Whos our 8th lineman?

[Grid]

So its pretty much confirmed that we are gonna have an 8 man rotation on the Dline.

7 of those players are pretty much (id say) set in stone.

Mario Williams
Anthony Weaver
Seth Payne
Robaire Smith
Jason Babin
Antwan Peek
Travis Johnson


Here are the candidates for the 8th spot.

N.D. Kalu
John Chick
Devarick Scandrett
Earl Cochran
Jeff Charleston

Now, alot of people assume it will be Kalu because we went out and signed him and he has "somewhat" of a name.

I havent seen anything in the games that led me to beleive that Kalu is better than any of these guys. Honestly, ive been impressed by Chick and Cochran.

Now, all of these guys have been playing against 2nd and 3rd teamers, so really you cant say who is better based on stats, and I personally have a hard time following who is who on the line when im watching the game.. so i cant for sure say who has done well and who hasnt.

So I thought id ask yall what you thought.

IMO, Kalu is probably the "safe pick"..but id take John Chick. My reasoning is that it is an 8 man rotation, and I dont see any of these guys being a real "playmaker" for us at this point in thier careers. Chick is a rookie and I see alot of upside in him, so id make him my 8th man so that he can start getting reps in real NFL games. By next offseason we should know exactly what we have in him. Id send Cochran and Scandrett to the PT.

 

[infantrycak]

You forgot Alfred Malone.

 

[Grid]

Didnt forget him..just havent really seen anything from him to make me think he is really in the running.

 

[cj5776]

Besides Malone I think Pettway needs to be mentioned also. At first he seems like yet another strongside LB, but lately it seems most of his reps have come at DL. Yes gameday will mean an eight man rotation, but Kubes has said more than once that he wants to carry 9 or even 10 DL. So basically for some games the eigth linemen will be an inside guy and for others it will be an outside guy, depending on the matchup. For example...
(just my opinion) against running teams: Weaver-RSmith-Payne-Mario (Peek-TJohnson-Cochran-Babin) which gives the team the top 4 run stuffing DTs, but vs. passing teams Mario-Weaver-Payne-Babin (Kalu-TJohnson-RSimth-Peek), which gives the team the top 4 passing ends, the three other canidates...

John Chick- more of a well rounded end than Kalu but does not offer experience
Pettway- The fifth best passing rushing end
Malone- The fifth best run stuffing tackle

 

[real]

Great thread....

Hrmmmmmm.........

I'd Take Earl Cochran because he is a DT and he displayed excelent penetrating ability.

I think were going to keep 9 D-lineman. Him and Kalu!

I hope we don't keep 9 DL...I think that would take away from other positions

 

[Scooter]

kalu. with 4 DT's (weaver, payne, smith, johnson), and mario moving inside pretty often to make 5, i'd rather see an edge rusher available. besides, of the backups mentioned, ND's got the most experience. also, i expect us to be in blitz packages pretty often, so we're going to need backup for the ends much more than the tackles (assuming we're healthy of course).

 

[HJam72]

What's the average # kept for all the positions? I know we are gonna keep 9 or 10 O-linemen and I think it's (what?) 5 receivers? Three QBs? Three RBs?

How many cheerleaders do I get to keep?

 

[HJam72]

kalu. with 4 DT's (weaver, payne, smith, johnson), and mario moving inside pretty often to make 5, i'd rather see an edge rusher available. besides, of the backups mentioned, ND's got the most experience. also, i expect us to be in blitz packages pretty often, so we're going to need backup for the ends much more than the tackles (assuming we're healthy of course).

What if Mario learns some moves and starts dominating at RDE? We may not need all those blitz packages. I think? Really, I don't know at all. :

 

[real]

What's the average # kept for all the positions? I know we are gonna keep 9 or 10 O-linemen and I think it's (what?) 5 receivers? Three QBs? Three RBs?

How many cheerleaders do I get to keep?

I was hoping we could keep 6 recievers...