bobobonators

M&M are by far my favorite here in the NYC area. Boomer and Carton are just too much for me. Boomer is always too politically correct and Carton spends more time making farting noises than actually talking sports. M&M have great chemistry together. Just my personal opinion.

LOL. I wasn't trying to impress anyone with calling a weakside LB a Will or a strong side LB a Sam - sorry if it came off that way . What I am trying to do is be realistic in my assessment of Kiko. Like I said earlier, it's hard to argue with Brian, but being Devil's advocate: How many games do you think Brian actually watched Kiko play in? Did he just watch highlights? Did he watch every single bills game? What else was Brian going to say about Kiko? He sucks?

Ah ya, you got the good day. I must admit today was good, especially w/ Mike n Mike. But it's Thursday before the SB, they better step up their game time is running out!! haha.

He doesn't always lose in bad weather. He has played in Denver the last 2 seasons and he has won multiple games this season in really cold weather. Overblown statements.

Good post man. A concern (slight) that I have is that we've had countless D-coordinators come through here over the last few years and there has been a constant: our run Defense has been atrocious with every single one. So why would Schwartz be different? In 2013, we were 28th vs. the run under Pettine. In 2012, we were 31st vs. the run under Wanny. In 2011, we were 28th vs. the run under Edwards. All three of those lines had KW and Dareus in the middle as will the 2014 line. 2012 and 2013 had KW, Dareus, and MW on the line as will the 2014 line. Common theme during those three years: horrible LB's. 2011 LB's: Barnett (toward end of his career); Moats (not an NFL starter); A. Davis (end of his career); Kelsay (not even a real LB); S. Johnson (not a real LB); Sheppard (not an NFL starter). That's a HORRIBLE LB corps. 2012 LB's: Barnett (end of his career); Bradham (not an NFL starter); Sheppard (not an NFL starter); Morrison (no); C. White (no). Once again, a horrible LB corps. 2013 LB's: Kiko (great rookie year); Lawson (solid NFL starter); Bradham (not an NFL starter); Moats (not an NFL starter); Powell (not an NFL starter); Hughes (strictly a pass rusher/situational player) 2013 was probably our best year in terms of talent at the LB spot b/c we actually fielded 2 NFL caliber LB's on the field and Hughes was a beast when asked to pass rush. That being said, Kiko's play definitely tailed off towards the last quarter of the season (which is expected from a rookie). We're still short 1 legit starter on that LB unit, IMO. Other than maybe LG, I can't think of any other position on our team where the same can be said. Sure, we could use another WR, but we don't need one with SJ and Wooods. We'll see what happens with Chandler at TE. If he returns, we don't need a TE. I'm looking to build a well-rounded team. It was fabulous that we were beasts at rushing the passer, and if I had to choose, I'd rather be great at rushing the passer than stopping the run in this league. But finishing in the bottom 5 of any category is unacceptable. There will be games where Mario, hughes, and KW won't be able to get to the QB and we can't afford to have a team gash us in both the run and the pass. Agreed. Yup, I know they may be listed similarly, but just LOOKING at Kiko and Urlacher, you see the size difference. Urlacher is much bigger.

Bowling Ball Borland

Dude awesome draft if that happens. I like.

Awesome endorsement for sure. I know it sounds outlandish to disagree w urlacher, IMO i just dont agree after watching Kiko play all season. I guess we'll see. Id love 110% to be wrong.

I understand where you're coming from, but I respectfully disagree. Last season we ranked 28th in the league vs. the run. We also ranked 28th in the league in passing yds/game - but that was 3 QB's starting throughout the season. I agree that the offensive side needs improvement, but that improvement can automatically come just by doing nothing and having a healthy EJ play every game and progress. Our run defense might need a lot more work than just sitting back and hoping for the progression of any single player (IMO). So in other words, my question to everyone will be: how are we going to improve on stopping the run? The DL will essentially remain the same. The only area to upgrade, which is a huge area vs the run, is the LB corps. We are short 1 NFL-caliber starter at that position (IMO) and we have little solid depth. Could you imagine if Kiko got injured for a couple of games? It's a critical need.

In contrast, As we speak the rangers are playing the islanders at yankee stadium with players skating on ice in 9 degree weather. Everyone appears to be having a great time. Great atmosphere. For football its all doom and gloom bc weather is going to be 30 degrees on sunday. Sad.

:thumbsup: It's truly nuts. The weather report is forecasting the game to be in the 30's with no precipitation...LMAO. But that doesn't prevent skip and steven a. smith complaining about the weather for the game; michael kay show talking about the weather; espn giving weather updates, etc. We all get it guys. It might have been a story 4 weeks ago when we didn't know if there might be a blizzard, but it's over. Move on and analyze the defensive/offensive matchups. Yeah, I'm actually excited about the game itself. I feel the matchup between the hawks D and the Broncos O is PHENOMENAL. I just want it to get here already so I can stop hearing about the weather..lol Actually, the first thing in the post-game report will probably be: Well guys, it looks like the weather had no effect on Peyton as he threw for 3tds and 300yds. lmao. I can almost hear it now.

