Is McCain Miami new great LB

I guess we'll see. I still think McCain is best suited to 4-3 DE or 3-4 OLB due to his size. He's got to be considered raw because he has very little NFL experience. On the plus side, we really have no one else so it's his job to lose. Ultimately, I think he'll provide some outside pass rush but I could see him being a liability against the run and in coverage.

Yep, McCain was injured most of the season and had been practicing primarily as a DE. He barely played at all last season after that first game.

LB is the my biggest concern on this team, and has been for a couple of years now. I think it's by far the weakest position on the team, and could be the defense's undoing. Even with Suh, someone behind him still needs to make plays...and I don't trust this LB group to make them.

CarsonChris wrote:McCain is alright but Dion Jordan is the bomb!

What a fucking godawful pick that turned out to be. There's not enough Lysol in the world to remove the Fireland stench.

Birdmond wrote:My gosh that draft hurt.   Can you imagine if Miami does not trade up and hits on both picks?   Anyone want to do the research and list who we could have had with those two picks?  I can't.  Makes me ill.  

Obviously, there's a lot of ways we could have gone with those two picks, but how about this:

#12 overall - DT Sheldon Richardson
#42 overall - CB Johnthan Banks, or RB Le'Veon Bell

Draft Richardson, and we don't have to smash the salary cap with Suh.

Draft Banks, and instead of auditioning 6 questionable CBs for the #2 job this offseason, we'd be debating over who our #1 CB is - Grimes or Banks.

Or, draft Bell and have one of the league's top playmakers on our offense.

To me, McCain is too tall and too slim to be a true LB. I see him more as a pass rush specialist than a full-time LB. I don't see him being able to consistently stop the run.

Omar Kelly tweeted today that "Based on what I'm told there's a pretty strong probability that Jelani Jenkins, Kelvin Sheppard and Koa Misi are Miami's starting LBers.". He said Sheppard has been one of the best 3 LBs so far, and the coaches don't yet "believe in" McCain. For now, McCain will play the jack role that Dion Jordan would have played.

There's a lot of time before the season, so things could change, but I'm fine with this. I like Sheppard more than Misi in the middle, and Misi is better suited to play outside. And as I've said all along, McCain fits best as a pass rush specialist.

Sheppard is a natural MLB, so it makes sense that he's taking over that starting job - he's the only one on the roster with any real NFL experience there (besides the little that Misi played last season). I'm not much of a fan of Sheppard or Misi overall, but given the state of the LB corps I think having them at MLB and OLB, respectively, is the only way to go.  Just have to hope the 3 starters stay healthy, because LB depth gets ugly real fast.