How good will our Defensive Ends be?

[WarPanthers89]

Switching back to the 4-3 is a good move, and I am excited to see how our young, rebuilt line performs. How do you see our defensive ends to performing next season? What are your minimum expectations? Do you see us turning around the horrible run defense? As of right now it looks to be:

1) Brian Burns

https://youtu.be/fcivQdZL3qo

2) Stephen Weatherly 

https://youtu.be/4p-7RTzJJTI

3) Yetur Gross-Matos

https://youtu.be/Lz4RSqjW1OQ

4) Effe Obada 

https://youtu.be/FW1vT--20J4

5) Chris Smith

 

 

[Basbear]

Chris Smith too.

At least its not a area of weakness, about the only issue now is experience.  Young guys, decent talent & depth. They just need reps and who knows how getting those this season will work. 

[Jesse]

Luckily playing defensive end doesn't require too much mental aspect and football smarts, so I expect defensive lines to have the upper hand on offensive lines this year. I assume we'll be pretty raw, but talented enough to put a decent bit of pressure on QBs.

[WarPanthers89]

5 minutes ago, Basbear said:

Chris Smith too.

At least its not a area of weakness, about the only issue now is experience.  Young guys, decent talent & depth. They just need reps and who knows how getting those this season will work. 

I definitely forgot about him signing with us.

[WarPanthers89]

11 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Luckily playing defensive end doesn't require too much mental aspect and football smarts, so I expect defensive lines to have the upper hand on offensive lines this year. I assume we'll be pretty raw, but talented enough to put a decent bit of pressure on QBs.

I don’t think I can take another year of 2nd and 3rd string RB’s looking like 2004 Michael Vick in Madden, so I hope our run D improves 

[Peon Awesome]

They have a lot of potential but I would temper expectations. We've got a lot of young and/or new DEs who didn't really have any kind of offseason and probably not even a preseason to get up to speed. And even our grisly veteran, Efe Obada (lol), has to learn a new playbook with a new D coordinator. So I suspect we'll see some raw athleticism and talent win out like we did last year with Burns but mixed in with quite a bit of growing pains, especially against veteran offenses, like say, everyone in the NFC south.

[Smithers]

I think we are ok at DE, especially with an improved middle.  There will be some missed assignments and opportunities as the young kids learn, but there will also be some amazing splash plays as a result of their sheer athleticism.  I’m just happy we are investing in the DL again.  Should draft a DL in the first 3 rounds every single year.  

[KSpan]

Somewhere between prime Mike Rucker and Jason Peter.

[t96]

12 hours ago, Jesse said:

Luckily playing defensive end doesn't require too much mental aspect and football smarts, so I expect defensive lines to have the upper hand on offensive lines this year. I assume we'll be pretty raw, but talented enough to put a decent bit of pressure on QBs.

That really isn’t true. It’s a very complex position, maybe not to the level of a MLB who’s directing the whole D or a QB or maybe TE, but DEs definitely need good football instincts and film knowledge to be well rounded and great.

[Waldo]

Average at best to absolutly abusable. This is a unit that could be fire in a year or two but not likely this year. If we lose KK again that unit could be a lot less productive than last year. Burns might be ready or he might need another year to be more than a pass rush specialist.

[panthers55]

I expect our DEs to play more disciplined this year than last. To create a pass rush we sold out rushing the passer to the point no one even tried to stay home against the run. Everyone knows unless it is an obvious passing situation you stop the run first and then rush the passer not the other way around. Even teams that are known to throw the ball all the time actually run 40-45% of the time. Hopefully with a new DLine coach our performance improves.

[theinstrumental]

All I know is I'm pumped to see Burns in year 2. I expect him to look like a young star.

[TheCasillas]

13 hours ago, Jesse said:

Luckily playing defensive end doesn't require too much mental aspect and football smarts, so I expect defensive lines to have the upper hand on offensive lines this year. I assume we'll be pretty raw, but talented enough to put a decent bit of pressure on QBs.

I am going to disagree here. The NFL is dominated by the RPO offense. A lot of DEs are losing their jobs or falling out of the league due to lack of recognition and discipline at this position. The DE has a pretty decent load of work when it comes to reading the tackle, guard, and rb movement before even thinking about pushing the qb.

[Jesse]

1 hour ago, t96 said:

That really isn’t true. It’s a very complex position, maybe not to the level of a MLB who’s directing the whole D or a QB or maybe TE, but DEs definitely need good football instincts and film knowledge to be well rounded and great.

I’ll list the 3 things that defensive ends need to know regarding a defensive playbook in a 4-3:

Fronts

Stunts

Maybe 1 fire zone blitz

 

Now their technique needs to be on point. They have to read the tackles block, block down step down, react to potential screen, look for any reverse or orbit motion, block destruction against a pulling guard or fullback. They have to have good hand fighting skills to get off the blocks.