What do you think?

About this upcoming seasons D-Line rotation?

With Red, Clem, and McDonald leaving....What are we left with?

A few unknowns for one, which may be one reason the Hawks brought in Williams.

So, we have the other Williams,Scruggs, Marsh, Mayowa and a host of others. In some ways I think we may even have a better rotation than last year.

Avril says this.......http://mynorthwest.com/719/2543965/Clif ... e-rotation

We are loaded on the D Line imo.

I think re-signing Tony McDaniel was one of the more underrated moves of this offseson. I watched all three playoff games yesterday and he was in the middle of stuff a LOT. Expect more playing time for him.

No worries, but I am pretty high on Scruggs, Hill, Marsh and Jeffcoat. J. Williams and Mayowa are the high upside mysteries IMO.

I don't think Kevin Williams makes the team . . .

Look for Bennet and Arvil to have a bigger work load

I don't think we lost that much. Clem was a shell of his former self, coming off the ACL tear. Red's snaps were down and he had an up and down, imo. Clint had a pretty dang good year, but I think his replacement was already on the roster.

Now what did we "gain": K. Williams, J. Hill, J. Williams, Mayowa, Jeffocat, Scruggs and Marsh. A lot of these guys are "unknowns" and we sometimes automatically associate unknown with worse. But this regime has made their living off of "unknown" commodities fitting in perfectly into their system.

I'm excited about the DL next year and think it could actually be more productive and deeper than last years, which is crazy.

Scruggs will be a household name at the end of this season. Book it.

More work for them, teams have to try and rush against us more, the infamous LOB will be even more unrelenting!

Hawkfan77":23a56svx said:

I don't think we lost that much. Clem was a shell of his former self, coming off the ACL tear. Red's snaps were down and he had an up and down, imo. Clint had a pretty dang good year, but I think his replacement was already on the roster.

Now what did we "gain": K. Williams, J. Hill, J. Williams, Mayowa, Jeffocat, Scruggs and Marsh. A lot of these guys are "unknowns" and we sometimes automatically associate unknown with worse. But this regime has made their living off of "unknown" commodities fitting in perfectly into their system.

I'm excited about the DL next year and think it could actually be more productive and deeper than last years, which is crazy.

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I agree on Clem for the most part, but he was a baller in the Super Bowl, the guy played his ass off.

Some, maybe most, of the 'unknowns' we are talking about are only unknown to us. They've been practicing and rehabbing with the team for a year or so now. If the coaches like them, who am I to disagree?

Kevin Williams could be the missing component we needed at the three technique. He provides veteran leadership, durability (only missing five of 116 games in his career), consistent run stopping ability with some pass rush upside.

In 2013, PFF gave Williams a +4.4 grade as a run stopper and a +1.4 grade as a pass rusher (3.5 sacks and 14 QB hits). If Williams was to slide into the three technique, that could allow McDaniel to replace Bryant's role at the five technique.

SacHawk2.0":2pfget4n said:

Scruggs will be a household name at the end of this season. Book it.

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Don't know if I would go that far but I'm thinking he will deff be a factor. I'm looking for good things from him.

We have a gigantic list on the D-Line and Ima thinkin', the rest of the league is shitting their pants again.

Largent80":2a8o50on said:

We have a gigantic list on the D-Line and Ima thinkin', the rest of the league is shitting their pants again.

Click to expand...

Ima thinkin you just might be right.

SacHawk2.0":2sfvbpdi said:

Scruggs will be a household name at the end of this season. Book it.

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This is what I've been thinking as well. Scruggs and Norwood are the two guys I have my eye on the most.

I wouldn't call our defensive line "loaded" but I would agree with the poster that said brining back McDaniel was the most underrated move of the offseason.

There's a lot of uncertainty with the younger guys. You can expect them to develop, but you can't count on it. I think Williams makes the team, but I can't tell you how many reps he'll get.

He'll make the team just to be able to mentor all the younger guys we have. Going forward, if he can improve even half of them, it will be worth his contract, easily.

sutz":1k0f501g said:

Some, maybe most, of the 'unknowns' we are talking about are only unknown to us. They've been practicing and rehabbing with the team for a year or so now. If the coaches like them, who am I to disagree?

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. The fact these guys are still kicking around speaks of Pete's confidence in them. Clem wasn't getting any younger, even though it was obvious he still had game, but any time we can get a younger (and cheaper) guy in there without too much of a fall off, will serve us well in the end.

I do believe Williams will make the 53. Too much knowledge, leadership and run stopping ability to cut him (@ 2 mil). He will be a coach on the field and some young guys just tend to learn better from an active player than they do coaches. Much less pressure. Very excited about his acquisition / addition to the team and I think he will contribute in many ways.

The Williams wall

Hawks46":17qfqieg said:

SacHawk2.0":17qfqieg said:

Scruggs will be a household name at the end of this season. Book it.

Click to expand...

This is what I've been thinking as well. Scruggs and Norwood are the two guys I have my eye on the most.

I wouldn't call our defensive line "loaded" but I would agree with the poster that said brining back McDaniel was the most underrated move of the offseason.

There's a lot of uncertainty with the younger guys. You can expect them to develop, but you can't count on it. I think Williams makes the team, but I can't tell you how many reps he'll get.

He'll make the team just to be able to mentor all the younger guys we have. Going forward, if he can improve even half of them, it will be worth his contract, easily.

Click to expand...

You and me both. I was a Tate fan but return duties aside, Norwood will be a better version of Tate and in less time. I believe he will open a lot of eyes this year and next year he will be Baldwin pt 2. I see him as our new Brian Blades and as of this writing, he's my favorite pick of this draft.

I think the loss of Red Bryant could hurt our run defense at the beginning of the season, but
Quinn should figure out how to replace that loss by the midway point.

Benson Mayowa I'm looking forward to seeing what he can bring. He has great speed as a pass rusher, which could
force the QB into some bad throws. Cliff Avril already said Mayowa has the potential to be a great D end.

Our interior D line looks solid, and I'm hoping Schofield can fill Clemon's shoes at LEO. Overall, our D line looks solid with plenty of depth. Whoever out of the bunch doesn't make the team will be quickly picked up by other teams.

I have a feeling Scruggs is going to go off this year.