Defensive Stats - Through 3 games...

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by omahacolt

A lot better than i imagined it could be. I don’t think it will last though.

Why so pessimistic on this? Hunt I can't explain, but the rest of the defense is young and should only get better.

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Why so pessimistic on this? Hunt I can't explain, but the rest of the defense is young and should only get better.

Depth. We don't have it. The DL depth has shown to be decent. But the LB depth is nonexistent. We are ok at safety and have 4 decent CB's playing.

If Hunt, Woods or Leonard go down, this defense changes in a hurry.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

Depth. We don't have it. The DL depth has shown to be decent. But the LB depth is nonexistent. We are ok at safety and have 4 decent CB's playing.

If Hunt, Woods or Leonard go down, this defense changes in a hurry.

Yep, it is troubling.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

Depth. We don't have it. The DL depth has shown to be decent. But the LB depth is nonexistent. We are ok at safety and have 4 decent CB's playing.

If Hunt, Woods or Leonard go down, this defense changes in a hurry.

I get what you're saying - but isn't that true of most teams? I'd venture to say that if any team loses one or more star players to injuries, they'd have a hard time replacing them and getting anywhere near the same production.

As always, I keep my fingers crossed against injuries, but otherwise I'm a believer.

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by Chaka

I get what you're saying - but isn't that true of most teams? I'd venture to say that if any team loses one or more star players to injuries, they'd have a hard time replacing them and getting anywhere near the same production.

As always, I keep my fingers crossed against injuries, but otherwise I'm a believer.

I'm half way there as far a believing goes. I'm scarred by to many years of crappy defense to make me a real believer in 3 games. Lets run thru about 8 games and see if we can keep this up. Not worried about depth. Like Chaka says, nobody has the depth to lose their two best defensive players and not have it hurt bad. The future sure looks a hell of a lot better than it did even 6 months ago. One more draft like this last one and we will be knocking on the door. I am concerned about Luck though. Expected rust and hope that Reich is protecting Luck while the line gets healthy and learns to work together. Ill be holding my breath until they let it rip. If Luck can get back to his old self, I believe we are on track to be a force in the next few years

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Why so pessimistic on this? Hunt I can't explain, but the rest of the defense is young and should only get better.

For me there are a few factors. One is Hunt. He’s playing at a Pro Bowl level. There is obvious reason to doubt it will continue. If his play regresses to anywhere near expectations that will ripple across the D. Especially since penetration by the dline is critical in this scheme and there is no one on the line I have confidence in picking up the slack.

As someone else pointed out depth is a major concern. Yes that’s true of most teams, but I think most people would agree that overall the D lacks talent. So a loss of one of the few above average contributors (two currently at All Pro levels) will hit harder than a D with more talent spread across it.

During the small sample size we have, I’ve seen stretches of the poor play I expected. 3/4 of the Cincy game the D was awful. The first drive against Philly was awful. And the Philly game was also playing an offense missing several of its best weapons (including starting RB and WR1), it’s QB was playing his first game since a major injury, and it was in the rain.

There has also been very little tape for offenses to analyze. We’ll see how they fair as teams know more about what to expect (who the fuck would expect to have to game plan for Margus Hunt?). Teams make adjustments and I think their is a decent amount to exploit on this young inexperienced D.

Certainly some of this could just be expectation bias on my part, but I’m not ready to believe they are an average D yet. I need to see them prove it longer. I need to see Hunt continue his play or see who else can elevate his game if he falls back.

Now that’s not to say I don’t see reason for optimism. Leonard alone is reason enough to be excited. He may not be able to keep up this pace. He may fall off some as the season progresses (like many rookies) but I do believe he’s a difference maker. Coming into the season I had serious doubts the D had one. Hell of a pick by Ballard.

The defensive coaching staff appears to be at least competent. Considering their inexperience and the way the staff was put together, that was a question mark. Tackling seems mostly improved. Whether or not it lasts they’ve found ways to generate a pass rush. And they’ve obviously emphasized stripping the ball which I love.

They are also getting a lot of guys meaningful experience.

Overall I’m pleasantly surprised and see several reasons for optimism, even if I don’t believe they are as good as their current numbers suggest.

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by omahacolt

A lot better than i imagined it could be. I don’t think it will last though.

They’re playing inspired ball right now. That I’m afraid won’t last.

[JAFF]

So is anyone still pissed about Simon getting cut??

Not to upset the applecart, but maybe this set of D coaches knows what they want?

[1965southpaw]

Originally Posted by JAFF

So is anyone still pissed about Simon getting cut??

Not to upset the applecart, but maybe this set of D coaches knows what they want?

Per JMV, Simon got signed today by the Evil Hoodie.

[FatDT]

Originally Posted by JAFF

So is anyone still pissed about Simon getting cut??

Not to upset the applecart, but maybe this set of D coaches knows what they want?

Yes. No reason to keep Basham over him.