Robert Mathis as a scheme fit

[Jiggy]

What do you guys think? Did mathis flourish more as a 4-3 end, or has he been better, or even do you think he wouldve been better, at playing olb or playing olb during his physical prime (heck maybe he still is in his prime)

[NewColtsFan]

What do you guys think? Did mathis flourish more as a 4-3 end, or has he been better, or even do you think he wouldve been better, at playing olb or playing olb during his physical prime (heck maybe he still is in his prime)

 

??????????

 

Mathis had one of his best (his very best?) year last year with 19.5 sacks.    He made the scheme fit transition seamlessly.

 

Why are you asking this?    Did something change?

[GoColts8818]

??????????

 

Mathis had one of his best (his very best?) year last year with 19.5 sacks.    He made the scheme fit transition seamlessly.

 

Why are you asking this?    Did something change?

i think what he's asking is would Mathis been even better had he been a 3/4 OLB his whole career than a DE in a 4/3.

[Jiggy]

??????????

 

Mathis had one of his best (his very best?) year last year with 19.5 sacks.    He made the scheme fit transition seamlessly.

 

Why are you asking this?    Did something change?

right.... and im asking whether people thought he played 4-3 end or olb better, what people think he fits better at. True he had maybe the best year of his career last year, and that is more than a fair arguement to make to say he plays olb better than end, but to act like it is completely out of line for me to ask which position he fit better is kind of silly. 

 

you probably got here when luck came to town, but robert mathis has been a great player as both a 4-3 end AND olb

[BlueShoe]

Mathis is a rare gem who can play at a high level in any style of defense.

[NewColtsFan]

right.... and im asking whether people thought he played 4-3 end or olb better, what people think he fits better at. True he had maybe the best year of his career last year, and that is more than a fair arguement to make to say he plays olb better than end, but to act like it is completely out of line for me to ask which position he fit better is kind of silly. 

 

you probably got here when luck came to town, but robert mathis has been a great player as both a 4-3 end AND olb

 

I followed the Colts for many years.....    long before I became a pure Colts fan....   I know who Mathis is and what he's done.

 

I was just trying to understand the meaning of your question.     He was great as a 4-3 DE, and he's great now as a 3-4 OLB.

 

If I had to guess,  I suspect he'd have been better as a 3-4 OLB his whole career,  that's more his body type and skill set.

 

But he's done alright since he got to the NFL....   so I won't 2nd guess anything....

 

I'm just glad we have him........

 

Sorry if my post seemed negative to you....    I was just trying to understand....

 

No worries....    carry on!    

[akcolt]

I followed the Colts for many years.....    long before I became a pure Colts fan....   I know who Mathis is and what he's done.

 

I was just trying to understand the meaning of your question.     He was great as a 4-3 DE, and he's great now as a 3-4 OLB.

 

If I had to guess,  I suspect he'd have been better as a 3-4 OLB his whole career,  that's more his body type and skill set.

 

But he's done alright since he got to the NFL....   so I won't 2nd guess anything....

 

I'm just glad we have him........

 

Sorry if my post seemed negative to you....    I was just trying to understand....

 

No worries....    carry on!    

Handled well don't understand the hate on the board at times, I know we all aren't always going to agree but man it feels like you have to write on egg shells at times. People are just looking for a fight,

 

Werner looked good tonight you watch it? The play he pursued across the field to make the play for a lose now that looked like a first round pick.  The whole D looked good for 3 quarters. I went to the thread and all they are doing is fighting about Trent. I was going to mention that we protect Hasselbeck a little so Boom gets a pretty good O Line but didn't want to get involved.

 

We are going to have some tough decisions to get to 53. I think we have to find a way to keep Burley and Purifoy. Colt Anderson is going to be hard to send away.

 

You know anything about Howell?

 

.

[NewColtsFan]

Handled well don't understand the hate on the board at times, I know we all aren't always going to agree but man it feels like you have to write on egg shells at times. People are just looking for a fight,

 

Werner looked good tonight you watch it? The play he pursued across the field to make the play for a lose now that looked like a first round pick.  The whole D looked good for 3 quarters. I went to the thread and all they are doing is fighting about Trent. I was going to mention that we protect Hasselbeck a little so Boom gets a pretty good O Line but didn't want to get involved.

 

We are going to have some tough decisions to get to 53. I think we have to find a way to keep Burley and Purifoy. Colt Anderson is going to be hard to send away.

