Kdog's Way Too Early Depth Chart (Defense updated)

 Seems you guys liked my other depth chart post so I'll do a defense one.

DL

Starters- Jared Odrick, Randy Starks, Kendall Langford
Backups- Ryan Baker, Tony McDaniel, Paul Soliai, Marques Douglas
Bubble- Ikaika Alama-Francis, Lionel Dotson, Travis Ivey
IR- Phillip Merling

Well, Phillip Merling is done for the season. Which means, Jared Odrick, will most likely take his place. Odrick was considered the best 5-technique DE in the draft. He is Parcells material. Big, strong, and athletic. Don't expect this guy to get double digit sacks. DE's aren't known to have double digit sacks. Starks had the most sacks for a 3-4 DE last year (7).

As for Merling. I see us getting rid of him at the end of the season. We are looking at replacements.

Randy Starks had a Pro-Bowl season last year, but wasn't voted to the Pro-Bowl. During the draft, we were expected to draft a NT in the first round. But, we drafted Odrick which had experts puzzled. Day 2 of the draft, Ireland announces Starks will play NT.

Can we trust Starks to hold the middle? Sure, why not. We were all expecting Ferguson to take over when he got back. But, I'm sure he taught Starks over the off-season and that was Ferguson's parting gift.

Kendall Langford is underrated. He doesn't make alot of noise, but makes the plays. He's great against the run and pass. He may only have 4.5 sacks over his 2 year career. But, expect that to change with the addition of Mike Nolan.

Let's welcome our new DE Marques Douglas.Just signed yesterday. 
Thanks to Matt Birch from GGN, he gave me insight on him. 

Not a play-maker, but a pretty good guy to have on your roster. Consistent and versatile, can play some DT too. Consistent in that you know what you’re getting game-by-game, and he’s a good tackler also. As John said, better run-stopper than pass-rusher…as he only had 1.5 sacks last season. He’s not flashy, but he gets the job done. Good pickup for you all.

LB

Starters- Cameron Wake, Channing Crowder, Karlos Dansby, Koa Misi
Backups- Chris McCoy, Quentin Moses, Tim Dobbins, A.J. Edds, Charlie Anderson
Bubble- Austin Spitler, Erik Walden

Our second best offseason acquistion, Karlos Dansby, will make an imediate impact in the the middle. He makes everyone around him look good and is great against the run and pass. Channing Crowder isn't a playmaker, but is great against the run. With Dansby beside, the other ILB, Dansby can help him make a play. Expects big things from Dansby this year.

Koa Misi, can't wait to see him play. He's making a transition from DE to OLB. But, that shouldn't be much trouble. The players were interviewed after minicamp and asked which rookie looked the best. Koa Misi was one of the names given by most players. I don't expect double digit sacks his rookie year, but I do expect him to pressure the QB alot.

Tim Dobbins was acquired during draft day. He has gereat instincts and if Crowder is not ready for the season, we can trust Dobbins to help Dansby.

AJ Edds was our 4th round draft pick. We moved up to get him becuase he's great against the pass. Expect to see him on obvious passing downs.

I may get some heat for this one, but Chris McCoy could make an impact immediatly. Some experts had him in the 3rd round. We got him in the 7th. He's a small school guy, but I'm wishing him the best.

DB

Starters- Sean Smith, Yeremiah Bell, Vontae Davis, Chris Clemons
Backups- Tyrone Culver, Reshad Jones, Will Allen, Jason Allen, Nolan Carroll
Bubble- Jonathan Amaya, Evan Ogelsby

Sean Smith and Vontae Davis had great rookie season. Vontae was the playmaker while Sean was the quiet guy making key plays. Davis had 4 interceptions, one for a TD, while Smith didn't have any. Smith expects that number to change this season, and so do we. Expect these two to be with us till the day the retire.

Yeremiah Bell, went to the Pro-Bowl as an injury replacement. He deserved it too. He is the oldest in the secondary, and is expected to become the secondary leader, and team captain. He's great against the run, and sometimes questionable against the pass. He had 3 interceptions this year, and expect him to have a big season under Mike Nolan's defensive scheme.

Due to poor FS play last year, we gave up alot of big plays. But, did we make a mistake getting rid of Gibril Wilson? Can we trust Chris Clemons to be the starter or Reshad Jones, or Jonathan Amaya. Maybe under Nolan's hard blitzing system, the safeties can have a good year. I have Clemons penciled in as the starter because Reshad Jones didn't do to well in minicamp. But, Jones wasn't in pads, and everything comes out when players put the pads on.

Jones was compared to Polamalu by one expert. A play maker and hard tackler. Wouldn't that be great?

But, then theirs the other rookie, Jonathan Amaya. He went undrafted, and is more of a SS.

Let me know what you think, comments are appreciated.

Kdog92