The Defense

[junk]

With all the concern about the offensive line, we really haven't talked defense much this offseason.

As far as I can tell, the plan is to expect improvement due to health and a switch to the 4-3. From what I can tell, Jerry apparently thinks this is some sort of magical scheme that better suits the 3-4 personnel they've been drafting since about 2004.

I think I'm most concerned about the middle of the defense. I'm not sure Hatcher is a great fit in the middle and I don't have faith in him and Ratliff staying healthy all year. Same for Lee. The safeties were awful last year and could be worse this year. They are basically counting on two guys who missed the entire season to be the full time starters.

It'll be better by default than the train wreck last year, but I don't really anticipate a great season defensively.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

You tell a lot.

 

[Jon88]

I'm excited about the defense. It will be good to go back to the 4-3. Ware and Spencer are going to be monster defensive ends. Ratliff, Hatcher, and Lissemore should be good DTs. The former second round pick we signed could be promising, who knows. The linebacking core is great with Carter, Lee, and Durant. Our corners are good and should improve. I hope Scandrick is moved to safety. He's awful. Safety is my only concern on defense.

It will be good to get more pressure on the QB and not have the line manhandled in the running game.

 

[Dodger12]

We should improve on D but it'll have nothing to do with the switch to the 4 - 3. If Lee and Carter can stay healthy and with Claiborne in his second season, we should see some improvement. A lot will depend on Spencer and Ware's ability to get to the QB but I have concerns with the middle of the DL. I still think the game is won and lost in the trenches.

 

[bbgun]

cue the "you can't fix everything in one year" line

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Nice job in poisoning the well, bb.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

I don’t think the scheme change will fix the defense. I think Ware and Spenser will play too many snaps and have little effect late in the games. The wear and tear of rushing every down will show this season. Who fills in for them? The tackle position is a disaster waiting. I like the corners, i think they are the strongest position on the team. Safety is an unknown. Lee and Carter are great, but can they stay healthy and can they overcome a thin defensive line?

I see a team that will struggle to get pressure (low sack numbers). Try to blitz but the blitz packages are outdated and easy to game plan around. Your hope is that they will create more turnovers (i think they will). Bend but don’t break defense. They have to play with a big lead to be effective.

 

[bkeavs]

We should improve on D but it'll have nothing to do with the switch to the 4 - 3. If Lee and Carter can stay healthy and with Claiborne in his second season, we should see some improvement. A lot will depend on Spencer and Ware's ability to get to the QB but I have concerns with the middle of the DL. I still think the game is won and lost in the trenches.

Very Big IF

 

[ZeroClub]

I don't expect the defense to be more than average.

I'm looking forward to seeing if Claiborne takes a leap forward this year. If he's going to be an All Pro CB before his career is over, we should see obvious improvement/development this year.

 

[dbair1967]

The health is obvious the key, we cant afford the rash of injuries we had last year, especially to the guys we had get hurt.

If they cant stay healthy, each level of the defense has at least two really good players there (DE Ware and Spencer, LB Lee and Carter, CB Carr and Claiborne). I think Hatcher will be ok. Ratliff is the wildcard. If somehow he could stay healthy, this scheme is really a good fit for him. I think Lissemore could be very interesting. Marinelli has a knack for getting a lot out of DL's. With Lissemore's work ethic and his decent talent level, he could end up being a surprise starter at DT this year. I think Crawford will be fine as a 3rd DE, but getting decent snaps from Wilbur at DE too is important. That leaves the safety spot, which right now is the great unknown. We could be extremely young back there on opening day, although they could also be improved a great deal athletically. Still, extreme youth back there means mistakes are likely for awhile.

 

[Midswat]

Regarding the defensive line, I can't but help the team is putting too much hope in Brian Price. And I think there's about a 37.56% chance he can be a reliable, steady contributor.

 

[Jon88]

Regarding the defensive line, I can't but help the team is putting too much hope in Brian Price. And I think there's about a 37.56% chance he can be a reliable, steady contributor.

My calculations give him a 39.47% chance. Go figure.

 

[cmd34]

I sure hope none of the other teams try this brilliant new "stay healthy" strategy.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

With all the concern about the offensive line, we really haven't talked defense much this offseason.

As far as I can tell, the plan is to expect improvement due to health and a switch to the 4-3. From what I can tell, Jerry apparently thinks this is some sort of magical scheme that better suits the 3-4 personnel they've been drafting since about 2004.

Yep, it's clear from the draft and the way Rob was treated that Jerry didn't like him personally, probably never liked the 34 (look at his talk at the postdraft PC about how Zimmer had the #1 defense with the 43 back in Parcells' first year), and thinks this new coaching is going to magically change it all. He's been sold this bill of goods by someone, and/or has convinced himself, that new coaching can and will fix it all.

I'm with you 100%. This defense is probably going to be just average to above average. We have very little depth on the D-line or really even at LB. We don't know if we have any safeties who can play. I think the defense will be pretty good when everyone is healthy, but it's football and people get hurt. That's one reason I'm surprised we didn't use at least some later picks on the D-line. But again, Jerry's convinced that it was all Rob's fault. Dumb.

 

[NoShame]

With all the concern about the offensive line, we really haven't talked defense much this offseason.

As far as I can tell, the plan is to expect improvement due to health and a switch to the 4-3. From what I can tell, Jerry apparently thinks this is some sort of magical scheme that better suits the 3-4 personnel they've been drafting since about 2004.

I think I'm most concerned about the middle of the defense. I'm not sure Hatcher is a great fit in the middle and I don't have faith in him and Ratliff staying healthy all year. Same for Lee. The safeties were awful last year and could be worse this year. They are basically counting on two guys who missed the entire season to be the full time starters.

It'll be better by default than the train wreck last year, but I don't really anticipate a great season defensively.

Good post. I agree with most of it.

It definitely comes down to being a healthy unit and keeping our players on the field.

I think the D is a work in progress though. Disappointed we really didn't address the safety position. It will be, by far, the weakest spot on the D. Not too concerned with our DTs like you are. I think the 43 fits both Hatch and Rat better than the 34 did. I actually think Hatch will be a beast in this alignment.

My biggest question mark is Kiffin. I mean he bombed as USC. I just wonder if he still has it... Hopefully the addition of Marinelli keeps us from being a total bust there.