White Linebackers

[RTTAS]

From Josh Katzenstein on NOLA.com:

Linebacker A.J. Klein joined the New Orleans Saints in March, hoping for a chance to start and help turn around a defense that had struggled the previous three seasons.

He quickly ingratiated himself with the team this year, earning a starting role and becoming a captain, and Klein was among a handful of new players that helped the Saints play a consistently better brand of defensive football this year.

...

Replacing Klein won't be easy because of his versatile role. He was the starting strong-side linebacker in the base 4-3 defense, but he played mostly in the middle because the defense relies most of packages with just two linebackers.

Maybe he “graded” poorly as an OLB because he was really an MLB?

 

[Extra Point]

Browns player Joe Schobert tied for the league lead for tackles with 144. It was a three way tie with the Packers' Blake Martinez and the Bills' Preston Brown.

Schobert was a walk-on at Wisconsin. He was drafted in the 4th round of the 2016 draft. Clearly he should have been drafted higher.

Schobert will be a quality inside 'backer for years to come.

Joe Schobert - Wikipedia

 

[Upside]

Defensive stars of 2017:
Pass Rushers:
Ryan Kerrigan - 46 TKL, 13 SAK, INT, TD, 3FF.
Joey Bosa - 70 TKL, 12.5 SAK, 4FF, FR
Clay Matthews - 43 TK, 7.5 SAK, FF, FR.
TJ Watt - 54 TK, 7 SAK, INT, FF.
Anthony Zettel - 43 TK, 6.5 SAK, FF, FR.
Matt Longacre - 23 TK, 5.5 SAK, FF.
Connor Barwin and Chris Long each had 5 sacks.

Other Notables:
Matt Ioannidis, Brooks Reed, Brian Robison - 4 SAK
Kyle Williams, Anthony Chickillo, Kyler Fackrell - 3 SAK.
Adam Gotsis , Derek Wolfe - 2 SAK

Linebackers:
Joe Schobert - 144 TK, 3 SAK, INT, 3 FF. *League Leader in tackles*
Blake Martinez - 144 TK, SAK, INT, FF, 2FR.
Luke Kuechly - 125 TK, 1.5 SAK, 3 INT, FF, 2 FR, TD.
Kiko Alonso - 115 TK, 1 SAK, 2 FF.
Sean Lee - 101 TK, 1 INT.
Jake Ryan - 81 TK, SAK, FF, FR.
Nick Vigil - 79 TK, SAK, INT.

Other Notables:
Brock Coyle - 64 T, INT
Paul Posluszny - 61 T, 1.5 SAK.
Zach Vigil - 59 T
AJ Klein - 54 T, 2 SAK.
Nick Kwiatkowski, Matt Milano - 49 TKL
John Simon - 43 TKL, 3 SAK, INT, TD.
Frank Zombo - 43 TKL, 1.5 SAK, FR

Safeties:
Eric Weddle - 63 TKL, SAK, 6INT, 2FF, FR, 13 passDef.
Harrison Smith - 78 TKL, 1.5 SAK, 5INT, 17 passDef.
Andrew Sendejo - 80 TKL, 2 INT, 9 passDef
Daniel Sorenson - 89 TKL, 1.5 SAK, INT, 7 passDef.
Jeff Heath - 71 TKL, 3INT, 2FF, 8 passDef.
Chris Conte - 77 TKL, INT, 3 FF, 9 passDef.

 

[Thrashen]

Weddle's 6 INT's were 2 off the league lead of 8.

The last time a white player led the NFL in INT's was Weddle himself with San Diego, who had 7 INT's in 2011.

Before him it was Minnesota's Brian Russell, who had 9 INT's in 2003.

Before him it was Atlanta's Scott Case, who had 10 INT's in 1988.

Before him it was Washington's Mark Murphy, who had 9 in 1983.

 

[Carolina Speed]

The record for most career playoff interceptions is held by 2 white DB's. Charlie Waters, Dallas Cowboys and Bill Simpson, Los Angeles Rams with 9, however, they do share this stat with Ed Reed and Ronnie Lott.
This should be on the white DB's thread. Is there one on the NFL thread?

