I dunno what he'd get in trade, I'd be surprised if it were a 2nd. I wouldn't be heartbroken if they shipped him for a 2nd, but realistically the position is going to be a 3 or 4-man rotation, and if the rotation is deep enough he can focus on playing 1-gap base packages and nickel and dime, then that's a winner.
I guess that makes for an expensive Dline...... but at least it makes for a good one. lol. Would you prefer "Soliai, Langford, McD, and Odrick" over "Soliai, Starks, and Odrick" if those were our only 2 options (b/c of salary restrictions).
Yeah, but it's still overwhelmingly 2-gap in the base 3-4. It's not saying a load, either, because even the most staunch 2-gap base package team isn't going to be using it in their Nickel and Dime packages. I think I'd prefer Langford and McDaniels over Starks, but I don't think that's a feasible restriction. Starks has got a while left on his contract, and isn't all that expensive or in a position to demand more, and I doubt Langford is going to get that much. McDaniels didn't like what they offered him this offseason apparently, and I think he's going to have to be head and shoulders over Merling to earn more.
any merit that merling is getting this chance to see where he's at so were more clear on moving him?..or do we think this is purely schematic motivated... I happen to think its a bit of both, a challenge to the man to find out if he really does get it, and if he now will play to his optimum level on every play, and if he does, we win both ways.
I agree with you. let's find out what this mug has before it's re-signing time. Time to earn your biscuits, Merling..... and represent Clemson a lil better for heck sake will ya!
Sorry for the confusion... I was more referring to a few years from now when Starks's contract is up. I was thinking we could either be in position to have Langford, McD, Odrick, and Soliai following 2012...... or we could not re-sign McD (and potentially Langford depending on the next 21 games) in order to re-sign Starks in 2012 instead. McD & Langford's combined future contracts would probably come close to what it would cost to re-sign Starks no? I'm not sure if I see Merling outplaying McD at this point. Do you? Let's hypothetically say we let Merling walk: would we have the room to afford Soliai, Odrick, McD, Langford, and Starks for the next 5-8 years? I didn't think we would.
i think its a bit of a test for him. i think he proved to the coaching staff his toughness and work ethic by working to get back on the field. he's probably going to be in poor football shape due to the extended nature of the layoff so his evaluation will probably be made more off the week 15-17 games then the next two. i think he's a bubble player due to the odrick signing and the generally good play of the DL
lets not forget this dude is a very talented individual, to be drafted basically in the first round after a pretty severe sports hernia kinda shows that....however, his body is just not right, and that better be part of the damn deal moving forward, I expect him to flash some talent though. Imagine if he did, and showed why he was drafted so high even after some negative variables were against him....I think we would really have to make some tough decision's... I like Odrick so to me, if Merl flashes, and I can get somethin for him, Iam gonna think about it hard.
IF we re-sign McD and Solia, and Merling plays as well as his talent, we have a number of options, as we talked about before. IF Merling does play as well as he can, what do you think his trade value is?
I think we'd be lucky to get a 4th for him...... maybe a 3rd if he plays lights out the last few games.
Because of his age and talent, I was thinking a 3rd if he does well the rest of the year. I could "possibly" see a 2nd rounder to a team looking to move him to a 4-3 DT, where I believe he will shine.
