They never promised him anything in 2009. He ended up a full time starter because of the problem with Matt Roth. Just worked out that way.
Something I've been thinking is, we can't count on Cam Wake being the full time WOLB. Nor should he be rushing from the right side on pass downs. He has to prove it first. If you re-hire Jason Taylor and have him play at a comfortable weight for him, instead of having him beef up like they did in 2009...and you play him back on the right side where he's always been more comfortable, I think you may have a decent WOLB on your hands. So if Cameron Wake can't translate his monstrous strength and athleticism as a SOLB in the 3-4, then you can always get a limited player that could be counted on to do that. You'd still have a combo of Taylor and Wake on pass rush downs.
Greg Hardy in the 3rd round...if they're finally open to the idea of grabbing talented guys with character issues and using a strong locker room and disciplinarian staff to keep them straight...you don't get much more talented than Hardy. He has everything they look for in a convert. He's huge at 6'4" and 281 lbs. He's explosive, showed off a 35" vertical and 10'0" broad jump at that size. He has a basketball background. He has natural ball skills, even played WR for Ole Miss and caught 3 TDs. He can move, is smooth. He's actually too heavy, you'd want him to lose weight down to about 265 I should think, get him faster.
Speaking of faster. I was having an argument with Richard a while ago about transition and the times of people between their 20 yard split and their 40 yard split. It's sort of an estimate of how fast you are at your fastest. I did those times for everyone that weighed between 225 and 290 lbs at the Combine. Guys that weighed between 265 and 290 lbs averaged 2.08 seconds. Hardy's was 1.98 seconds. The only one of the 14 players in that weight range that did better was Everson Griffen at 1.97 seconds, and he weighed 8 lbs less than Hardy. At his Pro Day, Hardy went on to flash a 1.95 second split in this measure. At the Combine, the only players that weighed 225 lbs or more that flashed better top speed were Dorin Dickerson and Taylor Mays at 1.85 seconds, Ed Dickson at 1.90 seconds, Anthony Dixon, Jimmy Graham and Clay Harbor at 1.92 seconds, and Toby Gerhart at 1.94 seconds. Jonathan Dwyer and Roddrick Muckelroy tied at 1.95 seconds.
To me that kind of top speed while getting off the blocks slow indicates you're a little too heavy, and that you're not a very polished track star.