I'm optimistic on Barnes. His talent is not immense, but he'll see a lot of man blocking considering the rest of the Dline. I also like his motor. In Rex schemes, a guy like that could end up being a very nice contributor. What i'll watch for in preseason is whether his role will be a way improved Maybin, or if he is versatile enough to get on the field in more situations. I'm hoping for the latter, as we still need a base OLB to step forward.
Agreed, he has been largely ignored during discussions this offseason, but he was one of the first (was he the first?) FA signings this year. I think that Rex placed a priority on him and expects some big things, although he isn't the type of player that is going to light the world on fire, he was drafted by the Ravens during Rex's tenure as DC and Rex likes something he has to offer. Maybe Rex has specific schemes in mind for his skill set. I'll be watching him early. He has a very low center of gravity and a mean streak. Hopefully not enough of a mean streak to force a lot of stupid penalties.
I look at barnes as another bart scott. he comes in knowing what rex wants to do and is capable. we will be glad we have him this year and probably next. after that its going to be downhill. the good news is he doesn't come with the big price tag.
Good posts on Barnes. Do you guys see him as a potential base D OLB on 1st downs? Would be nice to see Calvin Pace as more of a depth player than starter this year. Someone between Barnes, McIntire, Sapp, etc, needs to show they can set the edge and help stop the run...as well as pash rush. especially considering Coples is no lock yet to play OLB in the base set.
I think barnes is a pass rush specialist and that is it. probably see a lot of mcintire and/or pace on 1st down depending on what coples does. if coples looks like he isn't a liability against the run than pace and mcintire on the strongside rotation. or more 4 down lineman and harris, davis ,pace/sapp/mcintire? its hard to predict what rex will do. but he has a ton of interchangeable parts at his disposal this year. should be fascinating to watch
Fair enough. It will def be interesting to see this D. McIntire is another guy to watch. His pass rushing really improved last year, but he still has a ways to go against the run. I'm hoping we see improvement in camp.
Very depressing to see McKnight, Josh Bush, Cumberland and Peterman on the teams top 25. Granted it is the opinion of only one guy, Costello, and he did not put any rookies on here, but still very depressing.
Yea I was thinking the same thing, but optimistically, we just drafted four starters in this year's draft.
I think you are correct on the idea that Barnes is a PR specialist, but I don't think you are specific enough about the situations. We will probably see a lot of Pace early on the strong side, with a mix of McIntyre and Barnes on the other side, until Barnes gets comfortable in the scheme. If that happens, I think McIntyre moves inside to supplement the inside rush, because I think that Davis needs a lot more help getting off of blocks than Barnes does. And if Harris is really transitioning to the lead blocker on defense, they will need another linebacker in the mix to give him a boost. Which means a lot of single safety sets. Which means three fast LBs.
yea, i was going to do a long post with all the different possibilties at lb. but it was just too much. for sure though, the front 7 is going to be faster and interchangeable and rex is going to be a mad scientist with what he can scheme up
We'll likely go big on the edges on early downs w/ Pace/Mcintyre/Coples. In passing situations or on 3rd down we'll see more speed. Coples moves to DL w/ Barnes/Sapp on the edges.
Joe Mcknight would be, simply because of his kickoff return ability. He was one of the best in the league at returning last year. I can't speak for Peterman, but was he not on an active roster last season? It's hard to say really because elite teams aren't always stacked at every position. Cumberland would probably be a #2 TE on all teams not named NE.
I think it's safe to say that Demario Davis won't make the list. I can't see him as a top 15 talent on this team, at least not yet. Landy will be decent for us, but he's no substitute for his brother. This is another one I thought would be ranked lower.
I can see him making it. I think you have 11 highly probables left (in no particular order): Mangold, Ferguson, Cromartie, Wilkerson, Coples, Harris, Holmes, Kerley, Howard, Ivory, Wilson. Projecting the final 3 is pretty tough. He didn't include a kicker or punter last year. Maybe Sanchez is added because of the importance of the position but that's not a lock. Guys like Ellis and Davis would almost have to make it simply as projected starters. I'd put them over guys like Pace and Garay.
Peterman played last year for Detroit but the general consensus was that he was horrid in pass protection. Bad in pass pro & starting to age sounds like Alan Faneca in Arizona. Team needs one of the youngsters to step up at guard. If Peterman gets beat out for starting job I doubt he makes the team considering the youth movement happening on the OL.
I think we're rating Demario Davis highly on his potential. I don't think he should be ranked top 15 because we haven't seen much. Hopefully we'll see him on that list next year, but not yet.
Here we go. This was unexpected, mainly because he gets a lot of hate for not being Revis or Cromartie. He's probably the most under rated player on our team based on fan opinion. Even the writer gives him a mixed reaction, despite being ranked 27th best corner in the league. That's pretty damn good considering he was a #2 and the year before a #3. Wilson is going to be a critical key to our secondary this year. I don't see Milliner winning the job this year. Wilson has steadily improved during the last couple years. With that said, I think Wilson is a better slot corner, than an outside one and wouldn't mind seeing him in that role again.
i have said many times.k.w. would be the #2 on most teams. millner being drafted should not be translated as an idictment of k.w. skills.
