Lavar In 2008

[rk3025]

McIntosh, Williams and Fletcher have consist defense something that Lavar's Special Defense did not have as great as he was
\team work will beat one person every time

Originally Posted by Coff

I think you misunderstood the point I was making. I'm certainly not suggesting that Marshall is in the same category as Arrington!! I agree that Arrington at his best was better than all the guys on that list; I was just responding to a post that said we have had no quality linebackers since LeVar left.

I don't mean to suggest that these guys are all pro-bowlers, but they all are/were competent for this team, and therefore were "quality" guys. I wouldn't say McIntosh is unproven; he was kicking ass in the beginning of this season, and then forced offenses to adjust to his side of the field. Washington's first two years with us were very productive; he was a pro-bowler in '04, and an alternate in '05 and '06. And as far as Lemar Marshall goes, don't forget he took Arrington's job, and not just because Arrington was hurt. Williams preferred Marshall to Arrington because he made less mistakes. Marshall will never be a playmaker nor will he ever go to a pro-bowl, and it was stupid to move him to the MLB and have him running the defense, but he was an OLB on the leagues 3rd best defense in '04, and I don't remember anyone suggesting he was a weakspot on the team. In fact, it was his success as an outside linebacker that encouraged Williams to try him as MLB. Stellar player? No. "Quality"? Yes.

The accusation I was responding to was suggesting that our linebacking corp has been weak since LeVar left, which is simply untrue. With the exception of '06 (when our d-line and our secondary were equally as bad), our linebackers have been a consistent strength of our defense.