NewCliche21 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 This could be in ATN, but since we have two guys on our team who are candidates for this, I was wondering if some of the more experienced (read: old) members of the board could shed some light on this for me: When it comes to SAM, we didn't really get anyone of consequence. There has been talk of moving either Wilson or Orakpo from DE to SAM, and I know that San Francisco made a similar move with Carter. I'm just wondering, how often does this work out? I want to limit this to players' careers who are rookies or already established in the NFL, because I feel like any non-lineman was probably the best overall player at their high schools and could've played any position (Sean Taylor was a running back in high school, but safety is clearly where he belonged). Also, I'm counting receivers as receivers and corners and corners regardless of whether they're #1, 2, 3, 4, etc. I know that tackles can move to guard and corners can move to safety with relative ease, so I'm also not including "step-down" or "career-extending" position changes. So yeah, does anyone know the overall record is with these major shifts in position? Is it easier for one change than another? How do the Redskins fare historically in these position changes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbleedBnG83 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Orakpo won't be moving to LB, put will get some snaps at it. He has already been slated as the starting DE opposite Carter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCliche21 Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Orakpo won't be moving to LB, put will get some snaps at it. He has already been slated as the starting DE opposite Carter. Oops, yeah, I should've mentioned that. :doh: I only put it in there because it's what made me think of the question. Thanks for clearing that up; I don't want to start any rumors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jthor99 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I don't like it. The situation I've brought up all off season that relates to this post is Julius Peppers request to move to a 3-4 scheme as a OLB. For one, Peppers has been downright dominant his entire career (over 70 sacks) at DE why he would want to switch positions is a bit puzzling to me. I'm not suggesting he can't do it or atleast be productive, but why would a team be willing to risk production out of a guy who simply wants to "try" a different position? Too much $ is involved in expiermenting with different positions. For guys who are having issues getting onto the football field (which are usually low salary type of players) I'm certainly all for it, but guys who are getting paid big $ to play a type of position shouldn't be moved around simply because the position is a need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cphil006 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Orakpo played some LB in college. He was so strong, that DE was a good fit for him and he was very effective... I think he'll be very effective in a lot of positions for us here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbleedBnG83 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I think its hard to be effective switching positions if you haven't played much of the other position. Like Wilson for instance. I'm not sure how he will fair at SAM, but I would imagine that staff would let the best player play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annonymous Source Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 My personal philosophy of this is that the concept of positions is outdated, especially on defence. With all of the personnel and position changes that occur I really dont feel that the concept is still relevant. I see it as more of a matter of "Roles" on defence. It doesnt really matter which position the player is in as long as they have the same role. 1) Run Stuffer-Clog up the line of scrimmage to limit holes (Griffin, Haynesworth, Montgomery, Daniels, Wynn) 2) Pass Rusher- Get to the QB Period (Haynesworth, Carter, Orakpo, Wilson) 3) Lane Filler- Flowing into gaps to stop run and covering underneath routes (Mcintosh, Blades, Fletcher, Horton) 4) Coverage- Matching up with wide recievers down the field (Rogers, Landry, Hall) these are generalizations that I use to assess the aid that particular players are giving to the team on defence. So as far as position changes go, I wouldnt worry about them as long as they stay in roughly the same role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaSkin Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Well, it didn't work out all that well for Carter in SF, but it wasn't a total disaster either. It happens all the time at the college level and not all that infrequently when moving from college to the pros. A lot of running QBs get switched (ARE, Derrick Williams, Seneca Wallace, Matt Jones etc...). You see some movement between safety and LB as well, not to mention the switch between 4-3 DE and 3-4 OLB plus switches between 4-3 DT and 3-4 DE. Obviously players get moved around on the O-line quite a bit too. You certainly see players moving from corner to safety both in the initial transition from college to the pros and later in the pro career. Ronnie Lott, arguably the best safety in NFL history started out as a corner. As uninformative as this answer is, it all depends on the player. By the time they've made it to the pros, if a player doesn't have any experience in coverage(not sure about Orakpo or Wilson on that one), I don't think they're going to work out too well at the SAM if they're going to be required to do anything other than a spot zone drop, but that's just my opinion. On the other hand, with the recent trend towards zone blitzes it's not that rare to see DEs in (zone) coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagletooth Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Marcus Washington made the switch. But we let the Colts train him up before we grabbed him in FA. Greg Williams mentioned he liked Marcus coming out of college, but didn't want to draft him because it would be a project moving him from DE to the SAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitmandm Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Vernon Gholston. enuff said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I'm wondering if any of the TE's we drafted were with the mindset of a switch to FB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I'm wondering if any of the TE's we drafted were with the mindset of a switch to FB I can't remember his name this instant, but I keep reading that the TE we just drafted this year is really a FB prospect and could be trained up to replace Sellers...but I seem to remember thinking that he seemed much too small for that. At the same time, there are not many pure fullbacks left in the league, really, so having a more trim, TE-esque FB in Zorn's WC offense may be what he eventually wants... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I can't remember his name this instant, but I keep reading that the TE we just drafted this year is really a FB prospect and could be trained up to replace Sellers...but I seem to remember thinking that he seemed much too small for that.At the same time, there are not many pure fullbacks left in the league, really, so having a more trim, TE-esque FB in Zorn's WC offense may be what he eventually wants... Speaking of Sellers, he's a good example of switching positions working. He played LB in college, moved to TE in the NFL and moved to FB in the CFL before coming back here. I think if you are a good athlete and work at it, you can move around to different positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldfan Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 So yeah, does anyone know the overall record is with these major shifts in position? Is it easier for one change than another? How do the Redskins fare historically in these position changes? I can't give you stats, but I think that switches should be tried more often. I'd like to see the Skins draft with emphasis on athleticism, while deemphasizing speed and size -- on the baseball theory that the shortstop can play any position. College tight ends too slow for the NFL might be bulked up to make good linemen. Tight ends with good speed but bad hands might be tried at linebacker. The combination of athleticism and intelligence makes the player versatile. Pat Fischer was drafted I think in the 12th round by the Cardinals. In college, he played QB and halfback. He wasn't big or fast. He played the corner in the NFL with his head and superior techniques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rook Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 So yeah, does anyone know the overall record is with these major shifts in position? Is it easier for one change than another? How do the Redskins fare historically in these position changes? Billy Kilmer, Charley Taylor and Art Monk were RB's. Brian Mitchell and ARE - QB's :helmet: The Rook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCliche21 Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thanks a ton, guys! Looks like it can be pretty successful. Of course, it's easy to remember those who succeeded because they had notable careers as opposed to those who switched and were never heard of/from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmike Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 In a quasi-side note, we talked a lot last year about Jason Taylor "switching positions" from RDE to LDE. With Orakpo now slated to play "RDE" on nickel situations, does that mean Andre Carter will now be "switching positions?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaSkinsNut Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Some other Redskins notables I didn't see. Joe Jacoby was a LB. John Hall was a LB. Tom Tupa was a QB Chris Cooley was a DT before switching to TE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinswin=happy Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 rocky is switching and blades is taking his spot, thats pretty much it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HailNatsSkinz Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 some other redskins notables i didn't see.Joe jacoby was a lb. John hall was a lb. Tom tupa was a qb chris cooley was a dt before switching to te. what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightbird Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Wasn't Mike Furrey a safety, and Mike Martz had a hunch to try him out at WR? Our own Lorenzo Alexander has . . . .well I'm not sure what he started as but he's all over. The Giants drafted Kiwanuka as a DE and moved him back to linebacker when Lavar didn't work out. At least I think that's how it went -- Kiwi definitely was a D-lineman in college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCliche21 Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Some other Redskins notables I didn't see.Joe Jacoby was a LB. John Hall was a LB. Tom Tupa was a QB Chris Cooley was a DT before switching to TE. Wow, I knew about NONE of these. Hall was a backer? Crazy! Cooley doesn't surprise me since he was a big-time wrestler in school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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