View Full Version : Thought this was interesting.
This was in Sporting News mag. this week. "Stuck behind MLB DeMeco Ryans as a rookiie, Zac Diles will be tried at strongside linebacker. Coach Gary Kubiak prefers for his outside linebackers to be biggerthan Diles(6-2, 230), but he likes Diles' smarts, speed and playmaking ability."
Thought this was interesting considering the talk about Eslinger. We were able to grab him for a shot at center b/c of who he was behind elsewhere. Kubiak sees talent and instead of getting rid of him, he wants to move him to another position and see what he can do. Hey way to make use out of what you got instead of just pushing them to the side.
Heck I believe it would be worth a shot, as you stated why lose talent.Give the man a shot an OLB spot, could turn out to be a very good experiment. ;)
Here is an earlier quote by Kubes concerning Diles, he recognized the man has talent and knows he needs to find a way to exploit it.
"He's pushing hard to get on the field awful quick, so we'll see," Kubiak said. "That's a big step to take, but if the kid keeps doing what he's doing, we're going to have to find a way to get him out there."
HydrOshocK
01-30-2008, 06:21 PM
Diles will see the field a lot more next year but it's hard to say if he will become an every down OLB. He is pretty light but he's a baller. I expect he'll play pretty well if given a chance. The question is can he stand up to the pounding as an every down LB? Personally I can't wait to find out.
Diles will see the field a lot more next year but it's hard to say if he will become an every down OLB. He is pretty light but he's a baller. I expect he'll play pretty well if given a chance. The question is can he stand up to the pounding as an every down LB? Personally I can't wait to find out.I could honestly see him more as a situational player as you stated than every down LB.
willieg52
01-30-2008, 06:38 PM
A thought Diles was only like 6 ft tall.
HydrOshocK
01-30-2008, 06:53 PM
Our site has him listed at 6'0" 240 lbs
Clamp
01-30-2008, 06:55 PM
Diles is listed as 240 on the roster. has he lost weight since coming to the team and it just hasnt been updated do you think?
Here are some other linebackers who are about the same size, just to see as a comparison.
Gary Brackett | #58 | MLB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 235
Derrick Brooks | #55 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 235
Keith Bulluck | #53 | OLB
Height: 6-3 Weight: 235
Lance Briggs | #55 | OLB
Height: 6-1 Weight: 240
Ian Gold | #52 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 223
Cato June | #59 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 227
Zach Thomas | #54 | MLB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 228
Odell Thurman | #51 | LB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 235
sorry, the list got a little long. any ways, some of these guys are bigger and some are smaller. if Diles can turn out to be as good as most of them then we will be pleasently surprised.
SMC-22
01-30-2008, 06:57 PM
Could Diles be that outside pass rusher we always wanted,I'd like to see us sign a free agent LB,or draft one real high.I think the position should dictate alot of attention.
Diles is listed as 240 on the roster. has he lost weight since coming to the team and it just hasnt been updated do you think?
Here are some other linebackers who are about the same size, just to see as a comparison.
Gary Brackett | #58 | MLB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 235
Derrick Brooks | #55 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 235
Keith Bulluck | #53 | OLB
Height: 6-3 Weight: 235
Lance Briggs | #55 | OLB
Height: 6-1 Weight: 240
Ian Gold | #52 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 223
Cato June | #59 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 227
Zach Thomas | #54 | MLB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 228
Odell Thurman | #51 | LB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 235
sorry, the list got a little long. any ways, some of these guys are bigger and some are smaller. if Diles can turn out to be as good as most of them then we will be pleasently surprised.Thanks for the comparision chart Clamp, Diles seems to reside in the middle of that pack.
Clamp
01-30-2008, 07:12 PM
WOOOH!!:eek: Go Texans, i didnt rcognize you there. changed ur avatar on us there. you have to warn us when you do this stuff. I thought we had a new guy. j/k like the new one, pretty bad @$$.
willieg52
01-30-2008, 07:14 PM
Diles is listed as 240 on the roster. has he lost weight since coming to the team and it just hasnt been updated do you think?
Here are some other linebackers who are about the same size, just to see as a comparison.
Gary Brackett | #58 | MLB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 235
Derrick Brooks | #55 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 235
Keith Bulluck | #53 | OLB
Height: 6-3 Weight: 235
Lance Briggs | #55 | OLB
Height: 6-1 Weight: 240
Ian Gold | #52 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 223
Cato June | #59 | OLB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 227
Zach Thomas | #54 | MLB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 228
Odell Thurman | #51 | LB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 235
sorry, the list got a little long. any ways, some of these guys are bigger and some are smaller. if Diles can turn out to be as good as most of them then we will be pleasently surprised.
Seems like almost all those LB's play in the middle or weakside. I think that if Diles were to contribute then he would be more suited for the weakside and not strongside.
WOOOH!!:eek: Go Texans, i didnt rcognize you there. changed ur avatar on us there. you have to warn us when you do this stuff. I thought we had a new guy. j/k like the new one, pretty bad @$$.Thanks it's offseason and boredom takes over.;)
Seems like almost all those LB's play in the middle or weakside. I think that if Diles were to contribute then he would be more suited for the weakside and not strongside.Tend to agree with this, if he does take the field, I too would see the weakside as his home.
