A.A.D.Q.: The Alliteration Conversations

Great points on the Giants' D-line, Butter. I'm hoping Turk becomes our Justin Tuck. Fingers crossed.

Ok, I am going to get to the business of making my picks first thing.

Pollard....has the higher ceiling of the two in my book. Both played well last year, but with quicker corners able to cover larger zones and hopefully disrupt at the line of scrimmage and recover, I see Pollard becoming a force against the run and across the middle.

Turk....mostly because I see him as being able to bring more to the table to this team than Tank, not that tank won't, but if Turk can step up and become a starter at DE and can bring some pressure off that side...our d-line goes from solid to scary real quick.

Ok, now the business of choosing is over...I like them all because these 2 units with the offseason additions are incredibly fluid. Look at what we have in potential combinations on the line with dorsey boon turk tank edwards and maybe Johnston (not sold on him yet). When I watched the superbowl it wasn't one or 2 pieces of that d-line that tore up the pats...it was the unit. The ability to exchange parts for different situations or different teams will be huge. Johnston off the end for speed rush with hali on the other side, with turk and dorsey with their speed and quick step to bring the heat up the middle for non mobile quarterbacks. Got a scrambler? Put tank in to anchor the middle and bring a push without leaving lanes for scrambling up the middle. Need to stop the run? Boone at end tank and dorsey in the middle, or give dorsey a blow throw turk at end and toss boone in his place. Its not all as easy as it sounds, but if these guys come together as a unit, the possibilities make me smile.

Switch the the defensive backs, I love Pollard and Paige, but adding Morgan solidifies their positions not diminishes them in my eyes. Once again, we have interchangeable parts. Pollard to stuff the run, paige as a pick specialist morgan faster to cover more ground against deep threat receivers. And god help us having some young blood at corner will help, even if they get burned sometimes which they will.

I hate choosing, because on d I see these 2 areas as areas where we have built almost complete units. They are fluid, and can change and matchup against different teams. Yes they are young, but give herm and co a couple more drafts to build other ares as well as these have come together plus experience, and if the coaching holds up (which we will see if it does or not) there is a winning team brewing here in KC.

MikeSD,

DaJaun definitely played some corener in nickel and dime situations in college, and I think that versatility, along with his upside, is why we picked him so early. I think he could have been a late first-rounder had he of stayed in school. I agree with you, though, that with all three and Jon McGraw we should be set at safety.

Ok, my 1/2 a penny's worth.

I actually think Turk AND Tank will work out great. They just need to be literally thrown to the wolves so that they can start producing.

As for our safeties. If I was Page I would be pissed about the DaJuan Morgan acquisition. I think they both did as good as the rest of the defense last year, except Jared, we all know he had a stellar year. I think a Page and Pollard combination is great. Adding in Morgan makes the team better, but might cause some issues with P and P. Is Morgan good enough to switch from safety to CB? I don't know much about the kid, but if he has as much talent as they say, he might be another CB candidate if Flowers and Carr falter.

Bottom line....I am not picking one or the other. I think the tandems at both positions will shine brightly if they are given a legitimate chance to kick some butt.

Double D, good point on Johnson. Herm knows him well, so he'd at least have to think something of him to bring him in. Then again, James Reed was a "Herm guy" as well. So is Jon McGraw, though, who I think was a great pick-up, especially as a special teamer. Could go either way.

Minor correction to my earlier comment - Trevor Johnson is not a rookie. He is however a guy that Herm originally drafted back in 2004 and then parted ways with the Jets shortly after Herm did. Such being the case, I'd say there's a decent chance that he could prosper as a system fit here.

I'd hafta go with Page. I think it's his chance for a breakout year this year. He's a better coverage man than Pollard is (although Pollard is a more complete safety, and a FAR better tackler) so I say Page has the biggest chance of making a large impact. He had to do alot of supporting last year, instead of playing his game, I think with a little better play at CB, he'll be that much more improved. He also has the division rivalry saves, and hopefully he can produce a few more this year as well.

