What's the Deal with Dalton?

[AZ#1SkinsFan]

"We've thrown everything at him. He's done a great job of picking up what we expect out of him defensively," defensive coordinator George Edwards said. "Right now it's just a numbers game inside. We hope we'll be able to get him on the field."

Link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20031004-123029-1959r.htm

I'm curious what the real reason Dalton isn't playing is. Last week, Cliff Russell was on the active roster listed as the #3 QB. Why? Since Cliff wasn't going to play anyway wouldn't Rod Gardner or Matt Bowen or one of the other "emergency backup QB's" could fill that role, why not activate Dalton? Give him some playing time and see what he could do. During the pre-season, in limited playing time and being new to the system he played pretty well, seemed to ge a push up the middle even.

WHY ISN'T HE PLAYING??????

[rskinsfan10]

Good question. One that has been asked before, but we the fan still seem to be in the dark as to the answer.

[Spence]

Dalton got a late start learning the defense, but so did the other guys. I mean, it seems like we restructured our entire defensive tackle rotation between the third and fourth weeks of the preseason. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the other guys just look better than Dalton does right now.

[CarMike]

Well, not only did he get a late start, but he also sat out a lot of the Broncos training camp. The Broncos didn't want to take a chance on him getting hurt and ruining any kind of trade that could be made.

I can't wait till the coaches think he's ready. I can't wait to see him in action. Hopefully he'll contribute right away.

[Skins57]

I would hope he is ready this week, it would be nice to see him play.

[LuvSkins17]

Wasn't his trade pending on the amount of playing time he gets?

[LostinNH]

I think it's simply a numbers crunch at this point. You have Haley, Chase and Holsey playing DT on 1st and most 2nd downs. Then you have Wynn and Zellner on 3rd and some longer 2nd downs. That's 5 players that can play tackle. For Dalton to get anytime it would seem that he would have to replace Chase, Holsey or Haley and right now all of them are playing pretty well. Just don't see the room for him right now.

[LostinNH]

Originally posted by LuvSkins17
Wasn't his trade pending on the amount of playing time he gets?

Yes it was. I believe it went something like, if Dalton plays 40% of the snaps the Broncos get a 5th, if he doesn't it's a 7th. I'm sure that partly plays into the Skins thinking but I still think it has more to do with the amount of players ahead of him.

[SkinsKY]

I think a solid line is worth a 5th rounder. I'm happy if we play the best players. I think it's dumb to hold Dalton out to reduce what pick we give up.

[CarMike]

I agree SkinsKY. If Dalton is the better player, play him. We need the help on run support.

[NCskinsfanatic]

He will play ithink they are tryingto determine who is most capable of mounting inside pressure between the three currently playing.Dalton;s forte is run stuffing and i think he neede time to get in better shape after not playing this pre-season.Second half of the year we will see what we have in him IMO.

[CarMike]

Originally posted by NCskinsfanatic
He will play ithink they are tryingto determine who is most capable of mounting inside pressure between the three currently playing.Dalton;s forte is run stuffing and i think he neede time to get in better shape after not playing this pre-season.Second half of the year we will see what we have in him IMO.

I agree with NCskinsfanatic here. Daltons specialty is suppose to be a run stuffer. Look for him to make our defense much better against the run in the second half of the season.

[NCskinsfanatic]

Thanks CM,least we agree on skins info even if we cant agre on which NC team to pull for LOL!

[rskinsfan10]

Apparently he has been on the inactive list the last couple of games, and I herad on 980 that he will be inactive again today.