Our Defensive Future

Briggs is ridiculously overrated, while June is maybe one of the best LBs against the pass but overmatched against the run. Neither would fit here, regardless of price, although they'll be well out of our price range anyway.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

I would love to see those Bengals brought into Charlotte. They shouldn't break the bank, they're young, and they fill needs. Steinbach is one of those tweeners Fox/Maser likes, and Justin Smith would do well in our DE rotation. Very well, IMHO.

 

bump post-draft.

Free agency, so far, hasn't brought anything. The back end? No better off, unless one of the late round/UDFA guys does something.

We're a lot better off for the future, though.

Johnson is a better player than Wallace. Beason and Shaw add instinct and smarts to the linebacking - both may start one day, and either fit in anywhere. I still believe Beason is the weakside in the long term, whether we pick up a middle or not - I don't think we have our long term WLB if not and I hope Anderson proves me wrong. Shaw could, I guess, put a challenge on Anderson if that's how things work out.

By 09, Johnson and Peppers are starters at end, Beason and Davis are the starters at OLB, I beleive we still have all three corners under contract.

The hard part is that Jenkins is up by then, if he makes it there. Lewis is out after this year, as are Carstens and Moorehead. Morgan will inevitably be phased out completely by then, hopefully for his health sooner. The outside edges are very solid, it's the middle from front to back that could still require attention.

 

I hope you're wrong about D. Lewis. I see him contributing here for a good long while. As far as Moorehead goes, I'm surprised he's not gone already. Carstens? He is what he is. As long as he stays cheap (and he should) and healthy, I don't see him being cut. He seems to be a "Fox guy".

Agree with you about DE and OLB.

I also agree that S and MLB continue to be the primary concerns/question marks, but I think it's very likely we'll see Beason as our next MLB. Don't have a clue about safety, though.

 

It is possible that Kemo and Lewis could be our starters at DT. If Kemo plays up to his contract then he could be a very good run stuffer. Lewis is a good penetrator so they make a good combo. We might need to use Kemo a little differently than we did last year to get the most out of him.

At MLB I am hoping it is Shaw as I think Beason will be better at WLB. Of course if Anderson plays well enough to push Beason to MLB then that is fine. Safety is still a crap shoot. Unless one of our late round or UDFAs turns out to be a gem then we having nothing for the future there.

 

If it were only that simple to get good players.

 

I am thinking that a switch in what we ask him to do might make him more successful for us. He is not an athletic guy who is going to pressure the QB. He would be better playing contain and trying to eat up blockers.

 

not so much an opinion of wanting him out as much as that he's a free agent.

I'm warming back up to Beason inside. I just think he'll make more of a difference outside.

 

a lot going around apparently about our defense being "old".

Jon Beason should be starting somewhere at LB - he's 22. Our oldest LBs, Diggs and Morgan, are 29. The next oldest is Thomas Davis, three years in the league.

Mike Rucker, at 32, is the elder of the DL. He's essentially been put on a short career leash, and his replacements are spring chickens - Charles Johnson just became legal to drink this month and Stanley McClover is 23. The three man rotation at DT are all right around 28-29 and the backups are all younger. At 27, Julius Peppers is hardly past his prime.

Ken Lucas is, at 28, the elder CB - Deke Cooper and 33 year old Mike Minter are the aged safeties.

We have tons of depth and essentially two "old" players. While the 05-07 draftees have to start coming to play a little more like the 01-02 draftees, there's a lot of talent here to work with. We're a lot younger than last year, actually, and a bit of that experience wouldn't be bad to have back.