Nice to see the LB position has "filled out" this year. We have to have one of the largest units if it's Thomas, Harris , Bowens, Pace (that's an approx 265lb avg). Gholston did look a little lost, but that's expected in his first game. Looked like he tried to "knock down" a reciever (rucker) instead of tackle him (guy got some extra yards). Needs to wrap better. i don't expect to see much of him except on passing downs. Bowens looked ok in the middle (didn't see a lot of him but he didn't look lost). anyone know how Kassell injury is? (if he's injured, saw him limp off after missed sack). caught the game after delay, did C. Pace play?
I'm still wondering how Kassell and Chatham still see the field outside of ST and why they are still on the team. Wouldn't Hobson have been an upgrade over one of these clowns?
First of all, you gotta make a difference between ILBs and OLBs in the 34. At ILB, we look good so far, Harris is a Beast, and Barton seems off to a good season, backups are allright. At OLB, we got a lot of Talent, but also a lot of questionmarks. We still need to find out what the true B.Thomas is, the 2006 or the 2007. Pace also has a lot to prove, especially ,that he can get to the passer consitantly, which is the most important duty of a 34 OLB. And Gholston is a Rookie, so there?s a lot to prove there, too. btw, Gholston was drafted to be a passrusher, why don?t you expect much of him on passingdowns.
Yeah I was thinking about that too. If Harris actually has a serious injury then we have a serious problem at ILB.
Two guys who have contributed almost nothing on defense in the last 2 years. They should have been out with Anthony Shlegel. Those are probably the 3 experiments that have gone wrong during the tangini era
Gholston Looked lost, Absolutely. He will only be a 3rd down pass rusher this year. But that is all we could have expected year 1 anyway. Didn't see alot of Bowens? He played a ton. Called the plays for the D straight through till the 4th quarter. He made plays by being in good position. He seemed to have a good idea what to do in the middle, but got really winded. He wasn't in shape to run sideline to sideline all night like ILB's need to do. He could barely catch his breath to make the defensive calls. HE is no Harris, but he will be good once he gets into a little better game shape. Who cares if Kassel is injured. Pace played sparingly. Seemed fine.
I'm thinking that both of these guys have incriminating photos locked away of Mangini/Tannenbaum, some chickens and an overly friendly girl with a stump-leg.
reread - "...don't expect to see him EXCEPT on passingdowns. (obviously Thomas/Pace will start OLB) I did notice Bowens looked gassed. I think even Buttle mentioned something about it. I don't think Kassel is as bad as made out to be. Is he a starter, no. He's no knife hunting boarsman either. Chatham and Spencer are both useless (IMO). I don't think any of these young guys / UFA's are any better (Murrell, Cummings etc.) so they'll probably stick for another year. I'm keeping my expectations pretty low for C. Pace sacks (<10). Wouldn't surprise me if BT had more (actually, it would - that would require him to play hard). I'm a fan for many years, so pessimism is ingrained.
That one tackle bothered me as well, but maybe I read too much into it. I just remember the first time I saw Harris play, guys were stopped cold and going backwards most times. The kid is just getting going, here's to hoping he gets the confusion over with by the time the season starts.
