Great Inside Linebackers are a luxury

Originally posted by pd24:
I know we had some great ones, but to me they are the least important part on the defense. If you build a great front 5 in our case and a sound secondary that doesn't give up the big play you can get by and still have a dominant defense with one good to great ILB and one serviceable ILB or even to decent ILB's.

Our defense evolved over the years. It was 1st built around Willis because he was great and then Bowman became great so you build around your best players. Now hopefully we have two great OLB'S in Aldon and Lynch.

We should still add at least 1 D lineman, 1 corner, and an ILB, but I would be ok with adding the ILB in the 3rd or 4th rounds instead of spending a high pick on one when a better player is on the board.

You must have forgotten Derek Smith.

I hope Baalke doesn't think he needs to address ILB with a 1st or 2nd rounder due to the recent retirings. I would rather help Wilhoite succeed rather than directly upgrading Wilhoite, and I'm not even high on him. Nab a good DE/DT prospect and coach that guy up.

thl. did u want Baalk to nab a DE/DT b/c you are not sold on Tank and Dial being the future 5 techniques?

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by pd24:
I know we had some great ones, but to me they are the least important part on the defense. If you build a great front 5 in our case and a sound secondary that doesn't give up the big play you can get by and still have a dominant defense with one good to great ILB and one serviceable ILB or even to decent ILB's.

Our defense evolved over the years. It was 1st built around Willis because he was great and then Bowman became great so you build around your best players. Now hopefully we have two great OLB'S in Aldon and Lynch.

We should still add at least 1 D lineman, 1 corner, and an ILB, but I would be ok with adding the ILB in the 3rd or 4th rounds instead of spending a high pick on one when a better player is on the board.

You must have forgotten Derek Smith.

He also had some bad players aroind him.

Not only is ILB (in particular the TED LB) the easiest plug-and-play position on a 3-4 Defense, it's also one that if you happen to be elite, your elite skills will often be diluted by how frequently you're taking on blockers or allowing the Mike to make plays off you.

Derek Smith was solid until he lost his eyesight.

Originally posted by SaksV:
Derek Smith was solid until he lost his eyesight.

Well he did only have one eye.

Originally posted by SaksV:
Derek Smith was solid until he lost his eyesight.

Donovan McNabb hasn't forgotten him

Lol only play he ever made.

Originally posted by susweel:
Lol only play he ever made.

more than i've ever done

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:

Originally posted by susweel:
Lol only play he ever made.

more than i've ever done

same here

We had a great one, a potential great, and a great who will not have played a game for 20 months starting this september.

Now we only have the latter. Its very upsetting.

Two weeks ago we had the strongest LB core in the league. Now, not so much.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by SaksV:
Derek Smith was solid until he lost his eyesight.

Well he did only have one eye.

Lol that too.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
We had a great one, a potential great, and a great who will not have played a game for 20 months starting this september.

Now we only have the latter. Its very upsetting.

Two weeks ago we had the strongest LB core in the league. Now, not so much.

We have a Great (Bowman), a Solid (Wilhoite) and an Unknown (Moody). I've seen teams with worse.

Originally posted by kawika13:


thl. did u want Baalk to nab a DE/DT b/c you are not sold on Tank and Dial being the future 5 techniques?

I feel putting all the faith into those two players is not wise considering how much dropoff in production is about to take place to the DE position (RayMac, Justin). Dial and Tank have potential to be good, but if they don't pan out to be excellent starters, then it's wise to have a dynamite prospect to ensure that the DE position remains a strength. I feel Tank/Dial can be, at the very least, adequate. Just personal preference, but adequate is not enough. I'd like the DEs to be considered a true strength of the front7. We are all shell shocked with the recent retirements of two ILBs, but if Justin retires he will be the biggest loss in 2015 in terms of contribution on the field.

Originally posted by thl408:
I feel putting all the faith into those two players is not wise considering how much dropoff in production is about to take place to the DE position (RayMac, Justin). Dial and Tank have potential to be good, but if they don't pan out to be excellent starters, then it's wise to have a dynamite prospect to ensure that the DE position remains a strength. I feel Tank/Dial can be, at the very least, adequate. Just personal preference, but adequate is not enough. I'd like the DEs to be considered a true strength of the front7. We are all shell shocked with the recent retirements of two ILBs, but if Justin retires he will be the biggest loss in 2015 in terms of contribution on the field.

That makes sense. 2012 when Justin tore his tricep the defense seemed to decline more than it did when Willis and Bowman where out. I really hope and have faith tank will take a big leap this year.