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merlin
So yeah I think he's a maroon.
Safety is our strongest defensive position right now. Burgess is a fantastic fit who will play nickel and FS for us so he'll be on the field a lot behind JJ who is proven as well as Rapp who had a fantastic rookie season.
But our defense would not rank 8 if I were doing this for a few reasons:
1. First time DC at this level instituting a scheme with a different approach.
2. Lack of talent at LB particularly on the interior but also the blindside rush is questionable.
3. Our CBs were stacked based on what Wade preferred: playing man. They're not too good at zone, but they'll need to be this year.
Last year we were 17th in points against at 22.8 so to get into the range he predicts we'll need to shave a good 3+ points off of that. Given the above I am not sure we're a good bet for that. Could it happen? Sure. But I'm not gonna pat the guy on his back because he projected us to improve if I don't feel the same.
I don't think he's an idiot for saying that rookies are question marks. They are unproven so by definition they are. Burgess may be a fantastic fit but he hasn't played one snap in the NFL. There may be growing pains next year.
On #3, we're going to play a lot of man this year. From what I've read, Staley had mostly man concepts with some zone mixed in, not the other way around. And the Rams CBs do have zone experience b/c that's what they played when Peters was here.
The 8th ranking is fairly optimistic. I'd be very happy if that's where it ends up.