(04-05-2018, 06:24 PM)pirkster Wrote:

(04-05-2018, 06:08 PM)JackCity Wrote: Maybe 10-15 years ago yeah.  

Most off ball linebackers play at 240 or under these days. Many of them at the 230-240 range.  Jones was an example of a player playing at 220 who wins with quickness vs block shedding inside. He's smaller than usual.   

MLBs
Luke Keuchly  : 6'3 238
Kwon Alexander : 6'1 227
Jordan Hicks: 6'1 236
Ryan Shazier: 6'1 230
Deion Jones: 6'1 222
Eric Kendricks : 6' 230
Reuben Foster : 6'1 228
Christian Kirksey: 6'2 235
Blake Martinez : 6'2 237
Wesley Woodyard: 6' 233  

You get the picture.  Prototypical weight is much lower than 250-260 for MLBs or SLBs now.

Most of the guys you listed on the lower end are shorter.  It has nothing to do with the times being different.  You're selecting shorter players.  They will of course be lighter.  And no, that's not typical or ideal.

Roquon is only 6"1' which does fall in line with those on the lighter end.  I'm starting to see an obvious contrarian pattern here.

You'll be hard pressed to find any draft profile on Roquon that doesn't mention "small" regarding his size.  Don't be offended by it.  It's true.  It doesn't mean he can't play MLB.  I'm sure he could and perhaps will.  But I certainly wouldn't expect him to be playing SAM in the NFL.  That's a near certainty.

There are much more MLBs playing under 250 than there are over 250. Thats just the reality of the NFL these days. The prototypical size of off ball LBs is lower than 250-260 like you suggested.  I went through a list of the top 30 inside LBs from 2017, around 80% of them were sub 250. Take a peak at all of the off ball LBs coming out of college.

Yeah I don't think Roquan Smith is too small for todays NFL. Non issue for me. His block shedding is a concern but his overall skillset and speed makes up for it.

 As I mentioned above I think his best spot in the NFL is at WILL but can play inside if needs be. I wouldn't expect him to play SAM either but he's good enough to play all 3 spots.

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