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Point
Zac Diles Is Our Best Option At MLB
by: Gary Kubiak
It was a big blow for this team to lose DeMeco Ryans, no doubt about it. It's not easy to replace a Pro Bowl caliber defensive player, regardless of his position, but it doubly hard when you are talking about the leader and signal-caller of your entire defense. That said, I do think that we'll be ok moving forward because Zac Diles will move over and fill in for DeMeco.
Like I said before the season, I think Zac is close to becoming a Pro Bowl weakside linebacker. I stand by that assertion. True, there are some issues with his coverage on anything where he has to turn and run, and, yes, he is prone to take a bad angle or four each game, but, dang it, the kid is really good. I promise you that. Zac is a smart player (and I should know a thing or two about smart players, having gone to A&M and all), he's gritty and has a high motor, he played the middle in college, and he's shown versatility as both a weakside and a strongside linebacker.
I know some people thought that we should attempt a trade for a middle linebacker. I've also heard suggestions that we move Cushing to the middle, and I know some people think playing someone like Darryl Sharpton or Kevin Bentley would be preferable so that Cushing and Diles stay where they are. I understand these concerns, but I do believe that Zac Diles is our best option at MLB.
Counterpoint
I'm Sure Some People In The Antebellum South Thought Slavery Was The "Best" Option, Too!
by: Rev. Al Sharpton
So the plan is to move Zac Diles to middle linebacker, huh? Well, while you are at it, why don't you go ahead and move a couple more games into the "likely loss" column? I have said it before, and I will say it again unto the heavens, Coach Gary: Zac Diles is a PLAGUE sent here by Lucifer himself to destroy the God-fearing fans of the Houston Texans!
Coach Gary, you say that Diles played middle linebacker in college? Well so did Darryl, and he did it at a REAL program, not some glorified community college in Manhattan, Kansas! That ain't no Big Apple, Coach Gary, and I don't know why you keep trying to make us all take a bite!
You say he's versatile? I say a machete will get you through the jungle a lot more easily than a Swiss Army Knife will! It doesn't matter if Diles is the really fancy Swiss Army knife with the toothpick and three files that no one ever uses, either!
You say Diles is on the verge of being a Pro Bowler, Coach Gary? I say that not even the Lord himself could make that happen; getting Diles to the Pro Bowl is proof that Jesus really can make a rock so big that even He can't move it! Congratulations, Coach Gary, you have solved an unsolvable riddle!
You think Zac Diles is the team's best option at middle linebacker? Well I'm sure some people in the antebellum South thought slavery was the "best" option, too! That doesn't make it any less egregious, does it? Of course not!
But you are trying to bring back slavery, Coach Gary! You are trying to make slaves out of the offense, forcing them to do the work that the defense would normally be doing. Why not just start calling Matt Schaub "Toby" and get it over with? Then you could spare us the latent racism of saying Diles is gritty and has a high motor, when everyone knows those are code words for WHITE players!
Oh, yes, Coach Gary, the Lord has removed the rain of deceit from in front of my eyes, and I see as clearly as Jimmy Cliff now! I see ALL the obstacles you are trying to put in our way! And I see Diles being blocked by those obstacles over and over and over! It does not have to be this way, Coach Gary, and you and I both know it. Darryl Sharpton can play the middle.
More importantly, though, Darryl Sharpton can shine the Lord's light on the Texans and free the offense from the peculiar institution that you perpetuate. And that is exactly what you DON'T want, isn't it Coach Gary? Isn't it??!?