LaMarr Woodley Willing to Flip-Flop on the Outside

Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

After Jason Worilds did a solid job against the Detroit Lions last weekend, many wondered whether or not the former Virginia Tech Hokie would see more playing time at the left outside linebacker spot. Worilds, as some of you might remember, only started playing the right outside linebacker position on a regular basis this season after he spent his first three years in the league as LaMarr Woodley’s primary backup at left outside linebacker.

When asked about Worilds taking reps on the left side and him shifting over to the right earlier this week, Pittsburgh’s 2013 sack leader (5.0) did not react in a negative fashion.

In fact, Woodley appeared to be more comfortable and open to lining up at right outside linebacker at times more than anything else. According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the veteran outside linebacker had this to say about potentially lining up at a different position:

"Maybe we’ll give it a shot, … It doesn’t matter to me what side I’m on. My whole college career was flip-flopping. That’s what I got used to until I got here, it was just right and left. I never had a problem with flip-flopping at all.It doesn’t matter to me, I can adjust, I can play both sides, … If Jason Worilds wants to get some rushes on the left, I have no problem with doing that at all. Whatever he and the team feels like is best, I’m up for it."

As I mentioned in a previous article, flip-flopping the outside linebacker, or even inserting the top-three guys on their depth chart into the game at the same time, would be a good move for the Steelers to make.

Mixing up blitz packages, creating matchup issues, and planting seeds of doubt are never bad things for a defense to do in passing situations. So as long as the Steelers’ top three outside linebackers (Worilds, Woodley, and Jarvis Jones) have the versatility to play successfully at different spots on the field, then I see no reason why some flip-flopping should not occur.

How many reps Woodley will see at right outside linebacker down the stretch will definitely be something to watch for, and I am certainly interested to see how well the veteran can play when he is attacking opposing signal-callers from the blind-side.

Stats & Contract Info. Provided By: ESPN.com, Steelers.com , Spotrac, and Pro Football Reference

Follow on Twitter: @DominicDiTolla and @NicePickCowherC

Like “NPC” on Facebook: Nice Pick, Cowher