Need a true NT!

[KWHIT97]

Everyone with any kind of football knowledge knows that in order to make a 3-4 defense really work you have to have that unselfish scrapper in the middle of the d-line that will work relentlessly, stay stout vs. double teams, occasionally get into the backfield, and hold his ground so the LB's (a.k.a. the glory hogs) are free to make plays.

As of right now we have Ron Fields, who played admireably this past year but I feel may be a better fit at DE and maybe rotating in at NT. He is not that elite guy that we need in the middle of our defense.

Chris Baker (a.k.a. the savior) as many of you have proclaimed. I like Baker as well but I'm not ready to give him the starting NT job after seeing what he did in a few series during the pre-season vs. teams 2nd and 3rd stringers. I know most around here really feel Baker is the solution, well the fact is if he was SO good he would have seen more playing time during the regular season, I know everyone thinks McDaniels sees him as thier future at NT, but where is the proof to that?

Like I've said, I like Fields and Baker. They are both nice players and who knows, maybe Baker could be the future, but there is nothingwrong with adding another young guy to come in and compete and if we do find our future NT in this draft I think Baker could easily kick out to DE.

I do not think there will be any starting caliber FA's available as these guys do not grow on trees. Hampton, Wilfork, Franklin, and Pickett will all be retained by thier respective teams in some manner.

So we have to look at the draft, and in my mind there are only 3 guys that fit this bill;

Dan Williams (Tenn) 6'2" 327 lbs. (will have to use a first to get him, probably a top 20 pick)

Cam Thomas (North Carolina) 6'4" 331 lbs. (will probably be available with our #80 pick, but is shooting up draft boards)

Torrell Troup (Central Florida) 6'3" 310 lbs. (if Thomas is not there at 80, this is the next best option, he will not be there with our 4th so we need to snag him up)

These 3 are the best NT's in this draft, hands down. These 3 guys should definately be on our draft board. I wouldn't mind seeing us spend a 1st on Williams but would be just as phsyced if we got either Troup or Thomas with a 3rd.

P.S. Screw Mt. Cody. He may be good and is prototypical, but he will never be able to withstand the Mile High Air, he is not what we need!

[nw3030]

Everyone with any kind of football knowledge knows that in order to make a 3-4 defense really work you have to have that unselfish scrapper in the middle of the d-line that will work relentlessly, stay stout vs. double teams, occasionally get into the backfield, and hold his ground so the LB's (a.k.a. the glory hogs) are free to make plays.

As of right now we have Ron Fields, who played admireably this past year but I feel may be a better fit at DE and maybe rotating in at NT. He is not that elite guy that we need in the middle of our defense.

Chris Baker (a.k.a. the savior) as many of you have proclaimed. I like Baker as well but I'm not ready to give him the starting NT job after seeing what he did in a few series during the pre-season vs. teams 2nd and 3rd stringers. I know most around here really feel Baker is the solution, well the fact is if he was SO good he would have seen more playing time during the regular season, I know everyone thinks McDaniels sees him as thier future at NT, but where is the proof to that?

Like I've said, I like Fields and Baker. They are both nice players and who knows, maybe Baker could be the future, but there is nothingwrong with adding another young guy to come in and compete and if we do find our future NT in this draft I think Baker could easily kick out to DE.

I do not think there will be any starting caliber FA's available as these guys do not grow on trees. Hampton, Wilfork, Franklin, and Pickett will all be retained by thier respective teams in some manner.

So we have to look at the draft, and in my mind there are only 3 guys that fit this bill;

Dan Williams (Tenn) 6'2" 327 lbs. (will have to use a first to get him, probably a top 20 pick)

[B]Cam Thomas (North Carolina) 6'4" 331 lbs. (will probably be available with our #80 pick, but is shooting up draft boards)[/B]
Torrell Troup (Central Florida) 6'3" 310 lbs. (if Thomas is not there at 80, this is the next best option, he will not be there with our 4th so we need to snag him up)

These 3 are the best NT's in this draft, hands down. These 3 guys should definately be on our draft board. I wouldn't mind seeing us spend a 1st on Williams but would be just as phsyced if we got either Troup or Thomas with a 3rd.

