Lemar Marshall released for Randall Godfrey??

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Marshall has been downright terrible against the pass the last two seasons. Ranked 95th among LBs in pass yards against last season (9.2), 104th in 2005 (8.1).

Against the run last season, Marshall was pretty bad. He was better in 2005, but still pretty overrated. Lavar was a beast (when he played) here in 2005, and I'm guessing that some of that perception rubbed off on Lemar (Including me, I thought he was much better than he was).

His best season as a pro was that pro bowl caliber 2004 he had on the weakside.

I know he was a converted safety, but he can't cover anyone. Perhaps why he was converted?

That stat can be a little misleading in that GW had him singled up on WRs a lot. That's asking a bit much of any LB. I remember him having to cover Jerry Porter of the Raiders one on one down the middle. Not a chance. Later that year, the Eagles got the same matchup in the season finale and the Seahawks got it in the playoffs as well. WR matched up down the middle with Lemar. I remember thinking, GW is being catalogued. He's calling the same defense in the same situations too much. The opposing coaches are loving that film.

The way I see it, Marshall played well outside, but the move to mike never really took. I am surprised by his release, though, because he knows the system and could have filled in anywhere. I think the earlier point was important, though too. It probably just came down to him being outplayed by the younger guys in camp, coupled with an opportunity to pick up Godfrey who has a skill set they think can fill a role in some package they are worried about. (However, if they think Randall Godfrey can cover the deep middle by himself, they will be disappointed again)