Thoughts on Trading Funchess?

[*FreeFua*]

12 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

That's what everyone keeps saying yet here we go into our third consecutive season of having a straight trash secondary while the NFL continues to evolve into a more and more pass happy league.

It’s why a team like New Orleans took us out to the wood shed last season.

Having a great front four is nice and all but it’s 2018 and teams that take downfield shots (like the Saints) render our strong front 4 pointless since they just attack our secondary all game.

Our secondary is horrendous. It immediately puts our front 4 at a disadvantage. I couldn’t even imagine the sack totals our front 4 would get with even an average secondary. 

[Davidson Deac II]

11 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

It’s why a team like New Orleans took us out to the wood shed last season.

Having a great front four is nice and all but it’s 2018 and teams that take downfield shots (like the Saints) render our strong front 4 pointless since they just attack our secondary all game.

Our secondary is horrendous. It immediately puts our front 4 at a disadvantage. I couldn’t even imagine the sack totals our front 4 would get with even an average secondary. 

I don't necessarily disagree, and I would love to see the team sign a safety such as Eric Reid.  But our secondary has been modified somewhat.  We will have at least two new starters compared to last year.  So I don't think we can say with any certainty what its going to look like.   I certainly don't think last night (or any other preseason game) will give us an indication of how good or bad it will be.  

[Mr. Scot]

16 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

It’s why a team like New Orleans took us out to the wood shed last season.

Having a great front four is nice and all but it’s 2018 and teams that take downfield shots (like the Saints) render our strong front 4 pointless since they just attack our secondary all game.

Our secondary is horrendous. It immediately puts our front 4 at a disadvantage. I couldn’t even imagine the sack totals our front 4 would get with even an average secondary. 

As long as Ron Rivera is your head coach, the team is always going to favor pass rush over coverage.

Pretty much all defensive coaches come down on one side or the other of that argument.  Rivera prefers to concentrate on the front seven.

Not saying Rivera will settle for garbage, mind you, but that's his focus and I have a hard time imagining it'll change anytime soon.

[*FreeFua*]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

As long as Ron Rivera is your head coach, the team is always going to favor pass rush over coverage.

Pretty much all defensive coaches come down on one side or the other of that argument.  Rivera prefers to concentrate on the front seven.

Not saying Rivera will settle for garbage, mind you, but that's his focus and I have a hard time imagining it'll change anytime soon.

Yeah I totally don’t ever expect that to change under Rivera. 

However, you need to find a better balance. We’re so front heavy and like I mentioned above, it’s why we struggle against a team like NO. 

Or if you don’t want to find a balance at least get someone back there that knows what they’re doing. I know it would never happen but let’s play the hypothetical trade game for a second and say we went out and grabbed Earl Thomas. Just having his presence and leadership roaming back there changes our entire secondary. Just like having Norman, he was able to cover a lot of ground leaving smaller areas for the other guys. 

Our front 4 would EAT, if this secondary could just buy them a second here and there. 

[Khyber53]

Let's keep Funchess. Benjamin we've gotten over (whether he's gotten over us or not). Funchess, we would regret losing him immediately.

[Cpt slay a ho]

i'd only consider trading funchess for a starting caliber cb or Ot, only realistic trade is funchess for earl thomas but only if thomas signs a min. 3 yr deal. 

a pipe dream but the only trade i'd entertain trading fucnhess for period

[top dawg]

I mean, I feel you guys. I have said even before last season  that our secondary was shaky. After last season and last night's performance, I'm highly skeptical. I'm just saying that if it came down to it,  I would release Smith and others before trading Funchess away.   

The only positive after last night's performance that I can garner is that Doss and Elder may have untapped potential. Still, they're small at worst or average CB size at best. With guys like Julio and Evans, etc. on the horizon , I just don't know. 

[Mr. Scot]

3 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

Yeah I totally don’t ever expect that to change under Rivera. 

However, you need to find a better balance. We’re so front heavy and like I mentioned above, it’s why we struggle against a team like NO. 

Or if you don’t want to find a balance at least get someone back there that knows what they’re doing. I know it would never happen but let’s play the hypothetical trade game for a second and say we went out and grabbed Earl Thomas. Just having his presence and leadership roaming back there changes our entire secondary. Just like having Norman, he was able to cover a lot of ground leaving smaller areas for the other guys. 

Our front 4 would EAT, if this secondary could just buy them a second here and there. 

Here's the additional problem...

If you watched early, Nathan Peterman was getting the ball out of his hands super fast. the best pass-rush in the league probably couldn't have gotten to him in time with how quickly he was letting the ball go.

Now while I'll grant that McDermott obviously knew how our defense operates, this is pretty much standard operating procedure for teams facing a defense that's heavy on pass rush, assuming those teams have a quarterback who's capable of getting the ball out quickly.

Our top two division opponents both have quarterbacks that are capable of doing exactly that.

The Falcons and Saints offenses are basically built to beat us, and at least at the moment, we're not in a really good position to change that.

The loss of Breeland might turn out to be way more impactful than we expected.

(and no, he's not coming back)

[*FreeFua*]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Here's the additional problem...

If you watched early, Nathan Peterman was getting the ball out of his hands super fast. the best pass-rush in the league probably couldn't have gotten to him in time with how quickly he was letting the ball go.

Now while I'll grant that McDermott obviously knew how our defense operates, this is pretty much standard operating procedure for teams facing a defense that's heavy on pass rush, assuming those teams have a quarterback who's capable of getting the ball out quickly.

Our top two division opponents both have quarterbacks that are capable of doing exactly that.

The Falcons and Saints offenses are basically built to beat us, and at least at the moment, we're not in a really good position to change that.

The loss of Breeland might turn out to be way more impactful than we expected.

(and no, he's not coming back)

Yep 100% agree

I’d be curious to know if Rivera is just too stubborn to change his ways or if he truly doesn’t realize any of this

[top dawg]

Breeland is still unsigned though. Seems like a waste on both parties' parts. I don't know specifically what happened  but can anything but an outright lie be that egregious? 

Marty may have jumped the gun. Cockrell's injury has bitten us in the ass, and so he needs to work something more out.

[Mr. Scot]

23 minutes ago, top dawg said:

Breeland is still unsigned though. Seems like a waste on both parties' parts. I don't know specifically what happened  but can anything but an outright lie be that egregious? 

Marty may have jumped the gun. Cockrell's injury has bitten us in the ass, and so he needs to work something more out.

We pulled an eight million dollar a year offer off the table.

He doesn't like us.

Voth and other sources within the organization all say pretty much the same thing. That ship has sailed.

[TheCasillas]

28 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

Yep 100% agree

I’d be curious to know if Rivera is just too stubborn to change his ways or if he truly doesn’t realize any of this

Eric Washington said we were going to run more man coverage, so it was interesting to see run zone all night. 

However, maybe they didn’t want to show their cards in week one of the preseason. Man defense is what beats the saints. 

I’m going to give the team time, because I believe that we will run much less cover 4 this year. 

[TheCasillas]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

We pulled an eight million dollar a year offer off the table.

He doesn't like us.

Voth and other sources within the organization all say pretty much the same thing. That ship has sailed.

This. Also, he has visited 6 teams since we pulled that contract and yet to get an offer (reportedly), so you have to wonder if he is 100%

[amcoolio]

No. However I think it would be easier to replace Funchess' production if he were to just disappear than to get a CB or OT/OG. 

Dez would accept the minimum and can be at least 80% of what Funchess provides. Jeremy Maclin, Dontrelle Inman also but on a poorer scale.