I'll be the first to say it. I can easily see Henne passing for 3500-4000 yards if he stays the starter and is healthy. Palmer could do the same the way we're going to have to play. Thomas will get his 15 carries a game, Bush five, but most of the offense will be a very aggressive spread look with Reggie Bush as the primary chain mover.
Langford's one of the best 3-4 DE's in the league. He isn't the most dominant run defender, or the most dominant pass rusher at the position, but he's one of the most well-rounded and consistent. Langford can play, and play well virtually every defensive line position in any scheme in the league. 4-3, 3-4, or Nickel whatever sub package you please, 1-gap or 2-gap. He's not an ideal 2-gap, 0-technique NT, but he'd be a better than average starter. He's not an ideal edge rusher, but last year he was out there substituting for Koa Misi in Nickel packages. Paul Soliai you can wait and see on. It's possible this offseason our coaching staff gets cleared out, it's possible we're running a defense where a big space-eatter isn't in vogue. Kendall Langford will have a spot wherever.
If wake plateaus at the numbers he had last year does that make it a bad deal? He's one of the five best bargains in the league right now and you can make a darn good case Langford is in that group as well. You make a good point on soliai though. I want to see it for more then one year. With wake I'm a little less skeptical but if we wait until halfway through the year I won't complain. Langford...just get it done. Guy is a rock
That's interesting, especially the part about each team having it's own adjusted cap number. I knew about the $3m, but the reallocation of money into 2009 from 2011 seems odd. Will have to take a closer look at that.
I agree with all this outside of the Langford $ amount. With Odrick, McDaniel, & Starks on the team, I think that's enough leverage to get Langford's dollar amount down or else I probably wouldn't extend him. $40 million is a lot to wrap up in a starter who's a part of a heavy rotation....... and all that money combined is a lot to have tied up in a Dline. The only way I'd sign Langford to a pricey contract is if I'm able to trade Starks. I wouldn't mind trading Starks to Houston for James Casey & a draft pick but that ain't happening.
You don't let players like Langford walk easily. Not in my opinion. He's one of those guys you don't truly appreciate until he's no longer on your team. Letting him go would be a mistake IMO - and a big one at that.
Why would we give Solia a long term contract for only playing one productive season in his four year career? Is that all he needs to do, show up once(y) in four years? Let's see if he can have two productive season under his belt before we give him a big contract.Wake: Same thing, why would we give him a big contract for just one great season? And Wake is a 29 year old LB who depends solely on his speed to go after QB's, his productivity will slow down from now on. Langford deserves a long term contract, he's improve his game each year plus he's only 25.
That's an understandable concern, but Soliai's not going to be a contract year player. He's playing for a lot more than just himself. He's playing for his family (and what happened to them) which makes him a man on a mission. You could sign Soliai for $50 million fully guaranteed (paid up front) and I still don't feel it would affect the level at which he plays one bit. If anything, in Paul's case, I strongly believe he's the type of player who would work as hard as possible to prove to himself that he deserves it.
newsflash, if you don't sign one of Soliai or Langford this year, they both will be unrestricted free agents next year. You can only tag one of them at that point. And the other will get at least the $ I quoted earlier, one more year down the road for Soliai to produce, as he has been doing all camp thus far. He came into camp ready to roll this year albeit with the f tag looming over his head. He's dedicated and in the best shape of his career. He will have a monster year this year, guaranteed. And if you don't do it now, he's only going to cost more later. I would put the odds at best 50/50 that Sparano is back next season. Speculation about Cowher and all that, he'll want to run a 34. And he'll want both of these pieces locked up. So I think that removes all doubt that we'd switch to a 43 front which would render Soliai maaaaybe obsolete. As for Wake, he may be 29, but he's our most effective pass rusher on a team that lacks a consistent rusher on the other side, at least for the time being. His contract situation is the more favorable of the three in that you can risk not signing him to a long term deal because he still has another year left after this season. I can see us going the cheap route and letting him play out the remainder of his contract. BTW, I completely disagree with you about his sole ability to get to the qb as being speed. He has improved in the time he's been here with a foray of moves to get to the qb. Not just speed, but power, quickness, tenacity, motor... all of those. Guy is an absolute stud and we're fortunate to have him. Without him, our defense takes a big step back, mediocre at best. He's so important and if it were me, I'd lock him up for a few more years.
Completely agree. However, in this case, if it came down to it, I'd feel better about signing him to a long term contract asap rather than risk potentially losing him after the year. I just get the impression that he's playing to win and playing for his team rather than the money..... and that's the kind of infectious attitude I love seeing. IMO he's primed to quickly become one of the most dominant defensive players in the NFL.
