Lance Briggs

[westernbrynmawr]

I have a bet going with my friend whom thinks Lance will be playing in the middle before the year is up. Was Briggs playing in the middle at all thursday? He claims he was playing there quite a bit.

 

[defiantgiant]

I have a bet going with my friend whom thinks Lance will be playing in the middle before the year is up. Was Briggs playing in the middle at all thursday? He claims he was playing there quite a bit.

Yes and no: Briggs may have been aligned between the other linebackers on some plays, but he's still playing the Will linebacker position exclusively. The Bears shift linebackers on a few plays, such that the Will 'backer lines up inside of the other two. So while you'll occasionally see Briggs line up between Roach and Hillenmeyer, he's not really "playing middle linebacker" on those plays: they're part of the weak-side linebacker's role on defense.

 

If you want an example of the difference between alignment and position, check out the 46 alignment the Bears used to use in the '80s. If you saw today's Bears line up in the 46, Briggs would be standing between the other two linebackers, but he wouldn't be the middle linebacker in terms of his responsibilities. The Mike linebacker in the 46 is still aligned in (more or less) the normal Mike position, and still has his normal Mike coverage/gap responsibilities, it's just that the Sam shifts all the way over to the outside of the Will, so the Will is "in the middle" of the other two.

 

Your friend might have seen Briggs standing in between the other two LBs in some kind of blitz formation like the 46, but I doubt we'll ever see him line up as the actual MLB in our base package. He's played on the weak side for his whole career, and there's nothing to be gained by playing our best defender out of position.