04-12-2025, 11:59 PM
(04-11-2025, 01:57 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I can think of one just one physique change that actually made a difference and that was because of also a positional change/committment. Michael Johnson came into the league at 266, Marvin wanted him to be a 4-3 OLB that he could use to blitz (a guy Marvin was always obsessed with getting, later leading to Dontay Moch), but every time Odom went down the first two years of his career he inevitably got moved to primarily DE despite preparing for 4-3 OLB the first two years. Even his second year of 2010 the Bengals announced he was going to be an OLB and he prepared the entire time that way but then Odom went down real early and Rucker went down later and once the season starts it's too late to change your body. So he was always like 10 pounds too heavy for OLB but 20-25lbs too light for DE. 2011 they brought Manny Lawson in to take that OLB role and it was the first year MJ spent the entire offseason preparing to play only DE and it showed.
Stuff like this is why some fans are so leery of certain archetypes. They have a history of not getting it right with tweeners. Same with safeties who may be the next Derwin James. Maybe Golden will come in and straighten all of that out. Or maybe he'll do stuff like try to play George Iloka at FS when he had always been a dependable SS. I could see a world where Dax Hill and Myles Murphy would look better with a perfect scheme fit. Both can chase in space and pursue pretty well. They just aren't necessarily good at say defeating blocks or playing with anticipation in coverage. Sounds like a disconnect where the big board isn't weighed enough for scheme fit.
