Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

And, as I pointed out in another thread, losing Fairley does weaken what we currently have as a defensive line, but even without Fairley I believe the overall line is better than what we had last year. Add in a potentially more athletic LB corps along with that secondary and we should be seeing a MUCH improved defense.

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

It all starts up front. Always has and always will. Line play is extremely important, both sides. You have to get pressure to be successful. In 09 we put a lot of pressure on. It didn't hurt that we were ahead in so many games that our D just got to pin their ears back because the other team was one dimensional. Same in 2011. So that is another thing to take into account. If our offense is humming like 09 and 11 then that can help our d as well.

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

Someone else pointed out (too lazy to go digging) that we don't want Fairley dropping dead on the field (obviously). Talk about derailing a season...it happened to the Vikings several seasons ago. I would like to point out that while losing Fairley was a loss to the D line, adding McDaniel brought some strength back to it. He's no slouch.

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

I never said it didn't. Losing Nick is a blow but not insurmountable. His push up the middle was nasty however we still have Rankins, Onyemata, Davison , newly signed Tony McDaniel + a draft/rookie who could be a baller. The cup board is hardly bare on the D line.

Chris mentioned in a previous post but the coaching staff could kick Cam inside & then see how Kikaha does along with Okafor making a presence off the edge. I believe the back end will be a lot better this year.

Side note - keep an eye on Rankins. I think he makes a huge step forward in 2017.

Trust and believe brother.

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

Yup. That's why I feel, even with the loss of Fairley, that the D-Line will be better than what we had last season. Another big positive that hasn't been pointed out is the addition of Ryan Nielsen as the defensive line coach. I went to NC State where he came from so I watched as many of their games as was possible. His D-Lines were always great.

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

And don't forget Ryan Nielsen as the new defensive line coach!

:itsgood:

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

I think this is a good fit for our young guys on the line. Technique, technique, technique and has fire.

Side note - from my reading, there were countless of players on the NC State squad who were crushed that Ryan left. Devoted coach and teacher, not to mention the players loved him.

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

im sorry you're reading way into more than i wrote. I am discussing the game overall, not NF. So not sure where you got that from. I said it all starts up front. It does. Back-end will not cover up shatty line play. That's wishful thinking. Have no idea what we have in Ony. Have no idea what we have in Rankins. Don't know what McDaniel has left. There's potential which is what I have said all off-season. We have a lot of potential what it turns into who knows, but we cannot keep losing starters.

I am not trusting or believing anything. I will wait and see what the product looks like on the field. We have potential. We are certainly getting there. Have some nice pieces in place.

Alot of people on this board have used injuries as the excuse for 7-9 last season. Well it can't be the excuse in one minute and meaningless the next. Those two ideas contradict one another. The Pats overcame losing their two starting QB's...we aren't the Pats. When is the last time they were 7-9?

I am not saying it is all doom and gloom we have some potential.

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

Spkb25,

Que Sera, Sera .

Re: Saints dealing with some difficult situations
 

Injuries were devastating last year because they gutted an entire CB corps. That was starters, backups and backups to backups. The offensive line had its issues, as well, with Armstead either playing hurt or missing games entirely. This season we have far more quality depth at every level. We can better handle the isolated injury. But, if we get hit with anything approaching what happened last season then, yes, things could go bad. Injuries are never meaningless. It is just that one injury to a unit is far more meaningless than six.