Biggest area of concern right now: DL & Pass Rush

[3Girls'HawkDad]

I trust Quinn will improvise better than Bradley to create pass rush.


With the injuries, et al, he will have have to get creative, and with the LOB he should have the cajones to do it.

Also, I dream that one of the new guys comes out of nowhere and kicks ass.

I also dream that I am a horse who eats candy bars.

 

[FlyingGreg]

Just wait. I am not wrong on this.

You aren't reading what Greg is posting. We all agree that our DL would be fearsome with all these guys. The problem is that THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO STAY ON THE FIELD.

Lol, I tried...I thought it was pretty clear.

 

[hawk45]

Thank goodness our secondary can do the job even with a mediocre pass rush. Er...until the last minute of games that is.

 

[davidonmi]

I understand waiting on Clemons, but if the dude will be ready we need to play him, and Pete has said nothing but positive things about his recovery. I'm not saying he will play but just count him out. This avril thing concerns me, I really hope he can play, just don't practice him at all pete. Mebane hopefully isn't too bad. And thank god it doesn't sound like Bennett too badly hurt.
DL Bryant Mebane (hopefully) McDaniel Leo Bennett. Quinn is going to have to show why he's regarded as such a great D-line coach cause this is a big ?

 

[Basis4day]

Preseason injuries are different than regular season injuries when it comes to holding players out of activity. Not worried for now. Ask me again in a week and a half.

 

[MysterMatt]

I am a little concerned about depth for the first 4 games or so, but so long as we weather that storm, I think we'll actually get stronger over the course of the season as our depth gains experience and we can spread the burden across 8 or 9 guys. Like pehawk said in another thread, this team is stacked with talent, but it really won't come to bear until the latter half of the season.

 

[davidonmi]

I can remember a few games we won last year with practically no pass rush. And assuming these injuries don't linger, we'll have the whole set of guys back. Assuming the D-line as a whole holds together (which it should) and we can get a few early sacks from bennett, schoefield, Mayowa, Wright, etc. we should be fine). I trust our secondary in 1 on 1, Quinn will have to blitz a lot

 

[Wartooth]

The Hawks are top ten in sacks as a team this preseason.
Benson Mayowa is in the top ten as a player.
They'll get it figured out.

 

[kearly]

The DL looked elite vs. Green Bay. McDaniel and Bennett have looked like STUDS, and there have been other pleasant surprises as well. Mebane hasn't even been ruled out of tomorrow's practice from his groin injury, so nothing to worry about there.

Pass rush hasn't been a concern- teams are hurrying throws against us and not holding the football. Not saying it will be that good in real games but it hasn't been a cause for concern yet.

My biggest concern is how many future stars we cut in a week. My second biggest concern is TE.

 

[FlyingGreg]

The DL looked elite vs. Green Bay. McDaniel and Bennett have looked like STUDS, and there have been other pleasant surprises as well. Mebane hasn't even been ruled out of tomorrow's practice from his groin injury, so nothing to worry about there.

Pass rush hasn't been a concern- teams are hurrying throws against us and not holding the football. Not saying it will be that good in real games but it hasn't been a cause for concern yet.

My biggest concern is how many future stars we cut in a week. My second biggest concern is TE.

I think we'd all wish for the likes of Clemons, Avril and Irvin in the mix playing Carolina and SF (two teams with very dangerous mobile QBs) out of the gate. But I'm just as cool with McDaniel and Bennett squashing people.

I'm intrigued by Mayowa, and whether he is just a pre-season wonder or a guy that can really play at this level.

The down side of having such a stacked roster is ... we are going to have to cut good players. Nothing we can do about that.

I'm not as worried about TE with Miller back practicing now.

 

[shiva1008]

I think DL is a strength. I think one or two of Seattle's waived defensive linemen get gobbled up over the waiver wire.

I think people here are going to be more surprised about the pass rush this year, than any other aspect of the team.

You have not seen all of the key cogs lineup together. You have not seen the blitz packages yet. You have not seen the stunts yet. You have not seen the zone blitz yet. You have not seen an opponent in a dedicated "come from behind" mode yet. Simply opposing offenses running scheduled plays to evaluate talent.

I shall reference this thread later. I will not be eating crow.

:141847_bnono:

Only problem is...this thread isn't about any of the potential or overall performance from the pass rush. It's about the current state of the health of the DL and the players available to rush the passer.

