Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post - Your Thoughts on the D-line...

SBXVII · 02-18-2009, 10:49 AM

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.

02-18-2009, 10:49 AM	#27
SBXVII Franchise Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Virginia Posts: 7,766	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.