Kentwan Balmer: You Better Get Your S**t Together!

He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

I really hope Balmer steps up his game & can take the starting DE spot by next year.

Originally posted by tohara3:
I really hope Balmer steps up his game & can take the starting DE spot by next year.

This is his big chance, he better realize that and play his a** off against the Titans.

Originally posted by GEEK:
He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

McDonald starts over Sopoaga. Balmer will not move to NT. He's better at DE. We either need to keep Franklin or pay top dollar for Wilfork. Losing a starting NT will set this defense back a lot because good NTs in a 3-4 are hard to find. Sopoaga is not starting NT material.

Balmer will be fine. I lump him and Chilo in the same category. Guys with great size and raw ability but will need patience to develop. Luckily for Balmer, Justin, McDonald, and Sopoaga are playing good enough that Balmer can have that luxury of learning- Chilo doesn't and it shows.

Originally posted by DesiDez:

Originally posted by GEEK:
He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

McDonald starts over Sopoaga. Balmer will not move to NT. He's better at DE. We either need to keep Franklin or pay top dollar for Wilfork. Losing a starting NT will set this defense back a lot because good NTs in a 3-4 are hard to find. Sopoaga is not starting NT material.

Balmer will be fine. I lump him and Chilo in the same category. Guys with great size and raw ability but will need patience to develop. Luckily for Balmer, Justin, McDonald, and Sopoaga are playing good enough that Balmer can have that luxury of learning- Chilo doesn't and it shows.

McDonald does NOT start over Sopoaga. He's been used as a rush DT.

Simply put they drafted a 1st round back up player

I haven't seen too much of him since preseason. Hopefully he takes his game to that next level and starts earning some starts.

Originally posted by DesiDez:

Originally posted by GEEK:
He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

McDonald starts over Sopoaga. Balmer will not move to NT. He's better at DE. We either need to keep Franklin or pay top dollar for Wilfork. Losing a starting NT will set this defense back a lot because good NTs in a 3-4 are hard to find. Sopoaga is not starting NT material.

Balmer will be fine. I lump him and Chilo in the same category. Guys with great size and raw ability but will need patience to develop. Luckily for Balmer, Justin, McDonald, and Sopoaga are playing good enough that Balmer can have that luxury of learning- Chilo doesn't and it shows.

McDonald would only start over Sopoaga if the game started on 3rd down.

Big DLmen take longer to develop than any other position. I always look back at Ted Washington, who we dumped after 3 years and then went on to become one of the best interior linemen in football for a decade. Balmer is part of a pretty good rotation and seems to be on schedule in his development currently.

Originally posted by ghostrider:

Originally posted by DesiDez:

Originally posted by GEEK:
He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

McDonald starts over Sopoaga. Balmer will not move to NT. He's better at DE. We either need to keep Franklin or pay top dollar for Wilfork. Losing a starting NT will set this defense back a lot because good NTs in a 3-4 are hard to find. Sopoaga is not starting NT material.

Balmer will be fine. I lump him and Chilo in the same category. Guys with great size and raw ability but will need patience to develop. Luckily for Balmer, Justin, McDonald, and Sopoaga are playing good enough that Balmer can have that luxury of learning- Chilo doesn't and it shows.

McDonald would only start over Sopoaga if the game started on 3rd down.

I'm entitled to be wrong every now and then....it's Friday and I'm bored at work.

Balmer and Rachal are both sub par players. Wasted draft picks. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out either. Whenever we speak of a player's "potential" or that he'll "figure it out" we're basically saying he's sucked so far but lets hope he can get it together. You see all kinds of linemen (offensive and defensive) drafted in the first 2 rounds that make solid contributions in their first few years.

Rachal is lazy. That's why he gets beat. Go back and look at any of the plays where he gives up a negative play...he's always standing flatfooted as the guy runs by him.

These are the type of draft mistakes that separate a winning and losing team. Of course no team hits on every 1st rounder, but to get no contribution (or negative in Chilo's case) from the first 4 picks of your 2008 draft now in 2009? That's HORRIBLE.

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Balmer and Rachal are both sub par players. Wasted draft picks. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out either. Whenever we speak of a player's "potential" or that he'll "figure it out" we're basically saying he's sucked so far but lets hope he can get it together. You see all kinds of linemen (offensive and defensive) drafted in the first 2 rounds that make solid contributions in their first few years.

Rachal is lazy. That's why he gets beat. Go back and look at any of the plays where he gives up a negative play...he's always standing flatfooted as the guy runs by him.

These are the type of draft mistakes that separate a winning and losing team. Of course no team hits on every 1st rounder, but to get no contribution (or negative in Chilo's case) from the first 4 picks of your 2008 draft now in 2009? That's HORRIBLE.

Originally posted by DesiDez:

Originally posted by GEEK:
He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

McDonald starts over Sopoaga. Balmer will not move to NT. He's better at DE. We either need to keep Franklin or pay top dollar for Wilfork. Losing a starting NT will set this defense back a lot because good NTs in a 3-4 are hard to find. Sopoaga is not starting NT material.

Balmer will be fine. I lump him and Chilo in the same category. Guys with great size and raw ability but will need patience to develop. Luckily for Balmer, Justin, McDonald, and Sopoaga are playing good enough that Balmer can have that luxury of learning- Chilo doesn't and it shows.

Good post I agree completely. DL don't usually hit the ground running and the 9ers DL has been among the best in the NFL this season. I don't think this team will hold onto Soap for all of the 4 years we have him under contract, at some point in the next 2 years Balmer will step up and challenge for that position. As for right now we are stacked at DE with Smith/Soap/McDonald/Balmer

Originally posted by DesiDez:

Originally posted by GEEK:
He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

McDonald starts over Sopoaga. Balmer will not move to NT. He's better at DE. We either need to keep Franklin or pay top dollar for Wilfork. Losing a starting NT will set this defense back a lot because good NTs in a 3-4 are hard to find. Sopoaga is not starting NT material.

Balmer will be fine. I lump him and Chilo in the same category. Guys with great size and raw ability but will need patience to develop. Luckily for Balmer, Justin, McDonald, and Sopoaga are playing good enough that Balmer can have that luxury of learning- Chilo doesn't and it shows.

I never said Balmer will move to NT. He'd move to the NT or DT role in a 4-3 though.

Originally posted by DesiDez:

Originally posted by GEEK:
He's made some plays here and there, but the fact is that Sopoaga-Franklin-Smith is a solid 3-4 defensive line in the one-gap scheme.

Unless we opt not to resign Franklin and either move Sopoaga at NT or convert back to a 4-3, Balmer will not be utilized as a 1st round player would unless there's an injury.

McDonald starts over Sopoaga. Balmer will not move to NT. He's better at DE. We either need to keep Franklin or pay top dollar for Wilfork. Losing a starting NT will set this defense back a lot because good NTs in a 3-4 are hard to find. Sopoaga is not starting NT material.

Balmer will be fine. I lump him and Chilo in the same category. Guys with great size and raw ability but will need patience to develop. Luckily for Balmer, Justin, McDonald, and Sopoaga are playing good enough that Balmer can have that luxury of learning- Chilo doesn't and it shows.