Had a huge crush on Hardy out of college as well. No way they're going to let him leave though with what they've got going on.
As far as Lynch is concerned, hitting the wall to me didn't mean he isn't going to have big games or stretches, just that he isn't going to be able to muster that same style every week for 16+ weeks. When we had to have it, he was there for us, in warrior fashion.
Can't remember what adjective you used for Irvin, but it was fitting. He does make a splash play here and there that other guys simply can't make, but I would venture to say he is easily the weakest link of the 11 defensive starters. I would guess he did a better job setting the edge this week than he has for the past several weeks though, although I have zero to base that on. He just doesn't show natural LB instincts. You don't have a quarter of a second to diagnose, you just go. With it being his first year at LB, I wouldn't mind seeing him there again next year. I have to figure either Bennett or Clemons will be back, or maybe Avril moves over and starts. I like your outside the box thinking though, and how it aligns with Carroll's.
Bevell did more work with formations this week to get the coverage off of Golden. Nice to see that we can manufacture some offense, but I'd still like to see us improve on the basics. We need to hit a deep ball, and soon. The one we tried to Golden was pretty pathetic. Gets me wondering how much Stephen Williams could have done, and why we don't use Lockette to take the top off.
McDonald wins the unsung hero award.