Defensive Notes
- When I first heard about DeAngelo Hall to the Raiders, it sounded odd. Pass defense was one of the only things the Raiders were actually good at last year, and moreover, giving Hall a huge contract would probably annoy Oakland's franchised cornerback, Nnamdi Asomugha. The latter may still be true (or maybe Asomugha doesn't mind making about $10 million for one season), but the other part kind of makes sense. With a pair of top cover corners -- probably the league's best tandem -- the Raiders should be better equipped to put eight defenders in the box to stop the run than any other team. In that sense, acquiring Hall (assuming Asomugha doesn't hold out or get traded) will help Oakland's abysmal run defense (which allowed a league-worst 4.8 yards per carry last season) quite a bit.
- Kudos to the Broncos for trying to upgrade their defense in free agency, signing talented linebacker Boss Bailey from Detroit and safety Marlon McCree from San Diego. It will also be a surprise if the team doesn't use a high pick or two on that side of the ball on draft day. That said, though, the team's decision to dump Jim Bates, who ran the defense last year, in favor of Bob Slowik looks like a lateral move -- at best. Bates' schemes didn't work in Denver, no question. But Slowik hasn't been particularly successful anywhere, and was a disaster in his last stint as a coordinator (Green Bay in 2004). This is the guy who's going to turn Denver's defense around? Don't see it.
- Houston's Mario Williams had 14 sacks last year, tied for 3rd in the NFL, so you can't really predict he'll have a "breakout" season in 2008. But he could be even better, maybe deserving of being one of the top 2 or 3 defensive linemen drafted in IDP leagues. Consider: When the Texans entered their week 10 bye last year, Williams had just 4 sacks, and was still generally perceived as the inferior player to the guy he was taken ahead of, Reggie Bush. But in the team's last seven games, Williams had 10 sacks.
- Another defender I'll be looking at in IDP leagues is linebacker Jonathan Vilma, now with the Saints. Vilma is coming off injury and will need to show he's healthy; that's a large part of why New Orleans was able to obtain him fairly cheaply from the Jets. If he is, though, he should be happy to be out of Eric Mangini's 3-4 defense that he was never comfortable in. Vilma, recall, led the NFL with 169 tackles in his second season, the year before Mangini showed up. If healthy, and assuming he beats out injury-plagued former Panther Dan Morgan, he could be a draft-day steal as New Orleans' starter at middle linebacker.
- Andy Richardson
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