Mick Stoltenburg

I kept a closer eye on him the 2nd time I watched the game and I didn't see a single instance of him getting blown off the ball despite being doubled or tripled on every play.  He beat the double team a fair amount as well.

This recognition is well-deserved.

 
This is great for us. The biggest question mark going into the season on D I think was that nose position. I think we have talent everywhere else even if some of the guys are young and inexperienced. I think we have the guys to make this thing work at linebacker but they aren't our starters and I'm not sure if they are ready yet.

 
Nebfanatic said:
This is great for us. The biggest question mark going into the season on D I think was that nose position. I think we have talent everywhere else even if some of the guys are young and inexperienced. I think we have the guys to make this thing work at linebacker but they aren't our starters and I'm not sure if they are ready yet.
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IMO defensive end and pass rush were bigger concerns and still are. I feel like people felt pretty comfortable with Mick most of the offseason and into fall camp, but maybe that's just my perception.

 
Enhance said:
IMO defensive end and pass rush were bigger concerns and still are. I feel like people felt pretty comfortable with Mick most of the offseason and into fall camp, but maybe that's just my perception.
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I have been okay with our defensive line all along. Davis twins, Freedom, Mick, DT, and Daniels. We are in good shape there. It's the linebackers that are my issue. Haven't been impressed with them in years which is why I thought Bray got too much credit recently. I think Barry has good potential....Roberts, Miller and G Thomas should become solid but FR at this point. 

 
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I actually thought we did a decent job last week but they just threw the ball so quickly it was tough to get there. I also thought it was interesting we kept sending Gifford instead of Alex Davis (he wasn't in on these plays) at least some of the time. I thought we blitzed a little more than people say we did we just didn't get there in time because they were throwing slants and screens all game for the most part

I do agree looking back Mick wasn't too much of a concern haha

 
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I agree @BIG ERN - as a unit, I was/am more concerned about the linebackers because we've been told (essentially ever since Diaco got hired) that they were going to be the most critical unit to the defense's success. I believe our front seven in general has been lacking since the early part of the decade. There have been some really bright spots (i.e. Lavonte David, Will Compton) but, overall, I don't think they've been where they need to be.

My rudimentary understanding of the 3-4, particularly after seeing Diaco's rendition of it against ASU, is that our DL will spend most of their time plugging up linemen. I don't get the feeling we should expect to see a ton of quantifiable results out of them (i.e. sacks and TFL's). That would in turn put a lot of pressure on our LB's to make up for it.

 
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@Enhance Right, in most 3-4 systems, the main job of the front 3 is more to take up space and occupy the OL, while the OLBs are the ones typically bringing pressure. 3-4 DEs often have responsibilities that are more like 4-3 DTs. That's why I've been saying that Freedom shouldn't be expected to have such high pass rush numbers this season when people post thing from PFF showing really high numbers last season - 3-4 linemen usually don't put up gaudy numbers, that's just not what the system is built for.

 
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Missed Saturday's game with a knee injury. I know nothing about the extent of the injury, wonder if there is any talk of him taking this year as MedRs?

 
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