Your Thoughts on the D-line...

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by The Goat

... 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.

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

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by The Goat

... 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.

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.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by 53Fan

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.

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.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

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.

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.

[SmootSmack]

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.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

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

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:

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Andre Carter: Until his restructuring, I thought 2009 would be his last year with the team. Now I'm not as sure.

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).

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

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.

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.

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

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.

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.

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

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.

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).

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

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.

Thanks. I put my heart into the post

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Thanks. I put my heart into the post

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.

[GoSkins!]

• 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

[MTK]

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

[dmek25]

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.

[#56fanatic]

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.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by #56fanatic

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.

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?

[#56fanatic]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

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?

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?

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by #56fanatic

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?

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.