DJ Welter vs. Younger LB's: What is he bringing to the table again?

I've been going back watching games from last year and specifically grading Welter on a play-by-play basis.

So far, I've done this for three randomly selected games: Iowa, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. While I realize a few games aren't going to be totally representative of his performance, these games all occurred in the last half of the season. Coincidentally, that is the period where he showed the most improvement, if you are to believe the coach and media narrative. (In fact, LSUsports.net explicitly says the Outback Bowl was his "best all-around game") †

As you might guess, my overall assessment of Welter is not that great. To put it politely, I find him to be very inactive during all facets of the game: before the snap, during scrimmage, and after the snap.

Before the snap

While I've heard people say Chief values Welter for his intelligence and leadership, I don't really ever see him quarterbacking the defense.

Other than an occasional hand gesture here and there, he doesn't seem to be making much of an attempt to make reads or corrections. While not everyone can be Ray Lewis, I find him to be extraordinarily timid, non-verbal, and worst of all, stationary for a middle linebacker.

Let me be clear though, I don't think this problem has anything to do with his toughness or lack of an alpha dog personality. I just think he is too concerned and distracted with figuring out where he needs to go to worry about what his teammates need to do.

Sadly, I think this is more of a football intelligence, if not general intelligence, issue. And the fact that he was put on academic probation a couple of years ago doesn't do much to help his case for being much of a thinker, either.

Tomorrow, I will post my breakdown of Welter "During Scrimmage". Stay tuned.