2023 Free Agents

[Sharkonabicycle]

Barton is fine, for about 35-40 snaps a game. He's not worth being a full time starter. He's not great in coverage and I really don't think he knows gap assignment at all. He always seems to run away from the developing play or get swept up by a blocker which he cannot disengage from (see the reason we lost to the Raiders - he ran into the back of our lineman).

He's got a competitive attitude and OKAY instincts but he just really never developed the technique or understood the position and he's certainly not hitting gaps and blowing up anything until it's gone 3+ yards beyond the LOS. That's zero surprise. He played all over the place in Utah and was never locked into one position, and given his limited snaps I don't think he really found a place in the NFL. He was always a bit of a tweener linebacker.

Okay in certain situations, but not an every down player. And I think teams recognized that and they started showing personnel packages that forced him to be on the field instead of Coby Bryant for example... and then Brooks got injured... 1 year $3.5M is perfectly fine for Barton, and if the Skins march him out there for 50% of the snaps - he should be a decent add. If they are adding him to march him out there for 100% of the snaps, they'll be sorely disappointed.

1 year $3.5M is too much. I could've dealt with 1 year $2M as he was good on STEAMS and had some value to give some other more worthy starters a break for some snaps.

 

[MrS]

Wow, we are just cleaning house on the DL.

Outside of nwosu and some of the young cheap guys, theres nobody worth keeping

 

[blstoker]

Barton is fine, for about 35-40 snaps a game. He's not worth being a full time starter. He's not great in coverage and I really don't think he knows gap assignment at all. He always seems to run away from the developing play or get swept up by a blocker which he cannot disengage from (see the reason we lost to the Raiders - he ran into the back of our lineman).

He's got a competitive attitude and OKAY instincts but he just really never developed the technique or understood the position and he's certainly not hitting gaps and blowing up anything until it's gone 3+ yards beyond the LOS. That's zero surprise. He played all over the place in Utah and was never locked into one position, and given his limited snaps I don't think he really found a place in the NFL. He was always a bit of a tweener linebacker.

Okay in certain situations, but not an every down player. And I think teams recognized that and they started showing personnel packages that forced him to be on the field instead of Coby Bryant for example... and then Brooks got injured... 1 year $3.5M is perfectly fine for Barton, and if the Skins march him out there for 50% of the snaps - he should be a decent add. If they are adding him to march him out there for 100% of the snaps, they'll be sorely disappointed.

1 year $3.5M is too much. I could've dealt with 1 year $2M as he was good on STEAMS and had some value to give some other more worthy starters a break for some snaps.

I know you disliked Barton, no need to sugarcoat it now, but you pretty much describe his play this last season exactly opposite of how I describe his play. About the only thing we agree on is he couldn't get off block consistently and missed too many tackles. He's gone now, and so it won't matter - but not only would I say Barton was better than Brooks this past season, but if PFF is any indication - he had a better 2022 than any LB currently on the Commanders roster. Now, he'll be back in a 4-3 defense, so it shouldn't take him half a season to learn what he's supposed to be doing like it did this last year. He's still young and he's got a fully guaranteed contract, so he'll be on their roster this coming season. It's now up to him to show what he can do with this new opportunity.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I know you disliked Barton, no need to sugarcoat it now, but you pretty much describe his play this last season exactly opposite of how I describe his play. About the only thing we agree on is he couldn't get off block consistently and missed too many tackles. He's gone now, and so it won't matter - but not only would I say Barton was better than Brooks this past season, but if PFF is any indication - he had a better 2022 than any LB currently on the Commanders roster. Now, he'll be back in a 4-3 defense, so it shouldn't take him half a season to learn what he's supposed to be doing like it did this last year. He's still young and he's got a fully guaranteed contract, so he'll be on their roster this coming season. It's now up to him to show what he can do with this new opportunity.

Fair points and you're right, I routinely complained about Barton and am not changing my stance now. Hey if I'm wrong in 2 years, well I'm wrong, there's a reason I'm not an NFL GM or head coach. I thought Barton actually was okay with missed tackles, but that doesn't count the missed tackles where he took the wrong gap or assignment. We of course agree that he couldn't disengage on blocks.

Barton of course may be far more successful in a 4-3 (which I really wish Seattle would just fuckin' go back to) and continue to improve - he's only 26.

As for Brooks, bleh... The guy is a tackling machine but rarely blows a play up in the backfield or close to the line of scrimmage, and similar to Barton is horrible in pass coverage. I think between those two guys they were allowing close to 80% of passes completed.

