defensive shake-up ideas

[raginbull]

I would say the first move is Bullman to starting at NT. We have seen him have tremendous push in the preseason and his limited time playing. rotating out with Smith on passing downs. we sign Nading from the practice squad to play in Bullman's DE spot. i dont know which dt should be cut. then we add busing as the starter over Barber. He has really been solid and seems to find the ball consistantly, but most importantly he is a solid tackler, which is what the secondary needs. reeves returns to replace Bennett in the starting lineup. And we sign a dl to the practice squad.

[raginbull]

well where else could we cut? lb corps is at the minimum. they definitly aint cuttin a corner or safety. the o-line is pretty much stretched with pitts injury and caldwell backing up at three positions. wr? or a te? rb is at bare minimum.

[Sprtsfanatic]

Fred Bennet is doing fine where he is at. He brings alot of muscle when he tackles unlike DR. Use Reeves for Nickle and Dime packages.

are u serious?? he's the worst tackling cb we have. If he isnt just flat out scared of contact he whiffs on openfield tackles.

and there is no way that we only use Reeves for nickle and dime...he's our best cover corner. He's in every WR's hip pocket and has improved tremendously on turning and looking for the ball. He's proven that in the second half of last season and looked extremely well during ota's, training camp, and preseason (the little that he played).

[GoldenHolden]

Agreement here with several things. Bulman should definitely be starting, and at tackle seems to be worth a try. Cut DelJuan Robinson. Move Mario to left end and put Barwin on the weak side.
By all means, Busing should start in Barber's place. Replace Bennett with McCain rather than Reeves.

Barwin can't play the run yet. He gets blown out of every play on running downs. Deljuan hasn't played great but we should by no means cut him. He was solid last season for us, two games isn't enough to give him the ax. I agree on Busing. McCain has not been very good (did you watch the Jets game). Reeves will and should be the starting DB once he gets healthy. Geez he was our best cover corner last season if you look at the numbers.

[raginbull]

Agreement here with several things. Bulman should definitely be starting, and at tackle seems to be worth a try. Cut DelJuan Robinson. Move Mario to left end and put Barwin on the weak side.
By all means, Busing should start in Barber's place. Replace Bennett with McCain rather than Reeves.

Mccain plays well but I belive a vet would be better than throwing a rookie into get on the job training. By inserting Barwin we become lighter on the line and loose some punch against the run. I like how they use Mario now. Rotate him and let him attack from different sides. we need to step up on the line. We only have one sack in the last two games. we need more push up the middle, and more penetration against the run. we have struggled with the backside persuit. we need to just play fundamentally sound, and that starts by wrapping up the ball carrier and making the tackles and maintaining gap assignments.

[raginbull]

When Bennett comes up near the line and plants his feet, they run right around his attempted arm tackles. Reeves isn't much better at it.

there arent many corners known for their tackling. the safeties need to do a better job of diagnosing the plays and coming up in support. Busing has been prettygood in this area which is why Id insert him as a starter. he has solid football instincts and allways seems to be around the ball throughout the preseason

[Texan Naija]

On Deljuan Robinson, he has been playing hurt since training camp. But apparently before the injury he impressed the coaches enough they wanted him over Travis Johnson and Deljuan was just a UDFA last season or the season before. I hope he is getting healthy, because we need all the help we can get on the D line.

As for Bulman at DT. Having him play doesn't address our main problem with the DTs we have is that they all are undersized (other then Okam who just plays like he is most downs). Bulman would probably play pretty good at the position, but he probably won't really help the run defense at all.

[raginbull]

On Deljuan Robinson, he has been playing hurt since training camp. But apparently before the injury he impressed the coaches enough they wanted him over Travis Johnson and Deljuan was just a UDFA last season or the season before. I hope he is getting healthy, because we need all the help we can get on the D line.

As for Bulman at DT. Having him play doesn't address our main problem with the DTs we have is that they all are undersized (other then Okam who just plays like he is most downs). Bulman would probably play pretty good at the position, but he probably won't really help the run defense at all.

if bullman can just play his gap and be disruptive as he was in the preseason and in some playing time during the last two games i think you will see a marked improvement in the run defense. To stop the run you have to maintain controll of the gaps between the guard and center. get penetration there and force the run to the outside for the linbackers to flow and finish the play off.