Hali a better fit in the 3-4?

Good read, I agree with you. I think theyre gonna put him all over the box and i can see this front seven wrecking havoc upon offensive fronts. Given that our defensive coaches can help them do that.

I am excited to see what happens with him…

I am even more anxious for what will happen with Dorsey…

I think Tank, Tamba, and Dorsey will be ok and Turk may struggle with a position.

Tank – He was 320 to 330 when he was at NC State with Mario Williams, John McCargo and Manny Lawson and was the nose with Manny being more like a predator.

Tamba – Should be better at lower weight, he didn’t have blazing speed to begin with so adding weight was supposed to make him better?

Dorsey – As someone posted earlier he is similar to Dockett with the Cards with there skill set so I think he will be ok.

Turk – ? i don’t think he will make it at LB

I think Hali is right when he says 250 may be the best weight for him. Maybe he was playing at 260+ at Penn State because he was a DE.

We’ll see…I hope he finds a place to use his talents

and he is listed as a 6’3" 260 lb DE. In his only season where he was healthy enough to start all 16 games he had 14.5 sacks. Since then he has been banged up some each year and has not topped 6 sacks in a season. I think worst case scenario (if hes’s healthy) would be Tamba puts up 6-9 sacks over 16 games (still an improvement). I think his upside would be 10-14 (again assuming he stays healthy).

Because I think this may be his last chance to prove his worth, with the Chiefs anyway. He seems pretty excited about the switch just based on his comments.

again, look at all the “hybrid” OLB/DE guys that came out in the draft and were “all the rage” for the 3-4 teams…. then look back at Hali coming out of college.

If he were drafted this year, you’d have heard his name with Maybin, Orakpo, English, Ayers and Barwin… and we all were hoping to see the Chiefs draft one of these guys.

Maybe, Just Maybe, Pioli and Haley are confident enough in Hali’s abilities that they don’t feel the Chiefs need to bring in another hybrid guy????

We can debate all day whether Hali has what it takes, or if he can cover people, of if he’s a “bust”… but the bottom line is that he’s going to be on the field in this position, and we’ll see this fall if he can do it or not.

We should all be hoping that he can, because this defense could be great if he can fill this role and get after the QB!!!!

about how our D will line up, the more excited I am to see it come September. I think we have a lot of good players on that side of the ball and it sounds like our coaches are going to find the right scheme for them. Im really hoping Tamba can drop the weight and play the OLB/DE or Predator ( whatever you want to call it) effectivly. If he can our D in my mind could be top 15. I know that may sound like a stretch and I know i pump myself up every year but this year seems different to me. When Herm was around i always had to try to look past some of the gaping holes on our team. This year when im looking at the D, im looking for those holes but they seem to be closing. Maybe its just me being overaly optimistic again but i have high hopes and expectations for this squad.

Whatever spot he’s placed in one thing remains clear, and that is that he’s going to work his ass off. You never hear words of dissention uttered from Hali’s mouth. He seems like one of those guys that remains humble, continues to work hard, and strives to make the most of his opportunities. Given his humble beginnings, you know that he’s not going to take anything for granted.

Hopefully, with talks of the Pioli and Co. moving him to LB and Hali saying he’s much more comfortable in the LB spot, both the Chiefs and Hali will be on the same page to develop those skillsets. Being versatile during a transition is great and all, but it doesn’t make you a starter. The coaching staff need to find a spot for him and quickly so he can develop and get some solid play out of a first-rounder.

I have to admit, I was really giving up on Hali, but after reading this, I am going to retain some hope that he can transition to OLB. I think he will have to play the sam backer behind Vrabel. Not sure. Or maybe be a situational pass rusher as a down end?

I’m tired of hearing “coverage ability” in the same sentence with “LB.” The “coverage” idea is to set up the LB to create problems for the offense in pass coverage by being unexpected in the zone, not necessarily depending on your LB being a great zone defense guy. We don’t want safeties playing LB! Just make sure the LB is conscious of getting a deep enough drop in certain situations, but mainly, only playing coverage AFTER the offense has bent itself out of shape accounting for him as a pass-rushing run-stuffer. Then, when the corner comes off the edge and the QB makes the outlet pass, the LB just happens to be there in the flat. The key is never giving the QB enough comfort zone to make the read.

Get the QB out of his comfort zone by sending 5 or more of the front 7 every down in “opportunistic run-blitz” and THEN drop back a time or two in coverage. But I think it’s key that you first give the QB happy feet. Then, when they’re thinking “quick pass from max protect,” your d-line, which has been playing to occupy blockers can shift to shoot-the-gap mode, leaving the tackle out blockin’ air, or whiffin’ on the safety off the edge.

Still, the “blitz the passer and play the run” SHOULD be your LBs’ bread ‘n’ butter, and that’s precisely what the KC brain trust seems to be shootin’ for. Great zone-blitz is the product of downhill LB play behind unselfish D-Line play. The zone-blitz is great beCAUSE it’s a changeup, NOT because you’re stranding your LBs in space very often on 1st and 2nd down.

