I was not shocked by the Hollywood trade given his desire to leave and Lamar stating he understood, but I was a little surprised that we got a 1st rounder for him. I think that was a masterful job. I also think that the trade had some legs because the fact that we got Kyle, which seemed completely unlikely in the weeks leading up to the draft, I firmly believe both lead to the trade for Roquan. I think they realized they had a real quality DEF backfield in the making, but lacked a true MLB. They were getting killed for a couple seasons with intermediate receptions in the middle LB area and all we had were hybrid LB's that were poor at playing the middle.
I had figured we'd not have a chance at Kyle, but I had suggested either S or MLB for a couple drafts just because of that coverage weakness over the middle. The first few games with Kyle, before the trade for Roquan, our middle was a mess. That Miami game was a disaster because the Dolphins found that weak underbelly and exploited it using it to engage both their running and deeper passing game, at least that's how I saw it. Since that trade for Roquan, while we've seen meltdowns sometimes, the middle has been beyond solid.
Kyle's ability to come up into the middle and still have the range to get back, Roquan's ability to play the entire middle, and Roquan's understanding of how to position the other LB's has trasformed this DEF. It was an in-season rebuild that was masterfully orchestrated by EDC. The fact that we got Roquan for a 2nd and 5th rounder and that the team sat tight while we, Philly and Washington played musical chairs is just astounding to me.
