Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Ok I'm very curious if there's a consensus, or at least a majority opinion, on how the FO should/will handle the d-line this off-season. I'll be honest I've given it some thought but can't really even decide for myself what makes the most sense. Here are the main points I see:

- The FA market is very shallow at both DE and DT and the two top guys will command huge money i.e. Peppers and Haynesworth, respectively. I don't believe Haynesworth can be franchised again, according to his contract, and clearly the Panthers have a tough decision ahead whether to tag Julius. Anyway my early thoughts have been we ought to pass on both guys but want to hear what good arguments are out there for grabbing one or the other... signing both would be impossible, right?

- Again beyond Peppers and Haynesworth there just isn't much to be had in FA: Gabe Watson (DT) is a RFA w/ the Cards and shouldn't be available. No way do I want Tank Johnson. Basically Monty is as good as any other young guy out there to rotate at DT. Most of the available DEs are coming out of the 3-4 scheme, with Evans actually being one of the better run-stoppers among the whole group (I think we need to resign him).

- Daniels looks to be back to 100% by start of camp and will cost around $2.2 mil on the year

- Jason Taylor earlier signaled he may play for less but more recently some have rumored he won't, which means he'll cost somewhere in the vicinity of $8.5 mil

I've been leaning more toward the "spring cleaning" strategy where we dump Daniels and Taylor to make cap room that would probably be spent at OL and/or OLB. IMHO we'll be fine at DT. I see no reason Griffin won't be a warrior again this season and Monty and Golston still show promise, Monty especially. But DE is more tricky. Evans and AC would obviously start but the risk is beyond those two there's minimal experience. Rob Jackson @ 269 lbs certainly has the size to play LDE but honestly I have no idea how talented he is. Chris Wilson could fill in at RDE but again I have little idea about talent. So again maybe that leaves us too thin in which we have to retain either Daniels or Taylor. But in that case who?

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Well, the only thing I can say about Taylor with any certainty is that if Blache can use him more creatively next year than he did this year, a healthy Jason Taylor will probably earn his salary. Use him to matchup against unique players (like against Philly) and let Daniels be the every down end.

I think it needs to be clearly understood that there's nothing we can do in the draft to significantly improve our DL production for next year. There's no guys who would play into Blache's scheme in front of the guys we already have. Well, BJ Raji would, but he's not going to be available when we pick.

I do think we should take a potentially dominant DL in the first round if we are getting great value on it. At 13, that's pretty much just Raji, but if we can trade down in the round, I would look at Peria Jerry, Brian Orakpo, Everette Brown, and even Ziggy Hood.

After those guys are gone, I would pass on the position for now. I'd look at LB, but on the OL as well before I look at the DL.

Do NOT rule out the selection of a 3-4 OLB type to play the strong side for us. There's absolutely a spot for a player like that in Blache's defense. Problem is, we already have a guy named Jason Taylor who isn't used that way.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=The Goat;527572]Ok I'm very curious if there's a consensus, or at least a majority opinion, on how the FO should/will handle the d-line this off-season. I'll be honest I've given it some thought but can't really even decide for myself what makes the most sense. Here are the main points I see:

- [B]The FA market is very shallow at both DE and DT and the two top guys will command huge money i.e. Peppers and Haynesworth, respectively. I don't believe Haynesworth can be franchised again, according to his contract, and clearly the Panthers have a tough decision ahead whether to tag Julius. Anyway my early thoughts have been we ought to pass on both guys but want to hear what good arguments are out there for grabbing one or the other... signing both would be impossible, right?

