Music to my ears......music to my ears

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by sherck

Agreed.

However, in the past two seasons, Ballard has used SIX of EIGHT first/second/third round draft picks on defense (with the other two used on OG). You cannot fault his effort at trying to find defensive playmakers!

- Two secondary pieces (Hooker, Wilson)
- One Linebacker piece (Leonard)
- Three Defensive Line pieces (Basham, Lewis, Turay)

I guess we can complain about how much free cap space Ballard has and that he did not sign any high priced free agents this off-season for the defense but the off-season is not over yet and the cut down to 53 guys per team will put A LOT of talent on the street. We are not a finished package yet.

Heck, think of it this way as well. Between Hooker's injury, Wilson's doghouse of last year and Basham playing out of position, it is almost like getting 3 additional high round rookies added to the defense to join Leonard, Lewis and Turay.

I am not saying that they are going to be good; but they might jel and surprise some folks in the second half of the year.

Walk Worthy,

I would still like a dominate dline added to that mix, specifically a penetrating DT. Next draft should have quite a few to choose from. Need more secondary help as well. I think it usually takes a couple years for defenders to develop. I think next year we will see a better defense, but I anticipate a lot of growing pains this year. I’m still not sold on the Tampa 2, I think it is too dated, but with the right players it can still be an effective defense.

Right, I still see us getting guys before cut down day. There will be some good players let go this year.

Don’t forget Walker and the two LBs chosen this year. I can see them contributing.