Prior to the 1970s, it was defensive linemen that were the primary pass-rushers—not linebackers. About half of the good pass-rushers in the NFL are now linebackers, and a big part of the shift is due to the contribution of Lawrence Taylor.

When you think of the best pass-rushing linebackers of all time, Taylor is always at the top of the list. Some people consider him the best defensive player of all time. Taylor is ninth on the all-time sacks list with 132.5, and that doesn’t include the 9.5 sacks from his rookie season in 1981 because the sack statistic wasn’t official.

There have been a lot of good linebackers since Taylor, but none that have revolutionized the position like he did. The closest we may ever get to another Taylor is Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller.

What Taylor did as a 3-4 right outside linebacker, Miller is doing as a 4-3 left outside linebacker. There isn’t another linebacker like Miller in the NFL, just like there wasn’t a linebacker like Taylor in the NFL.

Read More »38

The NFL offseason is an interesting beast. The media and fans are so starved for stories during the month of June that some of them get blown way out of proportion. That was the case when Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis fired the PR director Zak Gilbert after one year on the job.

The media narrative goes something like this:

From the majority of the media’s perspective, there was no reason to fire Gilbert. Of course, my background working in public relations and the corporate world affords me a better perspective. There is no reason to freak out about the firing of Gilbert.

Of all people, I should be the one freaking out about the sudden change. I had developed a good professional relationship with Gilbert, attended training camp last year and was treated as an equal with the traditional print media. There is no guarantee the new PR director will be as accommodating.

Read More »46

The Denver Broncos had Charles Woodson in for a visit, but couldn’t come to an agreement with the 36-year-old defensive back. Woodson ended up visiting with the Oakland Raiders and signing a contract that is worth a maximum of $4.3 million, according nfl.com.

That seems like a lot of money for an older player in the twilight of his career, but the Broncos offered Woodson a seemingly comparable contract worth a maximum of $3.7 million, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post. It certainly looks like Woodson chose money over the ability to play for a contender.

If the Broncos were serious about signing Woodson, they should have upped their offer before he visited the Raiders. It sure seems like the Broncos miscalculated Woodson’s interest in returning to the Raiders and ended up losing a player they would have liked to add to their secondary.

Champ Bailey was on 102.3 FM in Denver on Tuesday and said there was “no freaking way” Woodson wanted to go to Oakland; he also called the visit a “negotiation tactic." Bailey’s thoughts may or may not have echoed the sentiments of the organization.

Read More »293

Make no mistake; every NFL team would love to have a Darrelle Revis. Not every team would be willing to take a risk on his knee and pay him what he demands, but every team would love to have his consistent production. Revis is still the prototypical cornerback that everyone wants because he does everything well and can shadow and shut down No. 1 receivers.

When looking at the 2013 rookie class, only one has the chance to be the next Revis, and it isn’t the player that replaced him in New York. The next Revis is actually University of Houston cornerback D.J. Hayden.

In what was a one of the biggest surprises of the draft, the Oakland Raiders traded down from No. 3 to No. 12, didn’t draft University of Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and selected Hayden. The Raiders were even willing to take Hayden at No. 3 if no trade had materialized.

Drafting Hayden that early only makes sense if he can be the next Revis.

Read More »183

Eventually Manti Te’o is going to lace up his cleats and take the field as a football player for the San Diego Chargers and hope to make everyone forget he was the victim of a hoax. If Te’o becomes a good NFL player, the jokes will be retired and the whole ordeal will become just a footnote on his career.

Although Te’o didn’t look like a great middle linebacker prospect on tape and the National Championship game against Alabama highlighted some of his weaknesses, he landed in a perfect spot as an inside linebacker in John Pagano’s 3-4 defense.

In a 3-4 defense, Te’o’s ability to play downhill will be highlighted and he won't be asked to cover tight ends and running backs one-on-one regularly. At most, Te’o will be asked to drop into short zones and play the receivers in front of him, and he will probably not play in nickel and dime situations.

When Te’o played middle linebacker at Notre Dame, his responsibilities included stopping the run and the pass—he couldn’t just focus on the things he does best. Part of the beauty of the 3-4 defense is being able to take players that otherwise may not have an NFL fit and making them productive contributors.

Read More »26

Al Davis ran the Oakland Raiders his way for decades, but when Reggie McKenzie was hired things had to change. The Raiders hadn’t been successful under Davis’ leadership in a decade—or for the better part of the salary cap era.

One thing the team has maintained to some degree is Davis’ value of secrecy. The team might be less paranoid and friendlier with the media, but the organization isn’t doing a lot of extra interviews with the national media.

The Raiders are also the only team in the AFC West that will not have cameras in their war room.

This secrecy has left the Raider Nation with a much larger pool of potential prospects to understand than the two fanbases drafting first and second overall. We don’t know what is going to happen in the draft, but the first two picks are much easier to peg than the one for the Raiders.

Read More »41

The Kansas City Chiefs have the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday when the 2013 NFL draft gets underway, but the situation with left tackle Branden Albert is still unresolved. While Albert may not impact the Chiefs’ draft plans, an inability to trade him might present an interesting catch-22.

If the Chiefs select a left tackle with the first pick, they would have two left tackles on the roster. One of them would be paid $9.8 million guaranteed in 2013 and the other would be the No. 1 overall pick. Realistically, the Chiefs would have to trade Albert or play their top pick at right tackle. Albert’s long-term earning potential would take a hit if he agreed to move to the right side.

The Miami Dolphins were the only team to receive permission to negotiate with Albert’s agent, but Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported that a deal is only going to happen if he lowers his demands significantly. It is widely believed the Chiefs would get a second-round draft pick if the Dolphins and Albert could come to an agreement.

Things could change during the draft, but there are currently very few teams with the cap space to absorb Albert’s franchise tag. According to overthecap.com, only nine teams currently have the cap space to absorb $9.8 million, which means a long-term contract will probably have to be pounded out before any other team will be able to land Albert.

Read More »32

If the San Diego Chargers were filling out a depth chart on Thursday, they would have to lightly pencil in King Dunlap at left tackle and Jeromey Clary at right tackle. There’s no secret that the Chargers would like to add a blue-chip left tackle to the depth chart in bold blue ink with Dunlap and Clary penciled in on the right side.

If you watched only the playoffs last year, Bryant McKinnie of the Baltimore Ravens was one of those blue chippers. If you watched the regular season, McKinnie wasn’t worth a dime because he was barely on the field.

The Chargers are having “a couple general discussions” with the free-agent left tackle, according to Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego, but they shouldn’t even be considering him.

In fact, the Chargers should stay as far away from McKinnie as possible.

Read More »15