- Again beyond Peppers and Haynesworth there just isn't much to be had in FA: Gabe Watson (DT) is a RFA w/ the Cards and shouldn't be available. No way do I want Tank Johnson. Basically Monty is as good as any other young guy out there to rotate at DT. Most of the available DEs are coming out of the 3-4 scheme, with Evans actually being one of the better run-stoppers among the whole group (I think we need to resign him).[/B]
- Daniels looks to be back to 100% by start of camp and will cost around $2.2 mil on the year

- Jason Taylor earlier signaled he may play for less but more recently some have rumored he won't, which means he'll cost somewhere in the vicinity of $8.5 mil

I've been leaning more toward the "spring cleaning" strategy where we dump Daniels and Taylor to make cap room that would probably be spent at OL and/or OLB. IMHO we'll be fine at DT. I see no reason Griffin won't be a warrior again this season and Monty and Golston still show promise, Monty especially. But DE is more tricky. Evans and AC would obviously start but the risk is beyond those two there's minimal experience. Rob Jackson @ 269 lbs certainly has the size to play LDE but honestly I have no idea how talented he is. Chris Wilson could fill in at RDE but again I have little idea about talent. So again maybe that leaves us too thin in which we have to retain either Daniels or Taylor. But in that case who?[/quote]

All of what you said depends on what we do in FA (your first two points) If we either get Haynesworth or (mainly Peppers) this changes the what we do with Daniels and Taylor. Say if we get Peppers, I would let Dainels and Taylor both walk based on that we save some cap room and their age, and I'd would be more than happy to see Peppers and Carter at both ends in '09. However [B]if[/B] we get Haynesworth deciding between Dainels and Taylor is irrelevant. I'm taking a wait and see approach just because there are too many scenarios that could happen.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

I realized that after watching the steelers win it this year, I thought to myself " our oline isn't that good, but theirs is awful," but then you look over to our pass rush and see how we had like 19 sacks or something like that all year, while the steelers had like 30 from just there OLBs alone... My point is that defense wins championships and we should probably focus on Dline (DE in particular) and built that through the draft, and at least making a run At haynesworth... We can just get an olineman or 2 through free agency and a few through the draft in later picks, but with our first pick I would go after orakpo first, maybin second and if neither is there trade down and get an olineman

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

We need to start in the middle (Haynesworth)..

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=GTripp0012;527576]Well, the only thing I can say about Taylor with any certainty is that if Blache can use him more creatively next year than he did this year, a healthy Jason Taylor will probably earn his salary. Use him to matchup against unique players (like against Philly) and let Daniels be the every down end.

I think it needs to be clearly understood that there's nothing we can do in the draft to significantly improve our DL production for next year. There's no guys who would play into Blache's scheme in front of the guys we already have. Well, BJ Raji would, but he's not going to be available when we pick.

I do think we should take a potentially dominant DL in the first round if we are getting great value on it. At 13, that's pretty much just Raji, but if we can trade down in the round, I would look at Peria Jerry, Brian Orakpo, Everette Brown, and even Ziggy Hood.

After those guys are gone, I would pass on the position for now. I'd look at LB, but on the OL as well before I look at the DL.

Do NOT rule out the selection of a 3-4 OLB type to play the strong side for us. There's absolutely a spot for a player like that in Blache's defense. Problem is, we already have a guy named Jason Taylor who isn't used that way.[/quote]

Couple of questions GTripp: what qualifies as creative when it comes to Taylor? Moving him all over d-line (even the interior)? Dropping him back to OLB? The thing about him i get caught up with is he doesn't seem strong against the run anywhere so wherever you put him offenses can attack w/ a lead blocker and it's a sure gain.

Second, are you referring to 3-4 OLB from the draft, FA or either? See I had the idea that Suggs could be that guy for us, sitting at SLB most downs but dropping down to end for instance when we run the Cobra, but it seems less and less likely he'll be available.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Ok, everyone repeat after me:

"Haynesworth and Peppers are too expensive and the team does not have the cap room to get such player"

Thanks!

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

I'm inclined to think that more of the problems stemmed from the way Blache or Palmero got the players to attack the LOS. Plus if I remember right Blache coached defenses never were ones for producing sacks, so maybe a change in scheme will benefit our defensive front. I mean for god sakes look at how good the Suns are doing now with a scheme change over in the NBA (81 1st half points) granted it's not football I'm just excited that the Suns are back to the run and gun as they've been my surrogate team over the past few years in the NBA.

