2 Sacks 2 FF versus 2 Sacks 0 FFs So... why am I comparing a DE with a NT? Well, it gets a bit tricky. What I can confidently say, is that Ratliff will be starting next year. But his position is up for grabs; it could be at DE or it could be at NT. I can also confidently say that Chris Canty will start too, at DE. That leaves one more position open, and with Ratliff's flexibility, it can be either a DE or a NT....which leaves us with the battle between Spears (and Ratliff staying at NT) or Tank Johnson (and Ratliff moving back to DE). Marcus Spears had a very solid season that went unnoticed by most Dallas fans. He was great against the run and his pass rushing skills improved too. But what many fail to recognize is that in a 3-4, the DL doesn't generate a lot of pressure anyway. Spears was solid in his role as a pass rusher. But he is clearly very good against the run. He usually gets pulled in obvious passing situations for either Hatcher/Bowen...or Dallas moves to a 4 DL set (with Ware playing as a DE)...so Spears doesn't get the pass rushing opportunities that most other DL do. Tank Johnson sat out half a year and it was evident early on. But towards the end of the year, he seemed more comfortable in the 3-4 and started to make plays. His quickness is outstanding and he could really push for a starting role, shifting Ratliff outside. Many Dallas fans wish to see this happen...and there will undoubtedly be times when this DL rotation is used. Tank also held up very decently in the run game. Sometimes, he was overmatched. This could be as simple as a byproduct of sitting out half a year or not being fully comfortable in a 3-4. We'll get a better grip on this in training camp. Who do you think starts? My prediction is Marcus Spears will remain the starter. He did a pretty good job last year as a starter and I don't think Dallas will mess around with the DL heading into next year, other than mixing up the rotations a little bit. I do think you'll see more Ratliff-Johnson-Canty packages along the DL, but it will come at the expense of Hatcher's playing time, not Spears.
Another thought that has been floated out there (and by that, I mean on internet message boards) is to see if Spears can move inside....and move Ratliff outside. Spears holds up very well against the run and has the girth to play inside. Additionally, he might be better suited playing inside against what are generally weaker pass protectors (compared to OTs). Giving us a DL rotation that looks something like this: DE: Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher NT: Tank Johnson, Marcus Spears DE: Chris Canty, Stephen Bowen
I think Spears should start. Heck we have so many good defensive linemen, they should switch to a 4-3 of course switching good players in and out frequently will keep them fresh and allow the Boy's to create good pressure in the 4th quarter with fresher players.. that would be ideal
Exactly. We can afford to rotate with the depth we have on our DL. Spears, Canty, Ratliff, and Bowen at DE.... Ratliff and Tank at NT. And Ratliff can play DE; that's what he originally was drafted for. And Spears played some NT the last game of the season against Washington. We have versatility along our DL too.
Do you think they'll use that depth and blitz more? especially now that we have Pacman in the secondary to help out.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jul 9 2008, 11:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Do you think they'll use that depth and blitz more? especially now that we have Pacman in the secondary to help out.</div> Well, the 3 DL will usually always go after the QB. The blitzing usually comes from the LBers. But yeah, I think we'll blitz more because we now have healthy CBs (Newman and Henry) and better depth (Jones, Jenkins, Scandrick)
I was kinda thinking with the DL depth they'd be fresh and therefore create mismatches and double coverages, allowing the LB's, CB's or Safeties to blitz more. I have shite memory, I'm assuming that Dallas does occasionally blitz a CB rather than always using LB's and sometimes a Saftey.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jul 9 2008, 11:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I was kinda thinking with the DL depth they'd be fresh and therefore create mismatches and double coverages, allowing the LB's, CB's or Safeties to blitz more. I have shite memory, I'm assuming that Dallas does occasionally blitz a CB rather than always using LB's and sometimes a Saftey.</div> Dallas does blitz their DBs, just not as much as their LBers, obviously. CB Nate Jones was the one who injured Favre on that blitz. Newman blitzed a couple of times IIRC, as did Henry.... we didn't use our Ss to blitz much (I think that has a lot to do with the injuries/lack of depth we had at CB. We'll find out this year). But you are right; rotating the DL keeps them fresh heading into 4th Quarters. It also allows you to sub in run stoppers and pass rushers when needed. And you are also right: if we can get pressure from our 3 down lineman (or 3 down lineman and 1 LBer) it will allow us to double cover more..... making it harder for teams to complete passes against us.
I was always nervous watching the boy's defense last year but I guess it's not that bad.. they did win 13 games
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jul 9 2008, 12:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I was always nervous watching the boy's defense last year but I guess it's not that bad.. they did win 13 games </div> LOL, true. I think there were several aspects where we excelled at and a couple we had trouble with last year. Obviously, the good outweighed the bad (or we wouldn't have won 13 games). Good: pass rushing, run defense, and I think we 'overachieved' in the secondary as far as coverage goes knowing what we know now about the lack of depth/injuries we had. Bad: LB coverage (Zach Thomas should improve that, Spencer playing more will help that), coverage from our #3 and #4 CBs...(well, and our #2 CB .....when Reeves was forced into that role because of Newman/Henry's injuries). Mediocre: pass rush from the DL. It wasn't great; it wasn't bad.
yeah I'd agree with that. Like I said in another post, we always seemed to give up crucial 3rd down plays that moved the chains.We couldn't get quick outs a lot and ended up giving up time chewing players. Were it not for our explosive offense, it would have hurt the team a lot more.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jul 9 2008, 01:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>yeah I'd agree with that. Like I said in another post, we always seemed to give up crucial 3rd down plays that moved the chains.We couldn't get quick outs a lot and ended up giving up time chewing players. Were it not for our explosive offense, it would have hurt the team a lot more.</div> We finished the season with teams converting 39% of the time on 3rd down against our defense, which was 15th best in the league (mediocre). We definately need to improve that. Who had the best 3rd down defense? Kansas City. 2nd? Chicago. Though, it then goes Green Bay, New England, and New Jersey Giants. But then, the Falcons finished 9th.
yeah but any 3rd down conversion by the other team is a bad 3rd down conversion when I'm watching the Boys hence my overly negative view on the subject and LOL at KC, must be because they gave up too many home-run plays on 1st and 2nd down.. that or the defence was on the field a lot