Not sure how some of you feel, but these two weeks have been horrible from a 3rd party's perspective. First thing I hear on the radio in the morning is the weather forecast for the SB and how it may affect Peyton or the game in general. First thing I hear on radio when I get home is how the weather forecast has changed for the SB and how it may not affect the SB. It's been the same story, every day for the last 1.5 weeks. Unfortunately, I see no end in site. I'm sure tomorrow morning ESPN will have another update on the weather forecast for the SB. They even have an update running on the bottom of the screen at times for the SB's weather forecast. The large majority of the SB analysis on the radio here in NYC deals with how the weather may/may not affect the game. Is this lazy reporting? Is this a product of 2 weeks being too much of a gap in-between games? It honestly boggles my mind: 1. Denver is not located in Cuba; it is located here: 2. Seattle is not located in Djibouti, it is located here: 3. Seattle does not play in a dome. 4. Denver does not play in a dome. 5. For people who insist on weather not playing a role in the most important game of the season: Weren't all other games leading up to this point played in the elements (except where a home team has a dome obviously)? What's the difference? I almost had an aneurysm when I got home tonight and had to listen to Michael Kay talking about the weather again for the SB. Is this because i'm in the NYC market, or are you guys in other parts of the country experiencing the same garbage reporting/analysis? :wallbash:

Good post. You pretty much hit on my thought process. I also don't mean to state that Kiko can't play MLB to a degree, but that I don't think MLB would be his best slot. I think Kiko would be a beast at the Will slot. So in other words, I feel our LB corps would be worlds better with Kiko at the Will, Mosley at the Mike, and Lawson at the Sam. Kiko dropping into coverage, blowing up screen passes, and the ability to not have to face the interior lineman who will Gobble him up. A Lance Briggs type player.

He was great for about half the season and the majority of his greatness came with his INT's (which many times are strictly luck). Not saying by any stretch that he was not a great player (for a rookie), but there were also many games where he completely overpursued the run or was completely blown out of the play leading to huge plays. My concern with him in the long term lies against the run. He will definitely need to improve in that respect if he's going to be a viable MLB for 16 games. Whenever you're considered the best LB on Alabama, you're not overrated. He was Alabama's defensive player of the week like 9 of 10 weeks or 11 of 12 weeks. There's nothing overrated about his play. His long-term health from all the wear and tear might be a concern, but might be overblown as well.

I think Borland from Wisconsin is going to be a player in the NFL. His size (primarily his height) is a bit of a limitation, but the guy is built like a bowling bowl and flies all over the place. His size will keep him from being drafted in the first 2 rounds IMO. If we took a flier on him in the 3rd round that would be superb.

Completely agree with Mosley and injury concerns. That's why Mosley may drop come draft day to late teens or even 20ish. I still think he's by far the best ILB in the draft, however.

I hear ya, when we played the 4-3 alignment this season Kiko lined up in the middle or the weakside, but do you think Kiko is best suited for MLB? I'm not so sure personally. In other words, this is the problem I have with Alonso at MLB full-time. I don't think Alonso is great against the run and the two DT in front of him are better at pass-rushing than run-stuffing (IMO), so combining the two is a recipe for disaster (vs the run)..imo.

With the change in DC, do you guys view MLB as our single biggest need? I'd say it's probably up there with LG now, if not bigger. We currently don't have anyone on our roster who can play the mike on a consistent basis in the NFL. If we don't land one via the draft or FA, this defense is going to struggle big time next season (IMO). I think the likelihood of us taking CJ Mosley at 9 is now higher than ever. Alabama lines up in the 4-3 the large majority of the time (despite them saying they're a 3-4) and Mosley is arguably the best ILB in this class. If not Mosley, the ONLY UFA ILB that would be worth anything is Jon Beason - he actually played pretty damn well for the Giants this year. He could possibly hold the fort for 1-2 seasons. That's it folks. If anyone can find me a mike LB that is an UFA that I missed please post. Unless we go with a Dansby type LB who normally plays ILB on a 3-4, I don't know where else we'd possibly go. Your thoughts on other viable options?

1. Seattle is an outdoor team and they aren't located in Panama. 2. When they played in the meadowlands earlier this season they destroyed the Giants. I agree

LOL

Haha. I think it's more on Stafford than it is the coach. Stafford throws the ball from multiple release points and quite frequently side-armed. drives me mad watching him play at times (I wouldn't say I like the Lions but for whatever reason I find myself watching plenty of their games every season). And though he's still young, he has been in the league now 5 seasons. I don't want to go as far as to say "he is what he is" but I don't see anyone teaching that dog new tricks. I fully expect a bunch of winning seasons from Stafford in the future, along with plenty of bad seasons.

He definitely is young (25 I believe?), but much like his throwing mechanics, his consistency is all over the place. Not what you want from a "franchise" QB who is owed a lot of $$$. And Stafford's inconsistency is as much to blame as anything else for the Lions failures during Schwartz's tenure (which was my original point).

I don't see how comparing Stafford to the Bills record can be a positive endorsement. Stafford was the #1 Pick in the NFL draft and is getting paid BOATLOADS of money. Yet in 5 years he has compiled a 24-37 record playing with what may turn out to be the greatest WR in NFL history. I can't take away from his stats, but the guy simply isn't a winner.

good info, thanks. yeah I totally forgot about the GaTech connection. Makes sense.

Just speaking for myself here. But what I saw last season was an improved Miami O-line after Martin and Incognito bounced