More on Hargrove...

[Kerr]

I was doing some digging and I was reading an article about him where leonard little was saying hargrove can run as fast as him. And you all know leonard little is one of the best speed rushers in this league. Apparently hargrove ran a 4.6 at his combine when he came out. For a man his size, that is pretty good. I feel that marv got a steal in this trade. Not only was he improving as a pass rusher, but as a run defender as well. I don't have any stats to back it up, but someone at a site had said he was the rams best run defender on the line last year? I'm not too sure about that, but if it's true, that's another encouraging sign. Hopefully he can come in and perform at a high level, which would eliminate the need to draft a pass rusher next year with the 1st pick. A pass rusher may be drafted either way, but not with such a high pick. If kelsay bails next year in free agency, there's a possibility hargrove can replace him at LE full time.

[PECKERWOOD]

Hopefully, if Hargrove works out we could draft a quality DT. ( cmon Alan Branch! >.<)

[jamze132]

I don't think our DE's are really the problem on the line. I think the theory about hvaing small Tackles is ******ed. Teams can run right up the middle on us at will. How often did that happen when Pat and Sam were in the middle?

[The_Philster]

I don't think our DE's are really the problem on the line. I think the theory about hvaing small Tackles is ******ed. Teams can run right up the middle on us at will. How often did that happen when Pat and Sam were in the middle?
Yeah...they've been saying that being smaller allows our DTs to penetrate the backfield quickly and get to the QB and RB...granted, it's a nice idea...in theory...and it worked with Jeff Wright...he was hardly a behemoth....but Pat Williams was a big guy and he was constantly in the backfield.

[mybills]

I was doing some digging and I was reading an article about him where leonard little was saying hargrove can run as fast as him. And you all know leonard little is one of the best speed rushers in this league. Apparently hargrove ran a 4.6 at his combine when he came out. For a man his size, that is pretty good. I feel that marv got a steal in this trade. Not only was he improving as a pass rusher, but as a run defender as well. I don't have any stats to back it up, but someone at a site had said he was the rams best run defender on the line last year? I'm not too sure about that, but if it's true, that's another encouraging sign. Hopefully he can come in and perform at a high level, which would eliminate the need to draft a pass rusher next year with the 1st pick. A pass rusher may be drafted either way, but not with such a high pick. If kelsay bails next year in free agency, there's a possibility hargrove can replace him at LE full time.
I don't have a problem with Kelsay. :ill:

[X-Era]

I was doing some digging and I was reading an article about him where leonard little was saying hargrove can run as fast as him. And you all know leonard little is one of the best speed rushers in this league. Apparently hargrove ran a 4.6 at his combine when he came out. For a man his size, that is pretty good. I feel that marv got a steal in this trade. Not only was he improving as a pass rusher, but as a run defender as well. I don't have any stats to back it up, but someone at a site had said he was the rams best run defender on the line last year? I'm not too sure about that, but if it's true, that's another encouraging sign. Hopefully he can come in and perform at a high level, which would eliminate the need to draft a pass rusher next year with the 1st pick. A pass rusher may be drafted either way, but not with such a high pick. If kelsay bails next year in free agency, there's a possibility hargrove can replace him at LE full time.

I wont disagree with the thrust of your post. A 5th rounder for a guy with upside, and experience is a no brainer. Weve simply cut guys and basically wasted 5th round picks.

But, lets not get drawn into thinking that this move represents an adequate job of drastically improving your talent, it doesnt. This is a push. Both Kelsay and Denney were said to be 'high motor' types. They both have great measurables. Until this one works out its a push. But, yes a 5th rounder isnt worth squat and this guy can step right in and play, maybe average, but he can play right away.

Personally, Im not happy with the way we have approached trades, and FA. We have let WAY too many good players get signed in front of us while going the second tier route. Well, you get what you pay for. Its high time we step way the hell up.

I only respond this way to say that although I like this move, its still not good enough, I want MUCH more.

[jamze132]

I will say that if we were going to make a trade, it should have been for a better player that what we already have. Just about any DT would be an upgrade over Tim Freakin' Anderson!

You wanna know why we have no pass rush? Refer to the above paragraph. He is just one of the DT's who don't take any pressure off of the ends. Teams know that they can slide protection over to the ends or move in a TE because if there is going to be a pass rush, it is coming from the outside, not from Triplett and Anderson.

[TigerJ]

I don't know if you've seen this article by Chris Brown or not. Essentially it gives the team position on why they've been struggling versus the run. Essentially the explanation they give is that with the Tampa 2 it can take some time for what they learn about technique in training camp and practice to translate into production in games. Brown cites Dungy's experience installing the defence in both Tampa and Indianapolis as evidence that it can start out rough, but will get better. Tripplett is the only guy with any experience in this particular defense, so what Brown is saying could have some validity. Maybe we won't need a set of 350 lb DTs after all. In any case, we're not going to get them this year, and by the end of the season we should have some indication whether the assertions in this article are valid or not.

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=4278

[Saratoga Slim]

Good post Tiger. We are where we are at the moment, and it doesn't look like we're getting any more help at DT this season. So we might as well sit back and hope that this point is correct, that the D just hasn't fully adapted to the new system yet.

That said, it ain't nothing that the run defense is ranked in the middle of the pack now. That certainly wasn't the case during last year's debacle. A case could be made that the system IS working already. They've improved from last year without a significant upgrade in talent on the DL.