Reality: We Have 2 (4-3) Ends We're Trying to Convert to (3-4) OLBs/Ends

[Enter Apotheosis]

No not really. You essentially don't have any of the same questions taking any sort of DB. And the conversion amongst LB positions is less difficult in general and depending on the scheme from 4-3 to DT to NT.

This is the hardest transition to make normally.

DB is significantly lower on the priority list. It's hard for me to follow exactly what you're saying in the bolded section of that quote, the wording is kind of throwing me for a loop.

AJ Hawk is pretty good proof of the transition from various LB spots not being quite so easy as you might expect. It took him a while to really adjust and start playing well for Dom Capers. He only really even had the chance to prove himself last season because Barnett wound up on IR. The transition from DT to NT is probably the hardest transition for a player to make in a scheme that relies on 2-gap play over the center as ours does. Most DT prospects simply can't do it.

OLB not just LB. I think normally there is a pretty easy transition between an ILB and other LB positions in a 4-3 (like Fletcher, Hawk, and Farrior have all done after being pros) and so there is more competition for those picks because 4-3 teams are also competing for them.

Look at your picks by position (not counting the Redskins)

OLB: 2, UDFA, 1, 4, 1, 7/UDFA

ILB: 1, 1, 1, UDFA, 1, 6

The bolded part is simply untrue. The top 3-4 OLB prospects possess the athleticism to be scheme versatile and can potentially be fits in the 4-3 as either DEs or OLBs, so there's just as much competition there. Elite pass-rushing prospects even tend to be a far hotter commodity than your average LB and tend to go faster and higher up in the draft as a result. That makes it harder to have an opportunity at upper echelon prospects if you're a responsible, successful team that frequently picks in the second half of a round and prefers not to trade up. Incidentally, all three of those teams fit that bill.

I might also note that Timmons was originally an OLB selection by the Steelers but Woodley was just too good for him to beat out, so he wound up at ILB.

Imagine this:

Rak/Kerrigan RE-

Bryant DT-

Marvin Austin 3-Tech

Bowers LE

Sounds like a waste of a DE pick between Kerrigan and Bowers. You really need to just let it go, DG.

[Maxima2000]

I don't know about you guys, but after watching some tape of Ryan Kerrigan, I am super pumped about this pick, and can't wait to see what Shanny does with the 2 second rounders that he has now. My wishlist is Paea and Mallet, or Williams and Mallet.

[Chump Bailey]

I don't know about you guys, but after watching some tape of Ryan Kerrigan, I am super pumped about this pick, and can't wait to see what Shanny does with the 2 second rounders that he has now. My wishlist is Paea and Mallet, or Williams and Mallet.

Me too. Any player with that sort of motor, you have to like.

[KDawg]

I just wish he fit the SAM position better. I have NO problems with Kerrigan himself. Only his fit/the coach responsible for making sure we utilizing him correctly. Kerrigan himself is a good choice.

[PeterMP]

The bolded part is simply untrue. The top 3-4 OLB prospects possess the athleticism to be scheme versatile and can potentially be fits in the 4-3 as either DEs or OLBs, so there's just as much competition there. Elite pass-rushing prospects even tend to be a far hotter commodity than your average LB and tend to go faster and higher up in the draft as a result. That makes it harder to have an opportunity at upper echelon prospects if you're a responsible, successful team that frequently picks in the second half of a round and prefers not to trade up. Incidentally, all three of those teams fit that bill.

The transition is hard from DT to NT because the people have to have the size. I don't think there is any evidence that projecting the person's ability to do it is that hard. If the person has the size, it seems to me that it normally works ok.

3-4 OLBs tend to be too small to play DE in a 4-3. Somebody like Suggs is frequently considered to have the atheleticism and size to do both.

But Harrrison can't. Mathews can't. The guy in Miamis is considered to small. I'll bet a 4-3 wouldn't have taken Kerrigan until late in the first round because he wouldn't have been considered an every down player. He'd be a situational pass rusher.

The 3-4 OLB is frequently the tweener that doesn't have a lot of value as an every down player to 4-3 teams.