I hope we are not talking Dline into the playoffs!

[GoDannyBoy]

I think even if we make the playoffs the talk will be that our dline stunk. Not that they played well enough to get us there.

What do you guys think. Is this all or nothing this year? Are we going to be that much better by having one more player? I still like that player, but how much better would we be. Could we dominate for the next two or three years? Won't know until the games start.

[ArRiNgToN_56]

I think even if we make the playoffs the talk will be that our dline stunk. Not that they played well enough to get us there.

What do you guys think. Is this all or nothing this year? Are we going to be that much better by having one more player? I still like that player, but how much better would we be. Could we dominate for the next two or three years? Won't know until the games start.

If the Patriots can do it why can't we?

[smoot]

exactly my point, arrington56

[Skinzaholic]

I think the Dline weakness will be felt for sure... but how much is the key. I think Williams will have several packages which will help hide that weakness. I think the defense will rise and fall on our LB's and DB's. How much can Taylor do? Will Lavar and Marcus step up and rattle the QB? Any delays in their path to the QB will only hurt us.

[PennSkinsFan]

I think the Dline weakness will be felt for sure... but how much is the key. I think Williams will have several packages which will help hide that weakness. I think the defense will rise and fall on our LB's and DB's. How much can Taylor do? Will Lavar and Marcus step up and rattle the QB? Any delays in their path to the QB will only hurt us.

I agree Kevin. Having a gfuy liek Williams running the ship, utilizing different blitz schemes, and just his overall general ability and knowledge fo NFL defense success may help minimize the lack of strength, size, and talent upfront. BUT, an impact will be felt, just like it has been for the past five years. You can blitz all you want, but ordinary, normal pressure from the Line makes things happen, and we will sorely lack that.

[smoak]

all i ask of our line is to stop the run and controll the line of scrimmage. they don't have to get 10-15 sacks to be effective.

[Skinzaholic]

Honestly - hearing about Williams' aggressive styled defense worries me a bit. I have sat and watched the Skins get burned again ad again (such as in TB last year) by an over-aggressive defense... and with no solid Dline to help it usually works out that our aggressiveness gets picked apart by a strong armed QB.

Not speaking negative... just a bit cautious.

[Patrick]

My take on the D-line situation ... I'm expecting to see major support from the LB position to help them. I also hoping that they'll be able to put some pressure on the QB but don't think we'll see any "ALL-Pro" performances - BUT better than last year's group. .... We'll find out come the regular season - DON'T expect to get a good read on this unit in the preseason.

[jimminie82]

To begin with it's not just one player that was added this year. I think that we will be much better at Defense with the additions of Washington,Barrow, and Daniels. Don't get me wrong we really really really really need a pass rusher. although i think LA will make a hugh difference on the week side. we will be better, but how has yet to be seen. :flower1:

[GolfFreak]

I think Williams could've made a huge difference with the group from last year, so with the addition of Griffin, Daniels, etc ... I think we'll be surprised.

[skins111111]

I hope we're not talking D-Line into the Super Bowl...
I can hear it now...Can we put enoungh presure on Brady? I wish we hadda gotten Ogun when we had the chance. I hope LaVar has another 3 sack game. The Pats O-Line might be to tough for our poor D-Line to handle.Will our D-Line be responsible for Gibbs not getting a forth ring?

[SkinsKY]

Williams is an excellent coach and will do very god things for our defense. He will hide our weaknesses about as best as they can be hidden. The truth is though, when playing against great coaches, they will be exploited. Look at the Pats abusing Peppers in the Super Bowl. If we can establish early that we can stop the run, that will help. The Vikings were doing very well last year, until someone unlocked their awful D and they were on a course to be knocked out by Arizona. We might be able to plug the dam a little, but it's going to leak all year long.

[Wild Bore]

I think the line will do better than everyone expects. I am comfortable if Gibbs is comfortable. If he wasn't, you could bet we would still be in the market somewhere.

