Hindsight on the decisions on defense

[aria]

I never liked letting them all leave, especially Church, but Jerry knows best and the playoff record over the past 2 decades proves it.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I'm not talking about the offense. I'm talking about getting rid of 4 starters in a secondary that held most teams to under 20 points and not having viable, ready replacements.

My point is.......the team never looked this bad last year because the offense didn't look that bad.

The secondary was the worst part of the unit on this team last year. Let's don't kid ourselves. They would've sucked with the rest of this team today.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I never liked letting them all leave, especially Church, but Jerry knows best and the playoff record over the past 2 decades proves it.

Well in Jerrys defense....when he lets a guy go...you never hear from them again.

 

[John813]

Disagree. Missing Scandrick and Awuzie hurt quite a bit. Although I rather have Claiborne over Carroll.

 

[sweetness0986]

We can say these rookies have a ceiling as high as the clouds, but the problem is they are still rookies and the corner position takes a while to play. You also need cohesion on the back end with guys working together. You cannot have that cohesion if the majority of your secondary are rookies and new guys. Unless some miracle happens where these guys just gel like never before, I fully expect them to get super spanked against some of the better offensive teams in the league, at no fault of their own. Trevor Siemian did this to them, so imagine what rodgers, brady, ryan or carr could do.

The FO got cocky with their drafts and felt like we could staff the secondary with newbies and not get newbie results.

Exactly. The year after you go 13-3 and are in the hunt for the SB doesn't exactly seem like the best time to rebuild. Get rid of a couple guys, sure. Bring in some rookies, great. But we couldn't have negotiated with Mo Claiborne for a one year deal (which is his tenure for the Jets) instead of bringing in Nolan Carroll? I'd like a show of hands for those that truly would prefer Carroll over Mo right now.

 

[perrykemp]

In the long run letting Carr, Claiborne, Church and Wilcox was the right decision.

Claiborne was never available, Carr was pedestrian, and Church and Wilcox were LBs masquerading as safeties.

 

[aria]

Well in Jerrys defense....when he lets a guy go...you never hear from them again.

That also says something about the types of guys he's hiring. Ware won a SB after leaving and there's no doubt we could have used Leary tonight.

 

[mattjames2010]

You lose 4 veteran secondary players, it's a mistake. Church or Wilcox should have been brought back on a small deal - and at least Carr or Claiborne. I said this last year, bring at least one back.

You lose them, and you bring in rookies and rely on a second year guy and a bigger scrub than Carr from Philly. It was a bad move all around. If you are willing to let those players walk, you need a viable plan to replace them.

I don't even expect Scandrick to consistently play this year. He's becoming worse than Claiborne with health. I would have cut Scandrick and brought back Claiborne.

 

[sweetness0986]

My point is.......the team never looked this bad last year because the offense didn't look that bad.

The secondary was the worst part of the unit on this team last year. Let's don't kid ourselves. They would've sucked with the rest of this team today.

The offense looked pretty bad against the Vikings last year but the D kept them in the game and helped them win. No way we lose in this fashion last year.

 

[Sydla]

In the long run letting Carr, Claiborne, Church and Wilcox was the right decision.

Claiborne was never available, Carr was pedestrian, and Church and Wilcox were LBs masquerading as safeties.

Which is much better than the vet CB signed.

I get letting all those guys walk....................................................... if you actually brought in some vets that were better. We didn't.

 

[ShiningStar]

i dont care about the move, just commit to it. This season is over, play the guys, let them learn let them make their mistakes, get a new coaching staff for next year, young guys, new systems, start on 2018. you blew 20 plus years already, you finally have a young team, get a new coach and staff ready to take over. Let the kids learn the game now.

 

[Sydla]

You lose 4 veteran secondary players, it's a mistake. Church or Wilcox should have been brought back on a small deal - and at least Carr or Claiborne. I said this last year, bring at least one back.

You lose them, and you bring in rookies and rely on a second year guy and a bigger scrub than Carr from Philly. It was a bad move all around. If you are willing to let those players walk, you need a viable plan to replace them.

I don't even expect Scandrick to consistently play this year. He's becoming worse than Claiborne with health. I would have cut Scandrick and brought back Claiborne.

The fact they had a boner for Carroll for multiple offseasons makes me wonder who scouts defensive talent.

I really think they thought they were getting an upgrade at CB from Carr and Claiborne with Carroll. Oy.

 

[sweetness0986]

In the long run letting Carr, Claiborne, Church and Wilcox was the right decision.

Claiborne was never available, Carr was pedestrian, and Church and Wilcox were LBs masquerading as safeties.

Say what you will about Brandon Carr but we had him covering #1 stud WRs and he rarely misses a game. Was he perfect? No. Did he get burned sometimes? Of course. But we are replacing him with Nolan Carroll, Scandrick who can't stay on the field, and our 2nd year 6th round pick Anthony Brown.

 

[sbark]

I do think Wilcox would've come up and laid some serious Wood on CJ Anderson at least a few times, and been able to keep his footing at least as good

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

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Say what you will about Brandon Carr but we had him covering #1 stud WRs and he rarely misses a game. Was he perfect? No. Did he get burned sometimes? Of course. But we are replacing him with Nolan Carroll, Scandrick who can't stay on the field, and our 2nd year 6th round pick Anthony Brown.

I thought Carr left us?

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

That also says something about the types of guys he's hiring. Ware won a SB after leaving and there's no doubt we could have used Leary tonight.

So we have 3 Pro Bowlers on the line and Collins.......but Leary would've fixed everything? Highly doubt it lol.

 

[mattjames2010]

A bigger issue with losing these guys is that we are losing veteran leadership - Lee is a field general, but he can't be the only experienced guy. We keep churning this defense, there is not enough long term guys here.

None of the guys we allowed to walk, outside of Claiborne, were ever "great", however I wouldn't say they were terrible either.

With our schedule, it looks like we may go 6-10 unless getting Irvin and Hitchens back in a few weeks somehow manages to make this defense far better. In a way, I think this might be a good thing - this draft has some serious talent in it. We can either decide to replace Dak with a true franchise QB, or get a serious defensive talent.

 

[Sydla]

Hitchens isn't saving this defense. It all rests on the DL, specifically the DEs. If they aren't going to get to the QB and set the edge, it doesn't matter who is playing LB.

 

[lqmac1]

Letting Carr, Claiborne, Church and Wilcox go. I get that these guys weren't all pros but that's a lot of key players to lose at once in the secondary. Wish we could have worked out a deal to keep one of Carr/Claiborne instead of Nolan Carroll (he's truly terrible) and one of Church/Wilcox. It was evident today that it's going to take time for the rookies to get up to speed and those guys are missed out there, as much as this board liked to call them all jags. Not every player is going to be a HOFer but you don't just implode a secondary that was a part of a 13-3 season.

I hated when we signed Carroll and still feel the same. He has always been awful! We need to let Lewis or Awuzie start instead

 

[aria]

So we have 3 Pro Bowlers on the line and Collins.......but Leary would've fixed everything? Highly doubt it lol.

Not everything but letting him walk was a mistake. I'm not saying he won't be better but so far I haven't been that impressed with Collins.