BennyVW
I'm the Man in the Box
This will be my 3000th post...Hell yeah!
Over the last few years we have seen a drastic change to the hard nosed defense that we have been used to. Gone are the vanilla days, and they have been replaced with a heaping load of Rocky Road. Saban came in and we switched to a hybrid team that surprised many by aquriing a franchise record for sacks. Hell yeah! Also, we helped inject some added life into the careers of both Zach thomas and jason Taylor. It also helped that by showing these guys are Dominant in multiple systems their HOF Debates may have shifted a little bit more to their favor... BUT the most importnant thing right now is too see how our defense will be next year. Well guys... it's time to get excited!
DE- Last year we had a little rotation of Kevin Carter and Matt roth. By the end of the year mott roth had taken a large amount of Kevin's snaps away. Especially on first and second down where matt has shown he is a dependable and stout run defender. By the end of the year when Matt started to collect some sacks the coaches could see that he was finally turning the corner. They saw that instead of relying on straight power to rush the QB, matt was starting to use better technique and leverage. In the final 6 games matt recorded 3.5 sacks. 2 agaisnt Detroit, and 1.5 agaisnt NE. It just so happens that those were 2 of our most dominant games last year....In the end the coached decided that Carters cap number was just not worth it for a player who no longer would be kept on the field full-time. So now the position is up to roth, but do not be disapointed! Matt has shown steady progress and most believe that he is ready to take on a full time starting job. Unluckily there is little proven depth behind him. The only candidates at this time are Chase page, or even rodrique wright. It should be a priority to get some veteran depth at this position if a young player does not step up in training camp.
NT- Keith traylor returns, but this time he's got some backup. Last year we ran a NT commitee aproach with Traylor lining up as the starter, but he got frequent breathers by Jeff zgonina. Coaches learned last year thet the truck could still play, but his knee's would need rest so they did not over exert him in TC, and tried to keep him fresh the entire year. The result was traylor put up one of the best years in his career where he set a personal best of 4 sacks....Last year his back-up was zgonina. While zgonina was smart and dependable, he was also apt to being thrown around like a rag doll by large guards. Luckily the team went out and drafted us a very possible traylor replacement in Paul solai. Solai is a MASSIVE player with Huge talent to match. He could easily be the steal of the draft as we got him at least 2 rounds later than where he should have gone. His fall to the fourth round was caused by a lack of game film(1 year starter), A 1 game suspension for the bowl game, and most teams did not have a need for a pure run stuffer that high in the draft. But his loss is also his gain because he is walking into a system that is perfect for a person off his size and talent. He should be a very competant replacement for traylor, and if TC goes well expect to see him frequently to spell the big truck...lastly we have last years pre-season wonder Fred evans. While he is a tad undersized, Fred makes up for it with determination and good leverage. Overall this is one of the strongest positions on the defense due to the mix of experience, Talent, and depth.
DT- Vonnie holiday returns with his new contract. Last year vonnie put up some of his best career numbers and was rewarded with a fat contract and even pro-bowl consideration. Vonnie has shown that as he has become more comfortable in the 3-4, his production has increased. Don't expect another large jump from last years stats, rather expect he will do close to what he did last year which is an excellent job. Behind him gone is the versatile jeff zgonina and he has been replaced by Rodrique Wright and Kevin vickerson. At this point it appears that rodrique has the inside track to the back-up job and we should all be happy for that, becasue the man was made for this scheme. Wright was drafted by us in the seventh round. After his junior year he forgoed the draft and a posible first day selection to try and get in to the first round. Unluckily an undiagnosed torn shoulder derailed his senior season, and he free falled into the seventh round. Once he was selected it was revealed that he would require surgery, and that a rookie year debut was almost out of the question. Since then rodrique has healed well and is ready to vie for a roster spot. Rodrique has the size, and talent to really put up good numbers in this league. His quick first step helps him to consistently pressure the QB, while his size and strength allow him to shed blockers and get to the runners. He should be an excellent back-up for vonnie, and possibly even a back-up for roth at the DE position.
