Quote:Well, Telvin only fell to the 5th round because he and other Florida State prospects (Timmy Jernigan, Christian Jones) failed drug tests, and also because NFL teams avoid LBs who weigh less than 230 like the plague. Gus Bradley's defense is just a "hybrid" defense with a lot of roles and substitutions so his scheme is more suited to players who aren't prototype sized. He has 2nd/3rd round instincts and 1st round athleticism but teams were worried about him staying out of trouble, and they were worried he wouldn't be able to bulk up enough to translate to the bigger, stronger NFL. But since he has stayed away from the weed and put football first in his life, I think we got ourselves a steal.


As far as the argument going on whether it's his size or diagnosis of blocking schemes that's keeping him limited to the nickel package -- I think it's both. He is well above average at playing zone coverage against the pass, probably already our best LB in space, and that's what makes him a valuable draft pick -- but he needs a lot of work against the run. He is too easily erased from the play once he gets blocked, and that has to do both with his size and he also needs to improve his block shedding technique. Fact of the matter is, if there's one thing we can be happy about as Jags fans (besides the Cincy game) it's our run defense and there was no reason to rush Telvin into bulked up "base" packages when Geno Hayes and JT Thomas are already solid run enforcers. Of course now that Watson is cut and both MLB's are hurt, now we don't really have a choice. But having an every-down LB who is easy to block = teams are gonna run the ball to that LB's side all day and pick up 4-7 yards whenever they want. It can affect a defense's productivity a lot more than people realize, on defense you're only as good as your weakest link, so yes it IS necessary for Smith to bulk up a bit if he wants to see the field more down the line.