2018 Defense vs 2019 Defense

[Ring 6]

I don't disagree with any of what you wrote. The issue is about the transition. Unless somebody returns, the new guys are not going to have any of that institutional memory that you are talking about. The Sciano bailout before he event took the job formally was unprecedented. I think we we will be talking about this a lot in September - October, and if we're relatively comfortable with the makeup of the defensive roster now, we'll need to remember this as the season progresses.

I’ve reached the point where I pretty much scoff at the gloomy claims of adversity bringing down the patriots.
There is pretty much nothing you can think of that this team hasn’t overcome and barely ever missed a beat.
My overall opinion at this point regardless of the fear du jour is “it’s belichick, he will figure it out and we won’t be losing because of that”.

 

[mgteich]

I note that all the players your have at risk are special teamers. Ebner, Slater and King are our top special teamers. King plays on over 60% of the special team reps.

As you well know, Belichick loves his special teamers. In addition to the above, last year we had LB/STers Grigsby, McCallen and Humber. Crossen and Obi were our additional DB/STers, with 39 and 20 defensive reps all year respectively.

BOTTOM LINE
We had 8 players who were here to play special teams last year. The top 3 are back. 3 of the remaining 5 are gone. The open question is how many will Belichick keep. We posters almost always err on the low side.

We have added Brooks, who I presume will replace at least one of Obi and Crossen.

I think that's as good of a list as any. I think they say King is a LB but he might be on the chopping block.

I wonder if Ebner might be in a fight for his job...if Obi shines.

Crossen's speed is great asset but he also might be in a spot

 

[SBLIII]

Power Ranking Every NFL Defense After the 2019 Draft

 

[PatsFan2]

Just not seeing it with Wise. I want to believe, though.

Well sup at least Wise has made himself a solid rational guy...wish we could say the same for Rivers.

 

[SBLIII]

Well sup at least Wise has made himself a solid rational guy...wish we could same the same for Rivers.

Rivers better step up this offseason or its good bye

 

[PatsFan2]

Rivers better step up this offseason or its good bye

Sometimes they can really turn it around but sometimes they don't either Rivers looked lost the few times I saw him.

 

[Ring 6]

Power Ranking Every NFL Defense After the 2019 Draft

Source loses all credibility rankings Pittsburgh #2 defense in the NFL.

 

[SBLIII]

Source loses all credibility rankings Pittsburgh #2 defense in the NFL.

Yes.

 

[VectorPrime]

Source loses all credibility rankings Pittsburgh #2 defense in the NFL.

Maybe not 2 but they’re pretty good as long as they don’t decide to play nothing but a soft zone against us.

 

[Ring 6]

Maybe not 2 but they’re pretty good as long as they don’t decide to play nothing but a soft zone against us.

They are mediocre defensively. 16th in the metric that means the most. That’s not good.

 

[jah]

They are mediocre defensively. 16th in the metric that means the most. That’s not good.

I'm guessing that new ranking is predicated on their new LB Bush being the "missing piece". I'm not convinced it'll end up that way though, at least not this year.

 

[ivanvamp]

Starters Comparison
Pos - 2018 - 2019 - Verdict
DE - Wise - Wise - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DT - Guy - Guy - No change, added experience countered by more mileage on the tires
DT - M.Brown - Pennel - Slight upgrade, as Brown was a bit of a disappointment
DE - Flowers - Bennett - Slight downgrade, though it's very close
LB - Hightower - Hightower - No change, assuming good health
LB - Van Noy - Van Noy - No change
LB - Roberts - Roberts - Slight upgrade, because of experience
CB - Gilmore - Gilmore - No change, all-pro player in his prime
S - Chung - Chung - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older
S - D.McCourty - D.McCourty - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older
CB - J.McCourty - J.McCourty - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older

Reserves
Pos - 2018 - 2019 - Verdict
DL - Butler - Butler - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DL - Grissom - Winovich - Major upgrade, on talent and motor
DL - Shelton - Parry - No change, hard to see one being better than the other
DL - Simon - Simon - No change
DL - Rivers - Rivers - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DL - Davis - Davis - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DL - Kamalu - Cowart - No idea
D - Grigsby - Calhoun - No idea
LB - King - King - No change
LB - Bentley (IR) - Bentley - Major upgrade, assuming good health
LB - Sam - Sam - Slight upgrade, assuming good health
CB - Rowe - Williams - Major upgrade, as Rowe just wasn't great and Williams can be
CB - Crossen - Crossen - Slight upgrade, because of experience
CB - J.Jones - J.Jones - Slight upgrade, because of experience
CB - Dawson (IR) - Dawson - Slight upgrade, assuming good health
S - Harmon - Harmon - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older
S - Melifonwu - Melifonwu - Slight upgrade, because of experience

You can see that basically I assume that if you're on the front end of the curve (i.e., before you reach your peak), you'll improve with experience, but if you're on the back end of the curve, you'll decline due to age and mileage. Someone like Guy is right at that point where the two probably counter each other. I assume that people like Bentley and Dawson will represent upgrades if only because they would be healthy, and a healthy Bentley is better than Bentley on IR. A few spots, I have no way of knowing or even really guessing.

