Kentucky Jet Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Upfront on the Front Seven: Last year a big reason for our defensive woes was our front seven. We had so much trouble stopping the run as well as applying a strong pass rush. One of Mangini’s areas of improvement over the off season was to upgrade the pass rush. Also being able to stop the run starts from the down lineman being able to tie up lineman, allowing the linebackers to swarm the ball and make plays. Let’s look at how the front seven looks going into 2007. I see the team carrying 7 down lineman on the active roster. The defensive ends in my opinion will be Shaun Ellis, Bobby Hamilton, Kenyon Coleman, and Kimo Von Oehloffen. We signed Kenyon Coleman to a $20 million dollar contract. That seems somewhat odd considering he never started before in the NFL. Parcells praised this player from his time in Dallas as someone who is a prototypical 3-4 defensive end. He showed some flashes of brilliance when he stuffed a 3rd and short run play at the line of scrimmage last Friday against the Falcons. With him starting now at the bookend with Ellis, that leaves Hamilton and Von Oehloffen at reserves on the ends. I think that is a good reserve combo. Both have experience in the system which always helps. On the inside I see us carrying Dewayne Robertson, Sione Pouha, and hardworking veteran Eric Hicks. I see Hicks edging Michael Haynes for this roster spot. We always here how Robertson has been doing this and doing that, but when is the former 4th overall pick going to contribute to that expectation. Stop a play in the backfield, sack a quarterback. We are still waiting for that steadiness. Pouha missed all of last season and should fill in for Robertson nicely. Hicks will be there for a change of pace and a fresh body. A lot of our defensive performance will hedge upon Robertson’s season in the middle, and being able to keep blockers off of Vilma. Read more » More… The linebacker core is something I consider to be a strong unit for this team. No matter what other reporters or analysts say, I think this is a strong bunch. On the inside we have three excellent players in Jonathan Vilma, Eric Barton, and David Harris. Brad Kassell will make the team as the fourth middle linebacker. On the outside we have last year’s most improved players Bryan Thomas and Victor Hobson. David Bowens was signed from the Dolphins in the off season to help out on the outside and improve our pass rush greatly. The wild card here is look for Andre Wadsworh or Cody Spencer to push for a roster spot on the outside. Spencer holds the edge here because of his prowl on special teams in my opinion. I think our front seven can make this defense very formidable, what do you guys think? Posted: August 16th, 2007 under Main Page. Author: JMattera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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