The O-line's problems from my view were related to players wearing down faster then their opponents were while the D-Line probably was constrained by the emphasis on stopping the run. If anything I think we can afford to let loose a little this year.

If history is any indication our defense will be fine, what we really need to do is coach up our skill players and get some new blood on the O-line.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Agree with both of you guys, Ruhskins and Goat. Hayneswoth and Peppers are financially out of reach. As for Suggs, the guy is a player. We can fit him in, in other words put him in position Slb or DE to be a playmaker.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

... I've seen a handful of mocks that have us taking Orakpo @ 13. I don't understand this. Nagging knee injuries forced him to miss time the last two years and his size doesn't permit him to be a monster run-stopper @ LDE. I tend to agree w/ GTripp that the only d-linemen worth the 13th overall is Raji and yeah it looks like he'll be long gone.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=The Goat;527604]... I've seen a handful of mocks that have us taking Orakpo @ 13. I don't understand this. Nagging knee injuries forced him to miss time the last two years and his size doesn't permit him to be a monster run-stopper @ LDE. I tend to agree w/ GTripp that the only d-linemen worth the 13th overall is Raji and yeah it looks like he'll be long gone.[/quote]
YESSS, I'm leery about having ANOTHER LB on our roster with KNEE PROBLEMS!

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Redskin Jim;527605]YESSS, I'm leery about having ANOTHER LB on our roster with KNEE PROBLEMS![/quote]
McIntosh, Washington, Blades... Orakpo?!! WTF

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=The Goat;527604]... I've seen a handful of mocks that have us taking Orakpo @ 13. I don't understand this. Nagging knee injuries forced him to miss time the last two years and his size doesn't permit him to be a monster run-stopper @ LDE. I tend to agree w/ GTripp that the only d-linemen worth the 13th overall is Raji and yeah it looks like he'll be long gone.[/quote]

Lol, everything you said up to Raji made sense to our front office :D

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Redskin Jim;527607]McIntosh, Washington, Blades... Orakpo?!! WTF[/quote]

Not sure about Blades having knee probs but again I never really follow college. He appears pretty solid when he plays and I wonder if Blache is half tempted to let Blades start at SLB this year assuming 1) Marcus is shown the door 2) the FO doesn't see anything in FA they really like for SLB and 3) he (Blache) gets the best available SLB in the 3rd round, or maybe 2nd round depending on compensatory picks and trades.

... one thing about Blades i never realized till i checked his profile is his mass. 250 lbs!!!

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Redskin Jim;527603]Agree with both of you guys, Ruhskins and Goat. Hayneswoth and Peppers are financially out of reach. As for [B]Suggs,[/B] the guy is a player. We can fit him in, in other words put him in position Slb or DE to be a playmaker.[/quote]

I just saw on Sportsnite on comcast that if Suggs isn't signed by Thursday, Baltimore will tag him again.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Nice thread.

My thoughts are that OL and LB will, and should, be higher priorities this off-season. Here's my take on each player

Daniels/Griffin: I'm lumping them together because at this point they're one and the same for all intents and purposes. A couple of aging veterans (PD more so) who are valuable locker room guys and not everydown run-stoppers. I think one of them is gone and in the end it will be Phillip Daniels.

Anthony Montgomery: Next to DeAngelo Hall, re-signing this guy to a long term contract should be a priority. We can build a defensive line around this guy.

Kedric Golston: He probably plays above his talent level. He's best served as a back-up, but we haven't had the luxury of consistently playing him as a back-up. I'd bring him back because he's young and provides depth.

Andre Carter: Until his restructuring, I thought 2009 would be his last year with the team. Now I'm not as sure. I was a big proponent of signing him as I thought he would add the missing pass-rusher we needed. When he's good, he's very good but it's not often enough. He's not a one man show, like some other dominant DEs. He needs help to be successful. If we can provide that for him somehow, he can be a 10+ sack guy again.

Jason Taylor: I think last year was an unfortunate fluke health-wise. He showed though in the few games that he was healthy how disruptive a force he can be. He's not getting any younger so that has to be taken into consideration. There's been a lot of speculation of playing him at linebacker and if the season started today I'd say he's the starting WLB (with Rocky moving to the strong side). I think he and AC can be effective on the field together, just not at opposite ends of the same line.

