Willis or Beason?

[Amped]

Here are real life stats if you want this to put into your decision haha

Games Played: Willis - 65 Beason - 65
Total Tackles: Willis - 609 Beason - 545
Solo Tackles: Willis - 472 Beason - 422
Assisted Tackles: Willis - 137 Beason - 123
Sacks: Willis - 15.0 Beason - 4.0
Forced Fumbles/Fumble Recoveries: Willis - 9/3 Beason - 3/4
Pass Deflections/Interceptions: Willis - 29/4 Beason - 29/8
Touchdowns: Willis - 2 Beason - 0

Now these are career stats and btw they were drafted in the same draft. Willis is better and these stats are all the way from their rookie year to week 2 of the 2011 season so far. Beason only missed one game in these stats for the '11 season because he tore his ACL but I mean pretty identical. Willis is just overall better.

[KBLover]

If you want pass rushing from your MLB, Willis is definitely better. 99 BSH, 90 SPD, solid PMV/FMV, 88 STR to take on linemen, and has the Big Hitter trait with 95 POW and 98 TAK, so when he gets home, he'll have a good chance to knock the ball out, and if he can get a free lane to blitz through, that SPD/ACC will get him there and he's got plenty of PUR (98) as well to chase the QB down if he scrambles. This also helps him in run support. He can flow easily, shrug off blockers, is relentless in pursuit, has the awareness to aggressively attack a play, and you're not breaking his tackles.

If you want more middle zone coverage, or a good Tampa 2 type MLB, Beason is better for that job. 99 PRC and can cover like some CBs (70 MCV, 77 ZCV), and the notch higher AWR (96 vs 90) should help Beason be more active/flexible in pass coverage. He also defense the pass more aggressively (Balanced vs Conservative for Willis). Also slightly better at catching the ball, and might be a better bet to make a return out of it (76 ELU vs 31 for Willis). Beason is a notch slower and a couple notches lower in STR (75 vs 88) with worse PMV/FMV, meaning Beason would really need to have a free blitz lane opened for him. Willis can beat a lineman like a DE would (or better), and heaven help the TE or RB trying to "chip" at Willis. Beason might be a bit easier. Maybe.

You really can't go wrong with either. Both are better than a lot of guys out there at MLB and are plenty young, so they'll be around for a while. But depending on what you expect from your MLBs in your defense, one is a better choice, and I think that is what ultimately decides the question.

[NFCastle]

Willis, he has more of an impact on his defense than beason does for carolina.

[SteboSSK]

Beason is 6 ft on paper but dude is barely that tall..I've seen em in person

[llcmac]

AAARRGGH!

Just reading this thread is making me want to start a 'chise with the 9ers.

But they have no QB and I am not a big fan of Frank "Fumbles Again" Gore in this game.

Maybe I would just just stick with the run until Kaepernick can play at a good enough level.

Sign Clinton Portis and run the ball like Georgia Tech....yeah that would work.....

[legenddt]

I played as the niners last night, I've never really user controlled the middle linebacker before, I'm always an edge rusher guy, whether that be the ROLB or the RE depending on the scheme. Anyways, I user controlled Willis, I dropped back in coverage and the QB passed the ball to the slot receiver, I was able to close in SO fast with Willis and absolutely destroy the receiver that I think I fell in love with playing as the Niners.

[Afrikan]

I've seen Beason miss multiple tackles in one night......I've rarely see Willis missing tackles...heck I can't remember the last time I've seen it happen.

The night I'm talking about was either a Sunday night game or a Monday night game a couple of years ago...and Carolina was getting ran through, and lost the game at the end because Beason took the wrong angle.

now I've only seen 2-3 full games with Beason, and I've seen every 9er game with Willis.

I'm guessing Beason has tighten up a bit sense then....but for now I'd still say Willis.

also those stats Amped posted are pretty interesting.

[mjhyankees]

For no reason other than the name....I choose BEASTon