I think moving to a 4-3 with Clowney and Mercilus at ends and Watt, Reader, Dunn, Watkins on the inside with McKinney, Cunningham, and maybe even a cheaper Cushing would give us maybe the best front 7 in all of football. Sign a FA cornerback, move Jackson to safety and spend the rest of our money on OL. Sounds like a plan.
Not much disagreement here. Could also leave JJ at end, move Mercilus to SAM and roll like that. -------JJ---Reader----Covington----Clowney------ --Mercilus-------McKinney-----Cunningham------
Like that even better. Mercilus or Cunningham on lb blitz, Wow! When healthy we are so loaded in the front seven.
Personally, I love this. Clowney doesn't need to play in coverage anymore and Cunningham would be an excellent 4-3 OLB.
I think it's a pretty obvious move and, at vet minimum you could bring back Cush to back up a couple LBer spots. JJ/Clowney prototype 43 ends. Reader is a prototype nose. Covington, Watkins are good 1 gap under tackle types. Mercilus at SAM kind of embraces the variety in his game without overly leaning on any of it. He'll be a superior blitzer when you call his number. He'll be a good edge setter against the run and he's shown basic coverage skills. McKinney continues doing what he does, plugging up the gut and making strong tackles. Cunningham here is both the most unknown and most intriguing. 43 WILL backer flowing to the ball with his speed and covering the middle, he could end up a real playmaker. This isn't even hard, to me anyway, this seems obvious. The real trick is going to be fixing the back end. Joseph is an obvious change, he gone. Jackson, seems an obvious candidate to move to safety fulltime. But what about Johnson? Hal? They pretty much have to go find about 5 ATHLETIC guys to play corner, 4 if you find Johnson worth another try.
Moving to a 4-3 would be interesting. The front 7, despite getting ravaged by injuries, wasn’t the weak link on the defense. I think moving Clowney to his natural position makes the pass rush instantly better. Zac Cunningham has all pro potential as a 4-3 OLB. I think they would move JJ around the line cause he can play anywhere, but Carlos Watkins and Covington would fit perfectly as DTs. The concern with the defense is the secondary, which needs new players at each spot.
I'd actually put Mercy down with clowney. Watt and any of Watkins/Covington/Reader on the other inside spot. Then Cunningham, McKinney, Cole as your next guys. I dont see Mercy doing well in coverage. and you would barely need to rush cole/cunning/bmack lol
Yea I would put Whitney on the other side I forgot to mention that. He’d be the other end oppo Clowney.
I like the idea of a 4-3. but I would have Cole and Cunningham at OLB. Both can cover, hit and are instinctive. Cole was really playing well before he got hurt. Mercy and Clowney at DEs, with Watt and Reader at DTs is a killer front seven. We can move Clowney, Watt and Mercy around to create havoc.
It's a good point. I'm no doctor. Guess it would be up to the docs to determine if the tork would be too great for his back. The good thing about the knee is that it gave him another year of recovery with the back.
