Being a bit outside does open things up, but I cannot agree that he was not being used well at NT. True, he was not able to get as good a pass rush from the shade spot, but he was simply underrated as a nose.
I watched lots of plays from 2012-2014 and he had that same ideal technique. The new starting nose, Tanzel Smart plays a different kind of game on the nose than Brockers. He's trying to slip guys, and made one really good play. But Tanzel got out of his gap last week and was major cause of the 75-yard run. In all the years of watching Brockers he rarely, if ever did that.
Brocker is playing in a similar way at 5-tech.He uses both hands to stand a guy up and shed him.
I think the move to DE was based on trying to get the best 3 linemen on the field and Walker wasn;t cutting it as a DE. But as a backup to Tanzel Smart, he';s more than adequate.