So in essence, we haven't seen the key cogs yet because most of them are hurt.

Splitting hairs. The state of the DL in weeks -1.4 through 4.2 is intertwined with the state of the DL for the rest of the season.

 

[Jazzhawk]

I'd say the biggest area of concern right now is the DL and overall, the pass rush. With the news of Brandon Mebane's groin injury today and Jesse Williams going on IR, more uncertainty has been factored into a position group that is already been besieged with injuries and uncertainty.

Chris Clemons remains on PUP with no set time table for his return, and I still think Week 3 is the most optimistic. Cliff Avril can't seem to get healthy and is now uncertain for the opener in Carolina. Jordan Hill is out with a strained bicep, return unknown. Bruce Irvin will miss the first 4 games under suspension.

The O'Brien Schofield signing may turn out to be much more immediately valuable than anticipated - he could be the main edge rushing threat when the season starts. Ben Mayowa looks like he will pressed into front line duty sooner than desired as well. Michael Bennett and Mike Morgan will be factors as well.

We might need to lean on Tony McDaniel and Jaye Howard at DT, although hopefully Mebane isn't out too long. It will be interesting to see when we finally get our desired pass rush unit (Clemons, Avril, Bennett, Hill and Irvin/Schofield) all on the field at the same time.

The upside is...we don't face a premier passing attack for the first 4 games, so if there is a plus to our schedule it's that we are set up to absorb this.

 

[davidonmi]

hey at least it could be worse. Denver lost Miller and lost Dumervil, they have 0 really good proven pass rushers. Remember we still have Bennett, and we don't know, avril might play, and clem might still play

 

[hawk79]

Great. Another post stating the obvious. How many DL discussions can one board have?

 

[Sarlacc83]

Great. Another post stating the obvious. How many DL discussions can one board have?

This board supported something like 400 Russell Wilson posts. I think it can handle a half dozen DL posts. Especially since it was our biggest area of concern coming out of 2012.

 

[Missing_Clink]

I agree...honestly I am concerned about both sides of the trenches right now, and that is not good considering this is a superbowl contender. Between all the injuries on the D line and our already suspect pass rush, and the lackluster play and all the penalties on the O Line (especially Sweezy), I am not liking the way we are looking in the trenches. Lets hope we figure it out quick.

 

[FlyingGreg]

Great. Another post stating the obvious. How many DL discussions can one board have?

And yet you felt compelled to post in this thread and offer up your sage football wisdom.

Next time, don't click ...

Don't worry bench warmer, you'll get the hang of this football talk soon enough. Keep trying.

 

[olyfan63]

Jason Jones is finally healthy and looking great this pre-season.

Oh don't get me started on this. I was furious when we didn't keep him. I live in Michigan and get to see The Lions all the time. He's playing so good right now it makes me want to puke. Bad mistake by our FO. Cliff Avril isn't crap. I knew it then, and it is being proven right now. ukeface:

Letting Jason Jones go was NOT a mistake. Jones is a good player and I wish him well. It was a calculated and smart move by our FO factoring in salary, injury history, and the developing players behind him, the cost to get an equivalent talent, and the overall need to be strategic with the salary cap to beef up other positions. Our FO is betting on a couple youngsters developing; maybe Jaye Howard, Jordan Hill, and a couple vet additions doing well, guys like Tony McDaniel, Michael Bennett, etc., and Red Bryant being healthy, plus all the DE pickups, Avril, etc. Nearly everything is a roll of the dice in this league, but I like their bet.

We'll see about the Avril. PC/JS saw something they like for our scheme so Avril might translate better here than he did in Detroit. Let's check in about week 8 on this.

As far as saying goodbye to good players like Jason Jones, it's just going to get worse from here, with the talent level of this roster. We just gave Moffitt, a legit starting NFL lineman, away nearly for free to Denver, because we were probably going to have to cut him. (I'm a Sweezy fan AND a Moffitt fan; Sweezy is a beast and will be a perennial all-pro once he gets the hang of pass-blocking.)

Our DL this year will be way better & deeper overall than last year. Our DL this year is like our WR's were last year. A big question mark at the start, but some guys will step up big and it will be a strength as the year goes on. And remember what a big question mark our QB situation was at the start of last year?