Lorenzo Alexander: If nothing changed between now and the start of the season personnel wise I'd start this guy next to Montgomery. That's as much an indictment of the lack of quality along the interior as it is a testament to Alexander's hard work and underrated skills. I was very impressed with him last year and think he's a solid 3rd DT.

DeMetric Evans: Here's another overachiever who has been a solid part of this team for a while now and has stepped in admirably when needed. That said, I'd let him go. He's a 30-year old jack of all trades, master of none and it's time to start cutting the cords on some of those guys.

Chris Wilson: He may be better suited to be a linebacker. But he really needs to show he can excel as a situational pass-rusher this spring/summer or he could be gone.

Rob Jackson: Whatever it is the team sees in him, I'm not seeing it. Not yet at least.

Alex Buzbee: I know the team is very high on him as a pass-rushing specialist. If he's back from his knee injury he becomes the White N.D. Kalu right away.

Ryan Boschetti: He'll be cut..and probably back again in October

Free Agents: On the DL, there's really no one out there that's really worth bringing in so I think we look elsewhere, which leaves the draft (because I doubt we're making any trades)

Draft: In my perfect world we somehow are able to get an OL and still somehow add Tyson Jackson who gives you basically a young Phillip Daniels that can play DE and DT, and add Connor Barwin who would be a DE/LB freak of nature. Other names to consider are SenDerrick Marks, Dorell Scott as possible DTs, and a guy who is flying under the radar it seems-Paul Kruger at DE.

At the end of the day, I think the changes are minimal for 2009. I think we may add a player but really it will be a reshuffling of the players we already have.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=The Goat;527604]... I've seen a handful of mocks that have us taking Orakpo @ 13. I don't understand this. Nagging knee injuries forced him to miss time the last two years and his size doesn't permit him to be a monster run-stopper @ LDE. [B] I tend to agree w/ GTripp that the only d-linemen worth the 13th overall is Raji[/B] and yeah it looks like he'll be long gone.[/quote]

I agree about Raji but don't overlook Peria Jerry. He is rising fast and is a force in the middle. He is double teamed alot and at times triple teamed. He would certainly help free up our D-ends.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=53Fan;527614]I agree about Raji but don't overlook Peria Jerry. He is rising fast and is a force in the middle. He is double teamed alot and at times triple teamed. He would certainly help free up our D-ends.[/quote]

I never trust guys that rise to fast. Dewayne Robertson being the poster boy for coming out of nowhere. Still your post takes the cake. I've now heard about this Jerry guy enough that I guess it's worth my time to take a look at him. At the very least his measureables remind me of Trevor Laws.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Dirtbag359;527628][B]I never trust guys that rise to fast.[/B] Dewayne Robertson being the poster boy for coming out of nowhere. Still your post takes the cake. I've now heard about this Jerry guy enough that I guess it's worth my time to take a look at him. At the very least his measureables remind me of Trevor Laws.[/quote]

Yeah I hear you Dirtbag but he was very well thought of to begin with. He's just becoming even more impressive now as he's being looked at more closely.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Personally I hope we can keep Evans, I'd rather keep him and dump Daniels.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

i think my outlook on our line, and the front office outlook are totally different. the skins have gotten to a point that they really have little flexibility in what they can do. Daniels and Griffith have long out lived their shelve life. probably should have been gone 2 seasons ago. Alexander probably couldn't make another N.F.L roster. like others have stated, Golston is simply a back up. any younger talent would help immediately. but the skins front office seems to like Daniels, and his smaller salary.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

I am really not trying to be an ass, but how many times can we discuss the some old things over and over. Go back and look at how many D-line threads we have had over the year....

