Quote Originally Posted by BPF2 View Post
Pollard/Reed - Huff/Elam We're putting a lot of faith in Elam who has never played an NFL down. And hoping he can replace a HOF. Say what you want about Ed's physical ability last year, his mental ability and reputation made every QB think twice. He might not have been able to tackle, but he could still cover ground to break up a pass or pick it off. Not like the Ed Reed of old, but still better than many.

Birk - Gino - There is no way you can legitimately say this is an upgrade. Sure Birk needed to be replaced, but it's a little early to be saying a full season of Gino is an upgrade.

Leach - Juice This is the one I have a lot of concern over. Not to doubt Juice's ability, but everyone's penciling him in as the replacement to the best FB in the game based on production at Harvard. Again, never played a down in the NFL. I have high hopes for him, as I do for every new face, but his legend has grown very quickly.
Reed- He hasn't been a great tackler for a few years now but last year we started to see the decline of his range too. While it's true that his mental acuity was matched by few, we started to see him out of position more often than years past due to his body not doing what his mind wanted. QB's simply didn't fear Ed as much last year and his gambling started to hurt more than help

Gino-I agree that Gino isn't an upgrade at this point but imo there won't be an alarming drop-off from Birk to him based on 1.) His experience (albeit limited) against the Bengals 1st team D-line last year where he held up well 2.) Being bracketed by what could easily be the top Guard tandem in the league.

Leach-Whatever drop-off there will be in blocking from Leach to Juice will, imo, be more than made up in Juice's pass-catching, versatility and playmaking ability that is much more suited to the presumed direction the offense is heading.