Should the Steelers move Jarvis Jones to ILB?

As Steeler fans have discussed at great length, Jarvis Jones struggles at pressuring the QB, which is his fatal flaw as an OLB. Be that as it may, he's good at tackling and stopping the run, and he seems to be decent in pass coverage. He does have talent, and he is a hard worker, so I'm really not ready to throw him away like many other Steeler fans are. I wonder, though, if he's actually a better fit at ILB than OLB. Am I wrong? Make the case for or against converting him to ILB. Please give me reasoned, thought-out responses, not flippant dismissals.

He isn't as fluid in pass coverage or quick in change of direction as Timmons, Shazier, Williams or Fort. He would be a 2 down ILB at best in the NFL and the way most teams play nickel coverage, he would play as much as a NT does.

Either sign him to a minimal deal as depth, but more likely just accept that he never panned out as an OLB and time to draft another next year. Dupree, Moats, Chickillo and another draft pick along with Feeney end up in camp in 2017.

He's never played ILB, the skill set is not the same, so I wouldn't bother. And since the Steelers have excellent depth at ILB, not sure why you'd want to move another guy to that position.

I agree with Gonz that he's all but done as a Steeler after the end of this season. The odd thing is, the Steelers haven't shown a plan for a long term replacement (Harrison probably won't go beyond this season). So if they think Jones is done after this year, you'd think they would have a plan (eg: playing Chickillo more on the right side and getting him experience). Instead, he played more than 70% of the snaps when a ROLB was on the field Monday night, which is more than he was playing last season.

one year vet minimum

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

He isn't as fluid in pass coverage or quick in change of direction as Timmons, Shazier, Williams or Fort.

Timmons did not look much better the other night.  These burns from Ed B. of the P-G yesterday

What did you think of Timmons last night?

Ed Bouchette: It seems he has slowed down even from last season....

Since it is fairly obvious that L Timmons can no longer cover TE's, why don't the Steelers play V Williams more? Thanks

Ed Bouchette: They made the choice to bring him back and are paying him $8.5 million. I think that is part of the reason....

Does Timmons looked washed up in person as much as he does on tv?

Ed Bouchette: TV may add weight to anchor people but it does not differentiate ability on a football field.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2016/09/13/Ed-Bouchette-s-Steelers-chat-9-13-16/stories/201609130172

With this year presumably being it for Deebo Steelers need to restock at LB and really need Dupree to play like a first round pick later this season

Atlanta Dan wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

He isn't as fluid in pass coverage or quick in change of direction as Timmons, Shazier, Williams or Fort.

Timmons did not look much better the other night.  These burns from Ed B. of the P-G yesterday

What did you think of Timmons last night?

Ed Bouchette: It seems he has slowed down even from last season....

Since it is fairly obvious that L Timmons can no longer cover TE's, why don't the Steelers play V Williams more? Thanks

Ed Bouchette: They made the choice to bring him back and are paying him $8.5 million. I think that is part of the reason....

Does Timmons looked washed up in person as much as he does on tv?

Ed Bouchette: TV may add weight to anchor people but it does not differentiate ability on a football field.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2016/09/13/Ed-Bouchette-s-Steelers-chat-9-13-16/stories/201609130172

With this year presumably being it for Deebo Steelers need to restock at LB and really need Dupree to play like a first round pick later this season

Timmons is in his 10th season, has over 600 career tackles and hasn't missed a game in 6 seasons. Yes, he is on the decline and in the last year with the Steelers, but if the question is do the Steelers move a draft bust from OLB to ILB, despite the fact he isn't athletic enough to play ILB....the answer is no.

Jarvis Jones is less impactful than Ziggy Hood was as a Steeler. We will all say buh-bye to Jarvis Jones in 2017.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Atlanta Dan wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

He isn't as fluid in pass coverage or quick in change of direction as Timmons, Shazier, Williams or Fort.

Timmons did not look much better the other night.  These burns from Ed B. of the P-G yesterday

What did you think of Timmons last night?

Ed Bouchette: It seems he has slowed down even from last season....

Since it is fairly obvious that L Timmons can no longer cover TE's, why don't the Steelers play V Williams more? Thanks

Ed Bouchette: They made the choice to bring him back and are paying him $8.5 million. I think that is part of the reason....

Does Timmons looked washed up in person as much as he does on tv?

