^^^ Very good article. I'd add the following, as the coaches will be shuffling guys in and out here based on situational football.
Williams is a good in the box run defender and an excellent blitzer, but weak in coverage and slower than most starting ILB's. Williams is not a true 3 down linebacker, he's more of a 2 down Linebacker unless they plan on blitzing with him out of the nickel formation on 3rd down. I do like his leadership and effort.
Thomas. Can play inside 3-4, nickel, or outside 4-3 ( In my opinion he's got classic strong side OLB skills too ). Our best coverage backer. Our fastest linebacker, and potentially our only 3 down linebacker, regardless of scheme. The fact that he was in coverage with the first string defense, shows the coaching staff see's his value. Thomas is the only guy I think could catch up to backs running wide or TE's without getting burned. Probably our best open-field tackler as well, though the sample size on him doing it is only three pre-season games. He's a little thin, but can add more muscle in the offseason. I'm very high on him and think Thomas has a good chance to be Colbert's next rookie free agent find.
Fort. Probably our 2nd best linebacker in coverage by default. Not an impactful type of tackler. Just okay on special teams. Edmunds might evolve into nickel LB as well, and if that happens he's in some trouble. If we only keep four inside linebackers, he could be the odd man out.
Matakevich. Mr. try hard is rock solid on special teams, and just okay vs the run. He's in on a lot of plays, but where he enters and makes the play is the problem for me as he's slow-footed and lacks explosion/change of direction not to mention he's small. Smart in coverage, but very limited in coverage responsibilities by no means should he be assigned to cover a back or tight end alone. Much better off in a zone type of coverage.
Bostic. Bostic looked poor in coverage. He's better than average type of athlete and can hit, but his consistency has been terrible, and often costly in coverage, missing a key tackle, or drawing a very long pass interference flag. If he doesn't start, his value bottom's out as he's not a coverage guy. Does he play special teams?
