Yeah, I thought he played pretty well Sunday but he has been hot and cold. Like you said earlier, I think he has been exposed with the weak DT play. Two years ago teams didn't even attempt to run at 99 and 98. This worked to Mike Pete's advantage because all the plays were funneled to the outside and he could use his speed and run them down. Pets's biggest strength was his speed and he's not getting to use it this year because the RBs are running right at him..and through him.

-------------------------------------------------- "He’s on the ground and I’m still running. You can see his chinstrap and my hand is all inside his helmet and chin, and his face is snapped back. I’m still in stride and he is holding on for dear life. Posterized." -Fred Taylor

No, it all goes back to the Draft........We need to put more youth into the DT position. 

GO BIG RED!!! BEAT THEM SOONERS!! Jaric (8/13/2007) Why should I fear lendale White?  I'm not a tasty Value meal... maize n blue (2/23/2008) Wow.  The GM is now "cow manure".  It's "not personal" though, right TMD?  You are truly a douche.

We have waited to long. Now are we supposed to draft a DT in the first round? Start a rookie again? Look at Ellis and Dorsey, they aren't doing anything special and they were top 10 picks! We should have drafted a DT 2 years ago (No, Landri doesn't count) that way he would be ready to take Big John's spot after we trade him in the ofseason.

Trade Marcus and then Big John? eek... What happened to our once teal twin towers?? One is gone and the other looks like the bank of America building, but is playing like my niece's doll house.

Drafting a rookie will help us 3 years from now, but will not be affective next year. We either need to hope one (or two) of our guys steps up.

-------------------------------------------------- "He’s on the ground and I’m still running. You can see his chinstrap and my hand is all inside his helmet and chin, and his face is snapped back. I’m still in stride and he is holding on for dear life. Posterized." -Fred Taylor

Next year Manuwai, Williams, and Naoele will be back and healthy and our receivers will be back and healthy.  On the offensive side of the ball we look great.  In terms of the future Meester is 31 and can probably play 2-3 more years before his decline is obvious.  The team has to think about a replacement for him, but we could wait until 2010 before drafting his replacement.  Some have suggested that we already have his replacement in Nwaneri.  So the offensive side looks good.

Defense is a different story.  Our pass rush is not even as good as our middle of the road pass rush of last year.  This will cure itself with Harvey and Groves gaining experience.  I have hoped Wyche would become a player, but he has been on IR for two years now.  We still need to add another pass rusher to Groves and Harvey.  That player could even be a LB.  But a bigger problem is that the team has not been able to stop the run up the middle.  We need to get a DT who can do that.  Also, what has become a trademark of our team is that we don't have a backup CB worth anything.  Every time one of our starting CB is out of the game due to a temporary injury we end up losing that game.  Over the past several years this has amounted to about 2 losses a year.  We have to stop giving away those two games a year.

So I think the loss of Stroud hurt the team more than the coaches thought it would.  Meier has had nagging injuries and McDaniel and Landri have not been stopping the run.  The team seems to draft for what it considers the greatest need in round one and in round two drafts BAP (the player who unexpectedly falls the furtherest.)  So for now I am expecting the team to draft either a DT or a LB to stop the runs up the middle in round one.

Our offense is better than in previous years, but it's not the kind of power house that can overcome the weakness that our D currently has. Combine this, with the fact that, our identity is founded with our D. It makes it an emotional problem for fans.

They say the definition of insanity is; performing the same actions repeatedly and expecting a different result. When I examine the D, and I don't proclaim to be an expert, I'm most dissapointed in its lack of aggressiveness and physicality. When Gregg were first brought in, it was popularized that these were the qualities that he would bring. And we are dissapointed in that.

What ever the situation is between Gregg and JDR, it needs to be changed. If Gregg doesn't have complete control, then give it to him. If he has control, then JDR needs to interject. What ever the Dynamic is, it is not working now, change it. If improvement is not found, I have no doubt that JDR will drop the axe at the end of the season. I'll throw in that a new GM might help significantly. I guess I'm a JDR fan, but I am, and it will take several concurrent non-playoff seasons to change that.

[/b][/right][/left][/sup][/left][/center][/right]TTTT