blackangold

I am not going to go into this to much because it's late but...
This was in a thread I made weeks ago.

"Position: Outside Linebacker

The Players: Scott Shanle and Chris Chamberlain

The Battle: It’s fair to say that Gregg Williams’ defensive schemes have never really helped out his linebackers. In addition to whatever bounty-related mess he has got them into, his hyper-aggressive calls always led to linebackers being asked to do things they never had a prayer of successfully achieving. That being said, I’m not sure Scott Shanle would have come out of the past few seasons in any scheme looking good. His -14.0 grade from 2011 represented the fourth consecutive time he scored in negative double-digits for the season. Furthermore, he managed just a single sack and eight pressures despite being sent on the blitz a massive 198 times by Williams last year.

The Saints went on a major linebacker shopping spree this offseason, bringing in three of them during free agency. Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne figure to slot straight in as starters, but the third, Chris Chamberlain has a battle on his hands to topple Shanle from his spot on the depth chart. In truth, Chamberlain looks made for the two-down role in that defense. He scored well (+4.7) last season against the run, but struggled in coverage the 34 times he was targetted. Lofton and Hawthorne are both capable of playing on all three downs, so Chamberlain would be a logical upgrade against the run who would be pulled from the field when the Saints go to nickel packages.

The Verdict: For some reason the Saints don’t seem to be willing or able to sit Shanle down. Maybe he’s a great team guy, and a fantastic presence in practice and meeting rooms, but he just doesn’t play well enough to keep his job. Chamberlain earned a spot with his play last season and if this comes down to merit on the field and nothing else, the job should be his to lose."

Training Camp Battles: NFC South | ProFootballFocus.com


Shanle should not be starting for any team based on every scouting analysis I have seen. He does nothing well, gets blocked out of most plays and is to slow to make tackles in the backfield. Shanle is a liability on the field 'team guy or not'.

Utah_Saint

This is the first year in a long time that the Saints have put an effort into improving their Linebackers. And even after acquiring 3 linebackers through free agency there is still a chance that Shanle will be the starter.

Go figure.

The Dude

Lofton sucks and can't play 3rd down.

|Mitch|

Have you turned yourself into a Falcon hater?

The Dude

It was a joke. Thats all I hear from Falcons fans since we got Lofton.

|Mitch|

Eh; it's late and I'm tired...

Rugby Saint II

Ity will take time for Vilma to get on the field after he is reinstated. He needs rehab desperately and we would benefit from him more later in the season.

The Dude

With the hit we would take on salary cap and the fact that he is not 100% do you think we might even let him go?

Kosoma

with as much as vilma has meant to the team his productivity has dropped each of the last three years. we needed to bring a little youth to the linebackers. while were at it we need to add a decent pass rusher on the line too. i like smith as much as anyone but rarely does he pressure the qb.

homerj07

Just like the D as a whole. I am cautiously optimistic