Predict our starting Def in 2012

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My two Cents :)

DE - Hamilton/Briscoe/Green
DT - Porter/Robinson/Grimble
DT - Smith/Pierre/E. Moore
DE - Chickilo/McCord/R. Williams

WLB - Buchanon/Cornelius/Kirby
MLB - Perryman/G. Paul/J. Gaines
SLB - K. Cain/E.Johnson/G. Terry

CB - McGee/Howard/Hope
FS - V. Telemaque/Rodgers/Bush
SS - Armstrong/Swasey/Highsmith
CB - Finnie/Gunter/Crawford

Couple notes:

Briscoe, I know he’s a big guy at 6’4 close to 290, but he looks good on tape at DE (stout vs the run with some pass nice rush moves for several sacks). Not that I don’t see him as a DT on 3rd down & more frequently down the line, but I think having a speed end on the opposite side of a more stout end like Briscoe has its privileges. He’s actually in the mold of Jelani Hamilton, just bigger.

Cornelius is one tough dude, and his brief cameo at Safety could have only helped his development. If Buchanan isn’t 100% healthy he’s in the starting line-up. If Buchanon is healed 100% & Cain really sticks at DE, then Cornelius starts opposite Buchanon.

K. Cain, the dude may not be the fastest, but he plays well every time he’s given a chance at LB. He reminds me of Byron Cox, but a step faster. The stuff we saw during the spring with Cain at DE, was because of the lack of depth and fight from the other DE’s. (Williams needs more development/Green got hurt, no one else was left).

Cornerback - there’s a lot of options for the team now, and it all depends on philosophy, and possibly how the front 7 holds up regarding who plays:

Coaches like a physical CB for run support, so as far as physical CB’s, Finnie and Gunter is definitely that on this team, but I think Finnie covers a bit better that Gunter at this point. McGee, Howard, Hope, Dortch, Crawford are more so considered cover guys.

I don’t think we’ll ever see Gunter and Finnie on the field at the same time, unless we’re going against the option. But I do think one of those guys will start largely because of their tackling ability. When we go up against a team with a bunch of opposing burners at WR, then maybe it’ll be more of the cover guys that take over the starting duties on both sides.
Experience gives McGee the start, and Howard pushes him to get better and gets decent playing time.

The other guys are all decent (no one is as bad as Chavez Grant, or scary as DVD), but I really like Crawford, he’s savvy, and kinda smaller but he packs a punch, and isn’t bad athletically.

At Safety, theres a chance for a big shake-up at that position as both VT and Ray Ray leaves somethign to be desired. but experience has them there for now. bad tackling angles for a big run abd VT's out. Getting beat deep & getting out run for a TD and Ray Ray's out.
 
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I think Rodgers is going to turn out to be a decent safety.

Excuse my poor memory, but wasn't Rodgers the one with the epic WOAT play against FSU last year?



/hopefully he used that as motivation
//Swasey tore him a new one on the sidelines


Yup. That was him.

I guess there's nowhere to go but up?

It was one play. Lots of guys have made boneheaded plays when they were inexperienced and gone on to be good players.

In the spring, Rodgers looked alright out there. Definitely looks like he's been hitting the weights.
 
I think Rodgers is going to turn out to be a decent safety.

Excuse my poor memory, but wasn't Rodgers the one with the epic WOAT play against FSU last year?



/hopefully he used that as motivation
//Swasey tore him a new one on the sidelines


Yup. That was him.

I guess there's nowhere to go but up?



Just a downright awful play but **** did hear about it from the coaches. Hope he can come back and help out
 
I think Rodgers is going to turn out to be a decent safety.

Excuse my poor memory, but wasn't Rodgers the one with the epic WOAT play against FSU last year?



/hopefully he used that as motivation
//Swasey tore him a new one on the sidelines


Yup. That was him.

I guess there's nowhere to go but up?



Just a downright awful play but **** did hear about it from the coaches. Hope he can come back and help out

Even Ed Reed got burnt bad once (in the long TD pass that got us beat in the last minute vs Pedo State), so it happens.
 
