DT

I tried to brainstorm ways that switching to a 3-4 could fix the DT issue, but that creates just as many question marks.

 

That would give me an anuerism! Not enough beef up front (need a fat MFer at Nose) and not enough depth at LB...not to mention piss poor tacklers.

 

This was my best effort:


LDE - Jason Shirley (oversized for the role but seems athletic enough to pull it off)
NT - Ron Edwards (32, coming off injury. Good fit but question mark.)
RDE - Greg Hardy (undersized but best option. Could have put McClain here.)
LOLB - James Anderson (tempting to move him to ILB, but shows pass rushing and shedding ability to be a good fit @ OLB.)
LILB - Luke Kuechly (hope he can take on guards)
RILB - Jon Beason (see above, plus the achilles)
ROLB - Charles Johnson (I think he could excel here)
LCB - Chris Gamble (I'd like to see him on opponents best WR more often than not, instead of keeping him in one place.)
RCB - Sherrod Martin (total leap of faith here. Don't want Munnerlyn starting.)
SS - Charles Godfrey (whatever)
FS - Haruki Nakamura (another leap of faith. Seems like a guy with starting potential, but concerned that Baltimore let him go.)

 

FWIW, Jay Ratliff is about the same size as Greg Hardy....and he plays nose tackle for Dallas. Not that it's the most apt comparison, but more teams are going for athleticism up front.

 

you really don't. Remember this is one gap. You are still, more or less, playing all players at one gap alignments, so size isn't that much of a virtue unless your get off is slow, and then you're behind the game.

B&B covers that with Ratliff so I probably didn't need to lecture or anything. Garay is big, but he's not only quick in that gap, he brings pressure with the pass too.




McClain wouldn't make a shitty 5 tech but his problems one way or another start with gap integrity, and then just inconsistency. He's kinda low one snap, not at all the next. He was by far our best pressure DT (negating the ends inside of course) so there's still promise. I was kinda concerned to see that we got better without the rookie duo, but I don't think it's specifically damning.

Back to a 3-4:

LOLB - Anderson. Not enough size but he has some blitz ability. You can take him out for
LE - Hardy. Or that's how they've played him in the past.

LILB - Beason
NT - Edwards.
RILB - Kuechly

RE - McClain/Fua. I don't see Fua as being any more aligned to NT than 5 tech other than that he's a very average athlete. This would be Johnson, and brilliant, if we had a legit outside rusher.
ROLB - Johnson. There's no way, even with a healthy Davis, I'm putting him out there to fight tackles, that's just a shitty idea.


No, I don't think it creates any real positives. Again that's part of where a premier outside rusher that can play LB would've helped. Then your ends are still a positive (GREG HARDY IS A STARTER), you're using one DT.

The best part of a switch to 3-4 as a call is that it's a changeup, a look. But again it's one gap so more or less the only thing that changes is what gaps you're blowing with linemen, and who's got contain. 3-4, 4-3, nickel 4-2/3-3, it's all who your edge rushers are, then it's how many you're bringing and where, and what you do with what's left. Window dressing.

 

3-4 still isn't an awesome idea, but it's much better idea than it ever was in the Fox years, when half of TBR was championing it. I'm just trying to find ways around the DT problem.

 

Coincidentally, trying to work out the D Line issues made me realize how bad the secondary is. Hopefully Reggie Smith or Nakamura can be a surprise.

 

Looks reasonable to me.

 

Full OTA's
Full training camp with a coaching staff that now has a full season together

It's not All/Pro at DT

But they can be molded into a strong unit


Last season offense was turned around
This season F/A's & draft will turn around Special Teams

two thirds of the equation

This is Rivera's 2nd season and he is still changing Fox's team to his team

Rivera had a rushed 1st season due to lock out
Throwed 2 rookie DT's into the fire day one

If i was either of rhose 2 I would be working my arse off to come back and show i learned..

Motivation with a full OTA -Pre-Season could produce a differnt result

 

I actually like this quite a bit, only with McClain instead of Hardy. I'd prefer to see Hardy on the outside backer, and keep an interchangable rotation depending on down and distance...not bad.

I also think CJ would excel there...interesting thoughts anyway...