2004 Defensive roster???
 

2004 Defensive roster…
Could this be a dream come true?

I know rookies won’t start right away, but I could see this line-up dominating in the VERY near future.

RDE-Howard
DT-Sullivan
DT- Young
LDE-Grant

SLB- Donterrious Thomas(2a), Hodge/Allen
MLB- Rod Davis(2b), Ruff
WLB-Cie Grant, Derrick Rogers

CB- Dunta Robinson (1), Ashley Ambrose
CB-Fred Thomas, Keith Smith(3)

FS-Tebucky Jones
SS-Mel Mitchell

2004 Defensive roster???
 

There is very little chance of Keith Smith falling to the 3rd.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

I hope Tebucky has been learning how to tackle this offseason.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

But there is a LITTLE chance.
Maybe the small school tag allows him to slip. I say a 1-5 shot of slipping into the third.
But you can insert any 3rd round CB into that spot and hopefully develop him into a solid nickle by seasons end.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

After Vasher\'s poor 40 times (4.7 - 4.8) at his pro day, he may slip into the 3rd. I think he\'d be good value in the 3rd, when I\'ve seen him play he seemed faster than that, and i know he ran a 4 second short shuttle, which is a good time.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

There was very little chance Deuce would fall out of the top 10. He went 23rd so anything is possible with any player as this point. We\'ve still got weeks to go and there is ALWAYS a bombshell dropped on a couple players a week or two before the draft.

Keith Smith could have watered down urine for all we know. :P

2004 Defensive roster???
 

2 rookies and a 2nd year as the starting LBs next year? That\'s gonna be a long shot. I doubt even Haslet has the \'nads to do that.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

Here I was thinking Haslett was neutered after the 2001 season . Guess there seems to be some doubt about that ....

2004 Defensive roster???
 

You missed the 1st part I wrote...
\"I know rookies won’t start right away, but I could see this line-up dominating in the VERY near future. \"
By new future I mean midway to end of season.
Although I think Hall could start if he had a full camp (no holdouts), Maybe Davis too.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

How would this be worse than what we fielded at the LB position last year? I watched at least half of the games Thomas and Davis played at AU and Southern Miss. Each of these guys has the ability to be better than the players we have currently at the position by the end of the season. They will definitely compete for serious playing time early in the year.

Nice lookin\' unit, Danno. Don\'t know much about Keith Smith, but I defer to your judgement.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

Smith was a sleeper, WAS. Unfortunately the secret\'s out and as rAge said, I doubt he\'ll slip to 3rd round now :( . But I guess anything can happen. But regardless, a 3rd round CB should push for PT by seasons end or at least contribute significantly in nickle/dime packages.

Last year was the year of the CB (and DT). But I discovered this little gem.
I looked at last years draft and noticed that by the end of the 3rd round only 8 CB\'s were taken. So its possible to get a top 10 CB in the 3rd round. It\'ll be a guy like a Keith Smith or a Joey Thomas. They\'re ranked anywhere from 6th to 15th on many boards. A player like that will need a year to develop into a quality NFL corner. Because after the top two, every CB has an exploitable weakness that they must improve on. That usually takes time.


[Edited on 26/3/2004 by Danno]

2004 Defensive roster???
 

I don\'t know if this group of LBs will be worse than last year\'s group, BUT it will be a matter of getting these guys signed as soon as possible and get then going in the system. I don\'t know about Grant starting, but I believe Rodgers will start without a doubt. I believe he was our leading tackler and that was after missing a few games. Also, he had a int. I believe I read somewhere earlier in the year where the Saints front office and Haslett believe this will be his breakout year. I am not saying I agree, that\'s just what they said about Rodgers. As far as the first 4 picks are concerned, seems like a pretty darn good draft in my eyes.

2004 Defensive roster???
 

On the contrary, I did read that and I stand by what I said. As bad as the LBs were last year, I just don\'t see these rookies coming in and starting even after midseason if we are still in the playoff hunt. Now, that\'s all based on my knowledge of how rookies tend to play their first year. There MUST be an expereinced LB on the field to coordinate the defense.

But if we\'re out of the playoff race, then I\'m all for getting the youngsters as much experience as we can. However, you can temper my comments with my admission that I don\'t watch a lot of college football. I keep up with LSU, Michigan and the local teams (monroe area), but as far as the rest of the nation goes, I just don\'t pay that much attention. Therefore, I don\'t know that much about the incoming players as individuals. But I do know what position most rookies tend to play their first year... bench warming.