Wow, it was just this week we were all talking about how much of a find Cory James had been as a middle linebacker. The defense had a rough game against the Chiefs in week 6, and apparently that was enough to have him switched out for newly signed linebacker Perry Riley.
And it wasn't just a matter of rotating in at middle linebacker, or James moving to another linebacker spot. It was a complete change out. Riley started every defensive snap at middle linebacker and James was relegated to nothing but special teams.
Granted, it was never an ideal situation to have a rookie sixth round pick starting at middle linebacker. Just like it wasn't ideal to have an unproven second year fifth round pick (Ben Heeney) starting the season at that spot. Riley is an established middle linebacker, who put up some big numbers in Washington for a couple seasons, including being the team's leading tackler in 2013.
Though Riley's tackle numbers weren't great Sunday. He had just two tackles, both solo.
| Off. | Def. | ST | |||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Gabe Jackson | G | 72 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 19% |
| Donald Penn | T | 72 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 17% |
| Austin Howard | T | 72 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 3% |
| Derek Carr | QB | 72 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Rodney Hudson | C | 72 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Kelechi Osemele | G | 71 | 99% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 19% |
| Amari Cooper | WR | 68 | 94% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 3% |
| Michael Crabtree | WR | 50 | 69% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Clive Walford | TE | 49 | 68% | 0 | 0% | 12 | 33% |
| Seth Roberts | WR | 47 | 65% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Latavius Murray | RB | 42 | 58% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Jamize Olawale | FB | 25 | 35% | 0 | 0% | 25 | 69% |
| Andre Holmes | WR | 17 | 24% | 0 | 0% | 25 | 69% |
| Mychal Rivera | TE | 17 | 24% | 0 | 0% | 23 | 64% |
| DeAndre Washington | RB | 13 | 18% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 17% |
| Matt McCants | T | 12 | 17% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 19% |
| Denver Kirkland | G | 11 | 15% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 19% |
| Johnny Holton | WR | 5 | 7% | 0 | 0% | 23 | 64% |
| Jalen Richard | RB | 4 | 6% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 28% |
| Jon Feliciano | G | 1 | 1% | 0 | 0% | 11 | 31% |
| Reggie Nelson | FS | 0 | 0% | 67 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| David Amerson | CB | 0 | 0% | 67 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Perry Riley | LB | 0 | 0% | 67 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Sean Smith | CB | 0 | 0% | 67 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Karl Joseph | SS | 0 | 0% | 66 | 99% | 9 | 25% |
| Malcolm Smith | LB | 0 | 0% | 63 | 94% | 0 | 0% |
| Khalil Mack | DE | 0 | 0% | 60 | 90% | 4 | 11% |
| Bruce Irvin | LB | 0 | 0% | 57 | 85% | 4 | 11% |
| D.J. Hayden | CB | 0 | 0% | 52 | 78% | 9 | 25% |
| Denico Autry | DE | 0 | 0% | 42 | 63% | 4 | 11% |
| Jihad Ward | DE | 0 | 0% | 34 | 51% | 1 | 3% |
| Shilique Calhoun | LB | 0 | 0% | 21 | 31% | 24 | 67% |
| Justin Ellis | NT | 0 | 0% | 21 | 31% | 3 | 8% |
| Dan Williams | DT | 0 | 0% | 20 | 30% | 4 | 11% |
| Darius Latham | NT | 0 | 0% | 20 | 30% | 4 | 11% |
| Stacy McGee | DT | 0 | 0% | 7 | 10% | 0 | 0% |
| Keith McGill | FS | 0 | 0% | 4 | 6% | 25 | 69% |
| TJ Carrie | CB | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3% | 4 | 11% |
| Daren Bates | LB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 29 | 81% |
| Nate Allen | SS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 29 | 81% |
| Sebastian Janikowski | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 16 | 44% |
| Cory James | LB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 16 | 44% |
| Antonio Hamilton | CB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 39% |
| Marquette King | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 36% |
| Jon Condo | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 36% |
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