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The General Front 7 Thread
- Thread starter JoeyFlex5
- Start date
Oldfaithful
Hall of Famer
This is what will make or break the defense. As important as the secondary has become. Ultimately, the same principals for football will never change.
Team philosophies.
1. You need a franchise QB.
2. You need high levels of play in the trenches.
3. You need an identity.
Trenches also = front seven. Where we've made a heavy investment over the years. So let's break this shit down shall we?
So let's do a breakdown.
The Knowns:
CJ Mosley- The silent face of the front 7. One of the best ILBs in the NFL and easy to see why. Made leaps and bounds in coverage for his third year and was UNDOUBTEDLY the best linebacker on the roster last season("But Orr had more tackles"). Mosley created so many of those opportunities for him that it's not even funny. "He's only the 7th best ILB in the league". 1. He's probably better than that, and 2. He's an all pro for a reason. He's super important for the defense.
Brandon Williams- Overpaid? Yeah, his contract was a fucking albatross. Elite run stuffer? Oh hell yes. And the same thing goes in every defense: If you can't stop the run. You're going to lose. I get keeping him, but still was overpaid. Nonetheless, I'm glad to keep him around. Hopefully he's better off this next season.
Terrell Suggs- Future hall of famer? Probably has another year left in him given that he's taken better care of his body this offseason. Even a Suggs at 75% is an elite run defender and a serviceable pass rusher.
The Unknowns: RELEASE THE YOUTH MOVEMENT.
Bronson Kaufausi- The most athletic defensive lineman we have drafted since Ngata. Has the potential to be a pro bowler who could break games rather effortlessly. Should be a day one starter and I am very confident in his abilities going forward. 2016 class strikes again.
Chris Wromley- Rookie... Lawerence Guy 2.0. Might possibly be an upgrade. Safest pick in the draft. Rock solid player. Not worried.
Willie Henry- A gamble, but a good one? Sadly looks like it won't work out this season at least, but I think he could be a more than solid rotational player.
Michael Pierce- Looked to be great as a pass rusher last season in limited snaps. Question is if he can take the next step. Hopefully he can. Makes the rotation deadlier.
Carl Davis-Likely to be cut. NEXT.
Kamalei Correa- Not going to be a pass rusher. Good. He was a one speed rusher with little to no moves. But as an ILB? I dig it. He's going elite athleticism and player ILB a lot in college. Could turn into another starter from that awesome 2016 draft.
Tyus Bowser- ROOKIE. But already elite in coverage, most athletic linebacker on the team, and is a solid pass rusher from the edge. Likely a day one starter and a very good one.
Matt Judon- What a steal. Getitng this dude in the 5th round. He will never be an all pro at any point in his career, but I could easily see him getting
8 sacks on a consistent basis. Which would be fantastic. Again, another starter from the phenomenal 2016 class.
Za'Darius Smith- We can't cut him or we'd lose money actually. But hopefully doesn't get much playing time.
Tim Williams-And we will finish up here. Has the potential to be a perennial all pro at the next level... And we got him in the third round. Great plethora of pass rushing moves, elite athleticism. If he shores up his run defense.. He is GOING to be an all pro. Worst case scenario is that he turns into Dumervil 2.0 as a pass rusher imo
Team philosophies.
1. You need a franchise QB.
2. You need high levels of play in the trenches.
3. You need an identity.
Trenches also = front seven. Where we've made a heavy investment over the years. So let's break this shit down shall we?
So let's do a breakdown.
The Knowns:
CJ Mosley- The silent face of the front 7. One of the best ILBs in the NFL and easy to see why. Made leaps and bounds in coverage for his third year and was UNDOUBTEDLY the best linebacker on the roster last season("But Orr had more tackles"). Mosley created so many of those opportunities for him that it's not even funny. "He's only the 7th best ILB in the league". 1. He's probably better than that, and 2. He's an all pro for a reason. He's super important for the defense.
Brandon Williams- Overpaid? Yeah, his contract was a fucking albatross. Elite run stuffer? Oh hell yes. And the same thing goes in every defense: If you can't stop the run. You're going to lose. I get keeping him, but still was overpaid. Nonetheless, I'm glad to keep him around. Hopefully he's better off this next season.
Terrell Suggs- Future hall of famer? Probably has another year left in him given that he's taken better care of his body this offseason. Even a Suggs at 75% is an elite run defender and a serviceable pass rusher.
The Unknowns: RELEASE THE YOUTH MOVEMENT.
Bronson Kaufausi- The most athletic defensive lineman we have drafted since Ngata. Has the potential to be a pro bowler who could break games rather effortlessly. Should be a day one starter and I am very confident in his abilities going forward. 2016 class strikes again.
Chris Wromley- Rookie... Lawerence Guy 2.0. Might possibly be an upgrade. Safest pick in the draft. Rock solid player. Not worried.
Willie Henry- A gamble, but a good one? Sadly looks like it won't work out this season at least, but I think he could be a more than solid rotational player.
Michael Pierce- Looked to be great as a pass rusher last season in limited snaps. Question is if he can take the next step. Hopefully he can. Makes the rotation deadlier.
Carl Davis-Likely to be cut. NEXT.
Kamalei Correa- Not going to be a pass rusher. Good. He was a one speed rusher with little to no moves. But as an ILB? I dig it. He's going elite athleticism and player ILB a lot in college. Could turn into another starter from that awesome 2016 draft.
Tyus Bowser- ROOKIE. But already elite in coverage, most athletic linebacker on the team, and is a solid pass rusher from the edge. Likely a day one starter and a very good one.
Matt Judon- What a steal. Getitng this dude in the 5th round. He will never be an all pro at any point in his career, but I could easily see him getting
8 sacks on a consistent basis. Which would be fantastic. Again, another starter from the phenomenal 2016 class.
