they have two up n coming studs. Madubuike who is almost there and Travis Jones. I still have a bunch of confidence in Oweh and can't wait to see Ojabo at work. Pierce is also under contract and he was such a terrible loss as he was playing at a very high level.
Madubuike is a stud for sure, no argument there. For Jones, I was certainly a fan of his during the draft lead up, and I think he's going to be a good long term NT. But I don't want us fully depending on him taking the next step as a passrusher. As for Pierce, he has a bit of an injury history.
After those three you have Campbell who's a step away from retirement, and a bunch of guys unable to get ahead of a 36 year old on the depth chart. It's just a massive drop. In my opinion, the lack of depth and proper rotation up front among the DTs goes a long way in causing the defense to sputter out late in games, and lets teams get a chance to come back. Another young, good athlete up front lets us constantly switch guys in and out (guys that actually have an impact), and would be especially needed late in a season or at playoff time. The best defenses down the stretch tend to be those that keep the front guys fresh through a game and the season.
we've got some really nice pieces on the DL right now - but i would absolutely love to add a 1st round talent to the group
Madubuike who's an elite run defender and an ascending pass rusher
Michael Pierce who's one of the best NTs in the league right now (really sucks he got injured)
Travis Jones who's a very talented and exciting young NT
i'd love to find someone with high-end talent and traits who can make a living at 3t/5t
we wont have a shot at him but Jalen Carter would be a dream pick - that Georgia DL last year was stacked with talent and he might have been the best guy on that line (which included the 1st overall pick, an alien at NT and another 1st round pick who would have went even higher if he didnt have DV issues in his background)
there's nothing more defence changing than a true 3 down LB in the league - the problem is that there's very few guys who in this modern NFL you can really talk about in that way... Fred Warner is a game-changing type talent at that position but there just aren't that many guys who can do what he does
As far as LBs go, I badly want Noah Sewell. Great football IQ, solid speed (especially for his size), and his physically is something special. Not only a good every down LB, but someone who can really light a fire under people around him, similar to what Peters does in the secondary.
