Hard pass. He should be dominating with that size but he doesn’t. I don’t think he’s the best DT on that team.
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Yeah. In 5 years.
He’s 22 right now.
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His teammate Travon Walker will be a better than Davis IMO.
0% chance we take him at 2.
I like the guy from Alabama, but Holmes isn’t taking DT he think the Dline was a strength. It’s sad that he’s that blind, but he said are safety were good last year. Holmes should be thanking his coaches because they made him look better then he is.
I’ve been a Jordan Davis fan. I’m not saying we should taking him @2 but what I do think is he is could be the most impactful draftee in this entire draft. He will make it impossible to run inside between the guards just like he did at Georgia. When you do that, you take away part of a team’s offense and that is valuable. More valuable than perhaps his draft position will indicate. You take heat off your linebackers and let then fly around and do their thing. You can take more chances too.
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You’re right. Found it. Apparently a TE was there, same name if you google it.
This youtube video explains it.
He also thought our starting WR’s would be Williams and Perriman and that Jamie Collins would be our starting ILB. Until he decided they weren’t good enough, motivated enough or getting an injury changed that calculous. This is silly season. Silly things will be said, mixed in with some grains of truth. We can have a strength and still add to it. Which I believe we will with the 2OA pick when we take the EDGE player. Weeeeelll… I guess those guys aren’t Dlinemen… they are Linebackers… that always line up on the LOS in our defense.
Will we take a NT at 2OA? Hell no. McNeill is our starter there and Penisini or a replacement Penisini in cost, will back him up and give us a second big dude to put in for short yardage. We need to coach it better and we need better LB’s who aren’t so light in the britches that they get knocked out of the way like a flea.
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We already have that in Alim, who played pretty solid after the bye week. We need some tackling machine linebackers desperately.
But that approach can be rendered moot if the talent around him isn’t good enough. Just like a CB, it’s easy to avoid the guy in the middle. Just run off tackle or outside, or pass the ball.
For a run-plugging NT to be appreciated, the rest of the defense has to be good too. Vince Wilfork comes to mind, he anchored some elite NE defenses. Or Vita Vea on the loaded Bucs.
Otherwise you end up with inconsistent careers like Snacks Harrison who flashed at times against the run but otherwise had little impact, or Gilbert Brown on some bad Packers defenses, or Danny Shelton, Tim Settle, Andrew Billings, etc.
Now that’s not to say a NT can’t be an important piece of a puzzle on a good defense for all of the reasons you mentioned (especially protecting the LBs). It’s just that for a complementary piece that might not play 50% of snaps, you have to allocate your resources wisely. The #2 overall pick is not doing that. Unless your defense is already loaded, I’m not sure a 1st rounder should be used on an NT.
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This Dline lacks a inside penitratior, McNeil is fine at NT with penis backing up , it’s the DEs they call them in this system. Now the outside pass rushers are not bad.
At number 2 overall, you got to have an impact player that plays 80-90% of the snaps. Drafting a dude that plays 45% of the snaps in college @ number 2 overall would be extremely foolish.
Agreed, they drafted Levi to be that guy. He had a tough rookie year. Hope he can turn into that inside pressure guy in the future.
Right we need 3-techs more than anything else if we’re sticking with the 3-4. Hopefully Levi comes around but there’s still room for more.
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Phidarian Mathis
3 tech is such a huge need. An athletic penetrating type DT would go a long way IMO
I think a run plugger NT is appreciated no matter how bad his supporting cast is. He just makes them that much better. Like Snacks made our guys better when he was healthy, even if they sucked ass. It covers up a lot of stink.
I especially like the idea of a giant in the middle for our LBs which are never going to be 250 LB guys in this system. They are not going to be stack and shed types. They are going to be 230-240 lbs athletic guys who can get sideline to sideline and cover (I mean if you can get a 250 lb guy to do that too, great). At least that seems to be the MO so far,. Guys like JMR who could never find a niche before thrived in this system.
Again I certainly don’t mind guys like that, it’s just not something I believe requires a lot of resources. Ideally you get a guy who’s badass against the run AND can affect the passer like Suh or Ngata, those guys are worth more.
And you can have an elite defense without a traditional NT. The Rams, Jags, Broncos, etc… have had great defenses this decade without a traditional NT. Even this year’s Pats are starting Godchaux in the middle of their line, and he barely cracks 300 pounds.
After being hired last year Holmes called the Lions OL the strongest unit on the team. Then went out and drafted a LT at 7OA.
I wouldn’t use what he said as any indication on what he might draft.
I wouldn’t think DT is in play at 2OA. But I do think DL is in play in rounds 1-3.
I think in a trade down or trade up scenario DO because much more likely.
This team needs better play at DT.
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I really think the regime is betting on Levi making a big jump so I doubt we invest heavily in 3T. We do need a plan B though.
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