Turk is the better choice of the two linemen, (and not just for his versatility between the positions)but I'd have to think it's getting around the time Tank realizes he has to step it up or risk ultimately losing his job. With the addition of DT picked in the top 5, (the majority-vote number one best talent in the draft, as well, btw) along with competition from more experienced, more in-shape athletes, and all the youngin's as well, I think he'll get his big ass into gear, and really come into his own this year. He showed some sparks at times last year, and Gun really likes the guy, so I'm just banking on that fact. I can't see Gun not inspiring him, telling him his big behind is going to get cut if he doesn't step it up. I saw sparks, now I want to see the fire burnin'. So my pick is Tank.

Okies dokes. Here's my two cents on the matter.

DL.
It has to be Tank right here. Why, i will tell you why. I am a strong believer in natural talent over technique. Technique can by tought and trained over several years where as natural talent, is ofcourse natural. Although Tank is fairly rusty, and lacks the skills to be a great DT at the moment, theres something that can't be trained. Thats size and pure strength. Like Double D said, Herm Edwards wants big strong guys to run stuff and collapse the pocket. I seriously believe that Tank could be better at this than Swamp thing. Hear me out. If you put, Dorseys Technique and skill in Tanks body, you would have one hell of a DT. Turk has the skills to be a great DE but my money is on Tank for sure.

Safety.
Im not going to lie, I love the page and pollard combo, and im really hoping for it to work out. I think they could be a very good duo. Unfortunetly, as i said before natural talent. DaJaun “Torpedo” Morgan has alot of Raw natural talent. Watching game footage and reading up on him, i think we have a great draft pick right here. He has great speed and leaping ability and is good at covering large amounts of feild. If i had to say, i would go with Pollard. I love big strong tackling safeties who can put some fear into WR's hearts. Thats what wins it for me. I see Pollard as a Roy Williams prototype, and in saying that, we have to have a Free safety who is capable of great deep zone coverage and open feild tackling.

Pollard, for most of the same reasons Adam outlined.

Turk, because Tank has a history of character issues and lack of discipline (resulting in weight problems).

First things first - the DL.

Keep in mind that what coach Herm wants from his DTs and that, above all, is big, physical guys that can deliver constant punishment to the OL, stuff the run and collapse the pocket. Among young players, the combo of Dorsey and Tank best fit that description in mind but you probably can't start out the season having a rookie lined up next a near rookie. For that reason I see Edwards making the most sense initially at DT alongside Swamp Thang until it's clear that Dorsey knows his job and finds his groove. Tyler's size, strength, experience and guidance under Krumrie to me make him the perfect guy to spell either Edwards or Dorsey until he shows he can win the starting job outright. If he pans out in camp and things go well for the DL, don't be surprise to shocked to see the rookie Murray getting some 2nd half reps as well - he fits the mold.

At RDE, I see Hali as being set and having his best year yet. LDE however could well be the weakest link in this defense and I'm skeptical that Boone will stay there for very long. What really needs to happen is that Turk needs to step it up and win that job so that Boone can be moved inside where he belongs. That said, I'm impressed by the rookie acquisitions in Johnson, Johnston, and Dingle and I think at least one of those will see significant playing time.

Bottom line - because of depth and the need for experience on the interior, I see Turk as having a much better opportunity of ultimately establishing himself as the starter at LDE.

With that out of the way (phew!!), if the DL and CBs are taking care of business then I would have to say both Page and Pollard, because of where they are in terms of experience/development, are both very strong candidates for having break-out seasons. I actually like our depth at safety a lot(i.e., Page, Pollard, McGraw, and Morgan). Because the rules of this thread say I must choose one or the other however, I will go with Page making the most noticeable impact on defense via turnovers even though I actually think Pollard hits harder and is more the stud, no homo.