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I think we should stay away from old players in free agency completely, that includes Aubrayo Franklin. Overall I think one of the biggest reasons we're not landing FA's is because we plain suck. All these FA's are either getting overpaid (Washington), going back to their original teams (Panthers, Hawks), or went to big name teams (Eagles) that are contenders.
We're not at that level yet. The interior of our line isn't going to be the greatest, but it's going to be surrounded by some great young talent. Fox left that Carolina defense with arguably the best group of young LB's in the NFL and a premier DE, and young talent all over the place. He's a good defensive coach and will hopefully leave most of the offense to his assistants.
I also do agree with the concerns of taking Miller over Dareus, but he's reportedly been looking great in camp both as a pass rusher and in coverage. We got a day one super talented starter who has reportedly looked exceedingly well through the first few days of camp. I can't complain about that just yet, despite the fact that we are extremely thin at DT.
Overall though, we've had defenses that dominated the run that lacked any semblance of a good DT, and at that point we were always saying how we needed a good DT so that they could collapse the pocket and force the QB's out to the DE's for sacks since we were so bad against the pass for many years. That leaves me confident that we can be effective against the run with the guys we have and maybe 1-2 more, and then rely on Dumervil and Miller for the outside pressure, and Vickerson for some solid inside pressure since he is in fact a pure disruptor rather than a run defender.
All in all, I'm happy about where the team is going long term. We have a very talented and young offensive line, and a good core of young players on defense. The one thing that will make or break this team is how Tebow progresses, not how many FA DT's we sign in the 2011 off-season. I don't expect a great season right now, but a Tampa Bay ish 10-6 season is possible, and I expect us to be good in 2-3 years.
We're not at that level yet. The interior of our line isn't going to be the greatest, but it's going to be surrounded by some great young talent. Fox left that Carolina defense with arguably the best group of young LB's in the NFL and a premier DE, and young talent all over the place. He's a good defensive coach and will hopefully leave most of the offense to his assistants.
I also do agree with the concerns of taking Miller over Dareus, but he's reportedly been looking great in camp both as a pass rusher and in coverage. We got a day one super talented starter who has reportedly looked exceedingly well through the first few days of camp. I can't complain about that just yet, despite the fact that we are extremely thin at DT.
Overall though, we've had defenses that dominated the run that lacked any semblance of a good DT, and at that point we were always saying how we needed a good DT so that they could collapse the pocket and force the QB's out to the DE's for sacks since we were so bad against the pass for many years. That leaves me confident that we can be effective against the run with the guys we have and maybe 1-2 more, and then rely on Dumervil and Miller for the outside pressure, and Vickerson for some solid inside pressure since he is in fact a pure disruptor rather than a run defender.
All in all, I'm happy about where the team is going long term. We have a very talented and young offensive line, and a good core of young players on defense. The one thing that will make or break this team is how Tebow progresses, not how many FA DT's we sign in the 2011 off-season. I don't expect a great season right now, but a Tampa Bay ish 10-6 season is possible, and I expect us to be good in 2-3 years.
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