Ugggh. Don't remind me Keith. lol. Merling was a 4-3 strong side end through and through. His frame was pretty much already maxed out at Clemson as a 270 pound edge player before Parcells decided to turn him into a 5 technique fatty and assist the ruining of his career. Definitely one of Parcells' "God complex" moments. I wouldn't mind going with DaQuan Jones or RaShede Hageman as the 5-tech. They both have good length and shown enough athleticism and more than enough stoutness to be a 2-gap player over a left or right tackle, plus just enough get-off and agility to 1-gap it when called upon. Plus if there's an injury to Odrick, they both could reduce down to DT as an effective fill in with little drop off.
The sad thing is, our front office should know these U of M players and other local talent better than anyone. This Jeff Ireland lead front office has passed on Calais Campbell, Jimmy Graham, Colin McCarthy, T.Y. Hilton, and Orlando Franklin.
Youre very much correct that passer rating differential is a huge stat right now. Force teams to play methodically and very few can string together the 10-12 mistake free plays to get points out of drives like that. Im just not a fan of the way that Coyle breaks down his packages. In general I lean more towards a traditional 3-4 but if we ran the packages more like Seattle did I would be more optimistic the numbers you present could hold up over a season or two. Too be fair also through the last few weeks the QB's have been: Mike Glennon-Phillip Rivers-Geno Smith. Thats not exactly murders row. Seattle on the other hand has faced... Ryan-Ponder-Brees. Thats better then what we have faced.
Rivers is having a very good year, 6th in passer rating. It is not fair to lump him with the two rookies. Also we've faced Newton and held him to his 3rd worst performance of the season. Rivers is better than Ryan or Ponder for that matter too.
...and you seem to think that if we make the playoffs, we should keep said front office that lacks the vision to draft these local players.
the other thing I like about the 4-3 Under front is the backup 3-tech DT and backup closed DE can be the same guy if you draft someone versatile enough. Likewise, the backup SAM and backup LEO [rush end] can be the same player if you daft someone versatile enough. That allows you to focus more on quality than quantity b/c you're reducing the amount of backups needed which means you can afford to spend higher pickers filling those two roles. That's pretty efficient, and that way you've covered yourself well for FA or salary cap casualties b/c you've now got 2 quality backups who are each capable of filling 2 positions.
Went to UD's game tonight with a buddy who is a huge ND fan. He expects Nix to declare. I'm not sure one way or the other.
I only judge Ireland based on when Parcells left, I made that decision based on a lot of information that I believe to be logical...Jimmy Graham and Calais Cambell were two prospects coming out while Parcells was in charge.. I have issues with Ireland, no question, but if this current team makes the playoffs it will have meant that guys that he aquired got us there and played well, I just can't give that kind of success cause for termination..
Even though Jeff's decision to not address the OL at all is the single most glaring thing that has held this team back this year? He overpaid drastically in free agency and didn't address the most glaring need the team had in the off season at all.
Yup, he screwed up his evals on the oline, the overpaying in free agency is not yet defined though KB..the money spent was because he set the team up to spend it.. Like you said earlier if the disconnect between he and the coach is legit, then ok, but if this team makes it, I believe things have to be reevaluated.. Lets say they do make it..your talking about a 2nd year first time head coach and a very green Qb, alongside a top ten team in youth making the playoffs, thats got to be respected man..right?
And a slew of starters that will be free agents that will eat up said cap space if re-signed. That's not counting the guys on the OL who won't be on the roster either.
No. Not when you consider the public backlash that is going to happen if Jeff Ireland is kept around. This isn't just about Jeff's poor record in evaluation and roster management. This is also about the fact that he was involved in the Dez Bryant thing....he was involved in the Jim Harbaugh thing....and now he is one of the main persons of interest in the Jonathan Martin thing. You cannot keep this guy who is abrasive to the fans and media on a continuous basis and has such a poor track record as a GM. I'm also in favor of making a coaching change if for no other reason than we need a head coach who handles the media better, but I'd be more in favor of keeping Joe Philbin than I am Jeff Ireland. There's nothing that can happen short of winning the Superbowl that would make me think Jeff should be retained.
