Jamaal Akeem Westerman in 2010

I wouldn't put too much stock into it. He hardly saw the field this year.

 

i think Westerman is much more likely to develop into the next Mike Devito than the next Damarcus Ware.

Thats not a knock on Westerman, Mike Devito is a very good player, and he will be in the NFL for a good long time as an above average rotational DL. The chances that Westerman went completely undrafted and he suddenly develops (in one year) into an elite pass rushing OLB, is very very slim. Westerman is going to have a nice long career in the NFL as a great rotational LB and he may one day get a starting job, but I just doubt he becomes an elite player in this league.

Would I love it? You bet your ass I would. I just don't see it as being possible in the long run, and definately not by next year. Even if that does happen, we shouldnt count on it. Besides, the Giants from 07 proved you can never have enough great pass rushers.

 

Geez, people, we already have a pass-rushing OLB. His name is Calvin Pace. 8 sacks in 12 games is about 10.5-11 sacks in 16 games. The same amount as DeMarcus Ware and Julius Peppers.

 

Heir to the throne of

 

sacks aren't the main issue here. what we need is someone who can apply consistent pressure without sending 5-6 guys at the qb. if we can get pressure on the qb with a 4 man rush this defense goes from very good to elite.

 

THIS DEFENSE IS ELITE! I do not understand how the number one defense in this league is still not 'elite' enough for some of you. Our OLBs are good, Thomas is very underrated and a great run stopper. Not very often do teams get to QBs with a four man rush, if you think thats normal then you have been watching the Seahawks offensive line a little too much.. Our needs are in the secondary, our front seven is one of the strongest in football. The point of blitzing is not to lead the league in sacks, the point of blitzing is to force a qb to throw before he wants to. And we did that PLENTY this year.

 

this defense is not elite. an elite defense does not get torched like we just saw and like we saw vs the pats. just because we rated number one in the league this year does not mean that the defense is elite. it simply means the league had no elite defense this year and we were the best of the above average one's.

an elite defense can do everything well. this defense does a few things very well but does not have the capability to play zone coverage effectively, and does not have the ability to apply pressure with a four man rush. this is just the first year of the new system we still need to find some more players to make this an elite d. for now very good is alright but with an elite defense we are playing the saints in the superbowl.

 

Stranger things have happened but I am not ready to put all my hope in Westerman. Still, if he turns out to be a lesser James Harrison(hopefully less retarded) I'd say he had a stellar career.

 

While I wouldn't call our defense elite, I don't think us getting burned by the Brady in 1 of 2 games, and then by Manning for 2 of 6.5 quarters (not even mentioning injuries) can be used as arguments for why we're not elite. I mean, you're talking about two of the greatest QBs this game has ever seen (Manning, possibly the best), with four (soon to be five?) SBs between them. I think we held our own against them this season, and will continue to do so in the future.

The reasons, IMO, why this defense can't be considered elite comes down to three factors:

• Lack of a premier pass rusher (not great, but consistent). -- I'm hoping we fix this in the draft.
• Fourth quarter presence. -- We simply lacked it too much this past season to be considered elite. Had we held Miami (twice), Jacksonville, and Atlanta in the fourth quarters, we would have been 12-4.
• No rings (yet? :jets.

 

they are not ELITE. ELITE defenses do not shredded to the tune of 350+ yds in a game like that.
It's rare they get pressure/sacks without a big blitz. in this case it left openings for Manning to exploit.

 

How many games must a team win, before a D can be called ELITE ?
Just because we lost to 2 potential HOFers does not mean we are not elite.
I would also add Brees to the above as well.
Not sure if this stat exits, but I'm betting that we had one of the best Ds in hurries, which in my book are just a good as a sacks, but less sexy :smile:

 

which i was a little surprised at. First game he had a sack, and I thought he played well in his limited snaps.

 

We blitz more than anyone in the league and still only had 32 sacks this year...

 

And sacks aren't the only measure for QB pressure. The '08 team had way more sacks, but the 29th ranked pass defense against a softer schedule. Tell me, which team do you think put more pressure on opposing QB's?

 

Demarcus Ware can take over any given game, as can Julius Peppers. Calvin Pace cannot do that. Pace can't constantly get the qb and mess with their rythm all game. QB's know ware and Peppers are coming. after they get hit once, they speed their decisions up for the rest of the game. And these guys STILL manage multiple sack games.

Pace on the other hand, gets his one sack a game on one of his 2-3 pressures he makes all day. After the QB is comfortable in the pocket, and just takes to long to get rid of the ball. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING sacks are sacks, and they sure as hell count the same. But Pace is not an elite pass rusher by any means.

and his counter part Bryan thomas had how many sacks in the regular season? 2.0 Thats why. Pace gets to the Qb occasionally... Thomas NEVER gets there. If we couple an elite pass rusher with Calvin Pace... think James Harrison and Lamarr Woodley for Pittsburgh. Nightmares for opposing OL's. Oh and add the fact we blitz anybody and everybody at you from everywhere on the field, and every offense should be quaking in their boots...

One more point to add, our blitzing schemes coupled with an elite pass rusher, means that against Peyton, we can send 4-5 and get their a hell of a lot faster, because our guys can get off blocks. Since we only need to send 4-5, we can drop 6-7 into coverage making it that much harder for peyton.

Also quicker pass rush, means more hurried throws, which might lead to panick one more time a game, which leads to a qb just chucking one extra ill advised throw out to his top receiver... which will lead to more INTS by Revis. Who doesn't want to see that?

 

I am really looking forward to seeing Westerman develop, hopefully Rex can turn him from UDFA into very solid contributors like he did with Bart Scott, Jim Leonhard, and Marques Douglas.

I wouldn't change my draft plan at all just hoping that he turns out good, it would just be a very nice added bonus.

 

I agree that hurries are great and that our seemingly low number of sacks is a misleading stat in regards to the quality of our D.

But a sack is a sack, no matter who the QB is. A hurried Peyton Manning is not the same as a hurried Jake Delhomme.

 

There's more to a pass defense than pressure, our coverages were drastically better this year.

 

for those who say our d is not elite b/c we gave up 300+ yards to peyton fucking manning, remember back to when the jets, of all teams, ripped the then best d ever (ravens) for over 500 yards in a losing effort.

i don't think anyone says that raven team had a sucky defense becuase of what one team did to them