If we signed Josh Evans it would probably be to rotate on interior with Larry Chester and Tim Bowens, and probably take a few snaps away from Gardener at DT since Gardener was supposed to switch back to DT on passing downs.
That said I think its a good idea if we could somehow afford him. I'm of the mind that we can never have too many good DL and I'm not all that confident in Haley or Grant after last year. I think that should Gardener even be released or get injured, with the current lineup we would still be fine at LDE because Rob Burnett would man the position and stabilize it while David Bowens and Adewale Ogunleye come in as role players to try and make plays which both are capable of making (especially David Bowens in my opinion who I honestly believe with the right work ethic could prove to be another JT)
So really, sign Josh Evans, don't sign Josh Evans, cut Daryl Gardener, don't cut Daryl Gardener, either way our DL will be fine. Think about it in these terms. No matter what, Larry Chester is an upgrade over the Haley/Grant combo of last year, correct? Yes, he is. We still have Haley/Grant who we have NO REASON to believe will be WORST than they were last year, and we might actually have some reason to believe that they will be better if they stay healthy which they weren't last year. Tim Bowens, should probably be playing at about the same talent level barring injury. Jason Taylor, we have no reason to believe he won't be exactly what he has been the last two seasons for the Dolphins. Adewale Ogunleye and David Bowens played very little last year and now they will be playing more and we have reason to believe that BOTH will be better than last year. Together with Rob Burnett their responsibility is to play at Lorenzo Brommell's level...and does anyone think they can't?
Daryl Gardener's responsibility is to play at Kenny Mixon's level at LDE which is to say, a run stuffer with hardly any passrush abilities. Does anyone not think HE is capable of this? I think he's capable of AT LEAST that.
Then you've got Zach Thomas same as usual, Derrick Rodgers same as usual, Morlon Greenwood actually IMPROVING (think of the Morlon Greenwood we saw toward the end of the year)....
Now, throw in the fact that Bates will be including the safety in run support more often than last year. Throw in Jamar Fletcher making strides at nickel CB and Ray Green as well as the return of Trent Gamble to the lineup...
And what you've got basically is position by position the very WORST that our run defense could reasonably turn out with no luck whatsoever, is about the same as the last 8 games of 2001. The pass defense is still there, however, unless you believe that Brian Walker is unreplacable by Arturo Freeman. On the hand, with a little luck a pleasant surprise or two our defense has a reasonable chance to be FAR better than it was last year at stopping the run, on a position by position basis. Well on the flipside of that, our offense should also be better than it was in 2001 with the ascension of Chris Chambers, a possible improvement in play from James McKnight, good ole Gadsden, some OL shuffling, RICKY WILLIAMS, and NORV TURNER...
I mean if you're still extremely paranoid about the DL don't be, its a team sport with tons of positions all ruled under the hand of a single salary cap....its give and take.