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A wild but possible idea for our NT

JT-forpresident

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We all know this draft is not heavy, figuratively speaking, in the 3-4 NT department.

We also are aware that our NT situation is, well, not good.

So i've thought about it.... you know this staff won't leave the position like it is. Even with the signing of that jaguars DLinemen, we need to add a big guy in the middle. My guess is, looking at the trends of this front office, they will look for a mauler later in the draft who needs to be polished a bit (a kendall langford, a jay ratliff, a donald thomas, etc)

but then i look at the big picture. I see starks/langford/merling as our DEs... not too shabby but not as good as people would like to think. I look at this draft and i see guys like peria jerry, jarron gilbert, tyson jackson, evander hood, fili moala that would all be available to be starters at the DE position (some would be better than others obviously)

The NT class is not that deep/talented

So

what do you do if you're jeff ireland ?

An idea that hasn't flirted in all finheaven's mind could be trotting in his head.

Kendall langford as a NT ? I see it, oh yeah. I've rewatched tape of him on two games, focusing on his play. His pass rush is not as good as you'd like for a DE, but he's playing the run better than ANY rookie dlinemen i've seen in years. He has commanded, he has owned, he has dominated reach blocks, scoop blocks, double teams, chop blocks. He's big, he's strong and he's got more than adequate speed to play NT.

That way, you'd have a DL that goes like this:

DE: merling/rookie/wright
NT: ferguson/langford/soliai
DE:starks/rookie/langford

i put langford in the DE rotation because he could still take snaps in shorter yardage situation, instead of a more pass-rush oriented randy starks. The two rookies are the same guy, i wouldn't expect two rookies, but i'd see the one we draft getting snaps at both spots, sharring time with starks and merling.

That lineup would upgrade the NT AND the DE position, only by moving a player inside and drafting a freaky DE

i don't know what you guys think. Before answering, please make sure to watch some highlights or some tape of kendall and try to envision the guy as a NT. I see it, maybe it's just me, but i see it. Especially with that special pool of DEs, i don't think you can pass on some freaks that are out there. Obviously my idea is farfetched and out of line if this staff hardly believes in soliai's potential, but i don't think that's the case. They'll keep him for the remainder of his contract but that'll be it IMO ...
 
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langford is not really the right size for 3-4 nose tackle. he is listed at 6-6, 290. compare him to casey hampton (6-1, 325), wilfork (6-2, 325) or ferguson (6-3, 305).
 
kris jenkins, shaun rodgers, but more importantly jay rattliff, are all 6'4 ... i know kendall is a little tall, but i don't think that's much of a problem considering the way he plays with a good pad level but mostly excellent separation with his arms
 
You know that is a very interesting observation. You are absolutely right about his run stopping ability on film, I do think he was the only DE to provide any type of pass rush though, but he is very raw in that aspect and do expect massive improvment this year.

I was starting to think that they planned on bulking up Starks as someone else pointed out here but you might really have a good idea here as his height might help him as his arms are so long he could keep two blockers occupied with those vines.

Nice job.
 
We all know this draft is not heavy, figuratively speaking, in the 3-4 NT department.

We also are aware that our NT situation is, well, not good.

So i've thought about it.... you know this staff won't leave the position like it is. Even with the signing of that jaguars DLinemen, we need to add a big guy in the middle. My guess is, looking at the trends of this front office, they will look for a mauler later in the draft who needs to be polished a bit (a kendall langford, a jay ratliff, a donald thomas, etc)

but then i look at the big picture. I see starks/langford/merling as our DEs... not too shabby but not as good as people would like to think. I look at this draft and i see guys like peria jerry, jarron gilbert, tyson jackson, evander hood, fili moala that would all be available to be starters at the DE position (some would be better than others obviously)

The NT class is not that deep/talented

So

what do you do if you're jeff ireland ?

An idea that hasn't flirted in all finheaven's mind could be trotting in his head.

Kendall langford as a NT ? I see it, oh yeah. I've rewatched tape of him on two games, focusing on his play. His pass rush is not as good as you'd like for a DE, but he's playing the run better than ANY rookie dlinemen i've seen in years. He has commanded, he has owned, he has dominated reach blocks, scoop blocks, double teams, chop blocks. He's big, he's strong and he's got more than adequate speed to play NT.

That way, you'd have a DL that goes like this:

DE: merling/rookie/wright
NT: ferguson/langford/soliai
DE:starks/rookie/langford

i put langford in the DE rotation because he could still take snaps in shorter yardage situation, instead of a more pass-rush oriented randy starks. The two rookies are the same guy, i wouldn't expect two rookies, but i'd see the one we draft getting snaps at both spots, sharring time with starks and merling.

