Los Angeles Rams: Alec Ogletree’s Move Inside Could Hurt Linebacker
By Matt LaPan
Following the recent round of veteran cuts in LA – including middle linebacker James Laurinaitis – the Los Angeles Rams have announced plans for outside linebacker Alec Ogletree to take over at the middle linebacker position in the 2016 season.
“Yes, Alec’s going to be our Mike,” coach Jeff Fisher said in a recent press conference. “I’ve had the conversation with him since the difficult time in releasing James, and Alec is really excited about moving inside.” Fisher continued by saying, “As I told James, that was the reason for the decision.”
Ogletree is entering his 4th NFL season out of Georgia and has been playing outside linebacker since he became a Ram. He tallied 100-plus tackles in each of his first two seasons in the NFL and was on pace for 168 tackles in 2015 before an injury ended his season in Week 4.
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His combination of size (6-2) and speed made the Georgia native one of the ascending young linebackers in the league. This move to middle linebacker has the potential to be the undoing of all the hard work and progress Ogletree has achieved.
Although Ogletree is the same size, or bigger than eight of the other 14 starting middle linebackers on 4-3 teams in 2015, His style will have to change with a move to the inside. Not only will Ogletree have to take on more responsibility by calling out the defense, he will also have to work through more traffic to get to his tackles.
This could cause big problems for Ogletree – a linebacker who relies on speed and athleticism to make plays in space. This is becoming the calling card of many athletic outside linebackers, but is more rare for inside linebackers.
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Ogletree has also shown great skill defending players off the line of scrimmage in the pass game. He does a good job picking up players off the end of the line – but that changes when having to defend from the middle of the field. He will have to rely more on field vision and instincts over his pure coverage skills.
Another factor that could hurt Ogletree’s progress when moving inside is the coverage of the players around him. After having a steady presence in Laurinaitis next to him to start his career, Ogletree will have Akeem Ayers and Mark Barron on either side of him.
Although Barron filled the outside linebacker role well in 2015, he will have to continue to grow into the role in 2016 and could deal with some growing pains. That is if Barron, a free agent, is re-signed by the Rams.
On the other side, Ayers struggle to make the transition to a full-time player in 2015. He tallied just 47 tackles on the season and failed to meet expectations as a pass rusher after a strong 2014 with the New England Patriots.
Ogletree will have to make sure that these two players, and backups such as Darren Bates, Bryce Hager and Cameron Lynch are in the correct spot and have the correct assignments. This will hinder his own ability to align himself correctly as he learns how to play inside.
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With the move announced, and the priority in free agency lying in the defensive backfield, the Rams could be hindering the progress of one of their young defensive stars by moving Ogletree to middle linebacker in 2016.