The move to LB makes more sense than what I’ve been seeing since Hali came to KC. I reserved judgement in his first couple seasons, but by the end of his second season, it seemed like he tended to be overpowered in the scrum. Still liked his talent, but it was clear he wasn’t getting the most out of it where he was. I’m also one that saw Hali as potential heir-apparent to #58, but, like #58, was relegated to a hand-in-the-dirt DE by outmoded ideas about the 4-3, and a general misunderstanding of the kinds of O-Lines defenses were facing. Don’t know if it’ll work, but at least they appear to have stopped beating their heads against the wall.

D-coordinators like Cunningham are always trying to move heaven and earth for a 4-man pass rush, with perfectly executed zone coverage behind it, in a vain attempt to compensate for overmatched corners. There’s so much fear of WR domination that they actually give AWAY lots of stuff, because they KNOW they can’t stop it. So they end up with Donnie Edwards at LB, trying to play like a safety, and asking too much from their D-Line. They end up shopping for “Mr Goodbar” on the D-Line, and making Hali-esque reaches, and paying a gazillion dollars for oft-injured guys like Dan Williams or Chester McGlockton. It’s one thing to have a Warren Sapp in hand, and make defensive calls accordingly. It’s another to build a system that makes sense for the players you have and the players you are likely to get.

I think the D I see shaping up makes perfect sense in the “players you have and the players you are likely to get” sense. We have yet to see if the new roles for existing players will bear fruit, but the odds appear to have shifted to our benefit. The Chiefs seem to be pointing towards something that makes more sense to ME.

I think we can agree that Hali isn’t big enough to be an every-down DE on the strong side, especially with another ‘tweener on the opposite end. Jury’s out on Hali, as far as I’m concerned. But I’m definitely more optimistic than many, here. With 3 true widebodies as the base, ’tweeners like Hali and McBride have a much greater chance of success, either as OLBs or as DEs, which may explain all the “hybrid 3-4” talk.

Sorry about the chess analogy. Chess is an oversimplified war game, where all pieces’ values, capabilities, and dispositions are perfectly understood by both sides. In football, all pawns are not created equally. In both chess and football, a pawn has the potential of promotion to the nobility. We can draw parallels all day long, and talk ourselves into any number of ridiculous conclusions. It’s a sign of intelligence to see parallels and detect patterns, but the hallmark of higher intelligence is understanding cause and effect, and avoiding the trap of mistaking correlation with causation (cf. “Martyball”).

It’s tempting to think of oneself as a general, but the fact is that football more closely resembles platoon actions. Corporals and sergeants are the brains at that level. I think too many coaches (and fans) forget that, and launch overly elaborate plans with all the spare time they (and I) appear to have. Even the simplest tactics can turn into supercomputer-stalling calculations, when ALL factors are taken into account… The trick is to see what’s important and what’s not, and I think that was the (clumsy) thrust of my first chess reference

There’s PROBABLY a little too much theory and playcalling from the sidelines (press box) and too little utilization of on-the-field playcalling by the men on the field. THOSE guys know when they’re getting the better of things man-on-man. I think coaches standing above the fray and seeing the big picture gives teams an edge, so playcalling from the sidelines shouldn’t go away, but how often do we, as fans, see a mismatch that’s there all day long, and the coach never calls it and the players acquiesce?

I’m hopeful that the new O will play more street-wise. It SOUNDS like the coaches are more mindful of taking advantage of what’s given, than previously. But I saw danger signs in Arizona’s offense, last year. Sort of weak on game-time adjustments, but with possibly the best WR I’ve ever seen to save their bacon. Fitz is the exception that proves the rule that no single player can take a team on his shoulders and will them to victory. Was ’Quan’s outburst (which is never good, and loses him some points) justified? When the players on the field question what the coaches are doing, it’s a very bad sign.

Think that Scott Pioli sees Tamba Hali as the Kansas City Chiefs version of his New Engand Patriots’ Willie McGinest.

i dont think in a 34 set up that hali needs to be any better because he wont have an OT lined up inches away from him the reason there are so many great lbs in balt/pit is because the dline takes up the blockers clogging holes and the lbs eithther go relatively unblocked to the qb or they have free shots at any rb that squeezes through the holes, thats why the NT is so important, plus if the o line doesnt know who is blitzing then they have missed blocking assignments and qbs die an average LB in that system if the line is great will make the pro bowl im pretty sure most of the pit lbs were not first rounders allthe credit needs to go to the front three but since highlights are filled with sacks and tackles the lb usually get all the crdit and all the pop for the 34 being so dominate. i think a slimmer, faster hali who has an extra second to react to the play will have no problem filling holes and being successful espicially with thomas and vrabel teaching the tricks of the trade at training camp the switch to the 34 will also do great things for djs career