Sure it's been covered earlier but, color me intrigued with the possibilities of our front seven. Easley and sheard especially really stood out to me. Both looking explosive and making nightmares for that offensive line. Also glad to see mayo moving well. It's going to be interesting to see how they split up the reps. Don't want to get ahead of myself with sheard but I think he may take more of ninks snaps then we first thought. And I really don't see nink will be getting a lot of linebacker work like he started tonight with Hightower looking to be ready full tilt week 1. Going to be really fun to see how this shakes out.
I, too, am a bit more excited about the front seven now. They have the ability to disguise a lot more with the additions.
I am excited about Sheard based on what I have seen in these games; however, I do not think it will be Ninko's snaps that he takes. They'll find ways to move him around and do some things, but Ninko just does not come off the field. If there's one thing I've noticed about BB is he will keep going to the well if the player is young enough and/or still capable. Ninko has shown no signs of slowing down. His intelligence is also a reason why Bill always wants him on the field.
Easley is looking like player we all were expecting based on what the film showed. He is showing explosiveness, but as someone else mentioned earlier in this thread, he is showing that he can win with more than that uncanny explosion and acceleration. If he can stay healthy, and that's a big IF with those bad knees, then we have a player that is going to be disruptive in the middle of the line on both passing and running plays. He seems to have a high motor and his stamina seems good enough.
Not to say that Malcolm Brown has not made more plays, but only one has stood out to me so far and it occurred in the game against the Saints. He chased down the running back about 10 yards downfield on a screen and made the tackle. Collins looked to slightly pull up on the play and Brown came flying in to make the tackle. That shows good pursuit and desire.
Siliga continues to be extremely steady. He shows up on quite a few plays, though never flashy. He's kind of like a safety in the sense that a good one is hardly noticed. That's not an attribute normally applied to D-Linemen, I know, but he just quietly does a really good job. Yeah, I have seen him get bulldozed a few times and he's not the greatest on passing downs, but we don't necessarily need for him to be all-world. He just does his job, like Develin.
Jones is in a contract year. He better show up more consistently. He has looked explosive off the edge and has set the edge a bit better in the preseason than I've seen from him. He has not been terrible at it in his career so far, but he continues to get better at it as he gains more strength. He has worn down at the end of games presumably because he has lacked some size for the position, but maybe this changes. There have been threads about the possibility of letting him walk in favor of finding enough to keep Collins and Hightower, but I hope the kid balls out this year and we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Ninko is Ninko . . . GREAT, imho. Done.
The LB's are the LB's. I don't really think I need to say more. If all three stay healthy, the BEST group (and STILL SO YOUNG) in the NFL.
