That’s something I’ve been thinking about. No question Hightower is the most physical of the linebackers, that’s why we all just assumed he’d move to middle linebacker this offseason. But I do think Hightower is best used on the outside, on the line of scrimmage, where he can not only use his strength but also contribute as a pass rusher.
Mayo is not an outside linebacker in the 3-4 where he’d be on the LOS and effectively eliminated from making plays on the other side of the field. When they shifted to more of a hybrid defense in 2010/2011, I felt the primary beneficiary was Mayo because it moved him out of the middle of the defense but still off the line of scrimmage where he could use his speed.
Now it feels like the schematic/personnel tweaks are aimed at making Hightower the primary beneficiary.
Collins at strongside ILB complicates matters as well because while it’s nice to have him in the middle of the field for his pass coverage, he struggled making the plays in the running game that a 34 Mike HAS to make.
For more on this go look at Ray Rice’s 2009 playoff opening TD scamper where Gary Guyton was at Mike and Mayo was at Will. The 34 is designed for the linebackers to make the plays, and when they don’t make the plays you get gashed.
The easiest answer is probably to put Ninkovich back down at defensive end and shift Collins to 43 OLB where he can still be a factor in coverage but doesn’t have such a critical run-stopping role inside the defense where he needs to use strength to beat oncoming guards.
Using more even fronts would give Mayo more cushion at MLB as well.