The defense (MERGED)

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Southpaw

Overall, I'm happy with the defense, but the main problem is(and has been for several years now) the front four. Outside of Cornelius Griffin, they are all below average at best. Brandon Noble in particular, is horrible. He played all 16 games last year and registered a grand total of 14 tackles and 1 sack. Phillip Daniels has never had more than 9 sacks in a season from the DE spot, and his average is somewhere around 4.5 for his 10 years career. And can someone please explain to me how getting 2.5 sacks a year has made Renaldo Wynn the best option at the other DE spot for the last 5 years?

As I said, I'm happy overall with the performance of the defense, but a decent pass rush from the front four would fix a lot of the small issues with the defense. It would strengthen the middle zone and flat coverage by allowing linebackers to cover more, and not have to commit to the blitz just to generate a pass rush.

And it bothers me that the coaching staff doesn't see the lack of productivity from the D line as a problem. I was sure they were going to draft an end this year, but apparently a CB(that isn't even needed) was more important.

Well, I first of all agree that we need some help up front with the pass rushing. However, I think we can count Brandon Noble out of the equation since he's been on IR for a couple of weeks now and his return next year looks more and more unlikely.

I do disagree on the drafting of a CB. Look how thin our secondary was yesterday with all the injuries. We had two guys that didn't even suit up, two just getting back healthy again - Clark and Bowen. So C.Rogers is a good pick, IMO, at the corner spot and I expect him to continue to grow in the starting role as the season goes on, especially if Harris has health problems.

Maybe we'll address our need for a pass rush next year in the draft. We may have some cap room to work with and if Ramsey doesn't stick around he may position us to get a quality pick in the draft.