He can’t be worse than Parker or Murray.

Really prefer us to trade a late round pick for an insurance corner

Honey Badger, Ward, Breeland, Fuller, and Thornhill is a huge upgrade over last years secondary.

Someone will likely get cut that could add some depth

If they could trade for a high end guy I’d be ok with it but they can’t really do that I don’t think

First 8 weeks around here will be pretty funny. Lots of excuses about scheme adjustment. It'll be like a whole CP of Alex Smith Only fans.

If Sam Beal can figure out a way to stay healthy for a few weeks, that's the kind of deal I'd consider w/ DRob and the Giants.

I'm not interested in trading him for a draft pick; gimme 16 games as a sandlot complement for Mahomes instead of a 4th round pick.

But if you can deal him for a young CB with upside who might be able to contribute this season, I'd make that move.

You’re forgetting that we also brought in guys last year who were playing out of position. This year they are back in a 4-3 defense, with simpler assignments where they just have to react instead of pause and think like Hitchens was doing.

Theres my adopt-a-Chief being a good dude

Yeah I’m not about trading away potential weapons for just picks unless it’s a 3 or better


I don’t particularly think Robinson is good but he’s talented and can make some back yard plays that will help

Thanks to everyone quote-replying his stupid takes, I get to read them even though his stupid takes are on ignore.

Awww, poor shitstain Bob can't ban me from this thread. Maybe you should try to PM Bwana or Bowser. Those losers would be happy to give me a ban.

Best thing we have going for us is how low the bar is.

I'm not sold on Spags; I think he's decidedly mediocre as a DC. That said, decidedly mediocre is good enough, at least good enough to provide a significant upgrade over last year.

Whether or not Sutton is reeruned in a vacuum is a question for another day - the bottom line is that the players here clearly weren't responding to him. Maybe he'll have success somewhere, but he wasn't having it here and THAT'S the bar Spags has to clear. It ain't much.

Compare the likely defensive starters on this squad to other Ds in the league and it's probably roughly average. Some warts, to be sure, but some undeniable strengths. Clark, Mathieu and Jones are very good players. Okafor and Ogbha/Speaks/Kpass can provide average play as well. Fuller is average at worst and Nnadi is a developing player who has undeniable strengths in a 2-down role. Ward's floor is slightly below average as he played at least at an average level last year and has the tools to succeed.

Hitchens was solid in the Will role in Dallas, Lee was flat-out excellent in coverage. Breeland was very good when healthy the last several years though health concerns remain.

This isn't a defense bereft of ability. It isn't terribly deep and it has some flaws, but welcome to life in a cap league - few teams have an ironclad roster on the D side of the ball these days and when you look at what the Colts did with solid coaching and a decent but unspectacular roster, you have to be intrigued by the possibilities.

If you're looking for a team that routinely keeps teams under 17, look elsewhere because that probably ain't us. But man, if you don't think we can keep teams in the 27-31 range (again, damn low bar), then I don't think you're viewing this objectively.

And with a team that scores 27 on a bad day, that's gonna be pretty damn significant. We don't need this team to have an elite offense, we simply need it to rarely have a shitty one. I think they can manage that.

Looking around the league I think they could be right in the middle defensively if some of the rookies or second year dudes take to the scheme and develop

If Clark is what they think he is well, that would be nice too

But no, they probably won’t be the bears on defense but I’m not sure many teams can be

Rudy, do you think our run defense will improve this year?

If you believe it will improve (even if marginally), and if Clark basically = Ford, is the downgrade from Houston to Okafor as far as sacks and pressures are concerned really going to tank our defense that much further?

Like, when people were calling for Sutton's head, so many said, "Scheme and the guy running the scheme isn't as critical defensive success as some people are making it out to be."

If Spags actually is worse than Sutton as you claim, doesn't that kind of contradict the notion of defensive coordinator changes largely by itself not being remotely close to the key to saving the defense?

Have the rumors about a trade with the Vikings fizzled out?

I'm still holding out hope for Rhodes...