Ahmad Brooks

[oakleaf]

Just some thoughts on Brooks and the OLB situation...

This is an interesting acquisition. Brooks is old, plays in a 3-4 defense, slow and poor in coverage. On paper, he seems a bad fit and goes against TT's young and fast philosophy. So why go after him?

Do they not have faith in Fackrell and Elliot?
Are they worried about Nick Perry's injury?
Is Clay's injury worse than is let on?
Did Reggie Gilbert not have a good enough preseason?
Vince Biegel is certainly starting the season of PUP, but do they think this may be a longer term problem?
Is John Calvin just not one of the elect?

Very unlike TT in my opinion. But then again, TT's picked up several FA's this year which is very unlike him. Maybe this is the year that TT is going all in and he is just ensuring the OLB position has adequate depth! I'm going with that.

 

[eyecatcher]

Peppers was 33 when he came to Green Bay so age is relative. Don't the packers also play a 3-4? How often do we see Matthews and Peppers drop into coverage. I think its a combination of things but the sheer number of injuries they currently have at the position is what drove the move.

 

[rpiotr01]

I don't think he's that slow or poor in coverage, and I'm hopeful he has a year left in the tank. He's been durable and pretty consistent with his production.

The reason for signing him so aggressively is pretty obvious - they don't have a single OLB they can count on. Perry and CMIII will start the year but are already dinged. Elliot, the primary backup, has a back issue that won't resolve itself while he's playing football. Fackrell simply can't win with any consistency against NFL talent. Biegel will go on PUP and we probably won't see him til medseason. It's the most important position in Dons defense and it's arguably the worst on the team. No point with the blame game about how that happened at this point but it needed to be bolstered and Brooks was the best they could hope for.