Veach Defensive Turnover of Roster
 

Bold indicates new starter

Defensive Line/Front:
2018: Houston, Bailey, Williams, Jones, Ford

2019: Okafor, Nnadi, Jones, Clark

Linebackers:
2018: Ragland, Hitchens
2019: Hitchens, Ragland, Wilson

Corners:
2018: Scandrick, Fuller, Nelson,
2019: Breeland, Fuller, Ward

Safety:
2018: Parker, Murray, Berry, Sorenson
2019: Mathieu, Thornhill, Sorenson, Lucas

Surprised and impressed he was able to turn over the roster during a scheme change and I now have much more confidence in the unit. Still needs some work but I’m excited for 2019. Also not sure where O’Daniel fits in this but we saw good flashes from him. Much better in coverage than any LB and makes our back 7 more athletic which is crucial in the modern NFL. Hope he finds a valuable role

Spags will have 0 excuses for not turning this defense to a top 20 at least

Ragland is not going to be our starting MLB.

You forgot Armani Watts... :D

It's truly worlds better. Who's gone we will honestly miss? Maybe Houston when he's healthy and playing at the top of his game but man we are an average D at worst at this point.

At least they did something, even if it fails. Sitting around and expecting Bob Sutton, Justin Houston, Eric Berry and Dee Ford to get healthy or learn new tricks was getting tiresome as a fan.

Sure hope not

Still worried about linebackers but there's some potential positive outcomes:

1. O'Daniel takes a step forward
2. Hitchens plays much better back in a 4-3
3. One of Wilson and Attaochu plays better than expected/previous form would indicate they should.

if 2 of those 3 happens, we'll be in very good shape there. If only 1 of those 3 happens we'll still probably be okay.

Houston to Okafor seems to be the only downgrade. Okafor can play though. Helped anchor the Saints #1 run defense last year

Forgot Dorian O’Daniel

If only we had that average D last year. Sutton should have been gone the night of the Tennessee game.

4-3 LB is usually an easy position to fill

I'd watch out for Ben Nieman possibly stealing some playing time.

The DL and DBs are so much better on paper for 2019.

I’d still like to see us trade back into the 4th round and grab another corner. I’d love to add PP, but I’m not going to count on that.

Speaks and Kpassagnon are now luxuries and not necessities. Anything they bring is a bonus instead of us needing them to perform this year. That alone makes me feel a lot better.

Fatboy Speaks will factor into this situation too..

It make more sense to try to flip something for Rhodes or Waynes cause we need a guy now.

I think he starts over Wilson.

He won't play in base but teams hardly ever play in base now anyway, so he'll play a lot.

This is why I want to see Hitchens at MLB. DOD and Niemann can hold down the WLB spot.

I don't think Houston to Okafor is much of a downgrade to be honest. After years of Houston's injuries he had fairly long stretches last year when he kind of disappeared. Looking at your line-up there's even a little depth in that group as well. It's not a "one injury away from Turdsville".

Nnadi started already..

Him and Hitchens will be the nickel backers, so yeah...he'll be on the field more than the base set, anyway, if that's the case.

It sure was one injury away from Turdsville.

I think he has a chance to start if we don’t add to the LBer spot.

Its an upgrade considering they are moving to a even front. Houston is not the dude you want playing a 5 tech.

Nnadi will be in there for run defense. Okafor solid against the run. Seems like our main focus is stopping the run this year

I hope Reaser comes on like they thought he might last year.

The main reason our defense sucked so bad was because of scheme and our linebackers and safety positions. But the DL, OLB (which isn't a real linebacker in the Sutton scheme) and DB were okay.

We still have the shitty middle LBs. We'll see if a new scheme is all that they need.

Hitchens will be much improved

Safety was a black hole last year. That’ll make a huge difference

Also the DL was very poor against the run. Hopefully the new scheme, players, and coaching will fix our run defense while still giving us a premier pass rush

Let's hope Spags can really develop these guys ASAP!

Tanoh won’t see the field this year. They ain’t keeping 9 DL

Wanna bet.

I really like this kid as well. Very good instinct and plays smart. The concern I have is that he gets swallowed up/overpowered very easily because he is undersized and doesn't have enough athletic ability to make up for it IMHO. He must have above average players surrounding him so that he can excel. Very much like a good system QB who needs the elite supporting cast around him in order to play well. Nieman can't carry the defense on his own like Mahomes can for the offense is my point.

Yep Ragland will be starting. Terez and Nate Taylor already confirmed this

Let's hope.:rolleyes:

Better be on a short lease.:#

:clap:

About ****ing time.

Giving up 5.0 yards a carry is embarrassing.

Ragland is the slowest player on defense. He makes Betty White look fast.

This could be a top 10 defense.

I see MLB being a weakness with Ragland and I'd like to add Patrick Peterson or another via trade but even if this is our CB group it's improved over last year.

It's truly amazing what he's done in such a short time. Best use of our very late 1st round pick, moving up to get a much needed WR, etc.

No one should doubt him again.

I like Nieman a lot because he sticks people. Is he a starter? Probably not, at least at the start of the season. Every time I saw Ragland whiff last year I cussed Sutton for not having Ben in. Playing the middle requires you to hit somebody hard, not hit the turf. Better keep looking over your shoulder, Reggie.

Agreed, it’s certainly possible if our high powered D coaching staff can quickly mesh all the new faces into the ranks and get them all on the same page... almost every position group looks better on paper already

We gotta be making a trade for a major CB right? There’s no way we just ignored the position completely, right?

We have Fuller, Breeland, and Ward. We also have the Honey Badger and Thornhill who can play CB. We aren’t done adding.

You keep saying that. Problem is those two don’t make the decision. Our coaching staff hasn’t even seen these guys in pads together in their new system.

Signed Breeland, Reaser and drafted Thornbill who played as CB for 2 years before 1 year at S. You can say they ignored the position but I would politely disagree with you.
They haven't gotten a Clark for DL or a Honey Badger for S but they have improved the CB room some already.

I can’t see Thornhill playing CB in the NFL. I think he’ll be at our SS spot.

Breeland is ok but Reaser isn’t a starting caliber CB, I’d have to imagine we want to get someone else to play the outside CB and move Fuller in to nickel in certain packages?

I personally think we’re going to make a big move for one but maybe we’ll stay put.

I'd like a big move as well but with changing from Sutton to Spags I see Veach turning over the players to his liking already. If they play with what they got currently it's because Spags likes what he has.

Veach literally said Thornhill is a pure FS.