I have been looking at the RFA LBs and their tender offers

DeMeco Ryans, Thomas Davis and Barrett Ruud have 1st and 3rd round tenders, D'Qwell Jackson is expected to get a 1st round tender.

But what bout Kirk Morrsion? he has been given a 3rd round tender.

Is he a decent option for the Giants?

any thoughts?

Also Thomas Howard has reportedly been given a second round tender. He seems like a decent option for OLB

what do you think?

Kirk Morrison's stats

2009
16 Games, 133 tackles (109 solo, 24 ast), 2.0 sacks, 1 PD, 3 FF

2008
16 Games, 135 tackles (99 solo, 36 ast), 1.0 sacks, 1 PD, 1 int (0yds), 2 FF

2007
16 Games, 120 tackles (96 solo, 24 ast) , 1.0 sacks, 10 PD, 4 int (94yds)

2006
16 Games, 127 tackles (101 solo, 26 ast), 1.0 sacks, 3 PD, 2 int (32yds), 1 FF

2005
16 Games, 116 tackles (91 solo, 25 ast), 2 PD

Thomas Howard's stats

2009
16 Games, 79 tackles (72 solo, 7 ast), 2.0 sacks, 6 PD, 1 FF


2008
16 Games, 97 tackles (80 solo, 17 ast), 1.0 sacks, 5 PD, 1 int (-3yds), 2 FF

2007
16 Games, 95 tackles (77 solo, 18 ast) , 1.0 sacks, 11 PD, 6 int (172yds, 2 TD)

2006
16 Games, 110 tackles (88 solo, 22 ast), 1 PD

Bear in mind that both Howard and Morrison have been playing on poor raiders defenses.

Both would be reasonably cheap and have plenty of experience playing together.

Big_Pete wrote:Also Thomas Howard has reportedly been given a second round tender. He seems like a decent option for OLB

what do you think?

I think Howard has received a lot of hype from his second season when he had 6 interceptions with 2 for touchdowns.
Certainly it was impressive though.

However, Howard is better suited as a weakside backer imo and I'm ok with Boley there.
According to some of the folks familiar with the raiders, Howard has trouble shedding blocks and playing the run.

Howard had great athletic tools; if you remember both Tony and I were very big on him

at 6-4 240 he is hardly small, but in a Tampa 2 we need similar LBs at both OLB spots, good tackling and good coverage.

Another option could be trading for Derrick Johnson, I just think Howard is a better fit.

Don't forget Howard plays SLB in the raiders 4-3

Howard didn't play strongside until he was replaced in the last couple games of the Raiders season from what I understand.
Don't get me wrong, I like Howard and his skill set but just think Boley is a lock at weak and I don't know enough of Howard's ability to be covering tight ends at strong.

TD wrote:Howard didn't play strongside until he was replaced in the last couple games of the Raiders season from what I understand.
Don't get me wrong, I like Howard and his skill set but just think Boley is a lock at weak and I don't know enough of Howard's ability to be covering tight ends at strong.

It was my understanding (I could be wrong) that in the 2007 season he was playing SLB, I remember being surprised at the time.

If we go to some variation of the Tampa 2, there will be alot of people who will cover TEs.

I think Howard has the tools to cover a TE well.


Another strong option at SLB is to trade for Derrick Johnson.

My preferred option is to draft Sean Weatherspoon to play SLB

I like Weatherspoon.
I also hear Morrison might be a good fit as a sam as well as a mlb. I haven't seen enough of him to comment on that though

TD wrote:I like Weatherspoon.
I also hear Morrison might be a good fit as a sam as well as a mlb. I haven't seen enough of him to comment on that though

I think Morrison coule play SAM in our previous 4-3, but I don't think he is mobile enough for Fewell's system as I expect we will implement a system that mixes in Tampa 2 elements

D'Qwell Jackson got a 2nd round tender, perhaps he is an option?

Both are bad at playing the run. Morrison to often makes tackles 5 yards down the field. And Howard doesnt have the instincts you want for the position. I was never crazy about Howard. Morrison I liked but he needs really good players infront of him.