Who would you replace on the D-line?

Looking at our defensive line it's a whole lot better than last years and probably the last several years. However, we still don't have the rush we need. When I look at the line I like the players we have and have difficulty trying to find the weak link. The question is who do you think is the weakest player on the line? Second, who is our strongest?

That is a tough question. I see Reed,Bolden,Hickman, Kirk and Murphy at par. MacIntyre and Long are birdies. If there is to be a change on the DLine, perhaps we need an eagle. Maybe a Brodrick Bunkley or Dan Klecko would help. :wink: :wink: :wink:
Pat Lynch(the old guy in section 7)

Brodrick Bunkley is not available

And isn't Dan Klecko a fullback now.

That is a really hard question. Looking at stats, one thing that stands out is the number of tackles that the DLine is getting, which I suspect means that they're getting to the ball a lot quicker than last year's line. The only one with less than 10 tackles is Montez Murphy and he's only played 3 games. Kirk is having a career year with 13 tkls and 3 sacks, and Bolden also seems to be playing well at DT with 12 tkls and 1 sack. Hickman leads with 27 tackles, but he's also the only one who's played in most of the games. If Adams comes back though, he should definitely replace Murphy or Bolden. 10 tackles and a sack is pretty good for 3 games at the DT position. I'm not sure that McIntyre is quite as good as Long, so I don't think I'd make that replacement.

Their pressure has improved dramatically, at least that's been my visual impression, they seem to be forcing Qbs to hurry their throws a lot more even if they aren't getting dramatically more sacks.

In any case, I'm happy the days of NML and his stand-around-on-the-outside-after-his-spin-move-fails career max of 17 tackles in a whole season are gone. Starting DEs need to make a lot more than that.

i think i like Long and Hickman on the Defensive Ends
and Darrell Adams and Garrett McIntyre as the Defensive Tackles
Matt Kirk and Demonte Bolden as the backups.

I would replace bolden before murphy. Murphy has been awesome with his speed in the middle.

This is a difficult question, as this is one of the biggest areas that has been upgraded, and I believe without making a trade or a big splash in free agency (I think they did get Kirk this way).

When Adams and McIntyre went down, I thought we would be in big trouble, but the backups have filled in admirably.

If they were all healthy I would start Adams and Kirk at tackle, and McIntyre, Hickman on the ends. This would free up an import position, and allow an Import to play at safety or we could dress two Import running backs.

Unfortunately for now, Adams and McIntyre are on the IR.

PJ