Thoughts after minicamp?

[riggins44]

Depth on the OL and defense worries me the most right now. I think we can have a good year if we avoid the injury bug.

I see the offense putting more points on the board and taking some pressure off the defense. Honestly believe Blache is going to surprise everyone. I see us having a top ten D this year. Blache is no slouch. The Bears had a stout D under his guidance.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by riggins44

Depth on the OL and defense worries me the most right now. I think we can have a good year if we avoid the injury bug.

I see the offense putting more points on the board and taking some pressure off the defense. Honestly believe Blache is going to surprise everyone. I see us having a top ten D this year. Blache is no slouch. The Bears had a stout D under his guidance.

On the contrary, I think depth on the O-Line is great. Right now I'd give it a B+. I mean obviously no one has a problem with the five guys expected to start, though I'm pretty sure most would like to see Rhinehart take over for Kendall. Keary Brown is going to be a very good guard in his own right, and might just end up being this years version of Stephon Heyer. Which brings up Heyer who did a pretty good job filling in for Jansen last year, and on top of that the coaching staff is comfortable with him being the primary backup for Samuals, which worries me a little but I'll take it.

Fabini played decently last year, though at times it seemed like touch and go. And with that said I'd say the O-Line is pretty much set for this year.

Obviously though I agree with you that our D-Line is an area of concern, and personally I wouldn't be worried so much if they had a little more depth at linebacker, as I've become convinced our defense relys heavily on the play of our linebackers, and with one very good backup for two injury prone guys I'd say theres need for concern.

[GhostSkins]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

On the contrary, I think depth on the O-Line is great. Right now I'd give it a B+. I mean obviously no one has a problem with the five guys expected to start, though I'm pretty sure most would like to see Rhinehart take over for Kendall. Keary Brown is going to be a very good guard in his own right, and might just end up being this years version of Stephon Heyer. Which brings up Heyer who did a pretty good job filling in for Jansen last year, and on top of that the coaching staff is comfortable with him being the primary backup for Samuals, which worries me a little but I'll take it.

Fabini played decently last year, though at times it seemed like touch and go. And with that said I'd say the O-Line is pretty much set for this year.

Obviously though I agree with you that our D-Line is an area of concern, and personally I wouldn't be worried so much if they had a little more depth at linebacker, as I've become convinced our defense relys heavily on the play of our linebackers, and with one very good backup for two injury prone guys I'd say theres need for concern.

Good point on the O-Line depth, and that does not even account for the fact that Lorenzo Alexander might be used as O-Line depth also giving us plenty of young depth on the O-Line. Anyone heard anything about which side of the ball they plan on using Alexander? Or is he to be the 300 pound human ping pong ball again?