that being said....Dont put all our money into Haynesworth or Peppers. It would be a mistake this franchise has made time and time again. Peppers will 30 and at the back end of his prime, and Haynesworth has had past dedication issues, which may surface again after the huge payday. I say you draft which ever is there at 13, or trade down and get a couple of more picks (which I would rather us do). We can fill with quality players in FA, not supposed superstars.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=#56fanatic;527656]I am really not trying to be an ass, but how many times can we discuss the some old things over and over. Go back and look at how many D-line threads we have had over the year....

that being said....Dont put all our money into Haynesworth or Peppers. It would be a mistake this franchise has made time and time again. Peppers will 30 and at the back end of his prime, and Haynesworth has had past dedication issues, which may surface again after the huge payday. I say you draft which ever is there at 13, or trade down and get a couple of more picks (which I would rather us do). We can fill with quality players in FA, not supposed superstars.[/quote]

Thanks for being an ass. ;)

#1 it's the offseason, and #2 if you stick around here long enough believe me you're going to see repeated topics.

And #3 if you don't like a thread, why comment at all?

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

It's important to keep Golston and Montgomery because they are valuable rotation guys but honestly I was pretty disappointed in Monty last year. I was expecting him to blossom and instead he seemed to take a step backwards.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Mattyk72;527660]It's important to keep Golston and Montgomery because they are valuable rotation guys but honestly I was pretty disappointed in Monty last year. I was expecting him to blossom and instead he seemed to take a step backwards.[/quote]

I'm not taking up for Monty but he was injured at the beginning of the year and Golston got the nod over him. But I agree, it's time for him to step up and make an impact. With his size and strength he needs to step his game up a couple of notches or is he always going to be the sleeping giant?

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Overall I'm much more concerned offensivley, than defensivley at all positions including the line...but looking just at the dline at this point.....

Keeping Evans/Golston/Montgomery are priorities to me.

At this point, I think having Griffin, Daniels, Taylor makes our team better next season, but in the long run, I think they'll all be gone anyways before we make any realistic impact in the playoffs....

I just want to get younger and faster at the defensive end position & bigger at the D. Tackle position...

I will say I'm very suprised we extended Andre Carter....I thought he's been ok, but nothing spectacular here.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

So here's what it looks like to me;
1. We don't have the CAP room to get any superstars in FA(hanesworth, Suggs).
2. There is only one outstanding DL in the draft and he will be gone.
3. We can cut the 30 yr olds and get same talent out of the younger ones.
4. Any cheap FA's will be no better then what we have.
5. Anyone taken in the draft probably will not be an impact immediatly.

So basically....we are left with two choices. Keep what we have until 2010 when cap goes bye bye and hope we are 4th ranked D again and build up or Offense so it can score points or dump some of the older players and pray the younger ones step up and can be a 4th ranked D again. Hope or pray we get a diamond in the rough who can start immediatly on Defense. ....am I correct?

I don't think our D was bad considering it was 4th ranked but it did not look exciting. It did not look like a dominant 4th ranked team. It looked like a team that got lucky sometimes to get to be 4th ranked. It looked like it struggled all season at different spots but namely DE and DT. No pass rush. A nice pass rush creates turn overs by forcing the QB to throw early for interceptions, get sacked, or create fumbles. With out it we put alot of pressure on our CB's and Safeties to perform above par. From what I keep hearing we either need a sub par back field but a great DL; ie Giants, Eagles, Dallas or a sub par DL that will hold the line and stop the run with an excellent back field. Well if we sign Hall we are partially on our way to having the excellent back field. Springs can't stay healthy long enough during the season to be worth the money we are paying him. Smoot has slowed. I like Rogers but he's wanting a payday I believe and some think he's not a top notch CB. I like also and think he gets the job done. Whether tackling the WR or batting the ball away he not as bad as some in the league.

But if our back field has to be stellar Rogers may need to be replaced. He sometimes misjusdges and WR's get past him. Occassionaly. Hall is a risk taker and tries for the interceptions sometimes missing causing the WR to get past him. Which leaves our safeties. Hopefully they play lights out to pick up where our CB leave off.