Ed Bouchette: TV may add weight to anchor people but it does not differentiate ability on a football field.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2016/09/13/Ed-Bouchette-s-Steelers-chat-9-13-16/stories/201609130172

With this year presumably being it for Deebo Steelers need to restock at LB and really need Dupree to play like a first round pick later this season

Timmons is in his 10th season, has over 600 career tackles and hasn't missed a game in 6 seasons.  Yes, he is on the decline and in the last year with the Steelers, but if the question is do the Steelers move a draft bust from OLB to ILB, despite the fact he isn't athletic enough to play ILB....the answer is no.  

Jarvis Jones is less impactful than Ziggy Hood was as a Steeler.  We will all say buh-bye to Jarvis Jones in 2017.

I was not defending Jones, just observing that Timmons is no prize either anymore, particularly in pass coverage - that first quarter play when Timmons was isolated on (Jackson?) who was coming across the field right to left and was ten yards away from Timmons before going down the left sideline for a 30 yard gain after a short pitch and catch was painful to watch

At least the Steelers bit the bullet for once and decided to take the full cap hit on Timmons in 2016 rather than do some sort of restructuring for a vet in steep decline that would just create dead money for next season since this year is it for Timmons

I would not be surprised to see Williams getting more snaps than Timmons in the near future

DJ has world class speed. No one can cover his speed, especially a linebacker.

OX1947 wrote:

DJ has world class speed. No one can cover his speed, especially a linebacker.

Exactly!! DeSean Jackson on a Safety isn't fair matchup, never mind a veteran ILB.

I get that Dan wasn't defending Jones, but rather piling on the Timmons bus. But seriously, most 10 year ILB's are in the decline of their career, but still I bet that today Lawrence Timmons has a better chance of covering Xavier Grimble in passing downs than Jarvis Jones. In the end, its a moot discussion since Shazier or Fort are probably the 2 quickest ILB and we should not see Timmons in obvious passing downs.

i gotta say i'm a little surprised that timmons has petered out so quick. 10 years and only 30 years old ?
it's not like he has a history of nagging injuries to slow him down. the guy ran a 4.62 just 10 years ago. if he lost just a second he should still be as fast as most 250 lb lbers . what was farrior when his play started to noticeably start to decline ? 33? 34 ?

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i gotta say i'm a little surprised that timmons has petered out so quick.  10 years and only 30 years old ?
it's not like he has a history of nagging injuries to slow him down.  the guy ran a 4.62 just 10 years ago. if he lost just a second he should still be as fast as most 250 lb lbers . what was farrior when his play started to noticeably start to decline ? 33? 34 ?

Yeah, but Timmons has a lot of wear and tear on him. Been playing something like 6 years without missing a game(which Shazier cant exactly say). As for Farrior, that guy played at something like 230Lbs and was in tremendous shape. You never when a guy is gonna decline, so still happy we have Williams under contract.

I know all the hype is Matakevich, but I really liked what LJ Fort showed in preseason on the inside too.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i gotta say i'm a little surprised that timmons has petered out so quick.  10 years and only 30 years old ?
it's not like he has a history of nagging injuries to slow him down.  the guy ran a 4.62 just 10 years ago. if he lost just a second he should still be as fast as most 250 lb lbers . what was farrior when his play started to noticeably start to decline ? 33? 34 ?

I recall Farrior fell off dramatically in 2009 when he was 34 and in his 13th year in the league.  He was playing under the same coordinator as in 2008, when he was second team All Pro, but that 2009 defense had to deal with both Aaron Smith and Troy being out for most of the season so maybe it was those changed circumstances that exposed some performance issues that had been hidden by the quality of other players.

Timmons steep decline is regarded as having started last year based on this 2015 PFF article that, among other observations, noted Timmons in some circumstances was being required to cover WRs he could not hope to stay with (as was the case with the catch and run for 30 yards by Jackson on Monday night, although Timmons looked like he was running in quicksand on that play)

How the Steelers are hanging LB Lawrence Timmons out to dry

Pittsburgh has run some odd things this season, and been caught more often than most teams in ugly situations, asking a lot of specific players. LB Lawrence Timmons seems to have been hung out to dry as much as anybody around the league, and it is reflected in a truly ugly grade from a player that has topped our linebacker rankings in the past.

This season, Timmons has poor grades against the run and pass, and is very close to the bottom-rated inside linebackers, rather than near the top....

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-an-steelers-hanging-timmons-out-to-dry-not-putting-players-in-position-to-succeed/

Maybe Butler's defensive calls the past 2 seasons have exposed a decline that had been masked by the schemes dialed up by LeBeau