I wasn't - I liked the players for the most part (some more than others), but I felt from day 1 with Sanders that he couldn't run that defense half as well as Bates did. I hated the lack of creativity and blitzing, and I was never even close to satisfied with the run defense. To me, it was like he didn't even understand the D and was just calling sets from a note card.
As far as some fans having blind optimism, I think the case can be made that your own vision isn't as clear as you'd like to claim it is.
First: Injuries. You may not think that Cullen Jenkins is very good - I don't know, I've not heard your opinion. IMO, the guy is and was the lynchpin for that defense. He's going to be back. As will our entire LB corps, which have been augmented with a kid who should be a strong competitor out of the gate. There's even indication that our own seldom-seen kid Harrell will be heathy, and we'll finally get to see what the kid can do. Am I using injuries as an excuse? Nope - what I am saying is that getting those guys we lost last season to injury back on the field is a reason for some optimism.
Additions: No, we don't know that Raji will come in and be the beast we need in the middle. No team who drafts a player KNOWS that they're getting what they paid for - Minnesota didn't KNOW AP would work out, and I remember constant hand-wringing about whether or not he was injury-prone his entire rookie year. But we can reasonably infer that the kid's measurables, in addition to the fact that he dominated in a big way against top-tier competition in college, indicate that he has good chance to be what we need. Same with Matthews - sure, he could flame out, but there's reason to hope that he'll be what we need on that right side. Again, it's reason, IMO, for some optimism.
Secondary: Yes, they're getting older. But I'm lost as to why you think Woodson is teetering on the precipice when he had a career year last year while playing with a broken toe - that's a little beyond me, and IMO it's also overly pessimistic. Al isn't everything he used to be, but nobody's going to work harder than he is, and he's still better than 90% of the other corners in our division. Williams could be due for a breakout season, as well, and we've got good youth improving behind them. Bigby is a question mark: If he starts the year out healthy, there's a chance we'll see a return to form, and if not we've picked up another guy who knows the scheme. Collins is a pro-bowler, so if you don't like him I can't help you there.
My point is: It's not blind optimism. There are plenty of indicators that this defense will be, at worst, some improvement over last year's defense. Are there question marks? Of course, and anyone here who looks you in the eye with a straight face and guarantees a top-whatever-ranked defense is probably being very optimistic. But to paint this as some pie-in-the-sky optimism based on nothing but faith in some guy in a suit is, to me, ridiculously pessimistic.
There's room in the middle, where the sensible folks sit.
"ILikeThePackers39" wrote: