I think Pace is going to be primarily an ILB in 3-4 sets regardless of who we draft in the first round. BTW, I vote: Long - more wins, he is a bull also creates a difficult target to block, teams will be scrambling to gameplan for him, thus freeing up the others to wreak havoc - I think he upgrades our defense significantly as a rookie. Gholston - might not provide immediate impact due to learning curve, but will contribute later in his rookie season, could be even with McFadden on number of wins. McFadden - creates a huge problem of gameplanning because of his speed, and Shitty will take advantages of those mismatches early - even with Gholston, less than Long.
Gholston would be a pass rushing specialist, a 3rd down guy. That's what Abraham was his rookie year. If Gholston is just so good he forces his way into the lineup, either Thomas will go to the bench (very likely if BT plays the way he did last year) or Pace moves inside more. Either way, having a plethora of pass rushers is always something good.
Wrong!!! The Chargers had Tuner and Sproles, LT was hurt after 4 carries. Gates was injured and Rivers was injured. The Chargers D actually out played the Giants D, but they couldn't score. You need to score to beat good teams too and our offense looks alot like the Chargers Offense when it's been stripped of all it's play makers. You don't win Championships when you can't score.
How about since its a team game, a better playing team will get more wins- better line of scrimmage play will get us 4 more wins from last year alone. The guy who can take over a 4th qtr will help the team win more games.
Build the Defense up, pressure the QB, force turnovers. gotta have some offense but a crushing Defense is what it's all about. Joe Willy gets credit for the Jets only Superbowl win, but it was the Defense that Kept the Colts powerhouse shut down. Same rule applies today as demonstrated by the Giants VS the Pats, offense is sexy, But Defense carries the wins.
Oh yeah...forgot about that:smile: My bad. I still say the DE would make more of an impact. Consider that our D is poised to be great whereas our O is ?-able. Given the QB situation and new O-line, it's gonna be at least a year before the O really clicks. As far as this team, right now, our D is way ahead of our O. As such, I think it would be easier to bump the D up to the next level with one single player, as compared to our O.
I don't understand the people that are saying McFadden. At best, he's going to get 20 yds per game more than Jones. Whereas Gholston or Long would easily shut off a drive or two a game over Brian Thomas. McFadden isn't much of an upgrade, Gholston/Long is a huge upgrade over Brian Thomas. My guess is McFadden is worth 0 extra wins where as Gholston/Long is worth 1~3.
I say Gholston/Long and I'm in the Gholston camp. You need to be able to rotate guys on defense and they'll make plays right away.