Our Defensive Future

Lets break it down in units:

The DL: Peppers and Jenkins are locks. I figure Kemo is here too because he has only played one year on the big contract. If Rucker can come back 100% I would love to have him back. If he can not then I would be happy to use a rotation to fill that spot. Between Wallace, Lewis and Mcglover we ought to be able to fill in one DE spot. I certainly do not want to see us spend a first rounder on a DE.

Linebackers: Davis is going to be a good player and I think we would be smart to leave him where he is. I really hope we do not go into next year depending on Morgan. I hope he retires or we release him or something. Diggs has been OK but nothing special at WLB. Draft is a good player and I hope he is back but I would prefer him as the fourth linebacker who plays a situational role. Anderson has potential but if we plan on using him we need a solid guy to start him next to. I would really like to see us add a starter to this group. Either in the draft or free agency a new MLB would be really nice. Davis, Willis, Anderson would not look to bad with Draft waiting to come in if one falters.

Secondary: We are set at corner. Lucas is a good player who was hurt a lot this year. Get him healthy and he is very solid. Marshall is a player too and I think he ends up starting next year. Gamble is soft but he is still a pretty good corner. I like having three starting quality corners. I think we should stand pat with those three guys and maybe add a nickel in the draft who can return punts and kicks. The safeties are a mess. Minter is the only guy worth keeping and he is marginal. We really need a guy with some speed who can cover. It is a deep draft for safeties so I hope we land a good one. A mid level free agent would not hurt either.

Basically we need to add at least one linebacker and one safety. We could probably use two of each but we have to have at least one of each.

 

That unit would be fast but way too small and way too young.

 

You are probably right but it might be better than our other options. I am not sure what we could get in free agency that would not be too expensive. We have talked about London Fletcher a bit and he might work if he does not cost too much. I would like to see Anderson on the field but he would probably be better off with a veteran MLB beside him.

 

We may be able to pull off one more core player early, and that should be enough. If everyone's fairly healthy back there, a much better secondary with a fulltime starting Marshall and at least one above average safety is a pretty good defense.

 

Believe it or not, Willis isn't the only MLB in the draft. You should look into that, see if it's true.

London Fletcher will cost a ton.

And I hate to be too trite about all this but in the end I'd as well take a fair resigning of Draft, keep a top tackler for once, and put a guy like Desmond Bishop, HB Blades, David Harris behind him for the very near future.

 

Just because I used his name does not mean I am pimping him. I do want to see us upgrade on Draft though. He is decent and I would love to have him back as depth but this defense would be much better with a blue chip linebacker. On the rare occasions Morgan is healthy you can see the run defense get much better.

 

Resign draft, draft a top notched rookie to groom behind him, and for God's sake get the Fuck rid of Dan Morgan!

get an upgrade over Diggs, let Seward and Anderson compete for the right to back up and learn from Diggs' replacement

 

Who is going to replace Diggs and how are we going to fit him under the cap?

 

Willis does appear to be the best MLB, or at least the best playmaker at the position. I tend to prefer MLBs like Buster Davis, Posluszny, or Harris just because you need mistake-free guys in the middle. Many of us can remember what it was like to have Lester Towns blow up a run with a stunning hit only to miss his gap on the next three. Honestly I don't think Morgan has the best instincts either, and I'd really like to have someone who gets to the right place at the right time even if he doesn't make "Jacked Up!" or cause turnovers. Draft makes for good depth, but he shouldn't start for a good team.

And like I said about Anderson, he's just not ready to start yet. You're only thinking he is because he had a couple of sacks today and you didn't even notice his blown coverages or his screw-up on that draw for a TD.

Also, I can't see Fletcher getting top LB money. We could sign him pretty easily if we precede it by cutting Morgan to free up that $3.3 million, but I doubt that happens.

 

we'll have plenty of cap room.