 

You know anything about Howell?

 

.

 

All I know about Howell is he's an all-out player whose body can't hold up.

 

Think a poor man's version of Bob Sanders.

 

He'll look good for a game here and there,  but then get nicked up and either can't play at all,  or can't play well enough.

 

I'm thinking Adams or Brown.....

 

As for posters looking for fights.....    yeah....  a bad by-product of Internet message boards....

[akcolt]

All I know about Howell is he's an all-out player whose body can't hold up.

 

Think a poor man's version of Bob Sanders.

 

He'll look good for a game here and there,  but then get nicked up and either can't play at all,  or can't play well enough.

 

I'm thinking Adams or Brown.....

 

As for posters looking for fights.....    yeah....  a bad by-product of Internet message boards....

He hasn't been playing at all heard it was his neck thought you might know something

[NewColtsFan]

He hasn't been playing at all heard it was his neck thought you might know something

 

It's his neck.      For now.

 

And if it's not that,  sooner or later it will be something else.

 

Don't get me wrong,   I love Delano.     But he can't stay healthy for long.    His body breaks down.

 

Some players are like that.    He's one of them.

[akcolt]

It's his neck.      For now.

 

And if it's not that,  sooner or later it will be something else.

 

Don't get me wrong,   I love Delano.     But he can't stay healthy for long.    His body breaks down.

 

Some players are like that.    He's one of them.

Landry Adams Brown and Colt Anderson has had a very good camp/preseason I hope his neck didn't take him from potential starter to cut.

[ztboiler]

To the OP....Mathis is an equal pass rush threat in either scheme but a better overall fit in the 3-4.  

 

This will sound overly harsh, but Mathis wouldn't have played LDE in a real NFL 4-3 defense - but he could have played the weakside in any scheme.  A RDE and a 3-4 rush backer are basically the same skillset - Mathis is ideally suited to either.  I believe he could have become a very effective 3-4 SAM also in time, and was competent as such in 2012.

 

As you can infer from the above, I'm not a fan of the scheme we tried to play defensively in the Dungy years with the personnel we had to play in it.  As much of a game changer as Mathis was in that scheme, we gave up a lot trying to force him and others into our scheme without the complementary interior DLine that it takes to pull it off.

 

The spike in Mathis' numbers last year is due to cleaner rush looks attributable to scheme complexity - he does his job in either scheme, but he can close a higher percentage in this scheme from the rush backer spot.

[Warhorse]

I went to the thread and all they are doing is fighting about Trent.

This is why I will always wish there was just one board.....anywhere....where the repeated complaining was moved to. Sure, if a fan buys a ticket, he or she can stand behind you the entire game and yell "you suck", every 5 seconds. But is it really right? Where does the 5% rule finally cost people enough to do something different.

 

Even this board is changing, just like every one I have been a part of in the last 20 years. Its always a small percentage of posters, using the rules intended to create fairness for everyone, as a way to create disruption and taint the experience.

 

Same reason we get patted down before going into a porting event or have our bags checked.......5% made it that way.

 

Same reason many stadiums have officers at entrances and departure points in stadiums.........5% made it that way.

 

Same reason I witnessed good people working very hard to uphold that fairness to all here, in the face of posters disrupting clearly with no intent other than to create unrest....and how that contingency is gaining hold, and slowly moving the overall experience to one of a more negative nature.

 

Sorry for the long rant.

[akcolt]

Well put. I was ready to talk about the D. Werner made a great play Jackson's sack lots of good stuff.  The O missing four starters  but looking pretty good.

 

It was just people hating and looking for conflict pretty disappointed after how well the 1's and 2's played

[ColtsFanMikeC]

A huge reason why Mathis (and Freeney) had such great careers is because of Peyton Manning. Mathis did very well in his early days as a 4-3 end, but you cannot forget that he was playing for a few seasons in Freeney's shadow and for the majority of the games he played in, our D was able to unleash and rush the QB -- had Mathis and Freeney been on teams with a terrible offense, I don't think either would have put up excellent numbers.

 

Mathis is probably better suited to be an OLB in a 3-4.  It is impossible to say where he would have been better throughout his career though since he did put up very good numbers in the 4-3 -- IMO, every great pass-rusher owes a lot to a great QB or a great offense to allow them to tie their ears back and go after the opposing QB.