 

[Upside]

That was a great season by Brian Russell. Somehow he didn't make the Pro Bowl. But his teammate, safety Corey Chavous managed to make it in with fewer tackles, fewer interceptions, and 0 sacks. That's right around the time I started to 'figure it out'...

 

[Leonardfan]

That was a great season by Brian Russell. Somehow he didn't make the Pro Bowl. But his teammate, safety Corey Chavous managed to make it in with fewer tackles, fewer interceptions, and 0 sacks. That's right around the time I started to 'figure it out'...

Same here. Brad Hoover's MNF performance in 2000 was the initial thing that made me curious and I began to slowly awaken to the caste system and by 2003 with Russell's great season I was pretty much awake to the realization of anti-white discrimination.

 

[Extra Point]

Scooby Wright was cut by the Cardinals just prior to the beginning of this season. No one else picked him up. It's likely his NFL career is over.

 

[Extra Point]

Here independent analyst That Franchise Guy gives his list of "My Guys" for the 2022 NFL draft. He mentions Leo Chenal and Malcolm Rodriguez in the video.
TFG has his own opinions and is more favorable toward white players than most.

TFG thinks Rodriguez is close to being as good as Nakobe Dean. I'll be interested in seeing how that take turns out.

Chenal starts at 28:22 and Rodriguez at 29:14.

 

[Extra Point]

Here That Franchise Guy compares Malcolm Rodriguez to Nakobe Dean. At 36:30.

 

[Don Wassall]

There's a small but noticeable uptick in White linebackers taking place. Given how dominant White tight ends are in spite of the Caste System, the same should easily hold true at the LB position which utilizes similarly sized athletes, but at least it's slowly but surely trending upward thanks to the many highly drafted Black busts and (just as with tight ends) a seemingly endless supply of White LBs able and ready to step in and play, both drafted and undrafted.

We've always noted when there's been a team with two White safeties starting (not even close to happening now but it did happen earlier this century and late last century with the Jets, Packers and Rams coming to mind), or two White defensive ends such as the Bengals start now and the Lions did last year and may again this year. And then there was the memorable year when all four All Pros at DE were overachievers. Give Whitey a chance on defense and in most cases he's more than good.

The Saints had a "snow plow" of three Whites starting at linebacker the first couple of seasons after hiring Sean Payton, but that was some 15+ years ago. But what we're seeing now is five teams by my count who have two Whites currently penciled in as starters or near starters at linebacker: the Falcons with Troy Andersen and Kaden Elliss, the Broncos with Josey Jewell, Alex Singleton and Drew Sanders jockeying for starting positions, the Lions with Alex Anzalone, Malcolm Rodriguez and Jack Campbell jockeying for starting positions, the Steelers with Cole Holcomb and T. J. Watt, and the Chiefs with Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal (though Chenal isn't yet a starter but should be relatively soon).

Pretty cool to see. Also with CB Riley Moss likely to become a starter fairly quickly, and DT Brian Bresee drafted in the first round and likely to start as a rookie, things are improving a tiny bit on defense, but there's still so far to go and the Caste System will continue to fight the obvious large pool of White talent on both sides of the ball tooth and nail.

 

[Carolina Speed]

There's a small but noticeable uptick in White linebackers taking place. Given how dominant White tight ends are in spite of the Caste System, the same should easily hold true at the LB position which utilizes similarly sized athletes, but at least it's slowly but surely trending upward thanks to the many highly drafted Black busts and (just as with tight ends) a seemingly endless supply of White LBs able and ready to step in and play, both drafted and undrafted.

We've always noted when there's been a team with two White safeties starting (not even close to happening now but it did happen earlier this century and late last century with the Jets, Packers and Rams coming to mind), or two White defensive ends such as the Bengals start now and the Lions did last year and may again this year. And then there was the memorable year when all four All Pros at DE were overachievers. Give Whitey a chance on defense and in most cases he's more than good.

The Saints had a "snow plow" of three Whites starting at linebacker the first couple of seasons after hiring Sean Payton, but that was some 15+ years ago. But what we're seeing now is five teams by my count who have two Whites currently penciled in as starters or near starters at linebacker: the Falcons with Troy Andersen and Kaden Elliss, the Broncos with Josey Jewell, Alex Singleton and Drew Sanders jockeying for starting positions, the Lions with Alex Anzalone, Malcolm Rodriguez and Jack Campbell jockeying for starting positions, the Steelers with Cole Holcomb and T. J. Watt, and the Chiefs with Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal (though Chenal isn't yet a starter but should be relatively soon).

