MHCBill
01-01-2008, 11:01 AM
Oline is a question mark.
Hamilton and Nalen didn't play most of the year and Lepsis has now retired. 3/5 of the projected opening day line-up from 2007 are far from sure things for 2008.
Dline is just BAD.
We have major problems with the Dline. We have a coach who wants to use his scheme with his type of players to begin the season with, but by the end of the year this same coach is using a different scheme with types of players he doesn't want.
As many questions as the Oline has I think we have bigger problems by far on the Dline. I'm not so sure that we should not go away from our current trend of heavy drafting for a particular weak area like we did in '05 (corners) and in '07 (Dline). Draft Dline this draft again???
I believe in an attack style defensive. What two common factors do all great defenses posses? First, they ATTACK and DICTATE. Second, they have a good defensive line. We don't have either.
Find a new coordinator. I could care less what his name is, but I do care about what he believes in and what his prior coaching actions show. He needs to be fearless and aggressive. I'm sorry, but I really liked the defense Coyer ran in '05.
Thomas is a waste as a DT if he is not allowed to penetrate. Let him loose. Continue to add to the Dline with big, aggressive defensive lineman. With today's game of constantly rotating lineman Moss and Doom will have their place. Passing downs and the occassional rotation in for a series here and there.
I've said it before, but I want STARTING defensive ends in our 4-3 to be the size of defensive ends in the 3-4. 285-300lbs DE's... 310-330lbs DT's... Let them stop the run and force third and longs. Then unleash Moss, Crowder and Doom with varied blitz packages. Sometimes just four down linemen rush, sometimes four down linemen and a linebacker, sometimes four down linemen and two linebackers, sometimes four down linemen and one linebacker and a safety... I think I made my point.
Dictate to the offense. Make them guess. Attack the pass at the point of origin. (Maybe the only thing I've ever agreed with Zam about.)
I just don't think we can fix both lines in one offseason. The game of football is truly won in the trenches. For the current Broncos other than special teams there is no bigger weakness than the offensive and defensive lines. There are some building blocks in place along both lines, but without a new aggressive defense and talent I just don't think 2008 will be incredibly better than 2007.
Hamilton and Nalen didn't play most of the year and Lepsis has now retired. 3/5 of the projected opening day line-up from 2007 are far from sure things for 2008.
Dline is just BAD.
We have major problems with the Dline. We have a coach who wants to use his scheme with his type of players to begin the season with, but by the end of the year this same coach is using a different scheme with types of players he doesn't want.
As many questions as the Oline has I think we have bigger problems by far on the Dline. I'm not so sure that we should not go away from our current trend of heavy drafting for a particular weak area like we did in '05 (corners) and in '07 (Dline). Draft Dline this draft again???
I believe in an attack style defensive. What two common factors do all great defenses posses? First, they ATTACK and DICTATE. Second, they have a good defensive line. We don't have either.
Find a new coordinator. I could care less what his name is, but I do care about what he believes in and what his prior coaching actions show. He needs to be fearless and aggressive. I'm sorry, but I really liked the defense Coyer ran in '05.
Thomas is a waste as a DT if he is not allowed to penetrate. Let him loose. Continue to add to the Dline with big, aggressive defensive lineman. With today's game of constantly rotating lineman Moss and Doom will have their place. Passing downs and the occassional rotation in for a series here and there.
I've said it before, but I want STARTING defensive ends in our 4-3 to be the size of defensive ends in the 3-4. 285-300lbs DE's... 310-330lbs DT's... Let them stop the run and force third and longs. Then unleash Moss, Crowder and Doom with varied blitz packages. Sometimes just four down linemen rush, sometimes four down linemen and a linebacker, sometimes four down linemen and two linebackers, sometimes four down linemen and one linebacker and a safety... I think I made my point.
Dictate to the offense. Make them guess. Attack the pass at the point of origin. (Maybe the only thing I've ever agreed with Zam about.)
I just don't think we can fix both lines in one offseason. The game of football is truly won in the trenches. For the current Broncos other than special teams there is no bigger weakness than the offensive and defensive lines. There are some building blocks in place along both lines, but without a new aggressive defense and talent I just don't think 2008 will be incredibly better than 2007.