Is the D coming together?

[JBrooks]

We still need a couple of pieces to put this together, but I think the start of FA has looked good so far.

D-Line: We're set with Justin Smith (he'll have a monster year) and John Thornton. I can deal with the production we get from Duane Clemons if we can upgrade the other DT spot. With Tony Williams and Glen Steele backing up Thornton and (fill in name here), I think we'll be good.

Cap dump: I loved OG, but we needed the cap space.

Conclusion: a big run-stuffing DT and a solid backup DE is what we need.

Linebacker: I think Nate Webster will pan out well. With Simmons and Hardy as bookends and that upgrade at DT, the linebackers should be the heart of our unit. Is it FINALLY time, Brian Simmons? We've got solid depth with Riall Johnson, Khalid Abdullah, and Adrian Ross.

Cap dump: I could see them dumping Adrian Ross for cap space with the Webster signing.

Conclusion: Pick up another young, fast, hard hitter in the draft (think Teddy Lehman will be around at #2?)

Secondary: Scariest spot, as we all know. I like the Kim Herring pick-up and Tory James at corner. With Weathersby and Myles, I think we have a good, young nickel and dime group. But we need to pick up that other CB and another safety.

Cap dump: If we can get Vincent or Bobby Taylor to sign for under 4 mil, I can see Burris being gone, too.

Conclusion: Pick up one of the aforementioned corners and Still pick up a corner early in the draft. This gives us two vets at the corners with Weathersby, Myles, Terrell Roberts and a rook being groomed for the SWAT Team of the future. I say we keep Beckett and Kaesviharn, too (to platoon opposite Kim Herring).

Tell me what you think boys (and Bengal-sis). I love that we kept Shayne Graham around. Is Bengal-sis married?

[chrishcovga]

I'd be willing to dump Clemons and Powell for Marcellus Wiley if he'd come cheap....If we can keep him out of the strip clubs..he'd pan out really well for us.

We're gonna have to get our DT in the draft... A lot of talent there.. and a lot of depth...We could add a corner in the draft.. Sooner or later.. Weathersby will be starting.. and he'll need someone to play next to for years..

[cover2]

Problem is Weathersby may not be able to play the position.

The jury is still out.......

[Kirkendall]

D-Line: We're set with Justin Smith (he'll have a monster year) and John Thornton. I can deal with the production we get from Duane Clemons if we can upgrade the other DT spot. With Tony Williams and Glen Steele backing up Thornton and (fill in name here), I think we'll be good.

I really think we need to re-haul our DT. Release all of them, and pick up young fatties to develop through the 2004 season for our 2005 Super Bowl run. Williams and Steele both were blocked too easily, hardly shed off their blocks and wasn't close to being a difference maker against the pass. I think the ends are adequate, but not great. Justin Smith had a GREAT season in 2003 as he really perfected his run stuffing techniques; stretching out the outside run, splitting the double team and clogging his gaps. Sure his pass rush numbers were down again, but if we can continue to stop the run then our LBs and DBs can cheat and worry about the pass more.

Realistically and financially, I think you're conclusion is more obtainable though.

Linebacker: I think Nate Webster will pan out well. With Simmons and Hardy as bookends and that upgrade at DT, the linebackers should be the heart of our unit. Is it FINALLY time, Brian Simmons? We've got solid depth with Riall Johnson, Khalid Abdullah, and Adrian Ross.

I was really hoping Abdullah would get his shot this season. I think the Webster picked up was good in terms of allowing Hardy to sit on the outside again. In regards to Webster himself, I can't remember seeing him and the only knowledge I'm getting is from the sports pages brief description of him; so I can't really make an intelligent analysis of him myself. From what every one is saying, he'll be pretty good. Regarding Brian Simmons, he better turn into the LB that he's "destined" to be.

[redsfan2]

Is the D coming together ???????

We all knew that Marvin Lewis couldn't get rid of all the deadwood at the same time last year. He got rid of the worst and did pretty well with literally the best of a bad lot along with a couple of free agents.

With all of the attention that he gave to the defense at the end of the season, you knew there were going to be more cuts and more new guys brought in. ( don't think the offense is going to get off scott free either ) This is coach Lewis cleaning out the next layer of deadwood. Hopefully, it really was the fault of the players and not the coaches.

I agree with Kirk ..... we need that big immoveable object in the middle of the line. We also need a corner whose name doesn't trigger a pavlovian response in opposing quarterbacks and receivers. As uncertain as I was about Vincent, I think we're at the point where we "need" to sign him. I know his agent is saying good things in Cincinnati, but he ( Vincent ) had an awful lot of good things to say about Buffalo when he was up here too, and signing him isn't going to be a slamdunk. With the addition of Herring, I think we'd be OK with Beckett ... provided he comes back. If not, we ned to go shopping there too.

Now just assume that we get the dt we need, the corner and the safety to go with Herring. Counting our new mlb, that's 4 new guys on defense. It's been mentioned before that defenses take a while to gel, so even if everything goes as planned I still wouldn't look for the defense to go from 28th to 1st or even 5th. I think the defense is coming together in that the problems have been identified and are being addressed, and that's a lot of progress right there. I still don't think that defense is going to be our hallmark in the upcoming season.

We've hardly talked about the draft, but I think what we do in the draft is really going to hinge on what we can get done in free agency. We're going to need to do well there as well, because some of the guys we're bringing in aren't going to be long term solutions.

On the other side ................ I'd love to see Rueben Brown in stripes. If you're looking for references, see our new linebackers comments about him. He'd be a great pick up.

[chrishcovga]

TO be honest with you.... I look at it this way... what we bring in ,in Free Agency, is the same as what we should draft for.

i.e.....we need, a dt,cb,lb,s,og/c......

so far we have Kim Herring..Fs,....

Nate Webster...lb....

Rich Braham,.....c....

could still sign a guard, and a cb, with what little cap room we have available...so If..??? we do grab a cb or a guard, then we should draft d-line the first 2 rounds, and grab the other spots the rest of the way...

Regardless, we are going to have to draft a safety... Madieu Williams in round 3 would be great...

draft another G/c type... Alex Stepanovich or Nick Leckey in rounds 4...

linebackers...Alex Wilson,Rod Davis in 4 or 5..

and a guy like Greg Brooks who could slip or Joey Thomas in 4 or 5 as well.

but either way we should grab the best 2 defensive lineman that we come across... we'll have a chance at Harris,Udeze,Starks,and Wilfork...in round 1.. Round 2, we could get Donnell Washington,Chad Lavalais,or Darnell Dockett...I'm leaning towards Dockett even though he's smaller but he has great lower body strength.