Reader was our best interior defender in 2025. He played the most snaps overall. But Tyleik Williams and Roy Lopez are the future for that position. Reader can still play, he is a great guy but (like Anzalone) his value is higher somewhere else at this point.
Alim McNeil HAS to be pre-injury 2024 Alim for this D to work. And I think he will be. Despite his late injury he played the 2nd most interior snaps. A full normal off-season will gecHUGE for him.
We also need Wingo to arrive.
I think anyone expecting too many additions to the iDL room will be disappointed. Maybe a cheap FA or low draft pick, but Iām 99.9% certain weāll be rolling into the year with Alim and Tyleik as starters and Wingo as our bench pressure guy. Hopefully we bring back Lopez but if not it will be a player of a similar ilk, and of course any big edges we can use in nascar situations.
Stopping the run takes all 11 players on the field, not just the D-line.
We are in lock-step there Thats2.
Alim (hopefully a regular off-season is his ticket)
Tyleik- solid as a rookie, ready for more
Roy Lopez-a solid find and great veteran
Wingo- like Alim, regular off-season can bring the production we need.
One more rookie would be nice.
Correct. Which is why I want free agent DE DreāMont Jones. Great tackler and edge setter we lacked. Bring back Josh Paschal too as we need that size on the edge. 2025 rookie AH might actually help too.
We missed Branch in a big way but where were Barnes and Anzalone on edge runs versus the Rams and the Steelers? Season on the line and we got toasted on edge and outside runs, ESP. v the Steelers.
DT likely gets better with health and experience. Hutch needs help and not just in sacks.
well we need help in scheme and time on task agreed but you need the studs in your defense to execute, stay tough, to KNOW what their responsibilities are and have the ability to do them well, some of it is self-inflicted, yet we missed on some the young guys we had, I think Alim is gone, and we need some damn good rookies.
I agree with part of this , but I doubt you see much wingo, I think that pressure guy will be Levi.
You sure seem to want us to depend on guys that have not earned anything. And have been just really not very good.
First itās Mogs and now Wingo , w Mogs was just handed a starting Job and might be one of the worst pass protectors at the position. Now Wingo who hasnāt been able to even get on the field and what little he did was non existent.
If Mogs or Frazier are out starters Jared Goff might not make the season.
Levi is back too
Edit just saw you posted that 10 days ago. But Levi helps with depth. Lopez will be interesting, he might have earned himself a decent pay increase in free agency.
Levi is VERY interesting. IF he is healthy he could be a huge piece of defensive turnaround.
I believe we got gashed on the edges by running backs late in the season because we were so worried about pass pressure Hutch and Davenport cheated and didnāt play their lanes properly overall. Outside Hutch there was no pressure. IF Levi can set edged and we can stop the run this defense will look a LOT better.
I would also add Josh Paschal to the mix. Josh was a big part of the 2014 defense too. Just like Levi. IF these guys are healthy the run defense on the edges will be MUCH better in 2025.
Levi can get some interior pressure too. Which we lacked a lot last year. Of course he needs to stay healthy and that is always the question. He has talent.
We need a top rookie DE still though AND a veteran. I think Brad should target DreāMont Jones as a FA DE here and I hope we can find a solid DE in rd. 2:
Hutch, DreāMont Jones, rookie DE, Josh Paschal and our 2025 rookie are likely enough to set an edge properly and then also get pressure on the QB.
You got me looking at Dremont , I like John Franklin Meyers more my self , but Dremont is definitely right there with him. I agree thatās the kind of end weāre looking for , not sure our edge setting was up to par last year and was part of the s reason we were as good at stopping the run.
Seems like a good option
I donāt think #4 iDL is ārelyingā on a guy, heās depth. Mahogany I believe should be a bigger part of the plan, but hereās the thing about the NFL - it forces you to rely on guys who havenāt earned as much as you would have liked. The rules are literally set up that way.
Last year we played Tate a bunch, and he hadnāt earned anything. Do you wish we hadnāt done that?
A couple of years back we relied heavily on Gibbs, LaPorta and Branch before theyād earned anything, that worked out OK.
The year before that it was Hutch and Houston, the year before that it was ARSB, on and on and on.
On the flip side, last year we relied the heavily experienced Glasgow, how did that go? Youāre complaining about DJ Reed, well he has been a borderline superstar before in this league. Shouldnāt he get the benefit of the doubt?
Sometimes, yes, I am OK coming into a year relying on a guy I wish had more experienced. And sometimes it works out. Sometimes Iād rather have a guy with more experience, and the inexperience guy works out. Or sometimes he doesnāt. Everything is not black and white, this OR that. Inexperienced players or players who struggled are not always doomed, just like experienced players are not always the answer. Allow room for nuance.
The real issue isnāt about āinexperiencedā players, itās that you donāt like Mahogany. Thatās fine, youāre opinion. I think he needs to play better, but unlike you I donāt think heās doomed. I still remember how good he was his rookie season. Not just good, great. I just donāt believe that itās impossible to find that guy again. You do, so be it, we disagree. Not unusual.
There is a huge difference between a 2nd pic and being a starter day one then a 6th pic. And itās not just about earning it now, because he got handed that Job, now itās about relieing on a guy that played and was 77 out of 81 Gs last year , he was the 4th worst pass blocker out of 81 Gs. I would like to keep Goff alive. So if he has proved anything itās that he is a horrible pass blocker at this point.
Once again your comparing first and second rd pics to a guy that was a 6th.
Thatās not true , I just disagree going in to the season depending on a guy that wasnāt just bad but the 4th worst out of 81 Gs (thatās a lot of Gs). Itās not that I donāt like him itās that guy is going to get Goff killed. And if you miss that call you just forfeited the season trying to depend on 6th rd pick who is the fourth worst pass blocking G out of 81 ? Seems that it is just convenient for you to dis my opinion.
Itās now that he got some experience and was terrible at pass blocking and didnāt really improve in that category all year.
No, Iām comparing 1st and 2nd round picks to a guy who ALREADY played in the league and looked like a future star. AND a guy who everyone says would have gone in the 2nd/3rd if it wasnāt for an undisclosed injury. There wasnāt a mock one that had him outside of day 2
I donāt disagree that he was terrible at pass-blocking down the stretch. I just think there are legitimate reasons for it, all of which Iāve mentioned, and most of which you simply dismissed. Thatās your prerogative.
Iām not trying to dis your opinion, I just disagree with it. And I think the evidence you use to back it up is fallacious and full of false equivalences. For every example you can give of it not working, I can give just as many of it working (for instance, the Seahawks are starting a 2nd year UDFA center in the SUPER BOWL, and have all year, which flies in the face of draft position)ā¦ at that point, what are we wasting our time for? Itās just throwing stuff back and forth at one another that has literally no bearing on whether Mahogany will work out or not.
No but your Team is doomed, if you go into the season depending on guy that has played a year and showed he is the 4th worst pass blocker in the league. At least bring in a old Benito type.
You mean like you just dismissed everything I put up there, facts I got off google, then you take the ole cheap shot and deturance by suggesting to everyone that I donāt really have a stance I just donāt like the guy Crap. Iām sure Bols is one that has followed and I said before that there is no shame in a 6th rd pic taking a couple years to develop and in no way am I calling him a bust, Iāve said this plenty. If not liking him as you said means I donāt want to go in to the season with a 6th rd pic that played a lot and showed he couldnāt pass block at this time, got a long way to go. Iām not going in to the season with that. Seems you are trying to hard to be the smartest guy in the room and hit that long shot.