Defense Will Shock You This Year...

Let me be clear, I'm an absolute fan of this defense. And I do think it will eventually be our secret sauce. But, I can't see it being this year. The defense requires a lot of work for the front 4 especially. It' is DB heavy and uses its S's a little differently than most defenses. The LB's need to be more versatile, and the DL have to be very good in a wide variety of roles, which is probably one of the reasons we were so happy to draft Wilkins, because in addition to being great athletically and work-ethic-wise and a good citizen … he also has the flexibility to play all across the DL from NT to DT to DE, and he's exceptionally smart, so he's bright enough and hard working enough to learn all those roles.

But, we simply don't have the pass rushers to make this defense great this year. And, we have an excellent nucleus of DB's … but we need more DB's. More CB's and as we move on from Reshad Jones and TJ McDonald (both SS's) we'll need a couple more young S's in the new mold. This is going to take time. Don't be disappointed if our DL doesn't look good in 2019, because the learning curve is bad enough, but going through that without a pass rush or enough DE's or DB's to run the system is even worse. Oh yeah, we don't really have a true NT either.

I'm with ya bro … this defense is a great thing. It just may take a little longer to see it, so don't let it get you down.

JRYCRL said:

I honestly think our LB core is the weakest part of the team. Baker is the best and he weighs 215 lbs. If he was 235, he'd be a beast. McMillan and Alonzo are both mediocre and can't cover or find the ball carrier very well. McMillan is young and might get better.

I see Hanks and Watson having a real shot to make the team and vie for minutes at LB. Ledbetter has a shot to play at DE and Needham looks like a better than average CB. All 4 have a chance to stick and maybe play.

Click to expand...

Baker was 228 at weigh ins at the combine and played at 225 at Ohio

I like the potential of our D, but we right now have a deficiency of pass-rush...Not good.

dade said:

Baker was 228 at weigh ins at the combine and played at 225 at Ohio

Click to expand...

Regardless of the alleged weight. He looked like a small safety played LB... and did it week by the way. Speed was his asset.

BigNastyFish said:

"Shock" is a tad too electric IMO. Flores is obviously a man with a plan
but ya gottta have all your chess pieces at the start of the game to have
any chance for a winning end game.

I agree in the sense I see our D being entertaining with a LOT of positive
signs and some real jolts. They could actually win us a game or 2.
But only if the stars are aligned in Scorpio or maybe Stegosaurus.

Beyond that I have no clue at this point. Though I would say anything
significant that Harris provides will be pretty "shocking."

Click to expand...

I agree completely - "shock" is a little strong. I think they'll be better than many think. Some have already forgotten how bad Burke was and how many injuries nicked the D late in the season. I expect a rough start. But, I don't expect an amazing performance. Just better than expected.

JRYCRL said:

Regardless of the alleged weight. He looked like a small safety played LB... and did it week by the way. Speed was his asset.

Click to expand...

Baker might not be heavy but he is stronger than he looks. He isn't a player I'd call out as being weak.

I’m with the OP on this. I’m optimistic on the new scheme.

NBP81 said:

I dont see it...

Click to expand...

we have Minkah, X, Wilkins which is an awesome basis. Now the rest of the guys? Saying “the rest” is an unfair marginalization because they are talented but I don’t know how they fit. My uneducated opinion is that transitioning from a crappy wide 9 personnel to Belichick style could take another offseason or 2

I do believe the defense will be improved, how much who knows. We'll need to be creative with getting after the QB as we DO NOT have a one on one win option that I can think of. I do expect the secondary and LB play (maybe I'm happy adjusting though) to be better due to the experience of Baker and McMillan.

levv151 said:

I honestly believe that our Defense is going to shock the NFL this year and have one of the most dramatic turnarounds in recent history. I get the feeling that A) Flores is going to find the best way to use Harris and he is finally going to live up to the 1st round potential. Even if we lose 12 games this year, our defense will keep them close and the L will strictly come from the Offenses inability to move the ball... or B) I could also be a punch-drunk homer who is blinded by team loyalty...going with (A) right now but high probability it could be (B)...who's with me??? (That and we haven't been able to cover a TE since the late 90's)...

Click to expand...

Where does the pass rush come from? I'm not holding my breath on some drastic turnaround. I've seen the roster. I'm not new here ...

The defense shock me every year.

BobDole said:

Where does the pass rush come from? I'm not holding my breath on some drastic turnaround. I've seen the roster. I'm not new here ...

Click to expand...

I'm not going to argue the pass rush will be good or 1-2 guys will get 10+ sacks. But "Where does the pass rush come from?" Scheme. Game plans. I'm not optimistic on the pass rush, but I'll admit Burke was abysmal as DC and I'll not understate the importance scheme as a factor in pass rush.

Until we KNOW how the new coaching staff is going to setup and use defensive alignment's, we are just stirring a pot with a bunch of meaningless predictions. We can make some "educated" guesses as to how the new staff might approach the defensive, but even those suppositions can't take into account how the new staff will actually set things up.

I suspect that in the end they will be making running changes the first 4 to 6 games until the new staff feels they have optimized the defensive structure with the players we have. I anticipate some free agents will be added to the defense, but I have no idea which position will get help or which player is going to be selected.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the defense gets organized. This will determine which defensive positions we will be looking at in the next draft.

fansinceGWilson said:

I'm not going to argue the pass rush will be good or 1-2 guys will get 10+ sacks. But "Where does the pass rush come from?" Scheme. Game plans. I'm not optimistic on the pass rush, but I'll admit Burke was abysmal as DC and I'll not understate the importance scheme as a factor in pass rush.

Click to expand...

Having capable players on the edge is also a plus. There are currently none. I guess I'm going to need to see this glorious new scheme before jumping to any obvious conclusions.

BobDole said:

Having capable players on the edge is also a plus. There are currently none. I guess I'm going to need to see this glorious new scheme before jumping to any obvious conclusions.

Click to expand...

Certainly I'm not discounting "capable players." But I, and I suspect others, grew increasingly frustrated with Burke's non-blitzes, lack of stunts, or dropping Wake into coverage. I remember very few times LBs blitzed. Again, Miami needs legitimate pass rushers, but not all of the pass rush failures last year were due to incapable players.