Excuse my poor memory, but wasn't Rodgers the one with the epic WOAT play against FSU last year?



/hopefully he used that as motivation
//Swasey tore him a new one on the sidelines


Yup. That was him.

I guess there's nowhere to go but up?



Just a downright awful play but **** did hear about it from the coaches. Hope he can come back and help out

Even Ed Reed got burnt bad once (in the long TD pass that got us beat in the last minute vs Pedo State), so it happens.

I'm not ready to write the kid off, I think people were just disgusted with his inability to locate the ball and fight for it. It was a really bad play that cost us the game.
 
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I know what you're saying, but if one play loses the game, then the other team members didn't come to play.

I would imagine that if one went back and watched the game with a discerning eye, there's be a whole bunch of players to took a play off, missed a block, missed a tackle, or dropped a pass.

I just don't like folks saying one player lost the game - last I looked, it was a team effort.
 
I'll chime in on Kacy Rodgers. that play was AWFUL no doubt but like others have mentioned we've seen plenty of guys get abused in early action and go on to be pretty **** good. how about Merriweather getting trucked by that WVU RB? that was embarrassing.

on the flip side we've seen guys like Lance Legget look like the next coming as a FR only to turn into maybe the most pathetic excuse for a WR I've ever seen.

in the spring game I noticed that Rodgers looked Waaaay bigger. kid has developed physically a lot. he also made a couple of plays. I'm not ready to crown him but he looks like he will at least provide solid depth at the S spot and possibly push for a starting spot
 
I liked Rodgers' attitude at the Spring game, getting in Scott's face during Oklahomas. Seems like he can lay the wood as well.

Recent quotes lead me to believe that Rodgers knows he screwed that play up but seems to have the right attitude about it.
 
I'll chime in on Kacy Rodgers. that play was AWFUL no doubt but like others have mentioned we've seen plenty of guys get abused in early action and go on to be pretty **** good. how about Merriweather getting trucked by that WVU RB? that was embarrassing.

on the flip side we've seen guys like Lance Legget look like the next coming as a FR only to turn into maybe the most pathetic excuse for a WR I've ever seen.

in the spring game I noticed that Rodgers looked Waaaay bigger. kid has developed physically a lot. he also made a couple of plays. I'm not ready to crown him but he looks like he will at least provide solid depth at the S spot and possibly push for a starting spot

lol Meriweather flew back about 5 yards in the air, then the RB just jumped over his ***. At least he came back the next season to knock the fugg out of the loserville TE

That's the thing about football, its all leverage. ****, even the GOAT Sean Taylor got trucked by Greg Jones (who was an absolute beast himself)
 
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McGee will be LIGHTS out THIS YEAR. .I truly believe it. I think all the kidding and bull****ting he finally realizes that he needs to step up. I see him becoming a high level starter.
 
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I'll go with the 2-deep

DE: Chickillo
DT: Porter - Pierre
DT: Smith - Robinson
DE: Green - Cain

SLB: Gaines - Johnson
MLB: Perryman - Kirby
WLB: Buchanon - Paul

CB: McGee - Howard
FS: Armstrong - Highsmith
SS: Telemaque - Rogers
CB: Gunter - Finnie

I also expect to see Larry Hope and Vernon Davis get some time at corner this year. Not sure where Bush will factor in.

I didn't list a backup for Chickillo because it would be a complete guess right now. Could be Hoilett, since he came in early. Could be Ricardo Williams. McCord is a nice prospect but needs to grow. Hamilton would be perfect but he hurt that knee so that will slow down this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Grimble slide back out to defensive end this year, since we seem to have reasonable depth at tackle right now.
 
One positive for this year's defense is our rotations at defensive tackle, all linebackers, and both safety spots seem to be pretty well settled. They're not necessarily world beaters at every spot, but at least we know who will be playing there and they can develop some consistency.

I'd rather break in young guys or unknowns at the edges of the defense, and not up the middle.
 
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