Looking at the specifics, we have a pretty good run stopping line, especially with the addition of Griffin and the return of Noble. What is lacking, as everyone knows, is a pass rush. I think they will line up Arrington at DE and move Pierce or another LB in on obvious passing situations. Suddenly, you got the best DE in the league. Add occasional blitzes from Washington from the other side.

It's not that bad!

[smoak]

Williams is an excellent coach and will do very god things for our defense.

as long as he can do god things we'll be ok.
:lol1:

[smoak]

Suddenly, you got the best DE in the league. Add occasional blitzes from Washington from the other side.

optimism is a wonderful thing.

[jimminie82]

if we do this right, we do have a good group of guys out there. we lack only a pass rusher. but we make up for alot if springs stays healthy taylor lives up to the hype we would have a secondary that we could count on allowing us to go at the q/b with more force. :sfight:

[Jon Creveling]

At this point until and if we see results I hope we are talking about a poor d-line in the playoffs :sleeping: . I have a rather grim view of the line at this time, and until we see evidence otherwise that won't change. Lets look at what we realy have.......first of all most think the line will be good vs the run, true most of the player strength looks that way. Wynn-healthy Noble-My thumb hurts Haley-Upshaw and new guys Daniels and Griff are known better players vs the run game,,,,,but it ends there as far as pressure,,,,,we all know that, anything else is not based in reality! :cry: Again if Williams can get the most out of these guys (as in teamwork) and actually make them solid vs the run then he can try and open things up with the lbers and or this kid Taylor. Failing that, this imagined tornado of pressure by the lbers or Taylor will be just that! Fess up guys( I know I'm not the only one) how many times did you see even Lavar get manhandled either by t.e.s or linemen reaching out? As strong as he is he gets squashed as easily as you and me if the linemen can't contain the other teams line. I expect very good things out of Williams and his assistants, but at the same time with all the new players, schemes again for the hundreth time and some real doubts on the line the best we can hope for is he gets this D placed around 16th and some how, some way gets these guys to make a play when the game is on the line!

[BandWagon]

If the Patriots can do it why can't we?

Yeah, good point! I think the coaches are going to make a big difference for us. We may see some surprising performances on the Dline as well as elsewhere on this team. We'll just have to wait and see. It's true we don't have a Dexter/Charles combo, but let's see what Williams can pull together and get out of these guys before we get too carried away.

[SkinsKY]

as long as he can do god things we'll be ok.
:lol1:

I suppose I'll throw RedskinVision's PSF Memorial Spelling Flag on myself.

[Spence]

If the Redskins make the playoffs I strongly suspect it will be despite our defensive line, not because of it. After all, the Chiefs won their division last year with a terrible defensive line.

[RedskinRyan]

if we get into the playoffs with that DL, then i think all questions have been answered.

PS - arrington 56, awesome sig

[NamVet4]

"Hope for the Best, Expect the worst" - "He who expects nothing ain't gonna be deceived" - "It is what it is ".
Enough cliches - just let TC and pre-season play out and then we will have a better idea of our strength/weakness in the Dline.

[LadyNRedskinsfan]

unfortunately, if we are still talking about the DL in late december, chances are we probably wont be in the playoffs.....thats unless the rest of the D can cover up their flaws......

[redwolf1218]

i've been defending our d-line for months. i dont see what the big deal is. daniels (6'-5, 285), griffin (6'-3, 300), haley (6'-4, 325), noble (6'-2, 312), slave'a (6'-3, 305), upshaw (6'-4, 265), wynn (6'-3, 292)... then there's some good young depth behind these guys, many of whom probably wont even make the practice squad. i honestly think we'll be fine. we'll be nothing like last year. bruce smith is gone. griffin, daniels, upshaw, salave'a, haley and wynn could all see significant playing time, and all stay fresh in a rotation. daniels had 9 sacks for blache 3 years ago. regan upshaw was a top pick who was a beast in college and could suddenly reach his potential and surprise everyone.