P.S. Screw Mt. Cody. He may be good and is prototypical, but he will never be able to withstand the Mile High Air, he is not what we need!

I agree if we dont get williams in the first, we need to get thomas i have been seeing alot of him lately and he looks like a beast.

[JayJack]

Everyone with any kind of football knowledge knows that in order to make a 3-4 defense really work you have to have that unselfish scrapper in the middle of the d-line that will work relentlessly, stay stout vs. double teams, occasionally get into the backfield, and hold his ground so the LB's (a.k.a. the glory hogs) are free to make plays.

As of right now we have Ron Fields, who played admireably this past year but I feel may be a better fit at DE and maybe rotating in at NT. He is not that elite guy that we need in the middle of our defense.

Chris Baker (a.k.a. the savior) as many of you have proclaimed. I like Baker as well but I'm not ready to give him the starting NT job after seeing what he did in a few series during the pre-season vs. teams 2nd and 3rd stringers. I know most around here really feel Baker is the solution, well the fact is if he was SO good he would have seen more playing time during the regular season, I know everyone thinks McDaniels sees him as thier future at NT, but where is the proof to that?

Like I've said, I like Fields and Baker. They are both nice players and who knows, maybe Baker could be the future, but there is nothingwrong with adding another young guy to come in and compete and if we do find our future NT in this draft I think Baker could easily kick out to DE.

I do not think there will be any starting caliber FA's available as these guys do not grow on trees. Hampton, Wilfork, Franklin, and Pickett will all be retained by thier respective teams in some manner.

So we have to look at the draft, and in my mind there are only 3 guys that fit this bill;

Dan Williams (Tenn) 6'2" 327 lbs. (will have to use a first to get him, probably a top 20 pick)

Cam Thomas (North Carolina) 6'4" 331 lbs. (will probably be available with our #80 pick, but is shooting up draft boards)

Torrell Troup (Central Florida) 6'3" 310 lbs. (if Thomas is not there at 80, this is the next best option, he will not be there with our 4th so we need to snag him up)

These 3 are the best NT's in this draft, hands down. These 3 guys should definately be on our draft board. I wouldn't mind seeing us spend a 1st on Williams but would be just as phsyced if we got either Troup or Thomas with a 3rd.

P.S. Screw Mt. Cody. He may be good and is prototypical, but he will never be able to withstand the Mile High Air, he is not what we need!

You make some good point, but i disagree with you about the statement in bold. Many of us have heard the McD took a page out of BB book and doesn't like to play rookies, so lets evaluate.

Moreno & Ayers- 1st rd draft picks, so they should've played.
Smith- traded a 1st rd for him, he should've played.

Quinn- drafted in the 2nd rd, on got in to block, he doesn't have didn't have a single catch this year.

McBath & Bruton- were the backups to the starting safety's, so if one of the starters got injured, they got in the game.

Seth Olsen- didn't get in the game even when we were having problems at LG

McKinley- he also didn't have a catch this season.

Brandstater- 3rd QB, he wasn't even the backup to Simms when KO got injured.

I believe they really do like Baker, and based on how the did the rookies that was drafted, i'm pretty sure that Baker, and UDFA couldn't get more time than them. Take in consideration that Baker was on the 53 man roster all year even though he was inactive, they never allowed him to sniff the PS, which say alot to me.

I'm not high on Dan Williams at all. Most people had him in their Mocks around the 3rd i believe, and while he did have a good Senior Bowl, they were playing a 4-3 not a 3-4, their is a difference when you have to man the middle by yourself.

[elway 1987]

More than likely we will get a big time NT mainly because we will be playing a straight up 3-4 defense. M. Nolan wanted to play more of a 4-3 3-4 mix which is why we did not go after a big time NT. Now that Nolan is gone we will be able to draft players like D. Williams, C. Thomas, or T. Troup.

That is my take on the whole situation.

