There is a fairly popular ideology held by people like Jimmy Johnson that it is wasteful to spend big dollars or very high draft picks on LBs. Basically, the defense should be constructed at the DL and at CB... After that, find athletes with a lot of speed and coach them up. Actually, Jimmy brought this philosophy to the NFL from Miami. As a Cowboy fan in Dallas in the late '80s, my dad and I would mock Jimmy's obsession with speed. If you look at what has taken place with our defense the past year, we've drafted Robinson and traded for Buchanan, we signed Robaire Smith and resigned Seth Payne, drafted Travis Johnson and released a Jamie Sharper (slowing and expensive) in order to replace him with a very fast LB (Greenwood)...
The philosophy was very effective in Dallas. Of course, holding to certain principles does mean one will miss out on things. For instance, we'd be very unlikely to draft Ray Lewis if we don't place the same value on LB as another team does. However, it's the construction of the complete team that is at stake, and as fans, we shouldn't get so caught up in one player. People in SD were screaming mad with they traded the right to draft Mike Vick away. Instead of getting Vick, they traded down and picked up Tomlinson and Drew Brees. While most people believe Vick to be the better Qb, I think their decision to bypass him has proven meritous. Even if Vick improves and becomes a truly special player, it can still be argued that the trade served SD well.
Barring a rash of injuries, this will be the year to judge Capers' defensive philosophy and his ability to execute it... He has, at least on defense, what he wants in place.
