With all the great players we have now, I feel like this guy is flying completely under the radar.
His rookie year he was a starting LB mostly because that cupboard was pretty bare, and he was very raw and a liability in coverage.
Last season he was usurped by Campbell and Barnes, only playing 120 defensive snaps (11%) even though he was fully healthy. He became a special teams stalwart and even got 20 snaps on offense as a fullback, but it looked like he was an afterthought on defense. He did have that pick in the NFCCG, but I don’t think many of us expected him to be a big factor on defense this year.
This season, he already has 180 defensive snaps (45%) with 2.0 sacks and 26 tackles. Granted he’s picked up some of Barnes’ snaps, but he looks a whole lot better than he did his rookie year and is now a pretty reliable player on defense.
Props to him, and props to the staff for their continuing ability to develop their draft picks.
While I want to disagree with this take I am trying to figure out how he stays. He will be looking for a decent contract and he is clearly a fringe starter and more of a ST focused guy. And while we all know ST are crucial, you almost need to cut Maybin to sign Rodrigo.
Again good problems to have but he will definitely need to be willing to take what he is offered to stay type of situation. And in todays NFL of escalating salaries I am not even sure what his value is at all. Sportrac will give market value for players but Rodrigo obviously is not high enough ranking to make the cut.
I think Barnes is the one who we won’t sign unless the injury really hurts his FA…Barnes fate was sealed when Jack was drafted as I don’t see them moving on from Thor…Rodrigo has only cemented this outcome with his improved play…he is the definition of a Thumper…
I would have agreed with that before this year, but if the defense we rolled out to start the year is the way we want to go moving forward, it will be very difficult to replace what Barnes brings. It’s not easy finding a SAM who can both pass-rusher and live up to the LB parts of the job. It’s usually one or the other - big LBs who we try and rush (like we did Campbell last year), or small edges we try to teach the LB part of the position (James Houston). Finding a guy who thrives at both isn’t easy.
Though hopefully Nowaske is someone we stumbled into. Unlike Barnes though, he didn’t spend time at edge in college.
I think Rodriguez has played really well and I think its unfortunate for Barnes. Barnes played really well to begin the year, but with the injury and Rodrigo stepping up…it may means he is the mouth we can no longer feed.
Barnes could come back on a team friendly contract and would love him to, but I understand the business side of things and if someone is willing to pay him more, then he needs to do what’s best for him and his family…and Cap! (JK Cap…miss your posts)
Love to find a way to keep both. I hate to see either of them go…any of them.
We secretly have one of the best LB Corps in the league. Barnes went down and haven’t skipped a beat.