 

[Anointed One]

This is a really good signing for Washington. Barton should perform better in the 4-3 that Washington runs, while having experience at all three LB positions. He's a versitile player for a team that had only 1 LB start in even half their games last year. It's a solid depth signing with a player who's got lots of experience on the field, and didn't cost them much.

As far as Seattle offering, it's also possible that Barton wanted to go to a 4-3 team and not a 3-4 team. Can't say for sure, since Seattle has been cutting their defense players pretty heavily as well. Could just be as likely Seattle is trying to get more traditional 3-4 talent.

Could be... But 3-4, 4-3, you still have to make the tackles...

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Could be... But 3-4, 4-3, you still have to make the tackles...

His missed tackle rate was considerably down last year... the problem with Barton is the missed tackle % doesn't take into account he took wrong angles and gap assignment and took himself out of the play all together to make a tackle. At times he seemed like he was running away from the play.

 

[Screamin12th]

To be fair when your Dline cant hold blockers and you got 2 Olineman running free putting hats on your Linebackers thats a miss match. The big issue with our linebackers was the amount of trash they had to work through to even get to someone. Teams knew they could match up across the board 1 on 1 with our Dline and this allowed them to bury our linebackers. Now Bobby was strong enough, talented enough and had the experience he could sift through this trash but Barton and Brooks not so much.

In a 4-3 Barton was a solid Linebacker, a starter quality linebacker ( I said STARTER quality not probowl quality ) He will be fine on a team that can keep him clean. He has good instincts and is smart he is just not as athletic as one would like. On the other hand Brooks is athletic but lacks in the instincts and smarts. He would put himself out of position all the time trying to use that Athletic ability to get around people but thats not how our defense is set up. You stick to your assignment and stay in your hole. It was hard for these guys to do that because they would then find a 300 pound lineman in their faces.

These guys would find themselves either swallowed up by blockers or chasing because they tried to work around the issue and basically removed themselves from the play.

 

[flyerhawk]

To be fair when your Dline cant hold blockers and you got 2 Olineman running free putting hats on your Linebackers thats a miss match. The big issue with our linebackers was the amount of trash they had to work through to even get to someone. Teams knew they could match up across the board 1 on 1 with our Dline and this allowed them to bury our linebackers. Now Bobby was strong enough, talented enough and had the experience he could sift through this trash but Barton and Brooks not so much.

Exactly this. Poor DL play leads to LB matching up with guards which is no good.

In a 4-3 Barton was a solid Linebacker, a starter quality linebacker ( I said STARTER quality not probowl quality ) He will be fine on a team that can keep him clean. He has good instincts and is smart he is just not as athletic as one would like. On the other hand Brooks is athletic but lacks in the instincts and smarts. He would put himself out of position all the time trying to use that Athletic ability to get around people but thats not how our defense is set up. You stick to your assignment and stay in your hole. It was hard for these guys to do that because they would then find a 300 pound lineman in their faces.

These guys would find themselves either swallowed up by blockers or chasing because they tried to work around the issue and basically removed themselves from the play.

I agree. He wasn't really the problem.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Jarran Reed coming back, nice move, hated seeing him go, he’ll definitely help the run D …

 

[flyerhawk]

Jarran Reed coming back, nice move, hated seeing him go, he’ll definitely help the run D …

I was surprised by this. His departure did not seem to be on good terms.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

I was surprised by this. His departure did not seem to be on good terms.

Agreed, glad they didn’t hold any grudges…

 

[Anointed One]

I agree. He wasn't really the problem.

He most certainly was part of the problem... Even KJ Wright and Dave Wyman have talked about how he was one the weak links on the defense this year, in addition to the interior DL... For example... Seahawks Free Agency: LB Cody Barton reportedly to Commanders

 

[flyerhawk]

He most certainly was part of the problem... Even KJ Wright and Dave Wyman have talked about how he was one the weak links on the defense this year, in addition to the interior DL... For example... Seahawks Free Agency: LB Cody Barton reportedly to Commanders

He wasn't great certainly. But his play seemed to be directly tied to who was playing on the DL and how well they played.

So, as Screamin said upthread, he was starter quality but not Pro Bowl quality.

 

[flyerhawk]

Travis Homer signing with the Bears. That's a bummer.

