I was tempted to call this article, “Confessions Of An ILB Junkie.” It wouldn’t be wrong, because I love looking into and talking about the men at the heart of a defense.
Modern football centers on mismatches, and that shows up more in the midfield defense than any other part of a team; especially since the NFL outlawed the beheading of WR’s on crossing routes (a Deebo specialty you may recall). The search for “mismatches” is almost a cliche, but it isn’t as well understood as it should be. Fans think about the defense in terms of positions, but it’s actually about roles and jobs.