First, I don’t think Peria Jerry is 190, I assume this is a typo and you meant 290 :)

Second, we’re going to have to bring in someone in FA to be a NT, linemen are notorious for taking 2-3 year to develop. Hopefully, we’ll draft one of these guys, and they will see the field their rookie season a lot out of our necessity.

C. I’m pumped about what Mike Nolan can do with our defense. We are switching to the 3-4, bring on the Orange Crush!

4. Sign Suggs! We need a pass rusher desperately, I think he’d fit in perfectly.

How would our current players fit into a 3-4?

I agree that linemen take a while to develop, but Richard Seymour did terrific right out of the gate, right?

Suggs is the epitome of why I’m hoping for a switch to a 4-3. He’s a terrific player who wouldn’t really have a good role in Vanilla Slowik’s crummy system. But in the 3-4, he’d provide terrific pass rush, and probably do it cheaper than other free agent DEs. That’s why it’s the perfect defensive system for the salary cap era.

Was a double team eater in school, maybe could play the NT? Or at least in a rotation with a true NT. Also what does a switch to the 3 – 4 mean for our corner backs? Are the man-to-man corners needed in a 3-4? Or would cheaper zone type corners suffice? I’ve never been an advocate of trading Champ, but maybe he has more value to us now as trade material?

Even more than Moss and Crowder, I’m concerned about what will happen to Thomas. IF they go to a 3-4, does he play some sort of DE-type position? I don’t know enough about the 3-4 to even guess. Coming into his 3rd year, he should be poised to make big strides. I really think he’ll be a significant player and I hope it’s for the donks. I just can’t get that image of him doing a back flip in training camp his rookie year outa my head, the kid is an athlete!

What typically makes a NT good?

My thought was that he’s just supposed to be a massive, unmovable anchor for the defense.

and i’m sure nolan will be, too, when he looks at our players. unless we’re blowing up the entire d, our best chance of success the next few seasons are to add to what we already have. we do have some excellent players/prospects on that side of the ball. we do not have nearly enough players suited for the 3-4, though, and this does affect the secondary salary-wise. this would take a few years at least, and finding the right nt is always a challenge. he has to be excellent, not just good. i’m sure nolan will take the more direct approach, and i am very excited by his hiring.

mcdaniels i was a bit surprised at, i was sure we would go d. this means the offense is going to see changes in coaches, not what i wanted. this may become a clear break from the old playbook, scripted plays, perhaps even zone-blocking is on the table, now. again, if mac is as smart as i hear, he will let the players suited for that type of offense alone, but dennison, bates, turner… are not guaranteed to return. the new hc is definitely going to bring an offensive coach in to run his offense in some capacity, that being his background, and his playbook. and hey, he may even want to call the plays on gameday. this will be interesting to watch exactly how much power bowlen is going to afford mac, at least in the first year, on the coaching staff/assistants.

I wouldn’t assume that we’re going with a NT in the 1st, even though it’s a high need for a 3-4 — and I’m working on the assumption we’ll be in a 3-4 in time.

The assumption that NT is a need; ergo; we need to take the top NT, is poor way of drafting. Raji has enough potential to be considered but merely being the best NT isn’t enough to warrant choosing him. We may simply have to wait until a NT prospect good enough to meet our standards comes along.

I wouldn’t be adverse to drafting Brace, Taylor or Scott in the 2-4 range just to provide some talent at the position for the meanwhile and focusing on the MANY other positions we’ll need to fill. I would also look to free agency, and here’s a name that I’ve proposed before who looks like a NT candidate — Colin Cole. He’s a low cost veteran who’s likely to be more mature and developed, and fits the NT mold pretty well. Fixing the NT position isn’t something that we can necessarily do in one draft and we’re going to have to fill even more positions than we planned so making the right decision is essential — it can’t be forced.

No question about it really, and he’s much more useful to us if we go 3-4. I would have had reservations on him if we weren’t, although some people were much higher on him before the recent events.

he is the only good fit i see in the front 7 of the proposed 3-4. the rest are too small, our dt’s are too slow for end, the lb’s don’t fit in well at all, moss at olb, are you kidding me? it’s a serious reach, and all new players will be needed to convert. how long do you think that will take, even with great scouting/acquisitions? come on people, this is a horrible idea. the success rate of d’s in transition, the young talent on offense, now, the 2009 schedule… i could do this all day. please, no 3-4, unless you bring me about 10 players now.

Unless I’ve overlooked it he hasn’t been mentioned so far. He might turn out to be a nose tackle who can play two-gap, or he might be a defensive end in a 3-4. If McDaniels and Nolan make the defensive scheme contingent on the personnel we have we might play a 4-3 with a two-gapper at one tackle spot, if someone shows two-gap ability, then later switch to a 3-4 with that person playing nose tackle.