How Good Can The Defense Be This Year?
 

I think we jump up towards the middle of the pack defensively.

Pass rush is still a concern. However, the beauty of the Wilson pick is that it can afford us to blitz 5 or 6 assuming Vontae and Wilson can shut down #1 and #2 with Butler playing the slot.

In other words we can generate pressure with the blitz while now having a decreased risk of getting burned on the backend. Oh yeahh.....we'll have Hooker playing center field back there too.

Mingo is a wildcard. Not expecting much from him except being a decent starter on STs. Now, if we can some how tap into his freak talent and he can take advantage of our long disruptive front with guys like Langford and Anderson.....could we possibly get 5-8 sacks from him? *Thinks of Pagano* Well, maybe not.

It can't be worse than it has been, but I also expect it to take some time for the young kids to develop. Probably an up and down year with some really good games and some where mistakes get made.

Mingo is a bum. He will do nothing.

Middle of the pack seems doable. Maybe even a bit hopeful since we are still lacking in pass rush and monchichi didn't really seem good at generating a rush

They can definitely be top 25.

Slightly better but still bottom half.

It won't be good until we can build a young core on defense thru the draft. FA fills needs but rarely provides upper echelon play, unless you sign super stars, who never become available.

To build a truly good defense, you have to do it thru the draft.

I don't know how good the D will be but I am certain it will be better.
The important thing to me is that between free agency and the draft I'm
starting to get a clear vision of what Ballard is trying to do. You have that
toilet clogger Hankins up front stuffing the run. You have two aggressive
press corners in Davis and Wilson. You have a centerfielder -Hooker to
clean up their mistakes, as well as opposing quarterbacks mistakes. You have
some linebackers-Sheard and Simon with pass rushing ability. The picture isn't
nearly painted yet but you have a definite sense of where it's headed. I never
got that feeling with Grigson, that there was some over arching plan.
So I feel very good about this. Having said that, expect me to hop the
Ballard bandwagon at the first hint of trouble.;):D

Good enough to not like Matt Stafford go the length of the field with under a minute left, or to not let Brock Osweiler turn in to Tom Brady.

Which, last year, makes the difference between playoffs or home.

It depends on what metric we're looking at. I expect them to give up plenty of yards and points, but it may be okay if they make a big jump in turnovers.

I watch football as entertainment. Watching an old, slow defense that has no realistic chance of improvement is not entertaining. The thing I enjoyed most last year was the second half development of the offensive line. I look forward to the development of the defense. It will be interesting and, at least in my case, involve a lot of cursing at the TV. I'm not convinced we have the linebackers to succeed, think the line has huge question marks (Langford and Anderson must return to pre injury status-I doubt both of them do, hopefully one) and while I love what Ballard has done for the secondary, it is going to take time for them to learn to play together. But it's going to be interesting and I hope fun (if we improve thru ought the year). I agree that we finally seem to have a plan. Looking forward to the season.

My biggest worry is that all this is predicated on coaching. Worries the hell out of me. Hope I'm wrong