Quote:
Originally Posted by OKchiefs
(Post 13950069)
Nothing is going to be fixed this offseason. We're ****ed on defense for the foreseeable future.
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The issue with the defense is that a defense doesn't have a quarterback.
You can't just swap Alex Smith for Pat Mahomes and paper over a dozen problems. Aaron Donald is a horse and the Rams defense is still suspect.
Folks got upset when Veach said this was year 1 of a 2 year rebuild on the defense and frankly I wasn't sure why. Honestly, I'd be content if it only takes 2 years. That defense needed to be gutted from the ground up and you just cannot do that worth a damn in 1 season. Defense is too easy to find one hole and exploit it.
If you're going to rebuild a D, it takes 2-3 seasons and a lot of really good picks. It took the Jags 3-4 years and all it took was one little stumble for that to fall apart. You just have to be sound EVERYWHERE.
That's a hell of a lot harder to do than it is on offense. I mean seriously - take Patrick Mahomes out of the equation and look at the O vs. the D; it's not as hysterically lopsided as you think it is.
The offense, sans Mahomes, has 3 'blue chip' players right now in Kelce, Hill and probably Schwartz. The it has a good player in Watkins, a couple of above average players in Fisher and Morse, then some JAGs. The D has 3 blue chippers in Jones, Ford and probably Houston. It has a good player in Fuller and then a couple of average to slightly above in Bailey and Nelson. Then there are JAGs.
Well when you have a JAG out there on offense you can scheme around that guy and cover for him. It's just a lot harder to do that on D - the offense will find your weakness and it's easier for them because they're proactive. Defenses are reactive so they have a harder time focusing on a weakness and exploiting it.
And unlike offense, you can't just roll Aaron Donald out there and have him save the day every other play.
Rebuilding a defense is hard and every misstep is a tough hole to dig out of. Hitchens is a miss that's gonna hurt for awhile. The shit sandwich of K-Pass and Speaks is something we're gonna feel for a bit.
The problem isn't the timeline Veach gave; 2 years is a reasonable period. The problem is that I don't think we got any closer in year 1 - the imports just aren't very good. So we may well be 2 years away still and that's the part that sucks.