Ronald Blair-DE-Appalachian State-signs with Jets

Beyond what both Buckner and Blair bring individually, what I like the most is the depth they've added to the DL. Dial will arguably be manning NT 'til Dorsey & Williams are ready to go. There should be some stiff competition for roster spots, and that's a good thing. Blair strikes me as the kind of player Seattle drafts...only we got him, so good on Baalke for that. Our starting DL (Armstead - Dial/Dorsey/Williams - Buckner is young, but oh so talented. But, the depth behind them is really good, too, so I'm really happy about it.

Originally posted by TheXFactor:

Originally posted by LVJay:
Great pick, I'm glad he's with us!!!

"I wore (number) 49 in college," Blair said. "My phone number has 49 (in it). My dad's favorite team is the 49ers. It must have just been destiny. I'm grateful to land here."

hell yeah!!

Originally posted by cciowa:
that is blasphemy. everyone knows that NOBODY wants to play for this toxic dump... his dad HAD to be a childhood friend or an employee of trent in another job in another life

lol, we're gonna shock the critics, bro

You could do a whole lot worse than Dorsey/Dial/Blair as second string line.

Originally posted by 9moon:

but those LBs are real LBs.. they weren't 265 to 275 DEs.. this is exactly why Tank is having trouble with our defense, he's a natural E and we're trying to convert him to an OLB..

Look at what happened with our then END (Andre Carter) when Nolan tried to turn him into an OLB.. it ain't happenin.. Lemon-man alone is having trouble being an OLB because he was a DE at Auburn.

We play nickel 60% of the time, Tank will get a crack at playing end in sub packages.

Originally posted by KRS-1:

Originally posted by 9moon:

but those LBs are real LBs.. they weren't 265 to 275 DEs.. this is exactly why Tank is having trouble with our defense, he's a natural E and we're trying to convert him to an OLB..

Look at what happened with our then END (Andre Carter) when Nolan tried to turn him into an OLB.. it ain't happenin.. Lemon-man alone is having trouble being an OLB because he was a DE at Auburn.

We play nickel 60% of the time, Tank will get a crack at playing end in sub packages.

That, and most NFL OLBs in a 3-4 were 4-3 DEs in college. Aldon Smith, DeMarcus Ware, Julius Peppers, Chandler Jones, and Aaron Lynch are examples off the top of my head. It's not exactly an uncommon conversion.

Originally posted by CorvaNinerFan:
Beyond what both Buckner and Blair bring individually, what I like the most is the depth they've added to the DL. Dial will arguably be manning NT 'til Dorsey & Williams are ready to go. There should be some stiff competition for roster spots, and that's a good thing. Blair strikes me as the kind of player Seattle drafts...only we got him, so good on Baalke for that. Our starting DL (Armstead - Dial/Dorsey/Williams - Buckner is young, but oh so talented. But, the depth behind them is really good, too, so I'm really happy about it.

Agree

Now, it's up to the coaches to mold them into stars.

Originally posted by KRS-1:

Originally posted by 9moon:
but those LBs are real LBs.. they weren't 265 to 275 DEs.. this is exactly why Tank is having trouble with our defense, he's a natural E and we're trying to convert him to an OLB..

Look at what happened with our then END (Andre Carter) when Nolan tried to turn him into an OLB.. it ain't happenin.. Lemon-man alone is having trouble being an OLB because he was a DE at Auburn.

We play nickel 60% of the time, Tank will get a crack at playing end in sub packages.

I hope he lights it up this year.

I honestly would prefer if we had Blair play pure DE with some occasional zone drops, while working Carradine into being more of an actual hybrid DE/OLB instead of just a situational rusher.

Carradine ran a 4.75 at 276 pounds coming off of an injury. At 265? With pass-rushing being his forte, I have to believe he could be a legitimate threat as a 3-4 OLB. This season will be so interesting to watch to see these guys' contributions.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
I honestly would prefer if we had Blair play pure DE with some occasional zone drops, while working Carradine into being more of an actual hybrid DE/OLB instead of just a situational rusher.

Carradine ran a 4.75 at 276 pounds coming off of an injury. At 265? With pass-rushing being his forte, I have to believe he could be a legitimate threat as a 3-4 OLB. This season will be so interesting to watch to see these guys' contributions.

Same here. Blaire already IS a DL you can use up and down the DL to create pressure whereas, IMHO, Carradine is purely an edge rusher at WILL. Both are in the right positions IMHO so it'll be interesting to see how effective they'll be in those roles. O'Neil wants to bring the heat...those two are certainly capable of that from these two positions.

Originally posted by walker807:
You could do a whole lot worse than Dorsey/Dial/Blair as second string line.

and a good d line coach

When you watch Blair's highlights (there's a link on the zone), he looks like he's got a wicked first step - very quick.

Originally posted by crake49:
When you watch Blair's highlights (there's a link on the zone), he looks like he's got a wicked first step - very quick.

bring on the offsides/free plays!

Originally posted by ChazBoner:

Originally posted by crake49:
When you watch Blair's highlights (there's a link on the zone), he looks like he's got a wicked first step - very quick.

bring on the offsides/free plays!

there's our friendly antagonist

Originally posted by NYniner85:
there's our friendly antagonist

This time of year, the lazy and easy bet is always failure because most guys fail. It always cracks me up when fans proudly pronounce that so and so is going to be a bust or not going to make it as if they're dropping some serious info on everyone. Hey, no kidding, Einstein! It's the NFL. The vast majority don't make it.

soild depth...has power most def.