What caliber Defense do we have, if we started the season right now with just the players we have signed? and how much better would we be with 1 or two draft peospects such as Williams, Ngata, Hawk or other DB etc. Can we compete as we stand now?
Our Defense should be in the middle of the pack for most of the season, but as the season winds down, hopefully it just keeps getting better. They could struggle early on due to the new system being implemented...
I think that early in the season we are going to have some trouble but we will get better as the season goes on.
The entire defense is going to stink if we don't have a run stuffing defensive tackle? I think that is ridiculous. It would be beneficial to have one, but to say our entire defense will stink without one just seems a bit drastic.
I'm not sure the D will be too bad this year. So far, the only significant losses on D are Abe and Law. Dyson isn't a bad fill in for Law, at least he's younger, and definitely gets less yellow flags thrown in his direction. If we pick up Mario in the draft, I would actually consider it an upgrade from Abe, and I was a huge Abe fan. Given that Mangini, while wanting to implement a 3-4, has already said he would go with schemes that highlight the teams strengths, and the weaknesses of the opponent, I would say the D is at least as good as it has been over the past few years. If they weren't on the field all the time, they could be pretty good. The NT position is a question mark, but otherwise, the D should be at least middle of the pack, if not better. I still don't see more than a handful of wins this year, but I don't think it will be the fault of the defense.
A strong run stuffing NT is the key to the 3-4 defense. It can definitely be the difference between having a good defense and having one near the bottom of the league.
We Redskins fans experienced something in 2004 which provides an insight of value in this thread. We saw Gregg Williams come in, take his scheme out of the box, and have it up and running right from the first preseason game in 2004. Our defense was, and still is, the strength of our team since Williams arrived ...and he's done it despite injuries and average personnel. So, the question I'd ask here is...How good is Mangini? If he's really good, you'll find out right away.
Frankly, I think the only reason the Skins' D is so good is because no one in the NFC East can run it up the gut. Get a big back and a strong interior line against that D and it will crumble. As for us, I think once we get all our pieces we'll be a top 12 D again. I just like our speed at LB, our smarts in the backfield and our strength up front. We are missing a pass rush and a shutdown corner, both of which Mangini should be able to get around - if he's worth his salt.
They will however get stronger as the season goes on. But they will take care of the nose tackle postion. There is a good chance they will draft Gabe Watson. I am sure Hermann gave them a full report on him since he was his defensive cordinator at Michigan. Believe me i have yet to see a D not work with the Belicheck scheme. Have patience.
I understand that its key, but I hardly doubt that when we do have experienced guys who can play the nose decently, we will suck on defense...If we had joe blow playing nose I understand, but Robertson and Kimo could probably do a decent enough job to not make our defense "Stink"...
Without the offense actually being on the field for a period of time this is a moot point we can not have our defense on the field for 3 quarters of the game again like last year
I agree completely. The only offensive player we have added this offseason (If my memory is correct) is Tim Dwight. That ain't enough.
we have so many holes to fill on our team. we cant hit every hole in one offseason. we arent going to do so great next season regardless of how our defense is becuz we dont have an offense. i think it will take this next season, and the 2007 season to establish our team fully and have a good enough offense, and a good enough defense to compete for the playoffs again. i mean, we just lost one of the best pass rushers and one of the best corners in the game, our QB position is shakey, and our WRs havent proven themselves yet. we are going to improve our offense with Dbrick if mangini is smart, but he doesnt tell the media anything, just like belichek.
Off the top of my head, Pitt of course, though that may change now, Seattle, Carolina, Baltimore, Jax, KC. Obviously there are more, but I think all of these guys would give the Redskins D real trouble. However, I should say that I agree that Gregg Williams did a masterful job with what he had.
I still can't figure out what went wrong last year? Aside from the point made here that the defense was on the field all the time, why did the D struggle against the run so badly, not generate a pass rush and seem to lack an effective blitzing scheme? Or am I exaggerating and the D was better than most?? Do you fix last year's problems or scrap the whole D and start fresh. Sounds like mangini is has a lot of pieces, but nobody knows how he's going to put it together and make it work.
