Philbin is hired and says the way to win the NFL is by having a strong passer rating differential. In other words, you win by passing the ball well, and defending the pass well. Ryan Tannehill is drafted. Brian Hartline is re-signed. Mike Wallace is signed Jared Cook is pursued heavily. Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler are signed primarily to improve the A-gap blitz the pass defense revolves around. Reggie Bush left a lot of yardage on the field because he's not a ZBS runner, and I suspect the team feels that Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett similarly left a lot of quarterback pressures and sacks on the field in their roles as A-gap blitzers. That can't happen if you expect to compete with Tom Brady. Ellerbe and Wheeler will be better inside rushers, which will open up the outside for Cam Wake when they sugar the A gaps before the snap. Dansby and Burnett weren't threatening enough in that regard. In all, the pass offense and the pass defense improve, which comes back to Joe Philbin's statement about QB rating differential. I wouldn't be surprised to see the remaining moves, as well as the early draft picks this year, focus on the same concept, with tight ends who can run and stretch the seam, wide receivers who can catch the ball in space and make plays after the catch (Tavon Austin), corners who can cover, and defensive ends who can rush the passer. There is a grand scheme here IMO, and it revolves around how the NFL has become a passing league. You win by passing the ball and defending the pass. I believe Joe Philbin and Jeff Ireland have their finger on the pulse of that concept and are operating accordingly.
For what it is worth, we look to be aggressively pursuing Rashard Mendenhall RB and are interested in Charles Woodson S + Eric Winston OT
Signing one of the many available FA CBs would be very cool and would go a long way in defending the pass.
[video=youtube;eknfelhN31E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eknfelhN31E[/video] Where Jeff Ireland usually finds the pulse.
Reports are we tried to keep Dansby but he would not restructure his contract. http://www1.skysports.com/american-...om-Pittsburgh-and-Baltimore-s-Dannell-Ellerbe
Be interesting where he lands now that we took two LB's off the market but added two with cuts. Is it possible Dansby or Burnett come back on a lesser deal?
If I were him I'd have my agent phone Ozzie Newsome rather quickly, if Newsome hasn't called himself already.
I loved the Wallace signing, but not in love with the rest of the Day 1 moves. Here is why, basically we traded slightly older Lb's who could cover better for younger Lb's who can blitz better. Some say that is a net push, perhaps, our other holes remain but now we have less cap to fill those holes including two areas where Ireland has shown problems in trying to fill -OT -TE Personally I'd have preferred adding say Cook and Winston, as Lb was not exactly a priority as it was but now we are left with the Ireland "trust me" when it comes to areas we actually have needs in, I would have been happy with Donald Thomas+ Dustin Keller and moving JJerry to RT. I also suspect they offered Charles Woodson the contract that Clemons eventually signed. Wallace is like a bright shiney toy, the rest of the moves are more or less pushes folks.
Younger players that havent hit their primes are better then 30 somethings that are on the decline. You have to add that to your formula.
Well we need to add a cornerback to the mix. He doesn't have to be a stud CB at this point (would be nice) but guys like Chris Houston, Derek Cox, DJ Moore, and Tracy Porter fit more of what I am expecting.
Dansby refusing to restructure his contract? This certainly doesn't jive with what we've seen and heard from him over the past few years.
I do believe Odin was being sarcastic ;p Also Ellerbe/Wheeler contracts designed to match what Dansby/Burnett were already making. Same cash outflow...younger guys. Also Wheeler is a pretty solid coverage guy despite the lack of INT's. Maybe that changes in Coyle's system.
According to one of the local writers (I want to say Volin), he asked Dansby if he was asked to restructure, and he said no.
From what I've read trading LBs actually created more cap space for this year but added to the dead money for next year.
I think we upgraded the speed of the team. This is a passing game now and you need speed on both sides of the ball to be effective.
