In 2019:
DL:
We've got Jones under contract (and we should extend him ASAP).
We've got Derrick Nnadi under contract.
We've got Xavier Williams under contract.
We've got Justin Hamilton under contract.
We're losing Allen Bailey, however, so we'll need to add a piece.
OLB:
We've got a choice to make on Dee Ford coming up, but we'll likely keep him.
We've got Justin Houston under contract.
We've got Breeland Speaks under contract.
We've got Tanoh Kpassagnon under contract.
That's a pretty solid depth chart. Add a piece if the value is there but otherwise, we're set.
ILB:
We've got Anthony Hitchens under contract.
We've got Dorian O'Daniel under contract.
We've got Reggie Ragland under contract.
Niemann is under contract as well, but meh.
So adding a player or two here is probably important, but now that Sutton is utilizing the top three correctly, we're pretty solid here.
CB:
We've got Kendall Fuller under contract.
We've got Charvarius Ward under contract.
Tremon Smith is under contract as well, but meh.
This is obviously the biggest area of concern. We're going to need multiple investments at this position -- and not simply bottom of the roster stuff. Assuming we don't keep Steven Nelson, we're going to need to add a starter
and depth.
S:
We've got Eric Berry under contract (LET'S JUST ASSUME HE GETS SURGERY).
We've got Daniel Sorensen under contract.
We've got Armani Watts under contract.
We've got Jordan Lucas under contract.
We've got Eric Murray under contract.
Assuming this team does what it needs to do with Berry, which is force him to get surgery, then I don't think we need to make a single addition here. (That's obviously a big if at this point, and Berry could very well retire as well.)
So we're looking at some additions in the front seven, and then some major investments at CB.
That puts us miles ahead of where we thought we were with this defense.
2019 could, somehow, be even better than 2018 was. Which, considering it's going to be the last year we'll have Mahomes on his rookie contract, puts us exactly where we need to be.
[Reply]
Originally Posted by BryanBusby:
In what sense is Bailey above average?
Bailey finished 54th in the league in sacks with 6.0, which puts him tied for 37th among defensive lineman, 11th amongst 3-4 defensive lineman, and 10th amongst 3-4 defensive ends.
Bailey finished tied for 60th in the league in tackles for defensive lineman, which puts him 24th amongst 3-4 defensive lineman, and 18th amongst 3-4 defensive ends.
The league has roughly 116 starting defensive lineman with about 36 starting 3-4 defensive lineman and 24 starting 3-4 defensive ends.
He's at the end of the top 1/3rd in sacks and the end of the middle 1/3 in tackles. To me that puts him at or above average for starters in the league. A guy that can be middle of the pack as a starter in this league is not JAG.
I didn't see Bailey as a guy consistently rode like a horse. I saw linebackers that run away from the play.
Offer your rebuttal.
[Reply]
Originally Posted by BryanBusby:
His primary responsibility is to 2 gap and the Patriots, along with plenty of other squads, have regularly ran right at him with good amount of success. 6 sacks doesn't erase that.
Look at the film.
I did watch the film. For starters, this isn't a pure 2-gap scheme and just about no 3-4 is anymore. It's a mixture of 1 and 2 gap responsibilities with the LBs taking on gap assignments along with the DL. When I watch the film I see, primarily, linebackers that can't flow to the ball downhill and can't shed blocks. To top it off, 2-gap responsibility doesn't mean occupy 2 blockers. I'm not saying you're insinuating that, but several around here do. Bailey won a lot of one-on-one's and forced a second blocker to account for him anyhow. Even if Bailey were tying up 2 blockers every play, it wouldn't rightly matter the way the LBs played this season. It was atrocious.
All that said, I'm right with you on allowing Bailey to walk this offseason. Where I don't agree is that the Chiefs should do it because he sucks. He isn't anywhere near the best 3-4 DE but he's far from the catastrophic liability he's made out to be around here. He's also a relatively durable player and a veteran leader on that front. I think KC needs to inject some youth and some lower pay grades wherever possible on defense and his vacating a spot is an easy place to do it.
[Reply]