Originally posted by VA49er:
I'm in the camp that is happy with the guys and system we have. The defense is consistently showing the improvement expected out of the talent and continuity it is enjoying. We don't need a wunderkind in the pass rush. We need the guys we have to continue gelling and improving. I bet AB gets double digits this year if he is a full time guy. If not if the team stays good than fine. It would be nice to see us improve the secondary slightly but I don't see any immediate upgrades coming this season. I do expect Goldson to be a much improved player with a full year under his belt. I would LOVE to see Cam Chancellor drafted as the SS but I don't think he would be "allowed" to push into the starting lineup even if we drafted him. If Spencer remains solid and Clements stays healthy I think our CB's are in good position too. Dre Bly is an excellent nickel man. They should be better this year as well.
I somewhat agree in that sacks in the 3-4 should come from everywhere. That said, that's WITH at least one of your OLB's being a dominant sack-master. I outlined last year that the mass majority of the sacks on successful 3-4 defenses in fact, does come from the OLB's. That's not the case for us. Keep in mind too that the 3-4 is designed to be a physical and dictating defense. We are a defense that tends to rely more on superior secondary and coverage and is designed to bend-but-don't-break. I think once we get a great coverage safety, better play from the secondary in general esp. on 3rd downs, perhaps Manusky will start moving his OLB's AND ILB's around and start attacking o-line weaknesses and dictating offenses! Right now, he's stuck in rarely using the ILB's to blitz (even though we've had much success there) and using his OLB's as psuedo DE's every single time.
Manusky will need to adopt a Jets, Chargers, Pats & Steelers type of mentality if we want to take things to the next level.
We'll need to hope Brooks grows into a starter, we draft a big, dominant NT to learn from Franklin (and help in short yardage and goal-line plays), find a FT pass rusher at the SAM position, aquire a coverage safety and then scheme up the CB's to play to their strengths (Spencer and Clements playing "fysical" AT the LOS - not 20 yards off on 3rd and 5).
Manusky still has plenty of room to grow and perhps with a few more 3-4 weapons, he'll be more confident to adopt a more dictating 3-4!
