Quote:
Originally Posted by BossChief
1) Hali doesnt "get banged up a lot" he bangs people up. Big difference. He has started every game of his career, but one.
2) The only position right now that can move our defense from where we are to elite is a very good nose guard. We already have the LOLBs we need to greatly improve the play from the position from what we had last year.
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Hali is pretty much probable to questionable in half of the games he plays. A lot of it seems to be his foot. He seems to play well through the pain, but clearly, would be nice to be 3-deep so that you don't make him feel like he has to play through pain weak after weak.
On the LOLBs... we have no idea if we have the right LOLBs. We have a third round guy who apparently everybody missed out on 3 times and a LOLB who has pretty much proven he's quality depth at best in Studebaker. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly comfortable walking into the season with Houston. But he definitely has huge boom/bust potential.
I think we're a little too comfortable in our pass rush to think Hali is the only pass rusher we need on this defense. We forget that there were often major stretches of a game where Hali would disappear, and there were plenty of games where we weren't even sniffing the Quarterback. And for as good as our secondary is, they don't force enough turnovers as they could and that's because there aren't a bunch of games where QBs look nervous to be in the pocket. Man, you put an elite pass rusher opposite Hali, and the QB has nowhere to go and I can guarantee you our ballhawk secondary are going to double the INTs. Maybe Houston is that guy, but maybe he isn't. I'd rather not take that chance because I'll tell you what, a good Nose Tackle (say Aubrayo Franklin) makes this defense top 10. A good Nose Tackle and a good LOLB make this defense top 3.