I'm not sure that's really the case. When the wife and I would watch the games before Vilma got injured, almost every time there was a big run, I would say 'Watch this'... I'd rewind the Tivo and EVERY friggin time there was a long run up the middle, the RB would bust through a hole where Vilma SHOULD have been. If he had stayed where he was supposed to and not been tempted to freelance, most of those long running plays would never have taken place. He is a great pursuit guy, but that same pursuit instinct backfires tremendously in the 34, where you have to be very disciplined, and basically 'stay put'. Huge NT or not, if Vilma cannot commit to settling down and playing in a disciplined 34 scheme, it's unfortunately best to move him if possible.
Seriously, what choice do the jets have? Whose going to trade for Vilma coming off a mysterious, season ending knee injury?
Good post.... Not only was he out of place at times But, when I watched Tivo'd games, I saw a player who MISSED TACKLES... In one on one situations.... Now THAT is perplexing because that should have no bearing on what defense was being played - making a 1 on 1 tackle is what it is...... I think a few things play out in all this Vilma talk: 1) Vilma was a bit overrated PERIOD regardless of defense. 2) The Jets defense would have needed a ton of work wether it was 3-4 or 4-3 ... People act as if the Jets switched to a 4-3 then WHAMMO, the defense would be good. That's far from the truth, and not only that, the Jets DID play a lot of 4-3 anyway..... Hey, maybe he was injured more and earlier than we thought... I'm willing to trust the Coaching staff and either see him flourish in the HYBRID defense they want to play or move on if they think he was overrated.
If you ask me, the WHOLE TEAM had problems in our 2nd year in the 3-4 under mangini... NOT JUST VILMA. I would love to see a Jets defense next year with Rhodes, Revis, Harris, Vilma and Gholston... And if we added A.Samuel I feel this Jets Defense could be one of the best in the AFC with Revis-Samuel and Rhodes in the secondary with Harris and Vilma as our 1-2 punch in the 3-4 as our ILB"s with Gholston applying pressure on the opposing QB for 4 quarters strong with Robertson and Pouha staying fresh on the D-Line as our NT's Just think Revis, Rhodes, Samuel, Vilma, Harris, Gholston, Robertson/Pouha.... With players such as Ellis, Barton, B.Thomas, J.Miller and D.Barrett all playing as role players.