OE- jason taylor returns to fill his hybrid role and once again terrorize the league. Even though age is a slight factor, Taylor is healed from his prior foot injuries, and this year will no longer have to rely on so much movement to get the best blocking match-ups to sack the QB, due to the arrival of Joey porter. Joey porters arrival really is for one HUGE reason. With two threats on both sides of the ball it becomes harder to creat pass protection packages, therefore, we should see a jump in pressure by the team as a whole because everyone will benefiet. This is the reason that Saban tried so hard to get Arrington and peterson last year....The one downside this year is that longtime dolphin David Bowens has defected to the JETS after we opted not to re-sign him. David was an excellent pass rusher, and the only true player who could fill in for JT. At the moment the only real back-ups are rookie Abe Wright, and newly aquired Akbar Gbaja-Biamila. As of now akbar has a lead due to his size (6'5", 260 lbs), but nothing is set in stone. Some one will need to step up and show that they can fill in for JT. If not the coaches may be forced to go to a more traditional 3-4 set where we put in an OLB instead. Either way this will be a position to watch in TC.
OLB- Joey porter has arrived and hopefully he can break the curse of Pittsburg LB's. Luckily he is walking into a system that he is familiar with, AND He will get better match-ups because teams can no longe scheme for him. Luckily we re-signed the dependable, if boring donnie spragan. This will be important as Joey's Vegas Fracas will most likely earn him a 1 game suspension. No worries as donnie knows the role and can fill in easily. On the other side Channig crowder returns and he is hoping to build on the improvements he made last year. Last year he really improved on his Run assignments, and was more consistent in his tackling. The only downside is that Channing has not shown the ability to make a lot of impact plays. That however can be developed with hard work, and film study...Backing him up is the hard hitting Derrick pope. Overall our OLB core is strong in talent, depth, and experience.
MLB- Zach Returns after leading the league in tackles. Gone are his detractors who said he could only thrive when he was behind mammoth DT's to shield him. Now they just say he's to old, but for some reason they never say it to his face. Zach returns to the D, and he is just loving all the flexabilty and subterfuge that is going on. Zach has been healthy recently due to all the care he gives his body so his age right now is not a huge issue. What is an issue is who will pick up the slack if he goes down. The most common thought is that crowder will swap over, and that pope would then start...the only problem with this is that we would then have 1 back-up for 2 positions which is not very safe at all. The team did draft a LB in the seventh round by the name of Kelvin smith. Smith was a no name until last year when he started for the first time and became a playmaker on the syracuse team. Smith is a good tackler, and has a little speed, but his pass coverage is limited making him strictly a 2 down LB. The team will need to address the depth here at some point.
CB- At this point will allen is the only cemented starter. When he came here Allen had the reputation of a guy who is a sold corner, and good tackler, but he would not make the big play. Well...we paid him like a that guy, and he played like that guy so we're about even in the value department. Luckily will did show improvemnt as he learned the scheme so good things may be in the cards for him. Opposite of will is where the battle od TC will be waged. Three guys will slug it out for one spot. Currently the favorite would be Travis Daniels. Travis showed a lot of promise his rookie year, but a lingering ankle injury hampered him all of last year. After surgury travis has deemed himself healed, and is ready to compete. While he is not explosive or quick, Travis is smart and dependable. Whether he ends up as a starter or a nickle, he can be depended on to play his guy and make the other team work for their completions. Next, we have last years first round pick Jason allen. Allen has the kinds of measurables that teams dream about. However last year he had to many factors against him; Adjusting to the NFL, never having a set position, 15 day holdout, loss of confidence. This year most of those distraction are gone. He has adjusted to the speed, he has been working all year, and finally he has a set position at CB. If the light turns on for jason watch out because he's a beast. At 6'1" and 213 lbs he can match up with most large receivers in the league, while at the same time he's as fast as most shifty receivers in the league. Also his size allows him to tackle RB's, and his quickness gives us the ability to blitz him from outside...next we have Andre goodman who is recovering from shoulder surgury after he re-injured his separated shoulder in mini camp. As of now, it apears if he gets healthy he has the inside track on either the nickle, or the dime spots. He is small, fast, and shifty so covering slot receivers probably is his best match-up. Lastly we have Michael lehan. Not much is expected of michael so he will need to impress to make this roster if we only keep 6 CB's as Shirdonya mitchell may make a run at his spot after a promising stint in NFL Europa.
S- No real changes here. Renaldo hill returns along with yeremiah bell. Travaris tillman is back to help in run situations, and the only real addition is ST's ace Cammeron Worrel who we aquired from the bears. Overall this unit is solid and has depth.
In the end we did lose a few veterans, luckily however we had replacements ready to go behind them so the starters don't need to be worried about. We do have some issues at depth, but we have some guys with potential so there is no need to run out and overpay some body. In the end we have improved at NT and SLB. At the same time our CB's should be better because of familiarity with the system. Everyone get excited cause our D is ready, and it's as Chocolate as weve ever seen!