That lineup would upgrade the NT AND the DE position, only by moving a player inside and drafting a freaky DE

i don't know what you guys think. Before answering, please make sure to watch some highlights or some tape of kendall and try to envision the guy as a NT. I see it, maybe it's just me, but i see it. Especially with that special pool of DEs, i don't think you can pass on some freaks that are out there. Obviously my idea is farfetched and out of line if this staff hardly believes in soliai's potential, but i don't think that's the case. They'll keep him for the remainder of his contract but that'll be it IMO ...

Interesting idea I will give you that. You basically want to use Langford the same way in which the Ravens use Ngata, which is lining him up all over the D-Line. But problem with that for me, is like you said, Langford does not have the pass rush which Ngata does have. If you want to stop the run on short yardage situations then maybe playing him NT in the 3-4 could work, but I dont see him being as effective against the pass.

One thing you must consider also is that at the moment Langford is one of the best 3-4 DE's in the league. By taking him out of that position we are losing our best space eater.
 
dont mess with a good thing, and why is this in the draft forum?

because my idea came through the facts that there's not a lot a NT, there's a lot of DE in this draft class... and we could switch kendall inside if some of the DEs out there catch our attention... i will admit though that i wasn't sure where to post it lol :lol:
 
not a bad idea but nt has to be short compact and wide, so they do not get blown off the line
 
nooooooo JT,we leave Kendall right where he is,and don't mess with him there...he's perfect as a 3-4 DE...he's started for us there since day 1 and has grown into that position...i say we draft our own NT in either this draft or next years draft,but we do it soon,but leave Kendall Langford alone where he's at...i've had a good feeling about him since i saw we drafted him,just one of those gut feelings about somebody,or thing that you can't really explain,but you know something good will happen...well i had&still do have that good feeling about him,and if he improves his passrush during this offseason like he said he was/is gonna do,then we'll have ourselves a really special DE for a long time,or IMO we will....
 
It's not a bad idea. Though, I agree Langford does not have the size/build of a typical NT.

Further, do the powers that be really want to mess up his development so next year we can be talking about him like some are w/ Jason Allen?
 
I think Miami will defitnetly be adding the NT position in this draft. They will find there guy, cause after Starks at NT we have nothing. Soliai has been non exsistent he has 6 tackles in two years and while he draws double covergae he does not contribute tackling or raising his arms to defend passes. I think he get replace. I could see Miami drafting a guy like Ron Brace, Dorell Scott, Sam Lee Hill, Chris Baker (Kendall Langfords teammate) or Terrance Knighton.

Chris Baker is a guy who really intrigues me. He played with Langford in Hampton and at 6´2 and 326 and running a 4.94 I think he has the height, weight and speed to be real good.

I think your thread is excellent, but don´t mess with a good thing in Langford. He is great at DE and will only get better.
 
I still think Soliai is their guy. He came on very strong towards the end of the season and the fact that he has been suspended twice and they still haven't let him go says a lot to me. Not to mention that Joe Cohen is still on the roster. I think that we may be fine at NT and they will develop one or both of those guys.
 
It amazes me how much crap Pennington, Ginn and Ronnie get and how much slack guys like Jason Allen and Soliai get just because they were drafted.

I dont think Soliai is their guy. I think he was given a chance to impress last year and failed.
 
I think Miami will defitnetly be adding the NT position in this draft. They will find there guy, cause after Starks at NT we have nothing. Soliai has been non exsistent he has 6 tackles in two years and while he draws double covergae he does not contribute tackling or raising his arms to defend passes. I think he get replace. I could see Miami drafting a guy like Ron Brace, Dorell Scott, Sam Lee Hill, Chris Baker (Kendall Langfords teammate) or Terrance Knighton.

Chris Baker is a guy who really intrigues me. He played with Langford in Hampton and at 6´2 and 326 and running a 4.94 I think he has the height, weight and speed to be real good.

I think your thread is excellent, but don´t mess with a good thing in Langford. He is great at DE and will only get better.

yeah there's little to no doubt that we'll add another NT this offseason... but that's the point of my idea... why gamble on a late round flyer at NT if you can draft a jarron gilbert or a fili moala to play DE and switch kendall langford inside, a guy we've seen play in the pros and play very very well and against the run (facing big veteran OTs in a full 16 game season ) ... :ponder:
 
I still think Soliai is their guy. He came on very strong towards the end of the season and the fact that he has been suspended twice and they still haven't let him go says a lot to me. Not to mention that Joe Cohen is still on the roster. I think that we may be fine at NT and they will develop one or both of those guys.


soliai, i don't know... the one big problem is his inconsistency, and then you bring in those character issues...

other than that, he's all you ask for. If he really wants to be a professional football player, it's up to him because consistency (not taking reps off) and staying out of trouble is not coachable. His conditionning might be a causing his inconsistent work though and i'm sure our work out coach will look further into that.

if he wants to play/act like a pro, he can
 
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