Striker position would say otherwise.
Mainly talking about taking Rush Ends who don’t have to do anything but beat the guy in front of him on the way to the backfield.
I have never been against turning big Safeties into LBs (the old Miami way of utilizing speed over size), and that is what the Striker position is.
Safeties have to make pre snap reads, be good in coverage and against the run and have good instincts much like a LB, they are just further away from the line and rarely have to deal with OL.
Most DEs don’t have those instincts and they have to be developed.
IMO LB is way more about great instincts than size and athleticism.
I am interested to see how Sam Brooks develops at the LB position and think he has the best shot of any we have had since MRob (who couldn’t).
I am not expecting it this year, as the transition to LB will take time, but think he will end up being a monster.
IMO this is a perfect situation for him to learn behind Pink for a year (he should redshirt and play in his 4 games).
Hopefully Joyner takes that next step this year to start turning it around for the DE to LB experiment we have been trying for the last decade.
Mike Smith finally developed his LB instincts as a SR and would have seen a lot more playing time if we didn’t have better LBs, but was never a monster.
I do think Brooks can be that monster and definitely before his Sr year, just not this year (would love to be pleasantly surprised) and that is OK.