Za'Darius Smith- We can't cut him or we'd lose money actually. But hopefully doesn't get much playing time.
Tim Williams-And we will finish up here. Has the potential to be a perennial all pro at the next level... And we got him in the third round. Great plethora of pass rushing moves, elite athleticism. If he shores up his run defense.. He is GOING to be an all pro. Worst case scenario is that he turns into Dumervil 2.0 as a pass rusher imo
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
@Lost_In_Translation is my favorite poster
ThatsMyJoeTerback
Ravens Ring of Honor
Lawrence Guy is a much bigger loss than what people are making it but I think Wormley can step up in his place.
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
Our defense locked in many areas yet was still the best in the league for most of the season, despite a bad pass rush, horrible #2 corner play etc. that is because we had amazing swarm tackling, it's what made our old defenses so good, and we picked that tradition back up last year. Orr was great on cleanup duty and his pursuit tied our whole defense together, but all pro recognition for him is textbook overrating. He was basically tasked with staying deep, let everyone else clutter the openings, and his job was to not let the play get past him. He almost had a safety type of job but 10 yards closer to the line. He may have had the easiest job of any starting defender in the league lol. Not to take anything away from a UDFA who was smart and worked hard to get a starting role and fit like a glove, I loved what he did last year, but when Mosley was out, it was incredibly obvious that Orr wasn't the lynchpin many thought he was. He lived and died on mosleys contributions
Mosley was no doubt the playmaker but the NFL is filled with bad tacklers and every week in every game for every team you would see a 2 yard gain made into a 20 by poor tackling so while it wasnt the most physically demanding of roles it was one he excelled at and one many players cannot do.
It was actually the opposite. Mosley did a ton of work so Orr would get a lot of his work cut out and opportunities to make plays. Loved Orr btw, his instincts were excellent.
You know you've got a phenomenal player when he engenders a sense of awe in steelers players and Ryan shazier who himself is becoming a star has recognised that the way cj plays has already set him on the path to greatness:
- he has become maybe one of the best zone coverage linebackers in the league - he has the ability innately to know what's going on behind him, cover the guy in front of him and have the athleticism to affect the route behind him - the most spectacular example being that incredible one handed interception he had
- alongside that is his recognition of the offense in front of him and his ability to run and call a defence from the outset which has only got better since weddle arrived
- id say at this point only kuechly, Wagner and maybe Sean lee (when healthy) are clearly ahead of cj in the league which probably says something about him - kuechly does something in the film room that gives him the ability to call 25% of the offence's plays before they happen - if Mosley is approaching that level of film study then we genuinely could have found the next legend of the franchise - in only 3 years in the league he already makes everyone around him better
- he has become maybe one of the best zone coverage linebackers in the league - he has the ability innately to know what's going on behind him, cover the guy in front of him and have the athleticism to affect the route behind him - the most spectacular example being that incredible one handed interception he had
- alongside that is his recognition of the offense in front of him and his ability to run and call a defence from the outset which has only got better since weddle arrived
- id say at this point only kuechly, Wagner and maybe Sean lee (when healthy) are clearly ahead of cj in the league which probably says something about him - kuechly does something in the film room that gives him the ability to call 25% of the offence's plays before they happen - if Mosley is approaching that level of film study then we genuinely could have found the next legend of the franchise - in only 3 years in the league he already makes everyone around him better
BloodRaven
Pro Bowler
I went back and compared Wormleys times and meausurements to Kaufusi and theyre nearly identical, if these guys live up to their potential theyre going to be a nightmare.
The Raven
Veteran
I didn't realize that, but that's interesting, considering Kaufusi seems to play so much faster. Regardless, the two will indeed be a nightmare if they put it together.
if williams proves himself as a good rush lb im sure they will do that given how well it worked with doom being the rush lb vs the rt
I can see it ending up this way but its a little early for rookies to be taking the starting spots of veterans. If thats going to happen it will be in a week or two.
Our defense should fair pretty well late in games this year and here is my reasoning.
The oldest person on the DL is Brandon Williams at 28 years old, otherwise the DL will consist of players 26 and younger. The oldest linebacker is Sizzle. Other than that CJ Mosely is only 25 years old. Defensively we have a pretty nice future with the players we have on hand.
The oldest person on the DL is Brandon Williams at 28 years old, otherwise the DL will consist of players 26 and younger. The oldest linebacker is Sizzle. Other than that CJ Mosely is only 25 years old. Defensively we have a pretty nice future with the players we have on hand.
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
Plus secondary and pass rush is key to late games, of course assuming you're talking about us breaking the habit of giving up late leads. With Tim Williams, who is a real shark in the water, we should be able to generate enough pressure with enough game changers on the back end to finally stop those comeback wins.
I'm calling it, Tim williams is near tops in the league in 4th quarter sacks, he has a low snap count, insane motor, unpredictable burst and array of rush moves, he comes in the 4th quarter when guys are tired and beat up, he lights the field on fire with those fresh legs, fast and powerful just working every tackle he faces.
even late in the process, knowing we likely wouldnt pick him there, i still thought he was a guy we could and maybe should have taken at 16 lol but in the end we ended up with two potentially top 10 type players
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
I was screaming for him at 16 from day one. I had a slight hiccup when I heard about the gun thing but changed my mind when I heard the "reason" and heard some interviews. My biggest draft crush maybe ever
i still intermittently find myself going back to watch his film or watch voch do his timmy williams breakdown... like its insane his talent level - and i was crushing hard on derek barnett but tim williams was the guy i wanted early on thinking that barnett would be gone in the top 5-10 easily