I wouldn't want to switch to ANY defense that renders Soliai obsolete. A coach switching us to a 43 just wastes half our great Dlinemen does it not (along with leaving us lacking depth at LB)? Could you imagine Starks, Odrick, McDaniel, and Merling being our 2nd & 3rd stringers? Whomever that coach is can f'n toss off. lol.
It really depends on a coach and his style of defense. You could run a 4-3 with the same personnel as our current 3-4. You could end up with three of that named group in the base 4-3, instead of the two that are currently utilized now.
I do not really see Solia as a one hit wonder. I see him more of a guy who has improved every year since he has been in the league who hit his stride last season.
Cutting Sapp would be foolish at this point in time. He is healthy, experienced as a nickel and makes plays. I don't get the hatin' that goes on around here for Sapp sometimes. I wonder if it has anything to do with the player we traded to get him.
I don't know why it would be ineffective, they've all got pretty extensive experience in the relative positions. They all line up as 1- and 3-techniques currently in the Nickel defense, and depending on the strongside/left/closed/etc. DE positioning and responsibility, they've got experience there too. Hell, Langford and Merling have experience playing wide of the offensive tackle.
Sapp is the offenses' cookie jar Mr C, if you need yards why throw against VD or SS24 when you have Benny Sapp out there? Not that he is that bad, more that he is the path of least resistance for the offense to attack.
When we first drafted him, it was noted by one of the draft gurus that while Soliai is physically gifted, that it may take a few years for him to fully realize his potential. Not uncommon for dominant NTs to take a few years to get that way. I think maybe it was CK who said that.
Disgus, if we kept 3 of them along the front, where does that leave Misi? Who would you put at strong side DE? Odrick? Reconvert Merling? I like that we have the current versatility to bounce back and forth between the 2 schemes, but it seems like we'd leave too much talent off the field if our base D becomes a 4-3. Thoughts?
what about the backers? Dansby is the only one I'd feel comfortable with. I think Misi would be in trouble. Wake could probably do it (he looked okay at the Pro Bowl,) but that's not the best thing for him. Edds might be able to play SAM. Burnett on the weak side?
It really depends on the coach. Misi could be a Nickel sub rotating in for one of the "big" guys playing DE in the base 4-3, he could be a full-time DE if a coach prefers a smaller, faster front-7. It's also pretty trendy to have a speed rusher play 4-3 strong side linebacker as of late. As for a "big" guy as a theoretical DE I tend to think it'd be Odrick or Langford. I think Merling might be on the outs, Starks and McDaniel are best as interior guys. Langford has experience as a Nickel DE subbing for Misi last year, but Odrick is the guy with probably the unknown upside as a pass rusher. I think it's kind of impossible to predict, like the DL, there's so many specific styles. Karlos Dansby can play anything. He came into the league as a strongside OLB then moved to weak side. Burnett you'd think would be MLB or weak side. Some coaches could play Misi at strong-side. AJ Edds played the position in college. Etc. and so on. Seems a little morbid to be burying the current defense, though.
Too early to know.....But damn you are explaining front seven depth....... Sure is refreshing here. Roll with it.
I love listening to that dude talk football...I pick my battles with him believe me..and if I do, its always talent evaluation.
Good stuff, Disgus. If for some hypothetical reason we switch to a 43, we'd have one Dlineman of quality available to trade for a LB (or whatever position of need), no? Would you rather have Odrick lined up next to Wake during passing situations (3-4 included) rather than opposite?
Yeah, but I don't think it's a safe assumption that one of those players would be underutilized. You're functionally utilizing your depth at 3-4 DE now with 2 of those players on the field in basically any formation. As long as you keep doing that, it's justified to keep those players. If you open it up to three, even moreso. I don't think linebacker would be a big need, really. Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett are pretty flexible, every-down players. I'd tend to think someone looking for a DE convert at strongside OLB would be very happy with Koa Misi, and I'd tend to think someone who wants a true linebacker at the position would consider Edds at least a strong contender. As for Odrick, it depends. There are guys in the 300lb. range who are really good 4-3 DEs and can threaten a tackle on an outside rush. Reggie White is the shining example, but then there are guys like Kevin Carter, Shaun Ellis, Trevor Pryce...They all played 3-4 DE or the equivalent at some point, but in their prime were still threats as edge rushers. I don't think any of Langford/Starks/McDaniel are those type of guys. Odrick might be, and if he is, you want him at DE.
