ILB's

Hawk, Barnett, Bishop, Lansannah, Chiller

OLB

Poppinga, Kampmann, Jeremy Thompson, Jason Hunter


It seems to me that the 3-4 teams need to carry about 10 - 12 of these guys on the roster, so who stays, who goes, and who should be added. I expect big things out of Thompson and Hunter now that they aren't "light in the pants DE's.

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I say add Everette Brown, get a LB in the 2nd round (if Ron Brace isn't on the board) probably Clint Sintim or Larry English. I don't know there's probably better LBs that'll be there I just can't think of any ATM.

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10 LBs would be fine. Add Everette Brown in the first round and there we go. That is, if we don't take Peppers. Also, I think we should cut either Chillar or Poppinga. Then take one in the draft.

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The deeper I get into the linebackers, the more apparent the need along the defensive line becomes..

Montgomery got pushed around at times in the 4-3.. think that situation will improve within a 3-4.. nope.. good thing is contract is up.

Cole.. while he could play in a rotation along the line, IMO, he wouldn't be a standout at any of the 3 slots.. good thing is contract is up.

Jolly... who really knows where his legal troubles are going to end up.

Harrell.. hmmm one word. Health.

Malone and the others around the practice squad are questions at best.

So that leaves us with Pickett, Jenkins and possibly Kampman playing light along the dline.. no depth what so ever.

Wonder where the focus of a draft pick or two and maybe a free agent are going to be at?

That and along the oline.. we need to make some correct moves in those areas...

We could lineup tomorrow with enough backers to play the defense.. we need lineman. Period.

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I would still at LEAST like to have Everette Brown to help out and we will have a pretty good tweener.

Then we can use the rest of our draft on linemen. Ron Brace in the 2nd would be a great pick. Tyson Jackson would also be a great one for our DE spot.

By the way, don't forget we will be running a hybrid type of defense. We won't be in the 3-4 every single snap.

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With the switch, I would not expect many if any players being gone, except for those out of contract.

There are far to many roster spots without even looking at cutting anyone else. Picket, Jolly, Jenkins, Harrell will all be bundled into a Dline rotation probably with some off season addition.

Kampman will probably be shifted between Dline and LBer as down and distance call for.

The rest of the LB corp will get some additional players added to get to that 10 or number.

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I agree with go.pack.go. First we should get Brown, than Brace if available, then someone to the O-line and the DE spot.
If he's on the board when we select at 9, or a little later, and we don't take him, I'll be very very sad.

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Not quite in line with the discussion but still within the linebackers context.

Were we ever in for Cameron Wake? I've heard that 17 NFL teams were interested in him and he spoke to about 8 and he chose Miami. Apparently they offered him a $1m guaranteed contract. He is considered to be a low risk but potentially very high reward pick. No wonder he got alot of interest.

I've read that whoever signed him would practically be getting an extra first-day draft pick this year. That is the kind of quality he was rated at. He put up 23 sacks in the CFL last season and got the defensive player of the year award.

He was originally with the Giants and they play a 4-3. His weight is 240 which to me is too light to play defensive end and that's probably the reason why they let him go. They also had Tuck, Umenyiora and Strahan and probably a few others that were ahead of him at the time. He was better suited to a 3-4. The BC Lions convered him to a linebacker and made a huge impact.

I would not be surprised if we were interested considering that we're moving to a 3-4. Wake is a perfect 3-4 OLB. It a shame we didnt get him!!

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Cameron Wake's got a mean bounce on him. I haven't seen him play, but people say he's great.

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I'm thinking Poppinga should be brought to ILB in the 3-4. 3-4 ILB have to be very physical and Poppinga has easily been the most physical LB in years past.... and OLB in the 3-4 is a play makers spot and Poppinga isn't a play maker.

So IMO Hawk should go to the out side and we should see if he can become the play maker people though it would be when he was drafted at #5.

Then again the new OLB coach main move is the bull rush which Kampman and Poppinga would probably be best at that to right off the bat.

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