Big men win championships. Not so fast? Maybe.

[top dawg]

A series of notes by Daniel Jeremiah and Booky Brooks caught my eye on NFL.com. Jeremiah asked a few NFL execs around the league what they took away from the Falcons' and Pats' Super Bowl run and how that might affect the draft. According to Jeremiah, the answers were pretty "consistent."

 

"The most popular theme revolved around the Falcons' improved defense. Speed! That is the word I heard more than any other during these discussions. Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff did an outstanding job of upgrading the speed on his defense by drafting explosive linebackers Deion Jones and De'Vondre Campbell as well as adding a dynamic safety in Keanu Neal. The emergence of Vic Beasley as a premier pass rusher also had a major impact on the Falcons' defensive performance this season."

 

"I think you will see teams elevate these undersized speedsters in the upcoming draft. Big, physical players will be passed over for smaller/faster options."

 

First, it seems like Jeremiah "reached" a little when he talks of the Falcon's improved defense. Yeah, they admittedly stepped up their game in the playoffs, and they are young, but the fact is that they had the 25th ranked defense in 2016, and the 16th ranked defense in 2015. But the thing is, Jeremiah is really speaking in terms of speed when referencing the Falcon's improvement on defense. 

Being that speed is apparently more than just an afterthought this year in light of watching the Falcons, I wonder if old school guys like Dave Gettleman will really change his thinking about big men vs smaller, speedier guys on defense. Now before someone says that G-man is only talking about the D-line, I will point out that Gettleman just seems to prefer size in general. Sure, he loves the hogs on the line, but he also seems to prefer bigger players in the defensive backfield as well (and maybe at the offensive skill positions). 

Me, personally, I just want the best football players. It's easy to get overly enamored with size, and perhaps even more so with speed, but give me fundamentally sound guys that are "mentally and physically tough leaders" like the Patriots seem to covet. Don't get me wrong, I don't think size or speed is bad, but you're probably not going to get your best play unless your players have something going on between the ears.

Just my $0.02!

[Ace_Aladdin]

14 minutes ago, top dawg said:

A series of notes by Daniel Jeremiah and Booky Brooks caught my eye on NFL.com. Jeremiah asked a few NFL execs around the league what they took away from the Falcons' and Pats' Super Bowl run and how that might affect the draft. According to Jeremiah, the answers were pretty "consistent."

 

"The most popular theme revolved around the Falcons' improved defense. Speed! That is the word I heard more than any other during these discussions. Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff did an outstanding job of upgrading the speed on his defense by drafting explosive linebackers Deion Jones and De'Vondre Campbell as well as adding a dynamic safety in Keanu Neal. The emergence of Vic Beasley as a premier pass rusher also had a major impact on the Falcons' defensive performance this season."

 

"I think you will see teams elevate these undersized speedsters in the upcoming draft. Big, physical players will be passed over for smaller/faster options."

 

First, it seems like Jeremiah "reached" a little when he talks of the Falcon's improved defense. Yeah, they admittedly stepped up their game in the playoffs, and they are young, but the fact is that they had the 25th ranked defense in 2016, and the 16th ranked defense in 2015. But the thing is, Jeremiah is really speaking in terms of speed when referencing the Falcon's improvement on defense. 

Being that speed is apparently more than just an afterthought this year in light of watching the Falcons, I wonder if old school guys like Dave Gettleman will really change his thinking about big men vs smaller, speedier guys on defense. Now before someone says that G-man is only talking about the D-line, I will point out that Gettleman just seems to prefer size in general. Sure, he loves the hogs on the line, but he also seems to prefer bigger players in the defensive backfield as well (and maybe at the offensive skill positions). 

Me, personally, I just want the best football players. It's easy to get overly enamored with size, and perhaps even more so with speed, but give me fundamentally sound guys that are "mentally and physically tough leaders" like the Patriots seem to covet. Don't get me wrong, I don't think size or speed is bad, but you're probably not going to get your best play unless your players have something going on between the ears.

Just my $0.02!

Size matters at certain position, but more so its all about being balanced and have players that compliment each other.

KB & Devin  (Wrong decison )

KB & Lockette  (Correct decison)

 

[panthers1234]

DG is referring to big men on the line. When you get down to the final quarter of the game, size matters. If you want a fast speedy guy on the line think Everette Brown. Speed matters in the secondary, lbs, and wrs. 

[ecu88]

3 hours ago, sanjay_rajput said:

Size matters at certain position, but more 

That’s what she said

[Cyberjag]

The phrase was, "Big men allow you to compete."  Without Beasley creating pressure, how well would Neal have looked?  And how often did those smaller guys lose a step late in games as they got tired?  I think building a roster like the 2007 Giants is smarter than what the Falcons have done.

[Jase]

Not to mention speed is the first thing to go when a player ages or gets injured.

[GoobyPls]

20 minutes ago, Cyberjag said:

The phrase was, "Big men allow you to compete."  Without Beasley creating pressure, how well would Neal have looked?  And how often did those smaller guys lose a step late in games as they got tired?  I think building a roster like the 2007 Giants is smarter than what the Falcons have done.

Beasley is literally the smallest edge rusher in the NFL, he's the quintessential speed rusher.

[CPF4LIFE]

Fat GM loves fat/big players. That's how we roll. 

[Cyberjag]

38 minutes ago, GoobyPls said:

Beasley is literally the smallest edge rusher in the NFL, he's the quintessential speed rusher.

It's still all about the pressure.  Without it, those speedy DBs are nowhere near as effective.  And even though he's small for the position, Beasley is still a defensive lineman, which is what Gettleman is talking about when he says Big Men

[JawnyBlaze]

Gettleman also used his "big men" mantra when talking about KB and Funchess. That hasn't worked out so well. 

[Krovvy]

1 hour ago, Cyberjag said:

It's still all about the pressure.  Without it, those speedy DBs are nowhere near as effective.  And even though he's small for the position, Beasley is still a defensive lineman, which is what Gettleman is talking about when he says Big Men

Yeah, kind of like how adding Vernon Butler improved Carolina's secondary this year despite losing Josh Norman, Roman Harper, and Charles Tillman. Wait a second...

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that one of Hooker or Adams will be available at 8. Stick either of them behind Bradberry and Worley and this front 7 and our defense is just scary. There's always a surprise pick early in drafts. I want all QB prospects to crush the combine and have like 2 or 3 go ahead of our pick.

[GoobyPls]

7 hours ago, Cyberjag said:

It's still all about the pressure.  Without it, those speedy DBs are nowhere near as effective.  And even though he's small for the position, Beasley is still a defensive lineman, which is what Gettleman is talking about when he says Big Men

DB are just as important, if you look at the last the SB winners all had better secondary's than pass rushers. Maybe the Broncos is wash

 

[frash.exe]

love how we have one losing season and every fuging discussion gets steered to the appeal to doubt our business model