Should we be concerned about the defensive line?

[MTK]

At this point in free agency I thought we would have upgraded our defensive line a bit more, at least from a pass rushing perspective.

Griffin is known as a run stuffer at DT so he's not likely to add much in way of pressure.

Daniels doesn't seem much of a threat to log more than 5 or 6 sacks at best, and we have holdovers like Wynn and Upshaw who haven't exactly torn up the NFL with their pass rushing skills.

I'm sensing that with the addition of Washington at strong side LB and by sliding Arrington over the the weak side that Williams will be aggressive with the LB's to compensate for the lack of a strong pass rushing threat from the DE spots.

Does this scare anyone just a bit? We went into last season with the same idea and we all know how that ended up.

I know that the difference maker here could be Williams and his schemes. But still, a part of me is a little concerned.

[Cush]

I think having Williams as the DC will help, but I'm still concerned. I've been all for the team drafting Taylor, but now I'm beginning to think they should maybe trade down a few spots (pick up additional picks) and take Udeze, Smith or Harris.

[Ghost]

If we get Udeze, Harris or Wilfork in the draft I'm a lot less concerned. Yes I thought we'd be adding more than just Griffin and Daniels on the DL. I don't think Gibbs and Snyder are done yet. If they don't address the DL in the draft, I bet they'll find someone among the June 1 cap cuts. I think Williams' system will compensate for any weaknesses in personnel... supposedly that's his big talent, molding defenses to fit the people. From reading his interview on the redskins.com site, it sounds like he's going to blitz Lavar and Marcus Washington a lot. But I'd like to see the Skins get another pass-rushing DE and one more big body at DT. I hope they can make that happen somehow.

[Gmanc711]

If we get just one good dlinemen in the draft, Udeze, Harris , Wilfork, I will be alot less worried. Preferably Udeze. Any word on W. Smith from Ohio St. At first he seemed like our guy, is there a chance he can fall to the second round, pending we trade down and get a pick there?

[Jamaican'Skin]

I would love to get Taylor, but the more pressing need appears at our line, so I agree with trading down. Hopefully, one of these linemen will make an immediate impact

[Paintrain]

I wouldn't be suprised to see the FO wait and see if a soft market develops for Marcellus Wiley and they can come in and get him for cheap..

[SmootSmack]

Just wondering, is Peppi Zellner part of the Redskins future plans? And where is LaDiarias Jackson these days?

[skins009]

This was excactly my point earlier about why i was disappointed in the offseason. I don't think we have really upgraded our d-line. We might have to draft a d-linemen with our 5th pick now, but that would mean we pass on tayler. Its gonna be a tuff choice.

[EEich]

I'm not really worried about the D-line. The personnel are already improved over last year. I'm 95% sure we will go defense with our first pick... and whoever that is (Taylor, Harris, Udeze...) will help our pass rush. Most importantly... we have a new top-of-the-line D-coordinator with a history of building great defenses. We're going to be fine.

[SittingBull]

Article in newswire has Williams quoted as saying putting Lavar on the end on 3rd down to help the pass rush. Last season he was used that way he had 15 sacks.

[Tiger]

Im all for Taylor, I think he'll make an immediate impact with his size and speed. I think we'll be fine with Griffin, and it would be ideal if we could sign Wiley or Tony Brackens. Though i wouldnt mind picking up Wilfork who had a good day working out for the scouts in Miami.

[Shane]

I am not concerned about the defensive line. We could be better, but it takes more than a year to reconstruct a lot of our team and a decimated defensive line.

The bottom line is that we made some big strides for our defensive line so far, as well as adding a pass rushing linebacker that should help LaVar get free as well.

There is only so much you can do, without hurting the team with the salary cap later on. We've done a lot, and we may be able to find some gems in the undrafted players we'll bring to camp.

It is a concern that we are going to likely lose our restricted free agents like McCants because we have less than a million under the cap if Butler makes it through. But I think we are making a good decision to make the offer to Butler. Still I don't want to see McCants go.

[SittingBull]

Let go of trung or betts before you let go mccants

[Gmanc711]

Seroiusly, Trung dosent need to be here at all anymore. His Usefulness was "Speed", but Chad Morton is just as fast as he is, and can be used as our change of pace back. We deifntley need to try to keep McCants

[AnonEmouse]

I wouldn't worry about McCants. Gibbs always had 3 good WR's and at least one of them was a possession type (Monk = McCants), a middle ground guy who wasn't a blazer (Clark = Gardner?) and a speed demon to stretch the D (Sander = Coles).

The O is in good shape now, so lets concentrate on D. I belive if we sign a good (if not great) DE now, then they will keep the #5 and draft Taylor. If they can't get a DE through FA, expect a trade down to get Udeze and a couple of picks for backups. Our CB's look good, so Safety may actually be the one real need left, although I have a degree of faith in the guys we already have.

Remember last year it wasn't pass rush that let us down, it was the ability to stuff the run. I think the new guys give us that ability and adding Washington improves the pass rush too. One more good end to take the pressure off Wynn, would mean the only worry is safety.