(12-01-2021, 11:31 AM)Bullseye Wrote:

(12-01-2021, 10:57 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: Devin Lloyd has been the #1 ILB from before the season began and he's done nothing to make me think otherwise. I love this guy. The problem is that I believe he's gonna be selected at the bottom half of the first round. If we somehow landed him, I'd be ecstatic. He's a great sideline to sideline player and he has very good coverage ability, which is something we desperately need. I know in most mocks he's battling it out with Georgia's Nakobe Dean as the first ILB to be taken. I love Dean's production as well, but I don't think Dean has the size to play ILB in a 3-4 scheme in the NFL. You can get away with being smaller and playing that position in college, but in the pros it's much different. I also really, really like Mike Rose of Iowa State. He is a big "thumper" in the middle and he has excellent coverage ability as well. He had 5 interceptions in 2020 and now opposing QB's don't throw anywhere near him. Lloyd may not have ideal size for a 3-4 ILB, but if his billed size is accurate, he's not too far off and I believe he could easily play effectively in the NFL at his current size.

I know Utah runs a 4-3 scheme, but imo, Lloyd is way more adaptable to a 3-4 scheme change than Myles Jack was. Lloyd is so much more instinctive and just seems to have a nose for finding the football. If Utah lined him up solely at at MLB and let him go, I believe he would be even better. Sometimes coaches can't see the "forest through the trees" and try to get too innovative with an athletic player like Lloyd. Just let him do what he does best. Mike Rose comes from a 3-3-5 scheme and is extremely instinctive as well and shows a lot of the same traits. That's been the problem with Myles Jack. He has all the athleticism in the world, but he lacks the natural instincts to be an effective ILB. He needs to be on the outside in a 4-3 scheme. 

I really believe 200% that we need a new pair of starting ILB's. One "thumper" who can help stuff the run and one for much needed help in coverage. Both should have some coverage ability though. We don't have one decent ILB starting for us right now. Myles Jack needs to be traded in the offseason, because he's being totally wasted in the 3-4 scheme and he's a liability. 

If we could somehow get a pair of linebackers like Lloyd and Rose, I believe it will make a world of difference for our defense. With that said, I highly doubt that it happens. I believe Lloyd goes late round 1 and Rose should go no later than mid round 3.

So do you see him as the replacement for Jack, should he get traded, or the upgrade over Damien Wilson?

What would be your player comp for him?

I don't see him as the thumper that Devin White in Tampa is.  He doesn't have the cover skills of Kuechly or Urlacher or the pure speed of Shazier.  To me, if I saw him in a 3-4, he'd be a poor man's Shazier, maybe like a bigger Devin Bush.

I still don't get how Utah uses him.

If he excels in space and gets engulfed by OLs, why put him with his hand on the ground head up on a T?  Yes he's an athlete and you want to utilize his athletic ability, but by lining him up like that, you negate him.  He doesn't have the length or bulk to successfully take on many LTs.  

There are things about him I like and things about him I don't like.  I want to see more of him, though.

Either one. He's so much better than either player. Probably Jack though. He has the athleticism of Jack, but he has the instincts that Jack is sorely lacking. 

I see Lloyd as a Roquan Smith type player. They are very similar. If he is lined up at one spot and let him be, I believe he could be excellent. 

Utah definitely isn't doing him any favors by the way they use him.

Check out Mike Rose too if you get a chance. I like him a lot too.

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