I know a majority of this thread has been rightly focused on the front 7, but let's take a quick look at the defensive backfield. Can Jimmy Wilson play FS if Clemons isn't brought back or tagged? I know he is having a solid year, but Miami only gave him a 1 year deal. The franchise tag for S should be around 8 million next year, and I don't feel like Clemons is worth that kind of money. He's also 29, so it's not too early to start thinking about his replacement.
I'm purely discussing Ireland in a football context, if stuff comes out that link him directly to something he overlooked then I would agree with you, if they relationship between he and Philbin has gone sour and the team doesn't make the playoffs, but just in a football context, lets look at the team if the best case scenario happens they win 3 of 4 or run the table..what you have moving forward. You would have the 8th youngest team in the league in the playoffs. You would have a team that made the playoffs in the 2nd year of the new coach, that he helped hire. You would have a Qb that got them there in his 2nd year that he drafted. You would have a defense that came on very strong and is loaded with talent. You would have a team that had all it's draft picks. You would have a team that has the 3rd most cap space in the NFL at around 20 million. You would have the class of free agents that he aquired playing well. Now I know we have some free agents, but I can't sit here and say we can't resign the majority if we get rid of a couple and sign our own. Just in a football context I can't fire the guy with that kind of season that early in the regime change, the other stuff we have to wait and see how severe it is.
Chris Clemons should be pretty high on the list of people to re-sign. Teams don't catch passes against him.
I'd be comfortable with bringing our entire secondary back next year considering the improvements in 2013, including Patterson, unless his salary prevents us from signing something a bit more desirable on the offensive side of the ball.
Geographic proximity helps little, if at all. Every team can watch the same film of these players. Every team can call the coaches and inquire about these guys. The fact that they are close doesn't mean the Dolphins should be able to scout them any better. And as I understand it, the Dolphins liked Graham and wanted him, but just thought they could get him a little later. That was a miscalculation, but not one that had anything to do with geography.
We could probably resign Clemons, Starks, and Soliai if we didn't have a receiver with a $13+ million cap number for next year.
Miami could sign all three of those, even with the $13 million cap number of Wallace. Especially if they role over the cap space from this year.
Pattersons contract is too much and we have Jamar and Davis..they have to play, and we need that 5 mill..we will have to make some tough decisions and his makes the most sense..were playing well without him..
Wow..I've defended that dude for four years every off season, and it was based on the breakdown of one game where I saw his potential and skillset flash so hard that I knew he would develop.
What will it cost us down the road though? Resigning these guys is what should have been the focus this past offseason and not signing the guys we signed.
I don't think either Starks nor Soliai were guys that should have been re-signed except in retrospect. Both of them are having career seasons after being good but inconsistent for a couple years(including in both cases contract years).
I don't think you can not pay Patterson as good as he's been this year when he's been on the field. If anything, you don't resign Nolan Carroll if you think one of Taylor or Davis can step up in the time being.
Most of their respective careers? Paul Soliai has had two good years in his career(his breakout season and this year), and Starks pretty notably goes into slumps, with last year being a pretty clear example. The guy was great the first half and not very good the second.
Then this is another case of our front office's inability to anticipate moves for down the road. If we don't keep one of those two, we have a massive hole as no one but Jared Odrick has experience on the inside. This also decreases our flexibility to play the hyrbrid fronts, as there isn't another true nose tackle on the roster.
I love what Patterson has done when he has been on the field this year. And I'm pretty pleased with Carroll as well. He's always done a good job of staying with receivers, his downfall was reacting to the ball. But I have seen some real improvement there this year, including a few fantastic reactions to and plays on the ball. He's allowed a passer rating of just 66.1 on passes thrown at him, which is pretty damn good. I can't say I have really seen anything positive from Taylor of Davis when they have played this year. Not giving up on either one, as I have high hopes for them, but I would not be crazy about handing either one a significant role just yet.
Of course, we haven't "not kept" them yet, so no real reason to complain about it now. With the way our run defense has struggled, I'd be pretty shocked if we let both of them go.
ok, I can sign off on that scenario as long as it fits, I also don't think it's too damaging overall to let both walk if it allows us to sign Solai, grimes, Starks and Clemmons.