Pretty cool to see. Also with CB Riley Moss likely to become a starter fairly quickly, and DT Brian Bresee drafted in the first round and likely to start as a rookie, things are improving a tiny bit on defense, but there's still so far to go and the Caste System will continue to fight the obvious large pool of White talent on both sides of the ball tooth and nail.

For what it's worth. I've posted on the HS 2024 class thread that the number 1 LB in the country is Sammy Brown who is white. There are 2 white LB's in the top 8. Not great, but it's better than the RB's, I'm sure. Looking over the top 100 there were about 30 white LB's. Again, not great, but it's not bad. Most were in the 50-100 range. I could be wrong, but I don't think a third of the starting NFL Lb's are white. Maybe there's an uptick at the HS level as well which is where it needs to begin and actually sooner.

 

[Don Wassall]

I don't follow the so-called scouting services, but 30 out of 100 seems decent compared to the many horror stories that have been posted on CF over the years about how few qualified White high school players are deemed scholarship worthy at so many positions. Hopefully the momentum at LB continues and can become a White stronghold on defense in the NFL. I have little doubt that most of the White TEs in the league could play LB and vice versa as they share many of the same athletic traits including quickness and intelligence.

 

[Carolina Speed]

I don't follow the so-called scouting services, but 30 out of 100 seems decent compared to the many horror stories that have been posted on CF over the years about how few qualified White high school players are deemed scholarship worthy at so many positions. Hopefully the momentum at LB continues and can become a White stronghold on defense in the NFL. I have little doubt that most of the White TEs in the league could play LB and vice versa as they share many of the same athletic traits including quickness and intelligence.

......and for all the reasons mentioned over the history of Caste Football, the fact that a white player is ranked number 1 should mean he is without a doubt the best LB in the country! Can't wait to see Brown in college and hopefully the NFL one day.

 

[Leonardfan]

I don't follow the so-called scouting services, but 30 out of 100 seems decent compared to the many horror stories that have been posted on CF over the years about how few qualified White high school players are deemed scholarship worthy at so many positions. Hopefully the momentum at LB continues and can become a White stronghold on defense in the NFL. I have little doubt that most of the White TEs in the league could play LB and vice versa as they share many of the same athletic traits including quickness and intelligence.

I feel that many of the TEs would actually be very effective DE/Edge guys rather than the off the ball LBs - they are built more for that position rather than LB. The caste system also seems to convert alot of the HS DEs to TE.

 

[Don Wassall]

Aunt Crissie's PFF has just released its top 32 linebacker ratings, and Matt Milano is the only overachiever among the top 23. Yeah, right, nothing to see here, move along: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-2023-nfl-season

 

[Leonardfan]

Aunt Crissie's PFF has just released its top 32 linebacker ratings, and Matt Milano is the only overachiever among the top 23. Yeah, right, nothing to see here, move along: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-2023-nfl-season

Lots of mediocre black players on the list. How these "experts" come up with their arbitrary ranking system is beyond me outside the fact their is a place in their formula where melanin is accounted for.

 

[Don Wassall]

Lots of mediocre black players on the list. How these "experts" come up with their arbitrary ranking system is beyond me outside the fact their is a place in their formula where melanin is accounted for.

Yep, I'm not gonna bother going over them one by one, but the eleven listed from 13 through 23 in particular are all mediocrities and sub-mediocrities except for Mosely, Oluokon and Okereke. But PFF is the SPLC of the football world, whatever it says or claims or lists is never contradicted or challenged.

 

[Freethinker]

Aunt Crissie's PFF has just released its top 32 linebacker ratings, and Matt Milano is the only overachiever among the top 23. Yeah, right, nothing to see here, move along: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-2023-nfl-season

Their #5 Roquan Smith was traded from the Bears and UDFA Jack Sanborn stepped in and was just as productive, if not better. So either Smith is overrated at #5, or Sanborn is underrated, not even making Crissie’s top 32. Typical of how the CS works.