All in all. I don't know what we should do. I have no clue as to what the coach's want to do. Where they see the problems are at. However I get the feeling Blache's scheme is not to far off Williams in that most of the pass rush comes from the LB's, CB's or Safeties. Are we going to see much of a difference this year from last year? Probably not. So I would think Zorn is happy with the 4th place finish and knowing we have beaten the NFC playoff teams. If we can keep it in that ball park and step up the offense to control the ball better and score points or be able to score more then the opponent we should be a better team and go farther. Just an assumption.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Mattyk72;527660]It's important to keep Golston and Montgomery because they are valuable rotation guys but honestly I was pretty disappointed in Monty last year. I was expecting him to blossom and instead he seemed to take a step backwards.[/quote]

Ditto on Monty. I haven't at all given up on this kid though and really hope he's the x-factor this season... added pressure up the middle will pay dividends for our DEs and hopefully for the addition at SLB.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=SmootSmack;527613]Nice thread.

My thoughts are that OL and LB will, and should, be higher priorities this off-season. Here's my take on each player
[/quote]

I agree 100% and said expressed the same idea in another thread. Your player analysis for these guys was spot-on as well. a very nice read.

A few responses to some interesting points you brought up:

[quote=SmootSmack;527613]Andre Carter: Until his restructuring, I thought 2009 would be his last year with the team. Now I'm not as sure.[/quote]
For what its worth, cap-wise, the restructure actually makes it easier to cut him after 2009. It also reduces the cap hit for keeping him so if he suddenly starts performing at a higher level, we can keep him at a lower rate (short-term, atleast).

[quote=SmootSmack;527613]Jason Taylor: I think last year was an unfortunate fluke health-wise. He showed though in the few games that he was healthy how disruptive a force he can be. He's not getting any younger so that has to be taken into consideration. There's been a lot of speculation of playing him at linebacker and if the season started today I'd say he's the starting WLB (with Rocky moving to the strong side). I think he and AC can be effective on the field together, just not at opposite ends of the same line.[/quote]
a very very interesting idea... if we could restructure Taylor to lower his cap hit to 5.5M/year or less, i would be all for it. It would certainly allow us to postpone addressing LB for another year or two and focus more of our draft picks in 2009 and 2010 on the lines. However, if we cant get sign him to an extension with a lower cap figure, i think the cost vs. age vs. health vs. new position (4-3 OLB) makes keeping him too risky of an option.

[quote=SmootSmack;527613]Lorenzo Alexander: If nothing changed between now and the start of the season personnel wise I'd start this guy next to Montgomery. That's as much an indictment of the lack of quality along the interior as it is a testament to Alexander's hard work and underrated skills. I was very impressed with him last year and think he's a solid 3rd DT.[/quote] If Griffin is on the roster and healthy, theres no way i'd start Alexander over Griff... but id certainly consider allowing him to compete with Monty for the role. On the flip side, if we decided to cut ties with Griff, id be very comfortable with giving Alexander a shot there. One other move id consider (if we are able to keep Evans, Monty, Griff, and Golston) is moving Alexander (gasp) back to offensive guard. He seemed to be doing well there when he was a flex player and we only moved him to DT because, at the time, we had more depth at guard. Now, things are completely reversed. I'm not sure if its something Alexander would even want to do, but id atleast explore the option if we felt Alexander could start at RG for us in 2009. Otherwise, we're best suited to keep him on defense.

[quote=SmootSmack;527613]DeMetric Evans: Here's another overachiever who has been a solid part of this team for a while now and has stepped in admirably when needed. That said, I'd let him go. He's a 30-year old jack of all trades, master of none and it's time to start cutting the cords on some of those guys.[/quote] This is the only place where i semi-disagree with you. If we cut Evans, who do we have to take his place opposite Carter? We certainly dont have anyone in-house who can do the job and the FA market for DEs is very slim this year. Cutting Evans almost necessitates we use our first pick in the draft on his replacement, and id rather see us use that pick on an OT. If Evans is wanting an obscene amount of money, of course we have to let him go. But he's certaily productive and versitile enough to warrant extending (if the price is right).

