And where does Pace play in 4-3 sets? Nickel sets? Dime? 46? That funky floating front 7 alignment? We aren't just playing a 3-4 defense.
I'll drink to that, I can hear Gholston and B Thomas now on 3rd downs, "party 7 yds in the backfield, see you there playa!"
NFL teams today want pass rushers!Why? Because that is what wins you SB's. Tom Brady's beating in last year's SB was solely due to the Giants DL pressuring Brady forcing bad decisions. One thing about the NFL it's a copy cat league with this year's #1 choice for NFL teams defensive lineman or lb's who can hit the QB till he won't get up any more. Look for a run on DL this draft.
Pace had 6 1/2 sacks in his "breakout" season last year. Thomas had 8 1/2 sacks in 2006, but hasn't had as much as 3 in any other season. Neither of them can be considered pass rushers. If the Jets want to beat the Pats, pressure on Brady is a must and the current roster is not getting that pressure. An elite pass rusher is far more important than a RB or a WR or a CB. If Long or Gholston are gone, I'd take Harvey at 6. I don't care if he is projected to be picked at 10 or later. I would rather spend millions and take my chances with a pass rusher than spend millions more on a skinny legged RB who fumbles and who didn't get touched until he got to the second level. If Harvey is not the guy for this regime, I'd prefer Rivers and then hope for Groves in the 2nd round.
Better yet..under your way of thinking..why dont we just spend every single pick on a pass rusher?! We don't need DB's, we don't need linebackers, hell we dont even need an offense....we'll just get 11 guys to rush at Brady... Oh and forget about ranking the pass rushers...value means nothing....we'll just go in alphabetical order..drafting best player available has never gotten a team anywhere. I mean excuse my sarcasm and I know you feel strongly about wanting a pass rusher. But I think you're overvalung the position quite a bit. There are many other things on a football team that make a huge difference...one of which is overall depth.Something we currently lack. When you start reaching for talent...you sacrifice depth for immediate need.
If all we're doing is drafting pass rushers, where are we gonna fit OL guys in? Trenches dude. All trenches. All the time.
DBs are overrated, look at the Giants.... I guess that's why they've used their top pick in two of the past three drafts on defensive backs and are very likely to draft another one with the 31st pick on Saturday.
Think as to why they are allowed to do that... Two bookend Pro-Bowl DEs in Strahan and Osi (Strahan being a dead lock for the hall of fame), with Justin Tuck and Fred Robbins. A scary front four like that allows you to draft DBs without worry. Once the Jets have a front 7 that is top 5 in rushing the passer, then we can focus on DBs like the Giants.
I'd rather get the value where the value is, unless we're REALLY desperate for it. The Pats did fine without a big name pass rusher in '01 and '02. This 3-4 D, especially in its early building days, relies on more on hiding the coverages and making it harder for the QB to read than racking up sacks.
Right, but they got the pressure on the QB anyway, while doing with mediocre talent in the backfield. in 01 02 they had McGinest in his prime, Seymour when he was young, Bruschi, Roman Phifer, Bryan Cox, and Ted Johson. Those guys can get to the QB. Thats why the did with the secondaries they did, minus Law, Milloy, and Harrison. Belichek always had one guy who could make the plays happen.
All this stuff is essentially being judged off of ONE GAME. There were games last season where the Giants pass rush was not dominant..and when that occurred their mediocre secondary was exposed.
