How can we improve our D-Line?

[panthersphan]

I was very impressed w/ Tyler Brayton this year and liked what I saw from Kemo. But he needs a compliment....Lewis is a good player, not great. He would be a great guy to have in the "rotation" but we obviously need an upgrade if we want to improve.

We don't know what will happen with the Peppers story, but I'd bet him being traded for a 1st and 3rd (or something similar)

So will Kemo and Brayton be the only starters to still be starting by 2009?

What do you guys think...how can we improve the D-Line?

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Free Agent DLs:

Albert Haynesworth, UFA, Tennessee Titans

Haynesworth has had his share of controversy surrounding him in the past, but he’s turned things around and has focused on simply playing the game. This year, he improved upon his ’07 season by totaling 8.5 sacks, making 51 total tackles, and forcing three fumbles. The Titans look like a different team on defense depending on whether or not Haynesworth is on the field; with him on the field they are one of the best defenses in the league because of the pressure he takes off of others. Expect Tennessee to work hard to keep him in hopes that he continues to bolster their defensive play as a whole.

Bertrand Berry, UFA, Arizona Cardinals

Berry finished the regular season with five sacks and a pair of forced fumbles for the Cardinals in fourteen games of action. He may not be the most coveted potential free agent at his position, but he’s definitely effective when he’s healthy and playing his best. He’ll be looked at as a role player on the market and there’s a decent chance that the Cardinals will move on.

Jovan Haye, RFA, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Haye now has three seasons of experience in the league, but he had a down season this year after a strong ’07 campaign. He made 33 tackles and had no sacks, as he battled injuries at times this season and never showed the same rhythm that he did when he made 68 tackles and had six sacks last season. Haye will still be of interest to a good deal of teams based on the fact that he has shown in the past that he can regularly apply pressure on opposing quarterbacks. His age (26) and down season will make it more likely that the Buccaneers re-sign the defensive tackle.

Rocky Bernard, UFA, Seattle Seahawks

Bernard had an off the field incident prior to the ’08 season, but returned from a one-game suspension to have another quality season while playing for a struggling team Seattle team. He has had as many as eight and a half sacks in a season and closed this season with four sacks. He also had a career high of 55 tackles this year and forced a fumble. All in all, Bernard may not be at the top of a lot of free agent wish lists, but if the Seahawks don’t keep him around, some team will be getting a reliable defensive tackle.

Other Defensive Linemen

Jonathan Babineaux, UFA, Atlanta Falcons

Rocky Bernard, Seattle Seahawks

Kevin Carter, UFA, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Chris Canty, UFA, Dallas Cowboys

Shaun Cody, UFA, Detroit Lions

Jovan Haye, UFA, Tampa Bay Bucs

Tank Johnson, UFA, Dallas Cowboys

John Thornton, UFA, Cincinnati Bengals

Marcus Tubbs, UFA, Seattle Seahawks

Top DL in Draft:

Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech - 6'7- 260

Even though Michael Johnson missed part of the 2007 season and even though he is a little undersized for a defensive end, Johnson graded out as a third round selection had he opted to head to the NFL last season. At 6-6 he has the frame to add more weight, but he has been doing perfectly fine hovering around the 250 to 260 pound range.

Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas Rising - 6'4- 260

Defensive end Brian Orakpo is a superb pass rusher. His numbers at Texas have been good so far, but are not that spectacular. He tallied four tackles-for-loss and a half a sack as a freshman and earned Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. The following year he managed 4.5 sacks and six tackles-for-loss.

B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College - 6'1- 323

During the 2006 campaign, B.J. Raji tallied 8.5 tackles-for-loss and three sacks. Off that success, he could have been an early second day selection in the 2008 Draft. Since he was academically ineligible during the 2007 season, it was certainly an option. But Raji spent that season on the sidelines and came back strong in 2008.

Sen'Derrick Marks, DT, Auburn - 6'1- 295

Auburn's defense, while always stellar, is looking dominant in 2008 and Marks is a big reason why. He is the anchor of an impenetrable defensive line that makes the Tigers almost impossible to run on. Through three games (although just one SEC game), Auburn has allowed just 15 points (13 on defense and most of those came in garbage time) and only 159 rushing yards.

Fili Moala, DT, USC - 6'5- 295

Fili Moala is yet another very good interior defensive line prospect from the University of Southern California. He has not been as productive this year as he was last year because he is seeing more double teams after Lawrence Jackson and Sedrick Ellis. Moala has played both the nose tackle and defensive tackle position while at Southern California.

[TerriblePizza]

Hardy and Selvie didn't come out. They stayed for their senior years.

[House]

I would look into Babineux, Canty, Cody, and Tubbs. Haynesworth has too much of a possible fail rate to give him the kind of money he wants and I seriously doubt that TN lets him walk.

[joemac]

I believe that Haynesworth has something in his contract that states the Titans cannot franchise him this year, and he will have to opportunity to become a free agent.

[goodlay]

No thanks, breaking the bank in FA is just about the dumbest thing you can do.

[Edley]

It's not an improvement, but I wouldn't feel Horrible about keeping Kemo and Johnson and adding this guy.

Bring in a Rocky Bernard or a Dwan Edwards to take some snaps from Damione Lewis and I think you've got a young, aggressive line on your hands. I think the most important thing is to bring in a D-Coordinator who schemes to apply pressure with more than just the D-Line, The D-line of the past is not coming back next year and we should plan accordingly.

[Sempay24]

Tank FTW, Haynesworth would make me very happy though, no lies

[Kurb]

Bernard would be great in rotation I think.

