DT's

I'm very curious to see what their plan is at defensive tackle. I like Tony McDaniel and Clinton McDonald a lot, but their both free agents. I hope we can keep them. But if not, it looks like the free agent list for DT's is pretty strong. I remember last year a lot of people wanted Randy Starks, he's a free agent.. Jason Hatcher seemed pretty good on a bad team as well... There are a lot of notable names.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... s-position


What should we do?

Let's try to sign both Mcbrothers before we panic ok? You do understand that Bennett is recruiting them right now just like Sherman did him? Think about that... slowly.

Don't forget Scruggs. As I recall, he has some game, too.

MysterMatt":2lrymfi5 said:

Don't forget Scruggs. As I recall, he has some game, too.

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The real question is, can he fill the cornbread void at Pete's table?

How about we go with Scruggs, Hill, Brooks and Williams?

Our starting line has one gap . . . who plays DT next to Mebane? Other than that its about depth.

The way I think about is we don't sign big names unless they are young, we create big names here from underapprciated or players in a system that doesn't fit their talents as well as ours does.

MysterMatt":1nokcr95 said:

Don't forget Scruggs. As I recall, he has some game, too.

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Yea he just hasn't been on the field long enough, jury is still out. Same with Jesse W and Jordan H.

McDonald & McDaniel are a must sign. Dudes are under appreciated imo.

chris98251":2smb0l54 said:

The way I think about is we don't sign big names unless they are young, we create big names here from underapprciated or players in a system that doesn't fit their talents as well as ours does.

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Yea I wouldn't be surprised if we bring in some unknown names and they end up making the team. The McBros are good, but I hope we bring in players to challenge them.

Starks would be awesome, but I think he signs for more than McDonald or McDaniel so I don't think he's a realistic option.

chris98251":1u7z6nny said:

The way I think about is we don't sign big names unless they are young, we create big names here from underapprciated or players in a system that doesn't fit their talents as well as ours does.

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Yep. Signing Bennett went a long way to doing just that. We sign our own and they compete with our own unknowns on the roster that aren't FA's.

I just don't see us signing either guy unless they are minimum deals again.

nyc-seahawk":s8dk3deq said:

Yea he just hasn't been on the field long enough, jury is still out. Same with Jesse W and Jordan H.

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Very fair points.

MizzouHawkGal":946i32uc said:

Let's try to sign both Mcbrothers before we panic ok? You do understand that Bennett is recruiting them right now just like Sherman did him? Think about that... slowly.

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Lol

D-lineman seem to thrive under Pete's system the most.

Clemons who was a backup in washington, philly, and oakland before getting traded here and putting up double digit sacks for three straight seasons.

Red Bryant turned his career around when they put him at the 5T.

Raheem Brock got 9 sacks his first year here! lol

Clinton McDonald has become a play maker.

Tony McDaniel was way better than anyone expected. He couldn't have been that good in miami, or else he would have cost more.

Colin Cole even played well compared to the previous year under mora.

I think McDaniel will be cheaper and fills a role we don't have on the roster. McDonald despite his stats was on the bubble of our roster and was cut once. I want to keep both but we need to keep at least one giant 330lb body on our DL, losing Bryant and McDaniel would make games against SF much much harder to stop their running game. I think Bennett could play inside more if McDonal leaves and Scruggs and Hill are both more penetrating DT's than cloggers.

Wenhawk":w31ihb3c said:

I think McDaniel will be cheaper and fills a role we don't have on the roster. McDonald despite his stats was on the bubble of our roster and was cut once. I want to keep both but we need to keep at least one giant 330lb body on our DL, losing Bryant and McDaniel would make games against SF much much harder to stop their running game. I think Bennett could play inside more if McDonal leaves and Scruggs and Hill are both more penetrating DT's than cloggers.

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Trust me, it's almost all I think about is SF and how to keep beating them. For being as dominant as we were in the playoffs, we barely won the division in all honesty. SF is still good, and they'll probably get better.

Thing about SF is, we don't really need that "330lb body" to stop the run. Bennett grades out very close to Bryant against the run. It's nice to get Bigs on Bigs against SF, but look at what beat them in the NFCCG: penetration. It's what has always beat them, but they will wear smaller, quicker DL's out eventually. What keeps us great against their run is quality depth and rotation. (think about the games Rocky Bernard had against mostly the same OL a few years back).

McDaniel is stout against the run, but he goes up against Iupati and he weighs about 295. Bring McDonald in and it's a different story, and both guys retain enough steam to get to the QB when needed. Rotation isn't difficult against SF as they don't run a lot of hurry up (I'm not sure Kap is capable of it at a high level).

I'd like to sign both guys, but I think McDonald is gone; he had too good of a year and he'll get paid somewhere. I think we keep one of those guys and we'll have competition with Scruggs, Williams, Hill, Brooks ? (the guy that came in vs. Atlanta and played well), and maybe a rookie.

I'm also intrigued by how Scruggs will look. He's bigger, but he still had the speed at 285 to play the edge before he got hurt, It was a pleasant surprise when he was able to play well inside, With Quinn running the defense, I can see him improving even more.

I don't think either one comes back tbh, teams will overpay and the'll be on his way ala jason jones/Alan Branch.


Both command ~3 mil per and would you really offer that to either DT "Mc" over keeping Haushka/Breno/Mcquistan (say what you will about the OL play, we need serviceable backups at worst)?

We used a 3rd and 5th last year on DT's, who both sound good to go... Jordan Hill actually averaged .024 sacks per snap, while Mcdonald averaged .011....

I'd like us to keep McDaniel but I just see him being offered too much to be worth it. Remember how high everyone was on the Williams pick? Minus knee issues people had him pegged as a 1st round talent, and should be back for OTA's after resting a full year.

There's also Scruggs coming back, who has had an entire year to recover.


Between those 3 being on the roster and assumedly healthy, FA to find someone out of nowhere on the cheap (see:McDaniel), and another draft, I simply don't find myself too concerned about the position, particularly when compared to others (OL,LB,K,WR).

nyc-seahawk":2f7kwfoa said:

D-lineman seem to thrive under Pete's system the most.

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Most people talk about rushing the passer to help out your secondary but of course it works the other way as well. Playing in front of a great secondary creates opportunities for the linemen and I think that recognition is why we have seen players drawn here recently (Avril, McDaniel, Bennett twice).

Obviously we'd love to have them both back but if I had to choose between the two I'd probably try and retain McDonald. Even though guys like Hill and Brooks appear to be similar players to McDonald, it's still incredibly difficult to find consistent interior pass rush, which is what Clinton brought us all season long. In my opinion, you can find the Tony McDaniel's of the world every year in free agency. Stout run stuffers are easier to find, and usually are cheaper too.

Both had great seasons this past year for us and I wish them nothing but the best moving forward, no matter what happens. Unless one of em heads to Frisco of course!