Guest Aloysius Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Here's a scouting report on a relatively unknown linebacker that we may be hearing a lot about once free agency starts: Ricky Brown, LB, Oakland Strengths: High character player who leaves it all on the field...Kind of guy who runs into a pileup and emerges wrapped around the ballcarrier...When he makes contact, he almost always brings the runner down...Doesn't play up to his pro day 40 time (4.48), but he's quick enough to chase down TE's...Core special teams player...Switched from safety to linebacker in college and may be just now coming into his own as a LB. Weaknesses: Average ability to shed blocks...Can get mauled by offensive lineman & run-blocking TE's...Is a little tight-hipped, which can lead to him failing to make plays in space...Came off the field when Oakland moved to its nickel defense...Missed 9 games due to a nagging groin injury, so durability could be an issue. Conclusions: The rumor mill already has ManKok interested in bringing in Brown for a FA visit. His good athleticism and great work ethic would make him a solid addition to our LB core: most likely as a backup ILB, but possibly as something more. However, Brown is a restricted free agent, and the Raiders are expected to tender him high. Considering our small cache of draft picks, I doubt we'll give away a 2nd for Brown. But if the Raiders like a player on our roster that ManKok can afford to part with, Ricky could end up in a Browns uniform next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I would hope to get more than a back-up if we are going to have to give something in the way of picks or players above and beyond whatever it takes to sign him. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 he sounds like another d'qwell jackson to me. can't shed blocks, gets mauled by lineman and is undersized. if we get some decent outside linebackers it may be worth pairing him with dj but without olbs we won't really benefit from getting him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gips Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I agree with peen.. Its pretty crucial any backers that we get can avoid/shed blocks decently to get to the ball DQ is slightly above average but would be ungodly if he had or can develop better collision avoidance radar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPB Dawg Fan Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Interesting that Mangini LOVES Jackson -- as do I -- and said he needs a faster linebacker next to him. He didn't say bigger because Andra Davis is all kinds of big. Our problem was starting two of the slower 'backers in the NFL. yeah...considering the SIZE of our DL...we may go for an ILB in the 240-250 range with a lot of speed. Right now our biggest problem is covering the field...both our DL and our LB's are big and slow...so maybe he envisions a bunch of smaller/faster guys in LB to allow for pursuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aloysius Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 For comparison, I'd say that Brown sheds blocks just as well as Eric Barton, the veteran ILB who had over 100 tackles in Mangini's defense last year. And he's just as good as bringing guys down as Pat Thomas, another mid-level UFA option. However, Thomas doesn't have the footspeed (4.86 40) to get to the guys Brown (4.48 40) can. So while Thomas disengages from blockers better, I think Brown would be the better option. We may go with Barton because of his experience with Mangini & veteran leadership, but Brown and Thomas offer better upside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 although it's true taht dj had a great year ( the most tackles in the league) it is also true that he blew some assignments. yeah he made a lot of tackles but most of them came 5 or 6 yards down field or after the first down marker. i like dj and want to see him do well, hopefully we can get good players to compliment him this off season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPB Dawg Fan Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 It's still a mystery -- to paraphrase Savage's recent quote -- how Rogers was so good and we were horrible against the run. Add in that Jackson had an excellent year (verified by a pretty good defensive mastermind in Mangini) and led the league in tackles, and I wonder if we had an Andruzzi situation with Davis. One really, really bad link. It's a mystery TO SAVAGE! If he had bothered to ask his HC/DC...he would have discovered that he didn't have a SINGLE PLAYER that fits the DE spot for the 3-4 defense. Outside of an aging R.Smith...and a player who never saw the field (Purcel), ALL of his DL were in effect NT's. The prototypical DE in the 3-4 is 285-310 lbs and has good side to side mobility. That is so they can occupy the OT's and keep the OLB's clean to put pressure on the QB....as well as contain the outside run. However, because our DE's were NOT mobile....we had to move them around in order to get the coverage. When we kept them in close...they were occupied by the OG's and the OT's took out our OLB's and so teams ran wide on us. When we split them out a bit...they took on the OT's...but left Rogers 1 on 3 against the C and BOTH OG's....so teams were able to push Rogers to one side and run up the middle with at least one OG to take on the MLB's. See, no mystery. Just a case of having the WRONG PERSONNEL FOR THE SYSTEM!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPB Dawg Fan Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I kinda disagree on Corey Williams. Size aside, most 3-4 DEs are 4-3 tackles who can move and get to the quarterback, which is Corey Williams. He's an excellent athlete with some shift in him. He was banged up but played better and better as the year went on. C.William MAY...and I repeat MAY...be an exception...but all I remember was how much he was struggling with the position switch...and then he got hurt...so we have nothing to go on at this point. I agree he has the physical quicks to do it...but without the instinct to do what is necessary at DE...it negates the mobility he possesses. I hope he 'gets it' this year and stays healthy...but so far we don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffer X Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I've been with WPB all along on this and his premise that our DE's are too damned fat and slow. There's more to playing the run than just clogging and taking up space, especially when you don't have great playmaking LB's. Phillip scripted it out on paper as having this fortress of fat guys where Davis and Jackson could feast off it but it doesn't work that way. DE's need to be able to make plays and contain at some point. There were so many times last year where a back looked contained but would just run right by one of the fat guys. It's ok to have one big guy like Williams but you can't have a Smith or Leonard starting with Williams and Rogers. Not to mention, these fat guys get winded running on the outside and need to rotate frequently or they end up like Smith and just kind of roll around running their mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aloysius Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 From The San Francisco Chronicle's Silver & Black blog: ** Outside linebacker Ricky Brown. He won the starting linebacker job last season but missed the second half with a groin injury. A restricted free agent, don't be surprised if the Browns or Broncos offer the restricted free agent a tender to force the Raiders to match if they want to keep him. (In other words, former Raiders coaches Rob Ryan and Don Martindale swear by the guy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aloysius Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Ricky Brown gets offer he won't refuse The Raiders offered outside linebacker Ricky Brown a second-round tender, a league source told The Chronicle this morning, which will all but certainly bring him back next season. Their one-year contract offer is for $1.545 million. Should Brown sign elsewhere as a free agent, the Raiders can choose to match the other teams offer (and keep Brown) or accept a second-round draft pick as compensation. That simply isn't going to happen -- not because Brown isn't worth the modest salary, but because teams are unlikely to give up such a high draft pick for a still-developing player like Brown. To put it in perspective, the Raiders had to give the Falcons a second-round pick to pull off a trade for DeAngelo Hall, a two-time Pro Bowler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Masters Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 I've been with WPB all along on this and his premise that our DE's are too damned fat and slow. There's more to playing the run than just clogging and taking up space, especially when you don't have great playmaking LB's. Phillip scripted it out on paper as having this fortress of fat guys where Davis and Jackson could feast off it but it doesn't work that way. DE's need to be able to make plays and contain at some point. There were so many times last year where a back looked contained but would just run right by one of the fat guys. It's ok to have one big guy like Williams but you can't have a Smith or Leonard starting with Williams and Rogers. Not to mention, these fat guys get winded running on the outside and need to rotate frequently or they end up like Smith and just kind of roll around running their mouth. I think Phil had visions of the giant line the 2000 Ravens had. Problem is, they were a 4-3, and not a 3-4. You can't have 3 imovable objects on the front of a 3-4, especially if you are only gonna rush 3 and send 1 LB from the outside when you decide to "rush" the passer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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