There's too much obsession in here about 3-4 or 4-3. Defenses are about the sub-packages anyway. Our defense needs to identify the turds and rid ourselves of them, re-up Sam Shields, and get upgrades at safety and inside linebacker. Would love to see a top ten defense again!

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ya but I think we all remember the sanders ara - ie before capers - our D could be read easily and we didnt do jack. IMO

I wonder what this D would look like with 2 new LBs inside. Brad Jones has to be replaced. The guy sucks. Hawk has been durable, and almost always leads in tackles but I just wonder what it would be like having a better MLB there.

We need upgrades at so many positions. It boggles the mind:
NT
DE
OLB
MLB
ILB
SS (move Burnett back to FS)

I don't think we need to switch out of the 3-4, but we definitely need better players.

I havnt liked brad jones since we drafted him ... you got some guys that looked tough or had alot of fire in em and they had some muscle ... then you had brad jones that didnt like look anything to do with the previous ... and still doesnt. Yet we paid him big $ last year with a contract (dont remember how long).

Supposedly he is our best pass def ILB ... Got to be better peeps out there then him.

Ive never really liked hawk either ... was only so so on the guy ... but I got to tell you this year ... especially with clay being out or hampered most of the time. I mostly saw hawk tearing it up. Prob first year I am glad we had hawk on our team and would want him again next year.

Dulak, Jones had 0 PDs and 0 INTs, for a guy who should be good in coverage with height and speed… I don't think he can cover. That is not part of his skill set. We can't have that in the middle of our D.

Figure with Raji going through the motions and not being effective, and Pickett always trying, but getting older and playing though injury all of last season, along with piss poor Safety play, our interior D left a lot to be desired. DL and LBs not getting home to the QB, not stopping the RB on run plays, and showing great difficulty in coverage over the middle.

I'm all for addressing the middle of our D this offseason. NT, DE, ILB, MLB and S. I hope they will bring in some good talent. We need it. My only question is, do they have the stones to cut loose the players, like Jones, who aren't producing?

At least Hawk made plays. 5 PDs and 1 INT, 1FF and 5 sacks to go with 118 tackles. If he had some real talent around him…. to think his numbers could have been even better… I like Hawk, because he is always there. He is reliable. I didn't care for his 2011-12 seasons - both play and his contract #s, but it was good to see him turn it completely around last season. I think we might be able to do better, but there are other positions listed that need far more attention.

Jones was battling injuries all year. He wasn't 100%.

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