FinSaint

Yeah, I would only put Bunkley out of those guys who you mentioned in a 0- or 1-stance, the rest are better suited for the DE rotation. I'd prefer the starting DEs to be Jordan and Hicks with Smith, Johnson, Walker and possibly Romeus providing the rotational depth in those positions. I agree with you on Smith and I have stated as much in numerous threads before: I don't think he'll be much of a success at the DE position either in providing a forward push and/or tying up O-line double teams or defending against the run. But I do understand why it was financially a sound decision to keep him around with the reduced salary. Jordan and Hicks have the potential to be a dominating DE pair - Jordan has shown as much in his college playing days and Hicks has all the tools to be a great success at the position as well. So I'm not too worried about the guys who have their hands on the ground going forward, but they do need to add another high quality NT to the roster and the draft seems to be the place where they are looking to find that guy since they didn't invite any of the free agent 3-4 NTs to come over for a look-see.

As for Harper and Jenkins - they'll in all likelihood play better this coming season (which I give to you isn't saying much) and they have competent depth behind them in case of an injury happens to either of them. Financially, it once again would be troublesome to release either of the two, and it would not make any sense to sign a FA safety to replace either one as a starter and still be paying them like starters. Jenkins will enter a contract year, so he'll have all the incentive in the world to show us all what kind of a player he really is, and if he can't muster up a good season - he'll be gone the next offseason. Harper is a good in-the-box SS, and it'll all depend on Ryan and his scheme whether or not Harper will be placed in the best possible situation to succeed with his (limited) skill set. An in-the-box SS should not have to drop into coverage on a regular basis, so if Harper is being asked to do that - it's not all on him IMO. Harper still has one more year after this on his contract, but the financial burden of releasing him after this season will be a light one compared to what it would've been now. And we must remember that things might still happen with Harper depending on how the rest of the free agency develops - in him and his contract Loomis still has a good tool to manipulate the cap if the need for it arises.

CB is a good position to inject some depth of talent into, because CBs tend to get banged up a lot during the season with them most of the time being smaller in stature compared to the guys they are going against. So, quality depth is much more important at the CB position than it is in the safety position. Also, you tend to have packages that are fielding more than two CBs on the field at a given time, but three safety packages are rare if not non-existent. I still think that Asomugha won't brake the bank if he accepts the Saints' offer, and that's why he's been given all this time to make up his mind since either way he decides; it won't create any cap difficulties for the Saints.

I do agree with you on that the Saints do need an impact rushing OLB to add to their roster, and I don't know if Butler is/was that answer ever, so I'm not that disappointed with seeing him gone. I truly think that the Saints should use their 1st round pick on a pass rushing OLB like Jordan, Ansah, Mingo, Jones or even Ogletree, depending on who'll be available to them either at the 15th or later if they can trade down. Other than that one impact pass rushing OLB, I think they are set at LB and they do have some very nice depth within that corps. LT is a concern, but I do think they can manage with adding a rookie LT in the 4th or 5th and coaching up the guys they already have at the club house... and maybe still adding a vet in the free agency.

I'd like to see them draft an OLB, NT, LT, DE and either an offensive guy like WR or a TE or a defensive guy like CB or a S.


Overall, I feel very positive at the moment of how things have been progressing this offseason, and I'm very excited to see this defense take the field whatever its final roster composition will be.

"I'm not bashing people, I'm bashing their opinions because in my opinion their opinion is wrong" - Danno

TheOak

Not sure the Texans defense is a Good comparison. Good players can make a transition easy and not so good players can make it rough.

JJ Watt out performs any two of our DEs combined. Cushing reminds me of a young Fujita but better.

FinSaint

Maybe not a perfect comparison, but a valid one for sure for the purpose I was using it for, and I would consider it a good comparison within these parameters even if the variables are not identical.

CheramieIII

Just seeing if anything else comes in before he makes his decision. If the salary is the same or a mill less then he'll choose Saints. Here are the pros; born in Lafayette, RR, Great Team, Great Coach, Great City. San Fran does have a good coach and a great team last year but that's about it in my opinion. so the choice is obvious.

CheramieIII

What did he say? Man it's turn early in the morning to be talking like my 10th grade science teacher at West Jeff. roflmao

Great explanation though. I just had to read it 10 times with my adhd.

CheramieIII

They will both sign this week. BM can certainly hold up for one year and Nnamdi will be back in his element which will make him one of the best CB's again

jeanpierre

You weren't educated in Louisiana if your 10th grade science teacher was talking like that unless you had a private education on St. Charles Ave or you went to Ben Franklin...

lee909

Are you guessing or do you have inside info?
Be happy enough with that.
It means we can focus on a pass rusher line depth and BPA in the draft.

Torfino

If Nnamdi really puts in the work (which he will) so that he can protect his legacy and try to make a push for the HOF, he would be a genius pickup at the right price. I'm thinking three years, this year a signing bonus plus a 1.25 base salary, total cap hit around 2.5 this year would be a "good price."

Rob knows how to maximize his skills, and he would definitely step it up in the weight room and film room to show Rob he can still do it and to show the HOF voters that he can write a third chapter better than his second.

alleycat_126

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