Over the last few years we have seen a drastic change to the hard nosed defense that we have been used to. Gone are the vanilla days, and they have been replaced with a heaping load of Rocky Road. Saban came in and we switched to a hybrid team that surprised many by aquriing a franchise record for sacks. Hell yeah! Also, we helped inject some added life into the careers of both Zach thomas and jason Taylor. It also helped that by showing these guys are Dominant in multiple systems their HOF Debates may have shifted a little bit more to their favor... BUT the most importnant thing right now is too see how our defense will be next year. Well guys... it's time to get excited!
DE- Last year we had a little rotation of Kevin Carter and Matt roth. By the end of the year mott roth had taken a large amount of Kevin's snaps away. Especially on first and second down where matt has shown he is a dependable and stout run defender. By the end of the year when Matt started to collect some sacks the coaches could see that he was finally turning the corner. They saw that instead of relying on straight power to rush the QB, matt was starting to use better technique and leverage. In the final 6 games matt recorded 3.5 sacks. 2 agaisnt Detroit, and 1.5 agaisnt NE. It just so happens that those were 2 of our most dominant games last year....In the end the coached decided that Carters cap number was just not worth it for a player who no longer would be kept on the field full-time. So now the position is up to roth, but do not be disapointed! Matt has shown steady progress and most believe that he is ready to take on a full time starting job. Unluckily there is little proven depth behind him. The only candidates at this time are Chase page, or even rodrique wright. It should be a priority to get some veteran depth at this position if a young player does not step up in training camp.
NT- Keith traylor returns, but this time he's got some backup. Last year we ran a NT commitee aproach with Traylor lining up as the starter, but he got frequent breathers by Jeff zgonina. Coaches learned last year thet the truck could still play, but his knee's would need rest so they did not over exert him in TC, and tried to keep him fresh the entire year. The result was traylor put up one of the best years in his career where he set a personal best of 4 sacks....Last year his back-up was zgonina. While zgonina was smart and dependable, he was also apt to being thrown around like a rag doll by large guards. Luckily the team went out and drafted us a very possible traylor replacement in Paul solai. Solai is a MASSIVE player with Huge talent to match. He could easily be the steal of the draft as we got him at least 2 rounds later than where he should have gone. His fall to the fourth round was caused by a lack of game film(1 year starter), A 1 game suspension for the bowl game, and most teams did not have a need for a pure run stuffer that high in the draft. But his loss is also his gain because he is walking into a system that is perfect for a person off his size and talent. He should be a very competant replacement for traylor, and if TC goes well expect to see him frequently to spell the big truck...lastly we have last years pre-season wonder Fred evans. While he is a tad undersized, Fred makes up for it with determination and good leverage. Overall this is one of the strongest positions on the defense due to the mix of experience, Talent, and depth.
DT- Vonnie holiday returns with his new contract. Last year vonnie put up some of his best career numbers and was rewarded with a fat contract and even pro-bowl consideration. Vonnie has shown that as he has become more comfortable in the 3-4, his production has increased. Don't expect another large jump from last years stats, rather expect he will do close to what he did last year which is an excellent job. Behind him gone is the versatile jeff zgonina and he has been replaced by Rodrique Wright and Kevin vickerson. At this point it appears that rodrique has the inside track to the back-up job and we should all be happy for that, becasue the man was made for this scheme. Wright was drafted by us in the seventh round. After his junior year he forgoed the draft and a posible first day selection to try and get in to the first round. Unluckily an undiagnosed torn shoulder derailed his senior season, and he free falled into the seventh round. Once he was selected it was revealed that he would require surgery, and that a rookie year debut was almost out of the question. Since then rodrique has healed well and is ready to vie for a roster spot. Rodrique has the size, and talent to really put up good numbers in this league. His quick first step helps him to consistently pressure the QB, while his size and strength allow him to shed blockers and get to the runners. He should be an excellent back-up for vonnie, and possibly even a back-up for roth at the DE position.
