Our performance in the 2nd round for the past three years and what could have been

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by mooby

I think we are hating on Rocky too much. He was fine as a starter in the 4-3, it's just kind of obvious he's not a 3-4 linebacker. We can still get value for him if we trade him to a team that runs a 4-3. I think he's probably gonna get traded this offseason anyways, we need the picks.

I don't think it has much to do with scheme. He was well protected in our 4-3 to the point where he was just a warm body: if he screwed up, Fletcher would be behind him to clean up. No biggie. His only value in addition to being a starter was to make some plays against the pass, but as bad as his reads were against the run, he might actually be more of a liability against the pass.

It's certainly not Rocky's fault we're playing the 3-4 or that we traded up to get him in the second round, but he's already 29, and just isn't that good. Right now, he's in a scheme where offensive coordinators are exploiting his suckiness. He likely won't be having such a bad year next season, probably because he's unlikely to be a starter.

I think, like Devin Thomas, you could put Rocky on special teams and let him run around at big speeds and hit something, and you've got a pretty nice contributor on your team if you do that. I just don't think he belongs in an NFL defense, a lot like Thomas didn't belong in an NFL offense.

Unfortunately, the Redskins have too many players who are good special teamers, but play offense/defense at a level below what is needed to be successful as a team.