D-Line.

[Daseal]

I think Williams WILL be available. I see MN still going DJ. Chicago will go Edwards. Unless there's a trade, I see us getting Williams, or at least a shot at him.

[gortiz]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Well - with a blitzing scheme there's often a lot less time that a CB has to cover, but Harris is a huge downgrade from Smoot, no matter what anyone says! That's why I feel our defense could drop out of the top 10 this year.

By reading what you wrote it makes me believe that you think Smoot was the main reason we were one of the top Defenses in the league??? You think he is worth 7 spots statiscally...NO WAY.

Also, what do you think people were saying when we let go of Champ and Fred "Country" Smoot had to fill his shoes?? I bet it wasn't pretty. I say we will be solid. For sure top 10.

Dont sleep on Lavar making a difference, and dont' sleep on a second year Sean Taylor, and don't sleep on Bowen coming back!

[Hog1]

Last year I must say, my man Greg Williams showed me many things. Yea, I loved the Jail break stuff too! He showed he could develope a killer No-Name D. He and his D kept us in every game. Most of all, he showed me he knows what he's doing. I believe in him enough to make the right moves

Originally Posted by Daseal

I see a lot of people are interested in bolstering our defensive line. Going into the season we have Wynn - Griffen - (noble/salava'e rotation) - Daniels. This line isn't star-studded by any means. Griffen played amazing ball last year, I doubt he can keep that up but I hope so. Wynn is constantly solid. Noble/Salavae'a did a great job in my opinion. Always a fresh person in there and played hard. Daniels we haven't seen, but I think he could be good.

We don't have any top tier pass rushers there, but I'm willing to say we don't need any. Not only are great DEs some of the most expensive players to pay, they are some of the hardest to find consistantly in the draft. Williams brings pressure from everywhere and anywhere. With the blitzers we have in Springs, Arringon, Taylor, Bowen, and Washington is it really necessary to be able to creat havoc with our front four? Not only that, do you want to see us rushing only four and dropping back into coverage?

Personally, I love the jaillbreak blitzes Williams runs. They're exciting, they're fun to watch, and they can force other teams into mistakes. While I wouldn't mind having a stud on the defensive line, I don't feel it's worth the high draft pick and/or the salary one would command. We have a great blitzing team as is now. The line in it's current form seems to do their job of occupying blockers and playing pretty damn solid against the run. I think we have much bigger needs to spend our cash on!

[offiss]

Originally Posted by Hog1

Last year I must say, my man Greg Williams showed me many things. Yea, I loved the Jail break stuff too! He showed he could develope a killer No-Name D. He and his D kept us in every game. Most of all, he showed me he knows what he's doing. I believe in him enough to make the right moves

I agree! I said it before and I will say it again, Greg Williams can make chicken salad out of chicken s*%#!

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Hog1

Last year I must say, my man Greg Williams showed me many things. Yea, I loved the Jail break stuff too! He showed he could develope a killer No-Name D. He and his D kept us in every game. Most of all, he showed me he knows what he's doing. I believe in him enough to make the right moves

Welcome to the board Hog1

[PSUskinsfan11]

Originally Posted by offiss

Fact? I don't know about that, you may be right DHS but I wouldn't say it's a lock by no means, personally I think V. Jackson will be better over all, but I can't deny that I feel Williams will be a tremendous asset in the red zone, he has the best hands in college, and maybe in the NFL once he arrives.

I have seen a few people moving Jackson to TE which wouldn't be suprising with his size.

[Daseal]

By reading what you wrote it makes me believe that you think Smoot was the main reason we were one of the top Defenses in the league??? You think he is worth 7 spots statiscally...NO WAY.

Also, what do you think people were saying when we let go of Champ and Fred "Country" Smoot had to fill his shoes?? I bet it wasn't pretty. I say we will be solid. For sure top 10.

Dont sleep on Lavar making a difference, and dont' sleep on a second year Sean Taylor, and don't sleep on Bowen coming back!

That's right, I think Smoot coupled with a few more factors will drop our defense. First of all, defensive rankings are ranked on total yards. I expect our offense to produce at least a bit more this year. That means that the opposing team will have longer fields to drive. Which means they will have a chance to accumulate more yards.

Second of all, when Champ left we brought in a guy who had a great season. I feel Springs and Griffen MAY have had career seasons. I don't know if they can replicate the same type of intensity. Be it through injury, or not having the drive. Both of those players had that problem where they were before. I also feel that if we start Bowen full time we're going to be opposed in coverage a lot. The only thing Bowen's good for is knocking Trung out in practice.

I feel our defense will slip, those are just some possible reasons why. Let's not forget that our friend LaVar isn't exactly the most fundamental player ever. So he's been known to overrun a play or a dozen in a game.

We have questionmarks at CB, MLB, RDE, and to a lesser extent, SS. While I think Greg Williams (and our D coordinator/dline coach who never gets credit, Blache) have done an amazing job, I feel that our defense WILL slip a bit and could be out of the top 10.

I hope I'm wrong, but I can definitely see it happening.

So no - it's not just Smoot. But he's a big part of it.

[diehardskin2982]

well the past Greg williams defense hasn't fell yet. Thats the bills who are #2 in the league, so I think we might even get better.

[Daseal]

That could certainly happen, diehard. I'm just saying I think they'll fall off. Possibly out of the top 10, I think we'll have a pretty good and exciting defense. We may be ranked lower but get more turnovers/scores.

[heybigstar]

You have to think, this is long term.
Springs and Harris are old...
in order to build we need to draft to fill what our potential needs will be
a year or 2 from now. Thats how the Eagles do it.

[Daseal]

I have seen a few people moving Jackson to TE which wouldn't be suprising with his size.

Many people say the same thing about Mike Williams. That's why he went to USC over FLorida. Florida wanted him to be a TE.

[RedskinRat]

Originally Posted by Daseal

That means that the opposing team will have longer fields to drive. Which means they will have a chance to accumulate more yards.

Or conversely and more likely our D will force a lot of three and outs, or take aways and score and our offense will have better success on their drives. I see no reason why our D would drop off. Look who'll be coming back.

[sportscurmudgeon]

diehardskin:

Look I think Greg Williams is an outstanding DC, but your argument that the Bills had the #2 defense last year argues against Williams being the reason they are great.

Williams left the Bills and the defense there got better. They weren't #2 while he was there! So somehow, the defense got a lot better when he left town. That's not much of an endorsement for him as "Defensive Coordinator of the Year".

[offiss]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

diehardskin:

Look I think Greg Williams is an outstanding DC, but your argument that the Bills had the #2 defense last year argues against Williams being the reason they are great.

Williams left the Bills and the defense there got better. They weren't #2 while he was there! So somehow, the defense got a lot better when he left town. That's not much of an endorsement for him as "Defensive Coordinator of the Year".

I have to disagree SC, the Bills were able to keep and build upon the foundation that Williams left, there's no denying that he was the catalist behind their core philosophy on defense, in fact I believe it is a tell that we will be even better on D this year with our players having a year under their belts under Williams.

[offiss]

Originally Posted by PSUskinsfan11

I have seen a few people moving Jackson to TE which wouldn't be suprising with his size.

Yea as Daseal stated gm's are speculating where to play either Williams, or Jackson, they are not used to seeing men of their size playing WR, I believe these 2 will be the culmination of a trend we are starting to see in the NFL of the big reciever, they will be the hybrids of the new era. I saw both of their combine workouts and Jackson runs better than Williams, I was very impressed for a man of his size.