After the 2nd preseason game

This is what I brought from the game:

1) I really want to see Slaton starting. I want to see how he does with, and against, 1st teamers. He is the only guy with the kind of explosiveness and vision to get through the tiny holes that our Oline is opening up. Taylor didnt look too bad at times. neither did Brown.. but Slaton was the definite standout in our backfield. He also did a pretty good job blocking rushers.

2) Jacoby's chances of making the team are getting slim. Andre Johnson, Andre Davis, Kevin Walter, David Anderson... those are going to be our first 4 receivers. Traditionally teams take 5-6. Jacoby is the only other WR on our roster that has stood out.. but he has stood out in all the wrong ways. Mistakes. BTW.. David Anderson is awesome. We need some 4 WR sets just so that we can get all 4 of these guys on the field. Not to mention Owen Daniels. 5 bucks says that Owen Daniels is a pro bowler this season.

3) Our defensive secondary, and our linebackers, look a little outclassed. The secondary doesnt look good at all.. the linebackers.. i dunno what to think. Meco is the only guy that im POSITIVE is a good linebacker. All i know is that we are not plugging the holes, or shutting guys down coming off the corners.

Our passing game is superb.. and we are doing a fairly good job of pressuring the QB. I expect the passing game to continue being dominant, and I expect our QB pressure to get better as the season wears on. Rushing the ball..i think with Slaton out there we will have some big rushing plays this year... stopping the rush we looked pretty good at the start.. but Reggie Bush ran all over us with his speed. Pass defense was craptastic.

I have a feeling our 1st rounder next year will be spent on a playmaker at OLB. Probably to take over Greenwood's spot full time. DeMeco just isn't enough, if we want a dominant defense we need a Lance Briggs to go with our Brian Urlacher.

Id love to see that Joker. OLB is my favorite position on defense .. ive been waiting for us to get a playmaker there.


As long as im replying...i want to address one other thing.

Ive heard some people talking about how Slaton seemed to get tripped up easily.. didnt break tackles that well.

Well.. I saw him break alot of tackles too.. but, even so, I dont think we NEED some kind of monster RB that will barrel through tackles. We run a west coast style offense.. where the pass sets up the run.. and what I personally think we need is someone who is a homerun threat.

The way I imagine it.. we will pass to set up a big running play.. which means that Slaton should, in an ideal situation, not have to break many tackles. What we need is a guy who can break through a hole and make the most of the open field he will have. Slaton has the speed, and the vision, and the cutting ability, to be that guy.

On top of that.. he just seems to look alot better out there than any of our other RBs. I dont think we should wait on this..I think we should name him the starter now, and let Brown, Taylor, and Walker try and win the position from him. Im confident that they wont be able to.

I am currently salivating thinking of all the options we have when we line up AJ/Walter/Davis/Anderson or OD with Slaton in the backfield.

Will they pass it or run a draw play? Pick your poison defense!!!

All this talk of OLB and no mention of Xavier Adibi and his possible future in that spot?

PapaL said:

All this talk of OLB and no mention of Xavier Adibi and his possible future in that spot?

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Haven't seen enough of him but from what i've seen he looks like he'll be a fine nickel LBer but not a big time playmaker that'll complement DeMeco. We need a Lance Briggs level player at OLB to make this defense ridiculously dominant. Until we get that complement offenses will expose the matchups.

TheRealJoker said:

Haven't seen enough of him but from what i've seen he looks like he'll be a fine nickel LBer but not a big time playmaker that'll complement DeMeco. We need a Lance Briggs level player at OLB to make this defense ridiculously dominant. Until we get that complement offenses will expose the matchups.

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Lance Briggs wasn't Lance Briggs when he was a rookie. It wasn't until his second season that he was Lance Briggs.

Jones doesnt need to be the punt returner, its as simple as that. Hes a pretty ok WR so far but when hes out there alone waiting for the ball to come to him, he freaks the heck out.

New_Texans said:

Jones doesnt need to be the punt returner, its as simple as that. Hes a pretty ok WR so far but when hes out there alone waiting for the ball to come to him, he freaks the heck out.

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On most of his nice returns, he's had great blocking, or was able to postion the blocking really well.

I'm pretty sure we drafted Adibi to be that playmaking guy at weakside. And the way Morlon is playing, we might not have to wait much longer to see him play next to Meco and Zac.

He didn't play today though, don't know why. Does anyone know if he nursing an injury or something?

The Pencil Neck said:

Lance Briggs wasn't Lance Briggs when he was a rookie. It wasn't until his second season that he was Lance Briggs.

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Well i'm saying at this point our 1st rounder should go to a guy we can make our Lance Briggs. If Adibi can be Lance Briggs by the end of the season then we can use that pick elsewhere lol.

TheRealJoker said:

Well i'm saying at this point our 1st rounder should go to a guy we can make our Lance Briggs. If Adibi can be Lance Briggs by the end of the season then we can use that pick elsewhere lol.

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Remember that Lance Briggs was a 3rd rounder. Adibi probably should have been a 2nd or 3rd rounder; the fact that he dropped to us in the 4th is amazing.

So... he could end up being our Lance Briggs <fingers crossed>.