Not really as high on Suggs as everyone else, but his talent can't be denied.

Haye is a product of the Tampa system.

[Kurb]

Tank FTW, Haynesworth would make me very happy though, no lies

Tank was a badass in Chi-Town.

Considering how easy it is to get firearms in NC I don't think he would be a good fit.

[rayzor]

everette brown will go far too early.

it would be nice, though.

[Kyle82]

I'm starting to get excited about Draft Day :smash:

[mountainpantherfan]

The only two players in the draft that I think could come in and have a really good chance of starting would be Orakpo and Raji. Orakpo more so than Raji as he would get the start over Charles Johnson who has yet to be a starter. Raji as good as he is I think would have a hard time jumping over Lewis as a rookie. Paul Kruger out of Utah or Jarron Gilbert out of San Diego St. would be better options in 2nd or 3rd rounds than most of the 1st round prospects who are more suited as 3-4 OLBers outside of Orakpo.

As for FA, at DE Suggs would be the most talented of the bunch but there are questions about him playing in a 4-3. Berry would also be good but probably not as a starter and I doubt he is going to go anywhere he isn't going to start.

No one really stands out to me a DT in FA amoung the big names. However, in another thread Mike Wright was brought up. He is a backup DT in New England. But he is someone that could be a starter on another team. Really reminds me of Kemo back when we picked him up.

A combination of Kemo and Wright in the middle would be a great run stopping combo with Lewis coming in on passing downs. That combonation would probably demand quite a bit of double teams and allow the DE's, Johnson and Brayton, to have more one on one matchups. Throw in a young DE from any of the 1st three rounds to see a good amount of playing time and I think D-Line would be fairly good.

I would add that by having two big 3-4 type DTs this would be a dream for the LBers. It could be comparable to having our LBers playing behind the Williams Twins up in Minnesota. While losing Peppers takes away from our pass rush, this could be an opportunity for the LB and DT to shine. As many have said on here, we need to build this team around Beason and our LBers and the best way to do that is to have some big DTs in the middle eating up blockers.

[jramsey4]

The only two players in the draft that I think could come in and have a really good chance of starting would be Orakpo and Raji. Orakpo more so than Raji as he would get the start over Charles Johnson who has yet to be a starter. Raji as good as he is I think would have a hard time jumping over Lewis as a rookie. Paul Kruger out of Utah or Jarron Gilbert out of San Diego St. would be better options in 2nd or 3rd rounds than most of the 1st round prospects who are more suited as 3-4 OLBers outside of Orakpo.

As for FA, at DE Suggs would be the most talented of the bunch but there are questions about him playing in a 4-3. Berry would also be good but probably not as a starter and I doubt he is going to go anywhere he isn't going to start.

No one really stands out to me a DT in FA amoung the big names. However, in another thread Mike Wright was brought up. He is a backup DT in New England. But he is someone that could be a starter on another team. Really reminds me of Kemo back when we picked him up.

A combination of Kemo and Wright in the middle would be a great run stopping combo with Lewis coming in on passing downs. That combonation would probably demand quite a bit of double teams and allow the DE's, Johnson and Brayton, to have more one on one matchups. Throw in a young DE from any of the 1st three rounds to see a good amount of playing time and I think D-Line would be fairly good.

I would add that by having two big 3-4 type DTs this would be a dream for the LBers. It could be comparable to having our LBers playing behind the Williams Twins up in Minnesota. While losing Peppers takes away from our pass rush, this could be an opportunity for the LB and DT to shine. As many have said on here, we need to build this team around Beason and our LBers and the best way to do that is to have some big DTs in the middle eating up blockers.

I agree with the Nose Tackle type strategy, as long as they are talented as well as space-eaters. Because just because you weigh over 320 doesn't mean that some good guard or center can't just knock you out of the way. But I defiantly like your thinking.

[koolkatluke]

The only two players in the draft that I think could come in and have a really good chance of starting would be Orakpo and Raji. Orakpo more so than Raji as he would get the start over Charles Johnson who has yet to be a starter. Raji as good as he is I think would have a hard time jumping over Lewis as a rookie. Paul Kruger out of Utah or Jarron Gilbert out of San Diego St. would be better options in 2nd or 3rd rounds than most of the 1st round prospects who are more suited as 3-4 OLBers outside of Orakpo.

As for FA, at DE Suggs would be the most talented of the bunch but there are questions about him playing in a 4-3. Berry would also be good but probably not as a starter and I doubt he is going to go anywhere he isn't going to start.

No one really stands out to me a DT in FA amoung the big names. However, in another thread Mike Wright was brought up. He is a backup DT in New England. But he is someone that could be a starter on another team. Really reminds me of Kemo back when we picked him up.

A combination of Kemo and Wright in the middle would be a great run stopping combo with Lewis coming in on passing downs. That combonation would probably demand quite a bit of double teams and allow the DE's, Johnson and Brayton, to have more one on one matchups. Throw in a young DE from any of the 1st three rounds to see a good amount of playing time and I think D-Line would be fairly good.

I would add that by having two big 3-4 type DTs this would be a dream for the LBers. It could be comparable to having our LBers playing behind the Williams Twins up in Minnesota. While losing Peppers takes away from our pass rush, this could be an opportunity for the LB and DT to shine. As many have said on here, we need to build this team around Beason and our LBers and the best way to do that is to have some big DTs in the middle eating up blockers.

How many 1on1 blocks did they beat this year? They did see alot of 1on1 blocks this year right? I don't remeber seeing Brayton or CJ double teamed this year.