I'm not against the idea of cross training more guys... heck I've thought about doing it for Neal and Perry as well.
Neal is a former DT, so he should know how to battle with the OL in the trenches and, at least in theory should be pretty dang good at getting off a block and helping make tackles in the run game. While he might be in some trouble as far as pass coverage, there is a reason you have a safety over the top, and IF Neal is good enough at run stopping they could use some sort of nickel package where he plays the close to the line run stopping ILB and a physical DB could play the further away from the line, coverage/speed ILB type of role.
Perry has nice physical traits, but he hasn't been able to put them all together. In 2007 the Steelers drafted two OLBers (Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley) in the top 2 rounds, trying to boost their pass rush... Woodley was successful at OLB... Timmons like Perry, once in a while flashed potential but struggled at OLB. When a role at ILB opened up, they decided to try Timmons there and he became a lot more successful and has been the started there ever since. I'm not sure if Perry can read gaps, or cover well enough, but he is straight line fast and can be physical. If he doesn't step it up at OLB this training camp, what really do they have to lose by trying him some at ILB and seeing if he can get more potential out at that position.
Originally Posted by: beast