ckparrothead
Premium Member
I beg to differ. I think Zgonina is the only guy on the roster who is savvy enough, has enough of a passrush presence, while still being a good run stopping DT, to play the weakside DT position on this team with any kind of consistency. The way that position is being set up, if you asked me, Kevin Carter is too much of a tweener to consistently play the weakside DT position on this defense when we have had recent trouble stopping the run, and also I believe that would be a waste of money and talent considering how good a passrusher and playmaker Kevin Carter could be at strongside DE.
Yet, you really can't count on Chester and Bowens staying on the field at the same time. I think you can count on the two staying healthy if you rotate them at one position, maybe with Kevin Vickerson, Dario Romero, and Jeff Zgonina to help out, but having them on the field at the same time would be nice, if you could ever accomplish it and keep them healthy. To me, Zgonina is the best of both worlds for that weakside DT spot. He can rush when matched up one-on-one against a guard (he'll be lined up over the guard's nose), and he can hold his ground there too against the run. At the beginning of games, you need to establish the line of scrimmage, stop the run, and I think Zgonina may be our Day 1 starter at WSDT.
I think, btw, if Larry Chester gets healthy, loses weight and gets to the same weight he was this season before getting injured, he would be a dynamic presence at WSDT. In that scenario, I would be on the horn with Keith Traylor right NOW, to bring him in and rotate with Tim Bowens at SSDT/NT