Quote:
Originally Posted by Eleazar
You can't claim the defense is going to be better because it's returning players who also played on the defense over the last 3 years, when it's been terrible. Those are not upgrades. That's the #28 (or whatever) defense just treading water.
They lost their MVP in Marcus Peters, one of the NFL's best corners.
Houston hasn't been an elite player for 3-4 years now even when he gets on the field.
Berry, while an impact player when healthy, will be turning turn 30 this season, and he was not able to will bad defenses into the middle third in the previous two years he was able to play. He's a nice player to have but his return isn't going to turn the defense around. That only gets us back to the (also awful) 2016 defense.
Claiming that the defense will be better because it will return some of its better players, now a few more years older, from years past when the unit was embarrassingly bad is a circular argument.
This argument rests on untested players and never-weres panning out, which the odds are always against in the NFL.
Ragland was on the defense last year when it was terrible.
Hitchens got over $20 million fully guaranteed on a speculative deal. While it will help if it can reduce Sorensen's snaps or those going to the other empty jerseys that played in dime packages last year, he was still a veteran player who wasn't good enough to hold off emerging rookies in Dallas.
Fuller's potential is not Peters, and shuffling JAGs in the secondary is not going to take the defense out of the doldrums.
Veach may have found two undiscovered elite players, but the odds are always against any young player panning out.
This whole argument that the defense is massively upgraded and anyone can see it all relies on a string of unlikely things playing out, aging veterans all returning to their elite form of years past, and everyone staying healthy this time, which never happens.
Nobodies/depth players are not on the field on key downs. Sure, it will be nice to have a warm body this time if Berry gets injured again, but in reality if that happens we're hosed at the position anyway.
Hooray, we're aspiring to improve from #28 to #20. Print 'em
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So basically every move Veech made is a reach at best- we are doomed to suck on defense?
We did not LOSE Peters- we shipped him out of here. Your assessment of Peters being our MVP is complete hyperbole and does not even come close to what Andy, Sutton, and the front office thought about this locker room cancer.
Most of what you said- could also apply to Every team in the NFL. Vets are a year older with no guarantee they will play the same or stay healthy. Defenses are loaded with "unproven players" - (It is called the NFL draft) that they hope will step in. You are right about the Chiefs defense being terrible and needing a complete overhaul.
To completely assume it will suck again is just looking at it with a jaded point of view. We got younger, faster and more aggressive on defense and dumped our non-tackling CB and replaced him one that is a Team Player. All great moves in the right direction.