[Dream]

Dan Williams, Cam Thomas, Boo Robinson, Terrence Cody, Al Woods, Torrell Troup and Linval Joseph. All are legitimate 3-4 NT prospects. Ivy and Weston as well, but they are late-round guys and would be rotational. All the other guys have what it takes to play at the next level. Some will be available later than others, because not all of them have schematic versatility. Needless to say, this is the best DT class since 2001 -- and the number of NT in this draft are amazing.

If you thought Terrance Knighton did a great job for the Jaguars, you'll see pretty solid production if not better out of the rest of these guys, who are probably better prospects than he was.

Smarten up, and open the markets up. There are more options than 3.

[KWHIT97]

Dan Williams, Cam Thomas, Boo Robinson, Terrence Cody, Al Woods, Torrell Troup and Linval Joseph. All are legitimate 3-4 NT prospects. Ivy and Weston as well, but they are late-round guys and would be rotational. All the other guys have what it takes to play at the next level. Some will be available later than others, because not all of them have schematic versatility. Needless to say, this is the best DT class since 2001 -- and the number of NT in this draft are amazing.

If you thought Terrance Knighton did a great job for the Jaguars, you'll see pretty solid production if not better out of the rest of these guys, who are probably better prospects than he was.

Smarten up, and open the markets up. There are more options than 3.

I agree to an extent, but I was just proclaiming my opinion on the 3 guys we should be looking at. These are the top 3 in my mind and if we could come away with ine in the 1st 3 rounds I would be stoked!

[moto4669]

We need a fat bastard to clog the middle!

[Dream]

I agree to an extent, but I was just proclaiming my opinion on the 3 guys we should be looking at. These are the top 3 in my mind and if we could come away with ine in the 1st 3 rounds I would be stoked!

Yep. Williams is going to be hard to get IMHO. Maybe he's there, maybe he is not. The reason his value is so high is because he has the versatility scheme wise to be a player for a plethora of defenses. I like Thomas' ability in the NFL. Downside, he is already 24 as a rookie, but oh well.

[BeastFromEast92]

Nt

Dan Williams 6'3 329 lbs is the NT of the future for our franchise.Let me emphasize"HE'S THE MAN".He's a freaking BEAST.For those of you that don't understand the importance of a dominant NT in a 3-4 defensive scheme,a NT is the anchor of a 3-4 scheme,and if you think Dan Williams can't hold his own in the middle,you are wrong,and for the idiot that remarked he is a 2nd or 3rd rounder you don't watch much college football do you."Dan is the Man".

[AyersIsTheMAN]

I think my favorite prospect in the draft is Torrell Troup. He uses a low center of gravity and has great upper body strength to gain leverage when dealing with double teams. If anyone watched the East-West Shrine game then you'll know what I'm talking about.
And not to mention the fact that he can be had in the third round, which is a much better value pick than a player like Williams in the first.
Troup definitely has the ability to be a great player, especially under the teaching of Wayne Nunnley...

[BeastFromEast92]

Ayers and williams

Me being from Tennessee,I got the luxury of seeing Robert Ayers and Dan Williams playing on the same team,let me tell you Dan is the Man,NO HE IS NOT UNDERRATED,he is the real deal,he is worthy of a first round pick,more than I can say for Moreno.Not trying to be a smartass just trying to state the facts.We could use a true NT and at 6'3 329 lbs he is a force in the middle,if you don't believe me watch some tape on him,or wait until the combine,I'm sure he won't dissapoint anyone wanting him.

[BarkdogRX7]

Let's get Shaun Ellis I would prefer not to trade or sign him, so drafting would be a better choice, but just thought I'd throw some random in here

[Ohenhen12345]

Drafting a NT in the draft is risky business, so i would not want to draft one , would try to address it through FA. The OL and playmaking positions like WR and CB, should be address instead.

[BeastFromEast92]

Nt

I agree 100% I would rather sign a NT in FA one that is proven,but if we can't,I say we draft Williams 1st round,we need one bad.I for one am tired of these mediocre RBs getting 200 yards a game on us,ENOUGH.

[broncos SB2010]

Drafting a NT in the draft is risky business, so i would not want to draft one , would try to address it through FA. The OL and playmaking positions like WR and CB, should be address instead.

what FA NT is there to get?