Is homerism a word?

Almost everything you assume will be a positive for our defense is a possibility, not a certainty. All of your assertions display a lot of optimism, which is great. They are by no means a done deal.

McKenzie may defy the odds and be ready at the beginning of the season, but that would be well outside the norm for his injury. Recovery is typically right around 12 months and he tore his ACL on Dec 23. If he's ready by the season opener, that would be 8 months from the injury (not the surgery since I don't know exactly when he had it) - optimistic I would say.

Gay is absolutely a system CB. He's played more man-to-man than Jason David, but he's not even a starter for the Patriots. For the record, he was an undrafted FA. He started part of one year (2004) due to injuries to both starting corners. He was out parts of both 2005 and 2006 with injuries (placed on IR). He played in 2007, mostly as a nickel back and backup safety. I like the signing but I'm realistic about his abilities.

Usama might be the next shutdown corner, but so far we haven't seen it and thus it's just as possible he could be the next Jason David. Vilma may be everything he used to be, I hope he is but until he shows something on the field it's all "maybe". Dan Morgan might be healthy, might start, and might stay healthy.

Since you didn't talk about any of the others, I'll assume you agree with all the rest. Without the very rosy optimism, that still leaves a lot of question about almost every spot on our defense. The only area on our D I am comfortable with is DE. DT is a weakness, but not even in the same arena as LB and CB.

I am also not 100% sold on the strength of our CB and LB situation. But there are two things that still make a possible trade to get Dorsey a HUGE upgrade for our defense. First off, you are not guaranteeing upgrades at all those positions by staying put. Again, you can draft 3 guys at each of those positions but outside of getting Rivers, you likely will not see any of the guys you draft make much of an impact. IMO there are no impact players at DT aside from Dorsey and Ellis. CBs, no matter how good, take time to develop especially in the type of defense that we play. So staying put you get an impact player in Rivers. Rivers versus Dorsey - who makes the rest of your defense better? As Euph stated and has been stated before, the things that an impact DT opens up for the rest of your defense is tremendous. Anyone who has ever played a lick on the defense of any level football team knows the value of having a DT ahead or beside you who must be often accounted for by two lineman each play. I hear the concerns about the money for a #2 instead of a #10, but this is team that is ready to win soon.

lol. Well, let's define word:

a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning.

You may not find "homerism" in Webster's, but it does fit the definition and is, thus, a word.

I wouldn't bother responding to the "hater" comment a tiger fan wrote following your post. Some people see the world through purple and gold sunglasses which taints their ability to see that not everything said about the team must contain a prefix like "greatest" or "best", etc.

I thought your post simply pointed out that the team did a lot to win the championship with Dorsey standing on the sidelines. That doesn't sound like hater language to me.

When was Dorsey sitting on the sidelines?

I'm going to say this & then I'm going to leave it alone....

Dorsey won a national championship, the Outland award, the Nagurski award, the Lombardi award, & the Lott award. To think that he won all these things while being double teamed & hurt most of the season, surely one would have to see his worth.

Now...if that's not proof enough that he's the best defensive player in this year's draft, what else do you need. Here's an idea....watch video of him busting through double teams & making plays in the backfield for the last three seasons & make an educated decision. Whether you want to call it "Purple & Gold Glasses Syndrome" or whatever....the simple fact that he was the best defensive player last year has already been decided by the awards he received by the people who evaluate the players in the NCAA.

ScottyRo....could your opinion on Dorsey be tainted by the fact that he dominated your home team Hokies this year to the point they hardly saw the LSU side of the field? Adibi hardly made any plays in that game & got abused like a $2 hooker. I'd still be happy picking Adibi in the 2nd or 3rd round, because I still feel he's a good LB. C'mon man....take those Hokie glasses off & see Glen Dorsey for the dominant DT he is.