I think the reason he said strong side was b/c like it said in the article his "smarts, speed and play making ability." You know the strong side coming at someone head on you have to have have a plus in those attributes as opposed to to coming at someone from the backside. Apparently Coach sees somehting that we don't that makes him want to try him on strong side.You are correct about the stronside remark, my ADD must have kicked in.That is what I get for speed reading. :eek:
HydrOshocK
01-30-2008, 10:45 PM
I think Diles is aggressive enough to play the strong side, but it would be a challenge if he's as light as 230. Still, he's the type of guy that turns it on when it's game time. I love the fact that Kubiak is going to give him a shot. Remember, he said a few times that he regretted not getting a player involved more last season and this year he lead the team in receptions. ;)
I still say Briggs, Meco, and Diles would be one hell of a LB corps. You want smash mouth football don't you?
I still say Briggs, Meco, and Diles would be one hell of a LB corps. You want smash mouth football don't you?Hell I could live or die with that line up.I defintely would not want to meet those three on a football field. :eek:
ROUGHNECKS
01-31-2008, 07:52 AM
Briggs, Meco, and Diles[/QUOTE]
That would put us in the top tier at linebacker in the NFL that is if Diles pans out at that spot. I bet Mario would love it he may not have any help at the other end spot those guys would with out a doubt help him and free him up to destroy the backfield.
Battle-Red
01-31-2008, 08:09 AM
Kubes kept pulling DeMeco out towards the end of the year when he was banged up (allowing Diles some snaps), but DeMeco kept going back in the very next play(dude just has sick heart/skills). I think Kubes even mentioned it some where (maybe while talking to Bob Allen). And Diles got some snaps(not as many as Anderson) once Clark got injured as well. Not to mention Diles and Cox were heat seekers on kickoffs.
HuttoKarl
01-31-2008, 09:07 AM
There's a reason Kubiak used a draft pick on the guy. I'm all for seeing what he can do. Remember before last season, people were talking about how Kevin Walter isn't fast or awesome and couldn't possibly draw attention away from AJ?
I'll give Diles the same benefit of the doubt as I gave Walter when everyone was questioning him.
Towlie
01-31-2008, 04:36 PM
I know this might piss you guys off a bit but what about going hybrid with 43 and a 34 defense... Hopefully if we sign suggs we could go TJ maddox and Okoye at d line, and Mario and SUggs at OLB with Diles and Ryans inside... that would bring some insane pass rush... im not saying that we should go 34 from now on, im saying make this our situational defense... Your thoughts
WaldovonPutz
01-31-2008, 04:56 PM
I know this might piss you guys off a bit but what about going hybrid with 43 and a 34 defense... Hopefully if we sign suggs we could go TJ maddox and Okoye at d line, and Mario and SUggs at OLB with Diles and Ryans inside... that would bring some insane pass rush... im not saying that we should go 34 from now on, im saying make this our situational defense... Your thoughts
Sounds good to me! Doesn't New England do this? Guess you need the personnel, but we are getting there.
Clamp
02-01-2008, 09:35 PM
some of yall were saying you might like Diles better at the weak side. if that were the case, would you rather have Greenwood, Clark, or Anderson at strong side? i realize some play weakside but if Diles locked up weak and they were given a chance at strong. We are also gonna get shawn barber back who was injured if his conract is not up. he might play MLB, i dont remember off the top of my head.
Sounds good to me! Doesn't New England do this? Guess you need the personnel, but we are getting there.I would have to say yes and no.Yes to New England using a wide variety of disguises for THEIR defense and no to personnel.I would love to see us on occasion drop into a 3-4 more as a tool for giving the opposing coaches something else to game plan for.As for the personnel side we already have the players to run a few 3-4 schemes.I wouldn't want to do it often more as a twist to the regular gameplan.
Hey just my .02
I could agree with that, b/c with Mario's speed it would be like having 5 Lb's out there and would be a quick defense.No doubt plus Mario could really excell at rushing the QB from different positions on the field.Shifting him around as we did at the end of the season would really have OC' heads spinning.
Wolf123
02-01-2008, 10:12 PM
Its always good to give the offense different looks, but if diles wins the WLB that would be the end of it for greenwood. He wouldn't be able to take on the extra blockers. I would like to see Diles,Ryans,Anderson as our starting linebackers.
Clamp
02-02-2008, 06:59 PM
THATS the question i was trying to get answered. i like ^^this^^ idea. maybe use danny clark and anderson sharing time for a while but the fact that clark is much older i think anderson should get more play to allow him to get more experience and therefore play better. he is the better solution b/c he will be here for longer.
Wolf123
02-02-2008, 07:07 PM
I like Anderson more because he's the most athletic linebacker we have, great blitzer, good in coverage. The only thing that Clark is better at is being physical.
Erratic Assassin
02-03-2008, 07:53 PM
Coach Gary Kubiak prefers for his outside linebackers to be biggerthan Diles(6-2, 230), but he likes Diles' smarts, speed and playmaking ability."
The only thing that matters is whether the guy can make plays. Looks can be deceiving. Ryan Leaf looked like the prototype NFL QB and he sucked. Demeco Ryans didn't look all that good on paper but all guy does is make plays.
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