HawKnPeppa
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jblaze":315do1x1 said:It's obviously a bit of coach speak. 2013 might go down as one of the deepest teams in NFL history with our CB depth, etc. No one could throw on us.
That said, I think he means depth in other areas. Our DL depth might be the deepest we've had and that's a huge deal in this defense. Obviously you have Avril and Bennett, not you're getting back Marsh who is getting a ton of great pub plus Hill back, plus Mebane who's healthy now, McDonald, Rubin who's going to be a great player also, etc, etc.
The game is won in the trenches, and our defense might very well be very deep this year. DLine matters a whole lot and if we get excellent play from the LB's, which we always have and Irvin will be trying to ball out to get a new contract elsewhere, and Bobby and Wright will be on new deals (hopefully). Then you got the LOB and the only question mark there is Cary Williams and I think he fits perfectly in our scheme and will do well with the rest of the supporting cast, Blackmon at nickel CB, Shead at backup safety, etc.
I think our defense won't take a step backwards this year at all. We lead the NFL in points given up for a fourth straight year.
Offense is another story I'm stoked about. Since when has Wilson had a decent pass game that wasn't gimicky to offset the strong run game. Graham is a legit elite level player that defenses have to game plan for. Imagine not being able to stack the box against Lynch like they've been able to do the past few years. He stretches the field vertically and affects the red zone coverages greatly. This means you take someone out of the middle of the defense and Lynch should be able to take advantage.
All told, I'm probably more excited about this team than I was last year. Harvin was a bit of a gimick player and was never a guy who you can stretch defenses vertically with. That's what we need, someone who stretches vertically to space things out underneath to allow Baldwin and Lockett to get open.
Color me biased of course but I think we get back to the SB and win it this time. Graham offers a dimension we've never seen here before and our defense should be good if not better than last year if injuries don't play a factor.
Go Hawks!
Yes, Graham can stretch the field vertically; however, that can't happen in a vacuum. Early in the season, it might be a good assumption that our pass pro won't be consistent enough to allow the deep routes to develop. Sooo, I think it's much more realistic to think the immediate benefit he provides is just drawing that extra defender out of the box for Lynch to run free. Next is a larger red zone target, followed by an over-the-middle target. Once our OL starts providing some semblance of pass pro (fingers crossed) is when we graduate from pain in the neck to total nightmare to defend.