Not sure where the pundits see Casey Matthews going in the draft .... will guess that he'll do pretty well at the combine, but the missing piece on our D is another impact LB -- and while Casey is not his older brother, he brings much of the same intensity and bloodline ... he is much better than Spitler, and probably almost immediately make Crowder and Dobbins expendable. I'm still an advocate of playmakers on O as the priority, but having a shut down D for the next 3-5 years would go a long way towards carrying a dull O for a year or 2 ...
Meh: If he is still there in the 4th round, then probably. Our 2 picks prior to that had better be O-Line or we are S C R E W E D!!!!
Right now he's projected in the 5th round, but with such a weak class of ILB this year it's possible someone reaches for him early.
Very doubtful. He is perhaps top 15 in defensive players in the Pac-10. Thats like being as slightly "Not Short" midget. Taller than a dwarf, but not by any of the lines you would see on a tape measure.
getting him in the 3d rd does not ignore the need for 2 playmakers on offense. say what you will about his name, but he plays with the same intensity and savvy that his brother plays with .... albeit, he is ~ 1" shorter and 10 lbs lighter and not quite the difference maker he is. He would be great along side of Dansby and we could free up some $$$ by getting rid of Crowder and Dobbins, and probably dual hat on STs .... IF we want to make it to the playoffs in the next 2 years, we will do so on the backs of the defense - and the one area of improvement that we still need that isn't already on the team is ILB, UNLESS the staff does move Misi inside - which while i'm not opposed to the move, we have no one to replace him on the weak side -- UNLESS, Wake can become a more versatile OLB and freely move from side to side. Spending 1 pick in this whole draft on defense is not ignoring our holes and lack of depth on O ...
Right, coming from a homer. He's not even the best linebacker in the Pac-10. Maybe top 5 linebacker is more like it...and once again, being a good defender in the Pac-10 is like being a good basketball player in Europe.
I'd be more than willing to bet that AJ Edds (Remember him?) turns out to be a better ILB than Casey Mathews
Exactly we basically drafted the same guy last year and edds size seems to translate a little better to the 3-4 Ilb position.
Yep, and he is REALLY special in coverage, not something Mathews would add. IF we were going to pick up an MLB from the Pac-10, I would mucho prefer the kid from Stanford that doubles as a FB. He will probably go 3rd or maybe 2nd round IMO
The draft this year should be 100% offense. While I agree that we still have needs on the defense. The needs on offense far outweight any needs on the defensive side of the ball. The object in the game is to score more points than your opposition. The defensive players now on the Dolphins are good enough to hold most teams under 21 points a game. So the Dolphins need to spent this draft and free agency ungrading the offense so it can at least score over 21 points in games.
yep, very much tracking on Edds - i was one the few that listed him as a possible OLB pick last year and very much look forward to his return ... hopefully, he used this time off to improve his strength - as that was his major knock (outside of his average speed) ... i do not view him as an everydown player on the inside. can he be more than a 3d down (passing down) ILB, who knows -- i'd still like to see him on the outside at SOLB. but Matthews is a different type of player and is an ILB - quick, relentless and smart.
the D could still use another legit OLB pass rusher, and at some point Bell needs to be upgraded. Sapp as your nickel could certainly be upgraded. the D is more than one piece away as many keep suggesting IMO
at S we may not have a single super star, but Clemons in addition to Jones and an upcoming Amaya should be able to hold their own. at CB, with Carroll and Davis as starters - still gives us Smith to move around in the nickel .... our secondary is actually in pretty good shape. the question is what guys are we not going to bring back along the DL .... Soliai is an absolute must .... McD is a should .... this defense is going to get better with more experience in the secondary - still very young - but not rookies anymore. the only way to improve this defense is improve our ability to pressure the QB. we did pretty good this year with Wake as nearly our only threat. THAT is what we must improve on the D .... Edds and Odrick returning improve our depth and should improve our TE coverage on passing downs -- but still doesn't address pressure.
I think safety is the bigger need on defense. Crowder is serviceable. And what the defense lacks is turnovers, which I don't think will come from the ILB position.
homer? lmao.im a not a ducks fan you dweeb..you really don't know what you're talking about. and im pretty sure i watched more pac10 football this year then you....