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;527796]I agree 100% and said expressed the same idea in another thread. Your player analysis for these guys was spot-on as well. a very nice read.[/quote]

Thanks. I put my heart into the post :)

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=SmootSmack;527798]Thanks. I put my heart into the post :)[/quote]

Lol, heart!

wait a minute! ive figured it out! you must have stolen Springs heart after the 2007 season! haha

PS - i edited my previous post with some responses to some of your ideas and am interested in what you think.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[LIST][*]Move Taylor to LB. Dump Washington.[*]Re-sign Evans[*]Re-sign Daniels (at about 1 million)[*]Keep Griffin (maybe a slight restructure to free up a mil)[*]Re-sign Montgomery and Golsten[*]Draft or Aquire an value guy for DT (3rd round pick?) - good, big run clogger who maybe lacks in pass rushing ability to be used situationally. Next year Griffin gets replaced by Montgomery, this guy takes Montgomery's spot.[*]Keep Carter as an every down DE[*]Hope for no injuries[/LIST]

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=The Goat;527596]Couple of questions GTripp: what qualifies as creative when it comes to Taylor? Moving him all over d-line (even the interior)? Dropping him back to OLB? The thing about him i get caught up with is he doesn't seem strong against the run anywhere so wherever you put him offenses can attack w/ a lead blocker and it's a sure gain.

Second, are you referring to 3-4 OLB from the draft, FA or either? See I had the idea that Suggs could be that guy for us, sitting at SLB most downs but dropping down to end for instance when we run the Cobra, but it seems less and less likely he'll be available.[/quote]Using Taylor creatively = all of the above. And you're absolutely right that he wouldn't be any stronger against the run at LB than at DE, but often our run defense comes a numbers game. Instead of attacking the ball, the OLB usually opts to cut the legs off the lead blocker so that Horton or Fletcher has a clean path to the ball.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

Fair points, BHA. I doubt LA would start over Griff. I just put it out there, also I could see it benefitting Griff by keeping him fresh for the entire season.

One guy out here who would be cheap and available is Marcus Tubbs. He's got major injury concerns and there are shades of Erasmus James here, but he's young and Zorn knows him from his days in Seattle.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Mattyk72;527657]Thanks for being an ass. ;)

#1 it's the offseason, and #2 if you stick around here long enough believe me you're going to see repeated topics.

And #3 if you don't like a thread, why comment at all?[/quote]


My point was there have been so many threads regarding this topic....I responded because i haven't in a while.

are you a real jackass in life or just on here?

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

uh-oh

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=#56fanatic;527841]My point was there have been so many threads regarding this topic....I responded because i haven't in a while.

are you a real jackass in life or just on here?[/quote]

As best as I can recall we haven't had a discussion focusing on the defensive line from Jason Taylor all the way down to Ryan Boschetti since August. It's a good discussion what with another year passed to review these players, and free agency and the draft upcoming. I would think threads dedicated to each position might even be worth it in the coming days.

So many threads to respond to, nothing says you have to respond to this one to mark your return from not posting for a while.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=#56fanatic;527841]My point was there have been so many threads regarding this topic....I responded because i haven't in a while.

are you a real jackass in life or just on here?[/quote]

Did the ;) register with you at all?? I'll spell it out for ya, I was just busting your balls.

But if you want to play that way ok. I find that when people say they aren't trying to be an ass, it's just an excuse for an assholish comment on the way.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=Mattyk72;527874]Did the ;) register with you at all?? I'll spell it out for ya, I was just busting your balls.

But if you want to play that way ok. [B]I find that when people say they aren't trying to be an ass, it's just an excuse for an assholish comment on the way.[/B][/quote]

Yup. Kind of like when someone starts a sentence of with, "not to pry, but..." or "with all due respect..." And then they proceed to pry or be disrespectful.

Re: Your Thoughts on the D-line...
 

[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;527866]uh-oh[/quote]

LOL... my thoughts exactly.

Question to mods: with the shitty economic situation out there I wonder if it's been a little more difficult telling when somebody has been gut-punched by the world and is taking it out on so and so or when we're just being a-holes?