Defensive position battles: bold predictions of who will start

[freakofthesouth]

I'd like to take this opportunity to try and get some idea of how our defensive secondary will come together. W/ two set starters in Springs and Taylor, the other half of things has yet to be determined. I understand that each player plays a role on GW's defense, but who plays the starting roles?

I'm taking Rogers over Harris.

Rogers, though his learning curve has been steep, showed excellent poise in the Steelers' game. He was nearly non-existent, and that's a good thing for a corner; you don't want to hear their name called.

He did show up on the radar a bit: on the Steelers' first drive, he made an excellent tackle on Bettis. Apparently, my Auburn fan friends tell me that run support is his strong suit. He simply sticks his helmet in there, and takes out the legs. He holds his corner vey well on sweeps, etc.

Next, he almost forced a pick from their first-string offense. He was all over a throw that was hurried by Mr. LaVar Arrington, who is a monster. There is no way around that.

BOLD STATEMENT: The safeties should be: Taylor and Proileau.

Prioleau has played outstanding; his open field tackling is superb, and his angles are accurate, which is crucial for a safety. W/ an INT and a clutch deflection last week to boot, I'd say he's making waves.

That said, I do feel as if Bowen and Clark can still play some kind of role. However, I feel as if Bowen's angles are suspect. I have seen it in the past, and I saw it as recently as Friday night's game, on the play that he was injured. Bowen may be better suited for passing situations where he can blitz the QB. That's his strong suit.

Clark is a solid player as well; I simply feel as if Proileau has the intensity and football IQ to be our starter at strong safety.

On a related note: Lamar Marshall needs to be pushed more at the middle linebacker spot.

The 50+ yd run that Willie Porter ripped off falls solely on the play of Marshall. Watch that play again, if you can: Marshall completely overran the pursuit, and he left a gaping hole up the middle for Porter to run through. Marshall basically pursued the outside and whiffed on the tackle to allow the big run. His tackling was relatively poor on Friday night. I just don't want to see him get lazy.

Moreover, the play of Warrick Holdman has been outstanding. He is aggressive, he;s making solid hits, and has great intensity. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but wasn;t he a Pro Bowler a few years back? And then he had to bounce back from injury? And now he's all better? Yeah. W/ two Pro Bowl linebackers on the edges (w/ Lavar's return), I see Holdman moving to the middle. Maybe Lamar can step it up; it's not as if he's playing poorly, either; we should simply be putting the best players on the field.

So. These are my bold defensive starter statements.

[PREDICTOR]

No doubt that Lemar Marshal is still learning the middle linebacker position. And that Warrick Holdman and McCune can continue to spot play and learn. However, overall...you sighted 1 long run. Is that all you have? Outside of that 1 single breakaway run, I didn't see Pittburg show any ability to run on the Redskins outside of 1 or 2 yards per gain.

If that 1 single breakaway run is your whole reason to criticize Marshall, you need to rethink your ability to analyze. The Steelers scored 1 single field goal on offnese. Thats it. No long TD drives. No plowing forward on 9-10 yard runs.

I have no idea what you are talking about.

[truskinsfan18]

I dont agree with you on Marshall, but I agree on Priloeu because he is a good player and smart and physical, him or Clark should be starting, but guys Bowen seems to be an injury prone player, he is always hurt smehow

[cowboykilla]

The great thing about G Will's defense is that the starting lineup can be tossed out the window after the first play, and I love it. Thankfully, he's found a way to hide our weaknesses, and highlight our strengths by inserting whoever will make the biggest impact on a play-by-play basis.

I'm sure that is not what you were looking for when you posted this thread however.

I'm guessing the starting lineup for the first defensive play of the 2005 year will depend on Chicago Bears film. If GW has noticed they begin the game trying to establish the run, the SS who has shown he is the strongest in run support should start. If that's Proileau, then awesome. The 2nd corner spot is interesting. Carlos has shown some big things, if he is starting game one, I will be pleasantly surprised. We all know how GW likes to bring rookies along slowly, and if Los is starting, that means he's a true gangster.

