Defensive Line

[cljh19]

At DT:
?? Manual Wright:dont expect much this year but im guessing he will be on the roster.
64 Larry Chester:im expecting chester to start, health is a concern.
75 Josh Shaw:young guy who could give us some depth.
90 Jeff Zgonina:will be a solid part of the rotation.
92 Kevin Vickerson:rookie dont expect him to do much if he even makes the roster.
94 Keith Traylor:another solid guy in the rotation.
95 Tim Bowens:last i heard is he was coming back. if healthy he is pretty good as we know.
97 Dario Romero:another young guy who got some pt last year and played well.

At DE we have:
79 Ronald Flemmons:i remember he made some last TC. can he do the same this year?
91 Vonnie Holliday:solid piece figures to get PT at DT too.
93 Kevin Carter:another good addition who also will see time at DT.
96 David Bowens:he will be involved somewhere.
98 Matt Roth:rookie that will hopefully put up some solid numbers.
99 Jason Taylor:u know

health issues are a concern but imo for the most part we should be ok. many versatile players that can contribute in many ways. yes most of our starters are older but we also have some young guys who provide ok while gaining experience. imo here are the guys who make the roster.

Manual Wright
Larry Chester
Jeff Zgonina
Keith Traylor
Vonnie Holliday
David Bowens
Kevin Carter
Matt Roth
Jason Taylor
Dario Romero
*Tim Bowens-if healthy.

i think we will be fine.

 

[Show Me Your TDs]

Where does that list leave Chester? If he is able to play, would you project that we get rid of Zgonina somehow?

I think he will be on the active 53man roster if they think he is healthy enough. I don't think they will rid themselves of Zgonina outright unless they are offered something for him. We also could carry less LBs if Saban feels having a great amount of DEs capable of playing OLB is what he wants. (Taylor, Bowens, Roth). You also might see Chester start the year on the PUP.

 

[Perfect72]

We typically keep only 9 Defensive linemen - 5 DE's & 4 DT's. Some of you have 10-11 DL's. So, WHO do you thinks will be the final DL's to make the final roster? How will the 3-4/4-3 mix play into this? Will we keep more LB's? Will Taylor & Roth be hybrids? Do we get rid of Zgonina just to get younger even though he may be one of the better DL's?

 

[hehateme]

We typically keep only 9 Defensive linemen - 5 DE's & 4 DT's. Some of you have 10-11 DL's. So, WHO do you thinks will be the final DL's to make the final roster? How will the 3-4/4-3 mix play into this? Will we keep more LB's? Will Taylor & Roth be hybrids? Do we get rid of Zgonina just to get younger even though he may be one of the better DL's?

We typically kept 9 DL's with Wanny. That doesnt apply anymore as no one knows what St. Nick will do. From where I'm sitting Zgonina is good as gone as they won't cut Wright. I must add I like getting him in the 5th. I don't think any of you would have comlained had we drafted him in the 5th round next year. If he busts it's just a 5th. Lot's of upside here.

 

[cljh19]

i can see us keeping 10/11 defensive linemen.
taylor,roth,bowens all could play the hybrid spot.

at lb i think we will keep
thomas
seau
pope
spragan
crowder
and the winner between moore,jenkins,and ayanbadejo

for the type of defense we will be playing we will carry more then normal up front.

im thinkin the roster breakdown will look something like this
qb-3 (feeley,gus,sage)
rb-3(ronnie,ricky,gordon)
fb-2(evans,morris)
wr-6(chambers,booker,boston,thompson,gilmore,welker)
te-3(randy,lee,perry)
ol-9(carey,rex,mcdougle,mckinney,jeno,st.clair,macintosh,smith,cook)
dl-10(taylor,roth,vonnie,carter,dbowens,chester,jeff,traylor,wright,romero)
lb-6(thomas,seau,pope,spragan,crowder,moore)
cb-4(madison,howard,daniels,edwards)
s-4(jones,bell,tillman,bua,atkins)
k-1(mare)
p-1(turk)

that leaves 1 more spot available. could be for another db,status of timbo,or another db.

 

[Joneal7]

is our nickel and dime backs solid...for whomever lands there is my question....like if Daniels is 2...would Edwards and Howard be good in those positions..id say so considering they have started before

 

[jlfin]

This D has big holes at one CB position (be it second starter or nickel), one safety position, and one DL position. There might be players who step up on this defense at some or all of those positions, or we may be playing with an incomplete defense that just won't be nearly as good as what we're all used to.

CB position is fine, Only a handful of teams have 2 pro bowl caliber CB's and the SB champs aren't one of them. In fact Gay and Samuel are average. Philly won with new young corners after Vincent and Taylor were released.
There is no perfect team in the NFL (they all have holes). That is why it's not so hard to go from 4-12 to perhaps 9-7/ 10-6.
The hard part is getting to 12-4 or better and contending for a championship. The old proverbial hump.