OE- jason taylor returns to fill his hybrid role and once again terrorize the league. Even though age is a slight factor, Taylor is healed from his prior foot injuries, and this year will no longer have to rely on so much movement to get the best blocking match-ups to sack the QB, due to the arrival of Joey porter. Joey porters arrival really is for one HUGE reason. With two threats on both sides of the ball it becomes harder to creat pass protection packages, therefore, we should see a jump in pressure by the team as a whole because everyone will benefiet. This is the reason that Saban tried so hard to get Arrington and peterson last year....The one downside this year is that longtime dolphin David Bowens has defected to the JETS after we opted not to re-sign him. David was an excellent pass rusher, and the only true player who could fill in for JT. At the moment the only real back-ups are rookie Abe Wright, and newly aquired Akbar Gbaja-Biamila. As of now akbar has a lead due to his size (6'5", 260 lbs), but nothing is set in stone. Some one will need to step up and show that they can fill in for JT. If not the coaches may be forced to go to a more traditional 3-4 set where we put in an OLB instead. Either way this will be a position to watch in TC.
OLB- Joey porter has arrived and hopefully he can break the curse of Pittsburg LB's. Luckily he is walking into a system that he is familiar with, AND He will get better match-ups because teams can no longe scheme for him. Luckily we re-signed the dependable, if boring donnie spragan. This will be important as Joey's Vegas Fracas will most likely earn him a 1 game suspension. No worries as donnie knows the role and can fill in easily. On the other side Channig crowder returns and he is hoping to build on the improvements he made last year. Last year he really improved on his Run assignments, and was more consistent in his tackling. The only downside is that Channing has not shown the ability to make a lot of impact plays. That however can be developed with hard work, and film study...Backing him up is the hard hitting Derrick pope. Overall our OLB core is strong in talent, depth, and experience.
MLB- Zach Returns after leading the league in tackles. Gone are his detractors who said he could only thrive when he was behind mammoth DT's to shield him. Now they just say he's to old, but for some reason they never say it to his face. Zach returns to the D, and he is just loving all the flexabilty and subterfuge that is going on. Zach has been healthy recently due to all the care he gives his body so his age right now is not a huge issue. What is an issue is who will pick up the slack if he goes down. The most common thought is that crowder will swap over, and that pope would then start...the only problem with this is that we would then have 1 back-up for 2 positions which is not very safe at all. The team did draft a LB in the seventh round by the name of Kelvin smith. Smith was a no name until last year when he started for the first time and became a playmaker on the syracuse team. Smith is a good tackler, and has a little speed, but his pass coverage is limited making him strictly a 2 down LB. The team will need to address the depth here at some point.
CB- At this point will allen is the only cemented starter. When he came here Allen had the reputation of a guy who is a sold corner, and good tackler, but he would not make the big play. Well...we paid him like a that guy, and he played like that guy so we're about even in the value department. Luckily will did show improvemnt as he learned the scheme so good things may be in the cards for him. Opposite of will is where the battle od TC will be waged. Three guys will slug it out for one spot. Currently the favorite would be Travis Daniels. Travis showed a lot of promise his rookie year, but a lingering ankle injury hampered him all of last year. After surgury travis has deemed himself healed, and is ready to compete. While he is not explosive or quick, Travis is smart and dependable. Whether he ends up as a starter or a nickle, he can be depended on to play his guy and make the other team work for their completions. Next, we have last years first round pick Jason allen. Allen has the kinds of measurables that teams dream about. However last year he had to many factors against him; Adjusting to the NFL, never having a set position, 15 day holdout, loss of confidence. This year most of those distraction are gone. He has adjusted to the speed, he has been working all year, and finally he has a set position at CB. If the light turns on for jason watch out because he's a beast. At 6'1" and 213 lbs he can match up with most large receivers in the league, while at the same time he's as fast as most shifty receivers in the league. Also his size allows him to tackle RB's, and his quickness gives us the ability to blitz him from outside...next we have Andre goodman who is recovering from shoulder surgury after he re-injured his separated shoulder in mini camp. As of now, it apears if he gets healthy he has the inside track on either the nickle, or the dime spots. He is small, fast, and shifty so covering slot receivers probably is his best match-up. Lastly we have Michael lehan. Not much is expected of michael so he will need to impress to make this roster if we only keep 6 CB's as Shirdonya mitchell may make a run at his spot after a promising stint in NFL Europa.
S- No real changes here. Renaldo hill returns along with yeremiah bell. Travaris tillman is back to help in run situations, and the only real addition is ST's ace Cammeron Worrel who we aquired from the bears. Overall this unit is solid and has depth.
In the end we did lose a few veterans, luckily however we had replacements ready to go behind them so the starters don't need to be worried about. We do have some issues at depth, but we have some guys with potential so there is no need to run out and overpay some body. In the end we have improved at NT and SLB. At the same time our CB's should be better because of familiarity with the system. Everyone get excited cause our D is ready, and it's as Chocolate as weve ever seen!