 

[blstoker]

Fair points and you're right, I routinely complained about Barton and am not changing my stance now. Hey if I'm wrong in 2 years, well I'm wrong, there's a reason I'm not an NFL GM or head coach. I thought Barton actually was okay with missed tackles, but that doesn't count the missed tackles where he took the wrong gap or assignment. We of course agree that he couldn't disengage on blocks.

Barton of course may be far more successful in a 4-3 (which I really wish Seattle would just fuckin' go back to) and continue to improve - he's only 26.

As for Brooks, bleh... The guy is a tackling machine but rarely blows a play up in the backfield or close to the line of scrimmage, and similar to Barton is horrible in pass coverage. I think between those two guys they were allowing close to 80% of passes completed.

This is where I think fans misunderstand statistics. It's not uncommon for LBs to give up high pass completion percentages. Barton's was 86.3 and Brooks' was 72.0, and that's pretty much within range of where LBs are. I only looked at the top 10 LBs in tackles (I don't have time to run every LB right now) and only C.J. Mosley was under 70% enough to really tout (65.5) and he was at 85.3 in 2021. 3 of these top 10 gave up over 80% completion percentage and 2 were 86 or higher.

Even his yards per completion (8.7) wasn't terrible - with about half of the players coming in at this point or higher (Mosley was 11 and Tranquill was 10). His 2 TDs were about normal, his 2 picks were high. His Passer rating against was very solid.

In the end, where Seattle fans saw a guy who sucked at pass coverage, but he came out pretty much average around the league.

 

[Anointed One]

This is where I think fans misunderstand statistics. It's not uncommon for LBs to give up high pass completion percentages. Barton's was 86.3 and Brooks' was 72.0, and that's pretty much within range of where LBs are. I only looked at the top 10 LBs in tackles (I don't have time to run every LB right now) and only C.J. Mosley was under 70% enough to really tout (65.5) and he was at 85.3 in 2021. 3 of these top 10 gave up over 80% completion percentage and 2 were 86 or higher.

Even his yards per completion (8.7) wasn't terrible - with about half of the players coming in at this point or higher (Mosley was 11 and Tranquill was 10). His 2 TDs were about normal, his 2 picks were high. His Passer rating against was very solid.

In the end, where Seattle fans saw a guy who sucked at pass coverage, but he came out pretty much average around the league.

Pass coverage wasn't what I've criticized him for... It's always been the inability to shed blocks better, not wrapping up tackles consistently and finding himself out of position more than we normal would see from a starting LB in the NFL...

 

[Anointed One]

Travis Homer signing with the Bears. That's a bummer.

Meh... Outside of his pass blocking, he won't be missed imo... I would be much more bummed out if we lost DJ Dallas...

 

[Anointed One]

He wasn't great certainly. But his play seemed to be directly tied to who was playing on the DL and how well they played.

So, as Screamin said upthread, he was starter quality but not Pro Bowl quality.

I disagree with Streamin's opinion... I don't feel like he's starter quality in the NFL... Backup? Certainly... Spot duty? Certainly... Starting LB in the NFL? I don't see it... If he was, I would've guessed he would've gotten a longer contract with a team looking for a LB... We'll see I guess...

 

[blstoker]

Pass coverage wasn't what I've criticized him for... It's always been the inability to shed blocks better, not wrapping up tackles consistently and finding himself out of position more than we normal would see from a starting LB in the NFL...

1) I wasn't responding to you specifically.

2) I agree he had issues with shedding blocks.

3) statistically he had 1 missed tackle, so I don't think wrapping up was the issue as much as other things.

4) I didn't think he was out of position as much as you did, especially the second half of the season when he started to understand the scheme better.

Fair or not, Barton was compared to Bobby all season. I think people color their responses on Barton's performance as much from the drop off from Bobby to Barton as they do Cody's actual performance. At the end of the day, Barton is a "do your assignment" guy. He'll do his assignment, but if others don't do theirs, he's not instinctive enough nor athletic enough to make up for other players not doing their jobs.

 

[JMR]

Meh... Outside of his pass blocking, he won't be missed imo... I would be much more bummed out if we lost DJ Dallas...

I think Homer's career numbers look quite a bit better than what he did on the field as a RB. He best play was a fake punt for a 73 yd TD, and he just couldn't run inside really at all. Gets knocked over by a gentle breeze way too often. Dallas has wiggle in the open field and is a little thicker to be able to handle some 1st & 2nd down duty. That's not what Homer gave us. We can find ST guys & backup 3rd down RBs in the draft quite easily.