Poor Man's Pollack

[schweinhart]

Sounds like Larry Stevens was tearing it up at MLB at the scrimmage.

But the guy who got the bows was backup middle linebacker Larry Stevens. He recovered a fumble, had two tackles at the line or behind it, and was basically all over the place. It’s all a bit ironic because Stevens is a second-year free agent from Michigan who has done what Pollack is going to have to do and that’s make the change from college defensive end to pro backer.

http://www.bengals.com/press/news.asp?iCur...=0&news_id=3039

Quite a good sign to see a former college DE do that in the middle considering the switch from DE makes him more suitable for strong side.

[redsbengalsbucks]

Just glad to hear we have some backups to play while Pollack gets ready after his holdout.

[BlainThePain]

It would be awesome if he could give us some pass rush up the middle. We definantly have some beef at linebacker this year.

[schweinhart]

I got a chance to catch enough of the family night scrimmage between the Bills and Packers last night to admire London Fletcher run step for step with Javon Walker more than 20 yds downfield and break up the pass......The Bengals got to get that kind of coverage out of their MLB, particularly when up against TEs like Heap, Dallas Clark, and Heath Miller.

But I agree, the depth at LB looks like it's headed in the right direction.

The silver lining out of the Pollack holdout is that the backup LBs get extra time on the field and closer coaching.

[HairOnFire]

I got a chance to catch enough of the family night scrimmage between the Bills and Packers last night to admire London Fletcher run step for step with Javon Walker more than 20 yds downfield and break up the pass......

My favorite play was the Sam Adams pass block. That boy has mad hops. And Farves reaction to the play was priceless.

[tibor75]

One of the Bengal coaches called this guy a "poor man's David Pollack"

Which basically means, "He's not as good as Pollack, but since this franchise is too cheap to pay for the real version, we'll go to war with what we have and hopefully the fans will be too clueless to notice"

Guess he's right.

If this guy starts, you can be sure there will be smiles from Bettis to Lewis.

[HairOnFire]

One of the Bengal coaches called this guy a "poor man's David Pollack"

Which basically means, "He's not as good as Pollack, but since this franchise is too cheap to pay for the real version, we'll go to war with what we have and hopefully the fans will be too clueless to notice"

Guess he's right.

If this guy starts, you can be sure there will be smiles from Bettis to Lewis.

What's up Tibor, I figured you'd like Stevens. All you do is whine about where players were drafted, and you seem to hold grudges for years. So I kinda figured you'd be the champion of waiver wire wonders, bargains, and coupon shopping.

Question: What do you get when you combine Tibor, DPM, and Spain?

Answer: Nothing. Nothing at all.

[bengalbutch]

If Pollack wants more money than player drafted before him. I say screw him and we'll play with Odell, Larry Stevens, Landon or whoever. This one is NOT the front office's fault !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CantStop85]

If Pollack wants more money than player drafted before him. I say screw him and we'll play with Odell, Larry Stevens, Landon or whoever. This one is NOT the front office's fault !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I say we give him a little more money and sign him.

You do know that the agents are the ones who negotiate and not the players, right?

And you do know that it is the guaranteed money that is being disagreed on, right?

And you do also know that Pollack would be a great addition to a horrid defense, right?

[Section 310]

I personally am not buying into the Larry Stevens propaganda. It seems all too convenient that the Bengals are pimping a player who lines up at the same spot as your rookie holdout. Hopefully Stevens is the next Carl Mecklenberg (a comparison used by Breshnahan), but Pollack's holdout is not good for the defense.

I believe that the longer the holdout drags on, the less leverage Pollack has. This is a guy making a position switch. He has already missed the bulk of the one on one instruction time. Face it, he will be "lost" for the first half of the season. Therefore, why would the Bengals bend over backwards to sign him? Pollack has hurt himself by not getting into camp.

Lets hope the NFL adopts a salary schedule for rounds 1 and 2.

[membengal]

I personally am not buying into the Larry Stevens propaganda. It seems all too convenient that the Bengals are pimping a player who lines up at the same spot as your rookie holdout. Hopefully Stevens is the next Carl Mecklenberg (a comparison used by Breshnahan), but Pollack's holdout is not good for the defense.

I believe that the longer the holdout drags on, the less leverage Pollack has. This is a guy making a position switch. He has already missed the bulk of the one on one instruction time. Face it, he will be "lost" for the first half of the season. Therefore, why would the Bengals bend over backwards to sign him? Pollack has hurt himself by not getting into camp.

Lets hope the NFL adopts a salary schedule for rounds 1 and 2.

I was there for two days, and I don't think it is "propaganda". He was all over the field, and he looked good. Spent a considerable part of Friday night's live scrimmage in the offensive backfield.

Looks to me like Stevens can easily be a back-up, and the depth of the LBing corp is a lot less of a concern to me this morning.

Put it this way, if they only keep six backers, once Pollack signs, then there is going to be a damn difficult decision at number six and seven.

Miller better hurry back, or he may be the odd man out. If they keep seven backers, then Johnson/Thurman/Simmons/Pollack/Wilkins/Stevens/Miller does not worry me in the least. It's ok to be at least a little optimistic about Stevens, remember, he went from down to up just last year. Tack on a simpler scheme this year, and he sure seemed awfully at ease patrolling the field over the weekend. The Bengals LB depth is way better than we are used to, or than we thought it was going to be, IMO.

[BengalsFanForever]

I haven't heard anything lately on Webster. What if he gets back? Can we get by without Pollack? I know Pollack is important for what Bresnahan wants to do with the defense, but what IF he doesn't sign. I don't think we'll be hurting.

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

It's these undrafted and late drafted players who make the difference on teams, not 1st round picks. First round picks should be easy. Guys like this who don't show in the draft but can play like a first day pick are what makes a team go.

[schweinhart]

Nicely put Next Big Thing

In the era of salary cap and as long as there's a 45-man active game roster, teams have to have their share of minimum $ players who can contribute.

No one is saying Larry Stevens should start ahead of David Pollack, but rather, that Larry Stevens appears to be a competent LB who has some versatility and can be counted upon if his number should be called.

So far, I haven't heard anything about Stevens playing SSLB this year. But he did a nice job backing up Hardy at SSLB in the 2nd half of last year -- ahead of Marcus Wilkins.

The "Poor Man's Pollack" really just seems to refer to the fact that Stevens is making the transition from college DE to NFL LB at a fraction of the cost that Pollack will be.

In other words, David Pollack will be a "Rich Man's Larry Stevens".

[schweinhart]

Bryan Robinson had a good comment about Larry Stevens. Stevens got some snaps last week at SSLB but more at MLB. It'll be interesting to see if he gets more at SSLB vs. Deadskins Friday, especially if there was really anything to Landon Johnson's shoulder problems last week. Hate to see chronic problems flare up for Landon and, besides, he had some tough spots playing the position vs. Pats.

Robinson points to Pollack’s switch from college end to pro strong-side linebacker and notes that it wasn’t going to be a smooth transition anyway, and a bonus could have come out of it.

“I look at a guy like Larry Stevens,” Robinson said of the second-year backup who plays many spots, one of which includes Pollack’s. “I didn’t know anything about Larry. Now I know he’s a hell of a football player because David’s not here. We know David is going to be here when he signs. It works both ways. It gave these guys an opportunity to show the coaches what they can do and they probably never would have got that shot. We definitely want (Pollack) in camp, but the flip side is he’s not here and we just go with what we have.”

http://www.bengals.com/press/news.asp?iCur...=0&news_id=3075