That's right. Sometimes in life, its better to be lucky than good. Or "timing is everything"; or whatever.

I agree. I don't see anything wrong.

LMAO :thumbsup:

I only watched him play 2 games probably so I don't have much of an opinion. All I know is that he is extremely raw at that position and I would be hard-pressed to pass on someone like Mosley - who has all the experience and awareness in the world at the position, in addition to talent - on such a potential project. I'm still scarred from Maybin, I suppose.

I agree. Michael Kay was ripping into Lynch last night, essentially saying how much of a jerk he is. Lynch got fined already. If he refused to speak, let the guy be. No need to keep calling him out on it.

Calm down guy. I never once said I'm not happy with Kiko. I'm strictly addressing how Kiko would best be suited for this team and the new defensive schemes that Schwartz will introduce. And you act like Kiko played MLB all season this year when he was instead lining up all over the place at LB and played plenty of WLB in specific schemes.

Great post. Sorry I didn't catch your entire meaning the first time. The last 3 seasons the Lions have definitely improved in the run, going all the way from 23rd to 6th this season. Suh/Fairley probably have a lot to do with that, however, along with Tulloch in the middle.

M&M are by far my favorite here in the NYC area. Boomer and Carton are just too much for me. Boomer is always too politically correct and Carton spends more time making farting noises than actually talking sports. M&M have great chemistry together. Just my personal opinion.

LOL. I wasn't trying to impress anyone with calling a weakside LB a Will or a strong side LB a Sam - sorry if it came off that way . What I am trying to do is be realistic in my assessment of Kiko. Like I said earlier, it's hard to argue with Brian, but being Devil's advocate: How many games do you think Brian actually watched Kiko play in? Did he just watch highlights? Did he watch every single bills game? What else was Brian going to say about Kiko? He sucks?

Ah ya, you got the good day. I must admit today was good, especially w/ Mike n Mike. But it's Thursday before the SB, they better step up their game time is running out!! haha.

He doesn't always lose in bad weather. He has played in Denver the last 2 seasons and he has won multiple games this season in really cold weather. Overblown statements.

Good post man. A concern (slight) that I have is that we've had countless D-coordinators come through here over the last few years and there has been a constant: our run Defense has been atrocious with every single one. So why would Schwartz be different? In 2013, we were 28th vs. the run under Pettine. In 2012, we were 31st vs. the run under Wanny. In 2011, we were 28th vs. the run under Edwards. All three of those lines had KW and Dareus in the middle as will the 2014 line. 2012 and 2013 had KW, Dareus, and MW on the line as will the 2014 line. Common theme during those three years: horrible LB's. 2011 LB's: Barnett (toward end of his career); Moats (not an NFL starter); A. Davis (end of his career); Kelsay (not even a real LB); S. Johnson (not a real LB); Sheppard (not an NFL starter). That's a HORRIBLE LB corps. 2012 LB's: Barnett (end of his career); Bradham (not an NFL starter); Sheppard (not an NFL starter); Morrison (no); C. White (no). Once again, a horrible LB corps. 2013 LB's: Kiko (great rookie year); Lawson (solid NFL starter); Bradham (not an NFL starter); Moats (not an NFL starter); Powell (not an NFL starter); Hughes (strictly a pass rusher/situational player) 2013 was probably our best year in terms of talent at the LB spot b/c we actually fielded 2 NFL caliber LB's on the field and Hughes was a beast when asked to pass rush. That being said, Kiko's play definitely tailed off towards the last quarter of the season (which is expected from a rookie). We're still short 1 legit starter on that LB unit, IMO. Other than maybe LG, I can't think of any other position on our team where the same can be said. Sure, we could use another WR, but we don't need one with SJ and Wooods. We'll see what happens with Chandler at TE. If he returns, we don't need a TE. I'm looking to build a well-rounded team. It was fabulous that we were beasts at rushing the passer, and if I had to choose, I'd rather be great at rushing the passer than stopping the run in this league. But finishing in the bottom 5 of any category is unacceptable. There will be games where Mario, hughes, and KW won't be able to get to the QB and we can't afford to have a team gash us in both the run and the pass. Agreed. Yup, I know they may be listed similarly, but just LOOKING at Kiko and Urlacher, you see the size difference. Urlacher is much bigger.

Bowling Ball Borland