Obviously I'm spitballing here, but I see:

3 major upgrades
11 minor upgrades
5 minor downgrades
0 major downgrades
8 no changes
2 no ideas

That to me would represent a pretty significant cumulative improvement from 2018 to 2019. Of course, who knows really, and injuries could play a big factor and such. But I think they have a chance to be very good on D, *especially* if Bennett still has enough in the tank and Winovich is the real deal.

 

[luuked]

Week 4: This defense sucks. They should have spent the money to resign Flowers, Jones, Hicks........

Week 8: They've improved but they need to get younger at safety.

Week 12: If they can just get more pressure maybe they can make a run.

Week 17: This is why Bill is brilliant. We have all this cheap talent and all the comp picks to keep rebuilding and meanwhile the guys they let go aren't worth the money. We are winning it all!

Not to forget "Week 2: This is a 7-9 team, lets trade our players for assets."

 

[Ring 6]

I'm guessing that new ranking is predicated on their new LB Bush being the "missing piece". I'm not convinced it'll end up that way though, at least not this year.

If you elevate a defense from Mediocre to elite, almost the best in the nfl, based upon drafting a rookie lb, that is moronic.

 

[BelichicksHoodie]

I'm guessing that new ranking is predicated on their new LB Bush being the "missing piece". I'm not convinced it'll end up that way though, at least not this year.

If one rookie is that good might as well put him in Canton before he's played a snap.

 

[Uptown]

This D is gonna be good.

 

[SBLIII]

This D is gonna be good.

do you enjoy it?

 

[TommyD4207]

Maybe not 2 but they’re pretty good as long as they don’t decide to play nothing but a soft zone against us.

Pittsburgh will be a dogshit defense in the secondary, just as it has been for the last decade.

 

[Uptown]

 

[wpdougie2180]

Starters Comparison
Pos - 2018 - 2019 - Verdict
DE - Wise - Wise - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DT - Guy - Guy - No change, added experience countered by more mileage on the tires
DT - M.Brown - Pennel - Slight upgrade, as Brown was a bit of a disappointment
DE - Flowers - Bennett - Slight downgrade, though it's very close
LB - Hightower - Hightower - No change, assuming good health
LB - Van Noy - Van Noy - No change
LB - Roberts - Roberts - Slight upgrade, because of experience
CB - Gilmore - Gilmore - No change, all-pro player in his prime
S - Chung - Chung - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older
S - D.McCourty - D.McCourty - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older
CB - J.McCourty - J.McCourty - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older

Reserves
Pos - 2018 - 2019 - Verdict
DL - Butler - Butler - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DL - Grissom - Winovich - Major upgrade, on talent and motor
DL - Shelton - Parry - No change, hard to see one being better than the other
DL - Simon - Simon - No change
DL - Rivers - Rivers - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DL - Davis - Davis - Slight upgrade, because of experience
DL - Kamalu - Cowart - No idea
D - Grigsby - Calhoun - No idea
LB - King - King - No change
LB - Bentley (IR) - Bentley - Major upgrade, assuming good health
LB - Sam - Sam - Slight upgrade, assuming good health
CB - Rowe - Williams - Major upgrade, as Rowe just wasn't great and Williams can be
CB - Crossen - Crossen - Slight upgrade, because of experience
CB - J.Jones - J.Jones - Slight upgrade, because of experience
CB - Dawson (IR) - Dawson - Slight upgrade, assuming good health
S - Harmon - Harmon - Slight downgrade, as he's getting older
S - Melifonwu - Melifonwu - Slight upgrade, because of experience

You can see that basically I assume that if you're on the front end of the curve (i.e., before you reach your peak), you'll improve with experience, but if you're on the back end of the curve, you'll decline due to age and mileage. Someone like Guy is right at that point where the two probably counter each other. I assume that people like Bentley and Dawson will represent upgrades if only because they would be healthy, and a healthy Bentley is better than Bentley on IR. A few spots, I have no way of knowing or even really guessing.

Obviously I'm spitballing here, but I see:

3 major upgrades
11 minor upgrades
5 minor downgrades
0 major downgrades
8 no changes
2 no ideas

That to me would represent a pretty significant cumulative improvement from 2018 to 2019. Of course, who knows really, and injuries could play a big factor and such. But I think they have a chance to be very good on D, *especially* if Bennett still has enough in the tank and Winovich is the real deal.

Jackson???