The Desmond Bishop dilemma

[El Duderino]

Hawk and Chillar are just better players with fewer flaws. Bishop has no range or awareness in coverage.

Bishop very well could end up giving a lot of big plays if given extended playing time, but if my memory is correct, last year Chillar was torched quite a bit himself in coverage as were other linebackers when our defense faced quality quarterbacks. Granted, when Chillar was signed, his ability in coverage was supposed to be one of his strong suits and maybe last season was just an aberration, but he hardly was a pillar of consistency in coverage.

The one caveat i will give on that was Chillar did get forced into playing a quasi hybrid safety/LB role for a few games after Martin was a massive bust while trying to fill in for the injured Bigby. I don't remember if some of those big plays he gave up were by Chillar being placed into a role he simply wasn't physically capable of filling because the safety depth was so poor?

[Ayt]

El Dude, Chillar definitely gave up too much in coverage last year, but I'd also say they asked the guy to do a bit too much as well. Chillar is either our best or 2nd best coverage LB (fully healthy Barnett) despite his struggles at times last season. It will be extremely interesting how things play out if they actually start Chillar at ROLB and move Matthews to LOLB. If Chillar can actually hold up against the run outside and still use his size and athleticism to rush from that position it would be impressive considering where he's played so far in his career. I'm really rooting for him since I think he has much more natural talent than Jones, though Jones could become a player down the road.

As for Bishop, I'm not surprised with the press gazette line. The guy simply can't cover. He ran his mouth a bit and now he's getting his shot in practice and he needs to show what he can do. If not, he's just a slightly better version of Adbul Hodge. Maybe he could be a two down MLB for some other team, but I doubt it.

[SugarRay34]

I would just rather move Chillar to the outside and have Bishop be the backup in the middle for both guys. Chillar is athletic enough to make the switch. We need to find a way to get Bishop on the field though.

[LarryHarris]

I guess Bishop has gotten into multiple fights, with two very important players to the franchise (Jermichael Finley, Brian Bulaga) both of which ended with Bish ripping their helmets off.

He's clearly starting to get pissed. IMO, the organization needs to pull him aside and either tell him they'll try to trade him or tell him he can win a starting job on the field.if he hurts someone they will have some splaining to do.

He's like the Incredible Hulk...

[El Duderino]

El Dude, Chillar definitely gave up too much in coverage last year, but I'd also say they asked the guy to do a bit too much as well. Chillar is either our best or 2nd best coverage LB (fully healthy Barnett) despite his struggles at times last season. It will be extremely interesting how things play out if they actually start Chillar at ROLB and move Matthews to LOLB. If Chillar can actually hold up against the run outside and still use his size and athleticism to rush from that position it would be impressive considering where he's played so far in his career. I'm really rooting for him since I think he has much more natural talent than Jones, though Jones could become a player down the road.

I wouldn't count on Chillar being able to hold up as a starting OLB in this defense where it's often important for that guy to hold the edge. That's IMO the most impressive thing i saw out of Jones last year. For him being an under 240 pound rookie, i though overall that Jones did an impressive job sealing the edge when asked given most times he was being blocked by a tackle or TE with more size to a lot more size. My main concern with Jones is if he can rush the passer over a long season.

I don't know what to make of Chillar. He is intriguing because the guy is athletic and seems to have decent smarts, but yet to often he gets pushed around in the run game, for all the talk about his coverage skills the guy got torched quite a bit last year, and when he was asked to blitz, he wasn't all that productive. Like i said in my earlier post, i know that Capers/McCarthy put Chillar in a tough spot for a few games because our backup safeties were so miserable, but that wasn't the only stretch where Chillar was getting beat in coverage. Who knows, maybe he'll play much better this season, but he didn't impress me much at all last year.

[ReasonablySober]

Chillar has somehow become the most overrated player on the team. We keep hearing about how athletic he is and how well he performs in space, but he's out there getting beat in coverage as much as anyone and he's not making a lot of plays either.

I'd love it if he could become a viable player off the edge, but I doubt it ever happens.

[Ayt]

El Dude, Chillar definitely gave up too much in coverage last year, but I'd also say they asked the guy to do a bit too much as well. Chillar is either our best or 2nd best coverage LB (fully healthy Barnett) despite his struggles at times last season. It will be extremely interesting how things play out if they actually start Chillar at ROLB and move Matthews to LOLB. If Chillar can actually hold up against the run outside and still use his size and athleticism to rush from that position it would be impressive considering where he's played so far in his career. I'm really rooting for him since I think he has much more natural talent than Jones, though Jones could become a player down the road.

I wouldn't count on Chillar being able to hold up as a starting OLB in this defense where it's often important for that guy to hold the edge. That's IMO the most impressive thing i saw out of Jones last year. For him being an under 240 pound rookie, i though overall that Jones did an impressive job sealing the edge when asked given most times he was being blocked by a tackle or TE with more size to a lot more size. My main concern with Jones is if he can rush the passer over a long season.

I don't know what to make of Chillar. He is intriguing because the guy is athletic and seems to have decent smarts, but yet to often he gets pushed around in the run game, for all the talk about his coverage skills the guy got torched quite a bit last year, and when he was asked to blitz, he wasn't all that productive. Like i said in my earlier post, i know that Capers/McCarthy put Chillar in a tough spot for a few games because our backup safeties were so miserable, but that wasn't the only stretch where Chillar was getting beat in coverage. Who knows, maybe he'll play much better this season, but he didn't impress me much at all last year.

I agree completely about Jones against the run. I thought he'd get killed at his weight in the NFL, yet when I re-watched games he was able to engage and at worst (most of the time) hold his ground against OL and FBs. I was pretty floored by his ability to just hold up and let the other guys make plays considering his weight.

That being said, he really has no pass rushing moves other than a speed rush and I really can't comment too much on his coverage abilities since TV angles are such garbage (will they ever have a more zoomed out angle????). I hate the current TV angles. Anyway, I'd love for a bulked up Jones to bounce back and win the job, but at the same time I also think Chillar could offer something at ROLB. In that spot, he could theoretically be dropping more into space and Matthews could spend most of his time rushing the passer at LOLB.

Who knows though. Best case scenario is that Jones seizes the job and Chillar can go back to being a situational and nickel LB. My very early guess is that Jones does indeed start in the base, but if he falters Chillar is the fallback instead of Poppinga. It wouldn't shock me at all if he got cut if the other OLB show something. It would also be awesome if Chillar flashed the athleticism he has in all situations as the ROLB in base in the preseason and we can roll with him as the starter because he does have a lot of talent and experience. I really have no idea how he could match up against an OT against the run or the pass though. Bring on the preseason and let's find out.