[jimster]

I dont agree with you on Marshall, but I agree on Priloeu because he is a good player and smart and physical, him or Clark should be starting, but guys Bowen seems to be an injury prone player, he is always hurt smehow

being hurt twice makes you injury prone? - this is football, you're going to get banged up.

I think we will see all 5 safties on the field at different times.

[Bat~man]

being hurt twice makes you injury prone? - this is football, you're going to get banged up.

I think we will see all 5 safties on the field at different times.

he was hurt last year , then again hurt h is hammy in TC missed a game , and just went to the hosptial in the game with the steelers and i know im missing a time or two he got banged up , i love bowen but he does seem injury prone

[feeshta]

The long run was on both Marshall and Holdman. Marshall got swallowed up by a blocker, and holdman was not in a position where he could move to his left. One guy essentually blocked bith Marshall and Holdman on that play. In my opinion, Marshall did the best he could, but being blocked by an O-lineman is battle he can't win. Holdman overpursued into the line, and got bogged in the traffic. He essentually cut off his own options for pursuit. Any way you look at it those two were jointly responsible for the run.

[God Help Me, I'm in Texas]

...you need to rethink your ability to analyze....

show me how that's done, i'd love to learn

[freakofthesouth]

No doubt that Lemar Marshal is still learning the middle linebacker position. And that Warrick Holdman and McCune can continue to spot play and learn. However, overall...you sighted 1 long run. Is that all you have? Outside of that 1 single breakaway run, I didn't see Pittburg show any ability to run on the Redskins outside of 1 or 2 yards per gain.

If that 1 single breakaway run is your whole reason to criticize Marshall, you need to rethink your ability to analyze. The Steelers scored 1 single field goal on offnese. Thats it. No long TD drives. No plowing forward on 9-10 yard runs.

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Whoa whoa whoa buddy.

Rethink my ability to analyze? Did I say that Marshall was a bad player? I actually stated that I do not believe that he is playing poorly. However, I feel as if the MLB is a very very important position in this offense, and I have seen Marshall out of position at times, and missing some tackles.

And I would say that you don't know what I'm talking about because you're too busy listening to the sound of your own voice. But hey, I'm cool w/ that.

[freakofthesouth]

The long run was on both Marshall and Holdman. Marshall got swallowed up by a blocker, and holdman was not in a position where he could move to his left. One guy essentually blocked bith Marshall and Holdman on that play. In my opinion, Marshall did the best he could, but being blocked by an O-lineman is battle he can't win. Holdman overpursued into the line, and got bogged in the traffic. He essentually cut off his own options for pursuit. Any way you look at it those two were jointly responsible for the run.

I really feel like Marshall overran his pursuit here. His responsibilities were to the interior. He ended up nearly running into Holdman. That's the way that I saw it, and I watched it about 10 times yesterday. Then, Porter proceeded to cut into the space that Marshall vacated.

I also feel as if Holdman did his job of containment, and Marshall got stuck on the outside of the run.

You could be right here; but I did watch it quite a few times.

[Phat Hog]

I'd like to see Marshall split time with Smith to some degree (with Marshall getting the majority of reps). McCune can then take the year to learn the NFL (especially NFC East teams).

[Hollywood2k3]

Prioleau is good, but not good enough to start

[pR0JEkT 21]

I just want people to get along! Thats a big no-no ! Shouldnt be argueing especially if your going for the same team. Hahaha..LOL. Anyways I would like the Redskins to keep as much of the starters on defense from last year as a starter unless the person from last year is hurt or gone. Personnally, I like Marshall alot, but Id rather have Holdman in as a starter for the MLB position. You think this defense will be intact for awhile? Plus about Greg Williams I dont know much about him whats his profile like as a defense coordinator? Anybody know?

http://www.thehogs.net/forum/album.php

[e16bball]

More importantly on the long run, Stoutmire overran the play. Marshall got blown up, that's for sure, but it would have been a 6 yard gain had Stoutmite not overpursued and got caught up. When Clark/Bowen are in there, I doubt that play goes for the same yardage.