SR's Opinion On MLB Lofton (1 Viewer)

USAF HART

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I just wanted to start a thread and get an idea of how y'all felt Lofton played coming off the injury. Did he exceed expectations? What are your worries going forward with him? Are you glad that you guys signed him?
 
Good player. Not a game changer. Solid NFL starter. Perhaps a 3-4 will give him more protection up front to become more of a playmaker.
 
Do you think a change to a 3-4 system will help him become a solid player in pass coverage? We missed him this year with his run stopping ability. But he was always a liability in pass coverage.
 
on a record setting defense.. sigh, he was one of the few highlights to watch. very pleased with the results. interested to see how it pans out next season.
 
IMO, he was by far our best defensive player last year (may not be saying much), even though he was brought into a diffincult situation from a leadership standpoint not wanting to step on Vilma's toes.

I do have some mild concerns about his pass coverage ability in a 3-4, but hopefully whoever is brought in to coach the D will scheme to Lofton's strengths, and he wont be asked to do this as much. There are not many MLBs that can cover today's TEs like a Jimmy Graham, Gronk, V. Davis. etc. but i dont think Lofton's coverage skills are as bad as his reputation was in ATL.
 
It's really hard to judge anybody on our defense at this point.

To the extent I have a reaction to Lofton, it's that he was clearly an upgrade at the MLB position for us over 2011, his peak is "very good" rather than "great", and while he's not exactly Brian Urlacher out there, he didn't kill us in pass coverage either, and actually made a couple of decent plays.

We gave him a reasonable contract, and in return he gave us a solid professional effort, and I have no complaints with him. Looking forward to seeing what he can do next year.
 
Seems like Lofton is pretty much regarded as the shining star in a down season for you guys.

What about Spag's system went wrong? I remember when we were battling for hiring DCs (New Orleans and Atlanta) an overwhelming majority of posters here thought thay they had the better end of the deal with Spags. Were injuries to blame for the lack of defense? lack of right personnel? Or had Spags reputation made him seem better than he really was?
 
I know it isn't saying much but I think he was the most consistent LBer we have had here for years. Even JV could never keep healthy through an entire year. He is nice to have a guy who can be a thumper too.
 
Cam and Curtis were the only bright spots on D IMO


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Seems like Lofton is pretty much regarded as the shining star in a down season for you guys.

What about Spag's system went wrong? I remember when we were battling for hiring DCs (New Orleans and Atlanta) an overwhelming majority of posters here thought thay they had the better end of the deal with Spags. Were injuries to blame for the lack of defense? lack of right personnel? Or had Spags reputation made him seem better than he really was?

Yeah Lofton was easily our best defensive player. He's a thumper with great tackling technique and is a good run stopper in the middle. I think David Hawthorne is a better coverage guy than he is so hopefully they can compliment each other as the two ILBers in coming years. However, he's not very light on his feet and gets burnt in coverage, especially with larger receivers and tight ends. Maybe he can continue to work on that in the offseason because he did improve in that area between 2011 and 2012.

Spags didn't have the talent to work his system. He had 3-4 OLBers playing DE, man corners playing zone coverage, and an undersized linebacker playing strong safety in Roman Harper. For whatever reason he didn't play younger guys even when they greatly outperformed veterans like Sedrick Ellis and Malcolm Jenkins. We were also plagued by injuries to the linebacker corps with Hawthorne, Vilma, and Chamberlain all missing time. I would have liked to have seen what he could do with better personnel but it just wasn't meant to be.
 
I understand that the Saints had a horrible defense, but given all the distractions, I thought Spags would have been given a pass. I couldn't believe it when I saw that he was fired.
 
I understand that the Saints had a horrible defense, but given all the distractions, I thought Spags would have been given a pass. I couldn't believe it when I saw that he was fired.

Payton decided to move to a 3-4 and honestly, after putting the worst defense in history, Spags needed to go.
 
Lofton is what we thought he was... He was better than than the MLB the Failcons replaced him with... Ask Vernon Davis if the Falclowns have figured out how to stop TEs since C-Lo left...

C-Lo will be better in the 3-4, but he is what he is... Your thread made me think if the Failcons choking away the #1 seed again last season, and that made me smile.
 
Seems like Lofton is pretty much regarded as the shining star in a down season for you guys.

What about Spag's system went wrong? I remember when we were battling for hiring DCs (New Orleans and Atlanta) an overwhelming majority of posters here thought thay they had the better end of the deal with Spags. Were injuries to blame for the lack of defense? lack of right personnel? Or had Spags reputation made him seem better than he really was?
As for Lofton, he was good for us this year, but it was far from his best season as a pro. The fact of the matter is, unless your a freak of nature defensive player, when you have a defense playing as bad as our played last year, then good players tend to look worse. When you think about some of the best defenders in the NFL, they are usually on good defenses because they have good talent and discipline around them, Lofton lacked that. I still don't think we know how good he is, hopefully our new DC will fix this. Which brings me to Spags...

I don't doubt that he's a good defensive mind, but he lacks one major quality that is required in the NFL today, the ability to adapt and put your players in the best position. To make contrast, we were the #4 ranked defense in 2010 under Gregg Williams with lesser talent. Spags would consistently say "We believe in the scheme and it will work", which is another way of saying, we are going to do it the way that I want to do it and that's that. For all the flack Gregg Williams gets around here (all of it is deserved), he's a damn smart defensive coordinator. He knows how to get the most out of his players. Having Spags here for a year showed us how good of a job he did masking some of our deficiencies. Spags system requires players with a very specific skillset - the 2008 Giants. I've never seen a defensive coordinator so unwilling to make adjustments in my life, and I'm talking week to week and after halftime. Of course most of the blame is on the players, but it all starts with him.

Nice guy, class individual, probably a great coach under the right circumstances, not a fit for the type of team we had/have.
 
I understand that the Saints had a horrible defense, but given all the distractions, I thought Spags would have been given a pass. I couldn't believe it when I saw that he was fired.

I think his big problem was not allowing any audibles. He sent the play in and that was what had to be ran. When we faced Peyton Manning this year he would take one look at our defense and audible while our D just had to sit there and take it.
 

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