I think Sutton gets blamed because he's the easiest, least thought-required target. Injuries and depth were the larger issues.

I'd be into that.

Midrounders like Skov just aren't going to be the versatile pass defenders we're looking for. And unfortunately, that seems to be the majority of what this draft has to offer at ILB.

Even if CJ Mosley falls to us, I don't trust him to fulfill the role that we'd ask him to do. He'd be just another glorified Jordan/Mays until DJ can't do his job anymore.

I think all this is linked to why Berry had to play as a box safety predominately. If we have a backer who can actually cover, then we could potentially move Berry out to fs. Even Dj, for all his strengths, isnt a great cover backer. People dont realise just how valuable Berry was to the defense last year. He filled so many roles he should be asking for every bit Earl Thomas got. There just aren't many players who can cover as well as him and successfully play in the box.

People need to also realise that defenses nowdays have to be so versatile. Hiding your coverages is so important. Its great if you have a bunch of situational guys, but ultimately you want guys who can move around and do different things. Otherwise you become far to predictable.

I would be ecstatic if we draft Ward, but s cover backer would be a equally good pick. I really wanted Kuechley a couple of years ago for that reason. He can cover and play the run extremely well and his versatility would have allowed Berry to move around more.

Telvin Smith, Tamba Hali, and Justin Houston will become weed buddies in that LBing group. That boosts team chemistry and shit.

I'm all for it.

This.

We couldn't agree more on the prospects we need to be targeting. Ward at 23 would be perfect, and my hope is Telvin's failed drug test ensures that he will make it to us in the 3rd and maybe even 4th.

What do you think about Cooks/Lee in the 1st since Ward is probably wishful thinking (not that he won't be there)? Van Noy would also be great, but like Ward I just don't see it happening.

I guess my stance on Sutton would be that he gets far too much of the blame. We didn't have the players to mask our weaknesses. Id also argue that we couldn't sub players through because they simply weren't ready. Its just not as easy as throwing a guy in there, its just not. You do that too much and your whole scheme and game plan can be thrown out the window.

However I think that if we can find a deep safety or cover backer, or maybe both, then we will be able to pretty much dare teams to beat us like we did in the first few weeks. Those two positions are of extreme importance to us having a legitimate shot at a superbowl. Really makes.me wonder why we didn't try to adress those positions in free agency.

Read the "Wish list" thread.

Give me....

1st - Brandin Cooks or Marqise Lee
3rd - Christian Jones, ILB
4th - Telvin Smith, SS

Move Berry to FS and now you have athletic LBs and Safeties that can cover anybody.

This will be another year to evaluate him. He doesn't show different pre-snap reads so opposing qb's can get a true picture of what the defense will be in. One of his negatives at the Jets was his inability to make adjustments after the half. I still think he struggles with that.

I think you have diagnosed this thing perfect...I guess the only thing he can do is give Dorsey an earful about getting him better talent:shrug:

I think we're quick to blame the coaches around here, and I'm as guilty as anybody.

I'm really not sure what happened last year. It was weird as heck. We went from having a world-beating defense to a defense that was almost Greg Robinson-esque in ineptness. (There I go blaming the coaches again, but ... spinner defense. That was all Robinson.) And at the same time our offense went from being completely inept to being a world beater. That was totally weird.

On the defense, I think it's no coincidence that our defense went from good to bad about the same time that our schedule got tougher. It implies that our defense was good enough to shut down weak teams, but that it had a weakness (also known as a "Kendrick") that could be easily exploited by good teams. Or as implied in the initial post, maybe 9 weeks was enough time for opponents to figure out the Achilles heel of our system or our personnel.

The change in the offense was the bigger mystery. What started going right? Was it all Geoff Schwartz and Donald Stephenson (aka Russell Wilson)? That and Fasano's return were the only notable personnel changes. Or was it the offense learning the new system well enough that they started dominating via their amazing talent and system?

I think if CJ Mosley is there, he's our pick. Don't see him getting past GB tho

The success on offense had as much to do with Reid pushing Smith to be more aggressive downfield, which loosened up defenses and made the short passing game far more effective.

God I hope not. We already have one crappy ILB from Bama in Nico Johnson, FML if we draft another one in the 1st.