Which ILB should go?

I personally with hold voting until I see an option saying wait until the offseason. These sorts of conversations are fun and all, but really I’m looking forward to this Sunday’s game more than the deep contemplations of which ILB is best suited for us right now. This is especially so since two of these options are currently on IR.

but the debate got so intense i just wanted to know where the rest of you gentlemen stood on the issue….

Chillar and Hawk both are kind of liabilities when dropping in to coverage, but Chillar seems to get in on more tackles. I dunno, I’m guess I’m not a huge fan of either.

Hawk…definatly at times, but Chillar has been good in coverage…

Barnett and Hawk are the ones with the highest salaries. Granted Chillar is overpaid as a backup, but he’s still not making as much as Hawk and Barnett. By releasing/trading Chillar, you still have a problem of getting 3 starting ILB’s on the field. Sure, it’s a good problem to have in a sense, but I can assure you someone will be complaining about it soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Bishop that opens his mouth too, because I’m sure he signed a contract assuming he will be starting. He didn’t resign here to be a role player.

The point is, we will be back to this very same discussion if we make the mistake of cutting Chillar. Chillar is comfortable being a role player for us. He’s a team player and doesn’t complain. He also happens to be our best pass coverage ILB.

…which hurts their trade value.

I think his injuries make him less than he was AND I’m tired of his martial arts hotdog move every time he tackles a guy after an 8 yd. gain.

Take all the emotion out of the decision! Make it a simple personnel/business decision! Thats how you have to treat it…

Barnett is the oldest, most injured, higest paid! He isn’t better than Hawk or Bishop the 2 starters… He is better than Chillar overall, but Chillar is the best LB in coverage! Writing is on the wall and Barnett is the odd man out!!!

I don’t see why we can’t keep them all.

A $5 million per-year salary for a backup is not really that crazy anymore. It’s a brave, new world salary-wise. Heck, Jarrett Bush gets over a million a year. …and that’s probabbly a tick below market value for him. The only players making less than a million are practice squad guys or late round draft picks who are still on their rookie deals.

Anybody who actually contributes on offense or defense is going to get multi-million dollar contracts. That’s just the way it is now.

So I say keep ‘em all, let ’em decide who starts in training camp, and then tell the other guys to wait for their opportunity. It always comes. …especially if when we go to that stupid 18 game schedule. It’s a dumb idea, but it’s gonna’ happen, and teams will need to be two or three deep with starting-caliber players at every position.

He has been with us since 2006. That’s now five seasons with the team. By my count, that four years of terrible pass defense contrasted with one year of pretty good pass defense. I find it a little short sighted to deem him the linebacker to move forward with when he has only given us one good year in that area. Strohman, you make a big deal in asking if Barnett will be better than Hawk next year. Considering that the past five years (excluding the ACL tear) have proven so, I am more comfortable in saying that Barnett will still be better than Hawk next year than I would be saying Hawk will continue this trend of quality production.

Throwing out Hawk’s career stats is misleading too, considering that his production dipped dramatically when Barnett tore his ACL and Hawk filled in at MLB. When you look at value at the same position, there is no way that Hawk has proven that he is a better asset than Barnett, at least not yet. Yes, he had one good year. But lets not forget the four mediocre ones where he proved to be more of a liability than anything else, especially when defending the pass.

Barnett tore his ACL and injured his wrist. The guy had two injuries and you want to call him injury prone and use that to justify getting rid of him? By that logic, Urlacher should have been released last year after he had missed the entire season with the same wrist injury. And if Finley gets hurt, lose him. It’s not like Barnett keeps injuring the same body part all the time, like Stafford and his shoulder. Barnett’s injuries should be chalked up to bad luck and nothing more.

However, we are all missing the most important part. We keep Hawk around for one reason and one reason only: Laura Hawk. Are we really gonna let this asset (heh heh) go to some other team?

Had to go Barnett, but not a lot of conviction..I just always thought he was more style than substance. I could see keeping him over Chillar though..

If you look at all the 3-4 defenses in the league and compare the weight alone from Hawk to the rest of the LILB’s in the same defense, Hawk is right where he should be. Hawk is 247 lbs according to yahoo. The average weight for LILB’s is 243 lbs. You may think that is low, but that figure is drastically reduced for 2 reasons:

1. Some teams (Jets, Browns, Chargers, Chiefs, and Cardinals) have their bigger ILB playing RILB. This could be for a number of reasons, such as a different 3-4 system. The Chiefs for example have LILB Belcher who weighs only 228 lbs, whereas RILB Derrick Johnson weighs 242 lbs.

2. Another reason is teams are still transitioning to the 3-4 defense, so that causes for some players being out of place. Thus being why there are some undersized LILB’s in the league. When you look at the teams that have run the 3-4 for an extended amount of time, NONE of them are fielding a LILB lighter than 242 lbs (49ers). Many though weigh in the 250 lb range.

The point is that it’s very important for every 3-4 defense to field an ILB that can hold up at the point of attack from offensive linemen. ILB’s in the 3-4 are expected to stop the run up the middle along with the NT. Hawk’s role in our defense may not be flashy or glamorous, but it is important as he has to free up the weak side ILB to make plays while doing crossing blitzes. Even with that said, Hawk does have sacks himself. More importantly though, Hawk is a run stopper. He can hold up at the point of attack by either an OG or C. He does fail to shed the blocks, but he doesn’t get knocked on his butt all the time either.

Sure, there very well may be an upgrade over Hawk in the future. However, if you start both Barnett and Bishop, you have 2 light ILB’s that will take an absolute POUNDING from opposing offensive linemen. Bishop is 238 lbs and Barnett is 236 lbs. You need an ILB that can handle the strong side of the defense and doesn’t get wore game as the game progresses. To Hawk’s credit, he hasn’t been injured yet.