Sure we moved Burrow off his spot all game but he never really looked threatened because we didn't have anyone athletic enough to chase him down. It didn't look like we spied him either, I may be wrong on that though
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One of the worst DL's in football last year just replaced the most effective player on it with a rookie. That's effectively all they've done. Oh sure, Reed was replaced by Stallworth, so again - lateral move.

But the only major change was adding the 30th overall pick to the line to replace the only guy who played with consistent energy and effort on the line last year. And said rookie who plays a VERY similar game to the guy they let walk.

This DL is a little better (maybe) than the one we ended last season with. Y'know - the one that was a huge part of losing the Cincinnati.

But sure, keep telling yourself that adding one guy is going to change anything.

The issue is that we've tread water on a unit that was BAD. It didn't need to stay the same, it needed to get significantly better.

But hey - at least we replaced that 3rd safety!! Just an aces use of a 2nd round pick.

I love watching you guys wait until Veach throws a dart so you can draw the bullseye around it.

5D chess, fellas. Malik Herring, a guy with a 5th round projection BEFORE he got hurt is surely here to save the day!
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If Spagnuolo really was the mastermind behind, "Well, if no pass rusher exists to be acquired, go get Jarron Reed and move Jones out to end," then you might have reason to find fault with him. But he's not the GM, and we don't necessarily know who came up with the idea to do that.

And even given it failed, I'd still rather have a coach and a GM who looks for creative solutions like that and rolls the dice with personnel.

Spags still has a lot of shortcomings as a coach/coordinator (his love affair with Dan Sorensen, for one) but I'm not sure last year's DL debacle is one of them.
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His saving grace was effort and dependability. He did what he was supposed to do and went where he was supposed to go every snap.

He wasn't just some warm body out there - he was reliable. And that was enormous for a defense that had half the squad taking every other play off.

And again, that's almost certainly exactly what we'll get from Karlaftis. I don't think we'll see a meaningful drop-off from Ingram to Karlaftis. We'll see some rookie mistakes, but we'll also see some plays George makes that Ingram didn't have in him anymore. It'll probably be a net wash.

The problem is that a net wash just isn't good enough. The line was super thin WITH Ingram. Now it's a complete shit-show. We have 1 obvious starting caliber NFL player on the entire damn depth chart for DL (Jones). Another in Karlaftis that we all think is probably at that level but he is still just a rookie and about half this 1st round is going to struggle to contribute this year. It happens every year. Karlaftis might be among them.

The rest are depth pieces on a good day. That's just wholly unacceptable for a team that purports to be a contender.
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We finished bottom five in sacks. The only other team that didn't pick top ten and made the playoffs were the Eagles. And they got pantsed

I guess they don't think pass rush is as important as most people
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I for one look like an asshole. I told all my twitter followers that Ingram would be back. What am I supposed to do now? Im just gonna tell them all "lol psyche!" But one third of them will stop following me in any event. Such is life
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I don’t blame them for taking a safety in the 2nd rd. It’s not like they took a luxury pick like OL. Seriously it’s like some of you people forgot how absolutely catastrophic Daniel Sorenson was last season.

Maybe this will remind you

https://youtu.be/PINgtQpxik4
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I can’t imagine the plan is an improved Frank Clark right?
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Did you need to spend that much resources on one to replace him though?
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You mean Daniel Sorensen, the undrafted Free Agent who played the position credibly for 3-4 years before hitting a wall?

Yeah, probably needed to use a 2nd rounder to replace that instead of addressing potentially the worst defensive line in football. Seems like a wise use of scarce resources.
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Oh, we had a "pass rush," but just not sacks. Kind of like having a gun with no bullets. You're not gonna stop many people once they figure out the gun isn't loaded.
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Yeah.

Not imagining it is probably the approach I'd take as well.

Because it's just a little too frustrating to tolerate as a probable reality.

Said it before and will continue to say it - the way Brett Veach handled Frank Clark and his contract situation demonstrates very clearly that he expects Clark to be a starting caliber player this year.

Hey, 4th time's a charm, right?
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I think part of it was that Sam Williams and Drake Jackson were gone so the DE crop got thin but yes they really do need it.

Matheiu and Sorenson got old and slow. Thornhill was benched for Christ sakes. What does that tell you?

It’s not surprising seeing that Spags is a secondary guy through and through. JMO but I think he saw all these teams get better QB’s and receivers and wanted to defend that first while blitzing on obvious passing downs. Pretty much what he’s always done.

Still think we’re beringing in a vet DL. There’s still time
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By this rationale, tipped passes mean nothing if they aren't intercepted.
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The same folks that insist Brett Veach is some hyper-aggressive mauler of the draft who attacks to get 'his' guys will turn around and say "hey, it's not his fault Drake Jackson went one pick before we took a 3rd safety at 62..."

If Veach is some hyper-aggressive wizard who knows everyone that's going to get taken and where, does not not stand to reason that he didn't feel the need to move up for Jackson?

Or is he fallible? And maybe, just maybe, shit went sideways on him. Not just with the draft at DL, but in FA and here with Ingram.

Nah - just 5D chess and it was his plan to just neglect the DL until freakin' June.
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