Defensively Speaking 2026

[Stout]

I don't know.

To me the key is getting valuable players out of the draft wherever they come from. Do 49er fans care that Brock Purdy was Mr Irrelevant and replaced a guy who the Niners used 3 1st round picks to draft? Or are they happy that they ended up with a franchise QB between the two?

Are we happy that we routinely blow high draft picks because our GM sucks? You're comparing us to the Whiners. That's hilarious, considering our respective GMs.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Are we happy that we routinely blow high draft picks because our GM sucks? You're comparing us to the Whiners. That's hilarious, considering our respective GMs.

You have to hit on most of your 1st rounders because that is where you find 90% of your elite players in the NFL.

After that the draft is a bit of a crap shoot and you need to find starters wherever they come from. At the end of the day it doesn't matter where a player was drafted if they are a solid contributor to the team. What matters is that you draft enough of those guys, which ever round they come from, to field a winner.

No one really cares that Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a 1st round bust RB for the Chiefs because they ended up finding Isiah Pacheco in the 7th round to be the starter instead. Pacheco was the starting running back for 2 SB wins and one SB loss. No one cares that 1st rounder CEH couldn't beat out 7th round Pacheco because it doesn't matter where you find players that help you win games.

 

[kerouac9]

No one really cares that Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a 1st round bust RB for the Chiefs because they ended up finding Isiah Pacheco in the 7th round to be the starter instead

You keep positing this nonsense but people cared very much that CEH was a flop and Pacheco was just a replacement level player.

 

[MadCardDisease]

You keep positing this nonsense but people cared very much that CEH was a flop and Pacheco was just a replacement level player.

Was this you?

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[Stout]

You have to hit on most of your 1st rounders because that is where you find 90% of your elite players in the NFL.

After that the draft is a bit of a crap shoot and you need to find starters wherever they come from. At the end of the day it doesn't matter where a player was drafted if they are a solid contributor to the team. What matters is that you draft enough of those guys, which ever round they come from, to field a winner.

No one really cares that Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a 1st round bust RB for the Chiefs because they ended up finding Isiah Pacheco in the 7th round to be the starter instead. Pacheco was the starting running back for 2 SB wins and one SB loss. No one cares that 1st rounder CEH couldn't beat out 7th round Pacheco because it doesn't matter where you find players that help you win games.

The point here is missing high on players ad nauseum. Has Monti found a gem that will be good, or is it just that Melton is so bad he can't beat him out? We don't have any idea yet.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think the bigger point is that Melton stinks AND the 5th rounder who is beating him out hasn’t really been impressive either.

Merely beating out Melton doesn’t make our 5th rounder impressive if he’s still not good either. It just means we still have a hole at CB.

 

[kerouac9]

I think the bigger point is that Melton stinks AND the 5th rounder who is beating him out hasn’t really been impressive either.

Merely beating out Melton doesn’t make our 5th rounder impressive if he’s still not good either. It just means we still have a hole at CB.

TBF the fifth rounder had very good coverage stats last season and could be okay.

 

[PDXChris]

TBF the fifth rounder had very good coverage stats last season and could be okay.

We was a pleasant surprise in an otherwise pooptastic defense.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I think the bigger point is that Melton stinks AND the 5th rounder who is beating him out hasn’t really been impressive either.

Merely beating out Melton doesn’t make our 5th rounder impressive if he’s still not good either. It just means we still have a hole at CB.

This is very true.

Burke is heading into his 2nd year and we still don't know what he will eventually turn into. Melton is heading into year 3 and needs to show that he deserves to be an everyday starter. If he can't show that this season then the he will probably never amount to much.

I typically believe that by the end of year 3 you should have a good idea if a player has it or not. That is why I'm very concerned about BJ Ojalari entering year 4 and is still showing zero improvement.

 

[Garthshort]

The point here is missing high on players ad nauseum. Has Monti found a gem that will be good, or is it just that Melton is so bad he can't beat him out? We don't have any idea yet.

Are you giving up on Beck, already?

 

[THESMEL]

Well poo,
DC retained after a miserable performance, back up QB retained for 15 mill more after a brilliant performance and 11 losses.
HC fired
QB cut costing 57 mill for no legitimate reason I can tell, emotion of fans, toxic media? Seems Jacoby proved it wasn’t the qb that was the problem!
THE PROBLEM WITH THE OFFENSE was that the rbs got hurt early, and the 3rd stringer show boated the titan game away, it was a run first offense. Kyler was adapting too.
Guess I blame Monti - hired and fired Gannon - see if he can clean up this mess, in the end only fans and bidwills here forever, now Larry!

 

[daves]

After that the draft is a bit of a crap shoot and you need to find starters wherever they come from. At the end of the day it doesn't matter where a player was drafted if they are a solid contributor to the team. What matters is that you draft enough of those guys, which ever round they come from, to field a winner.

If Ossenfort somehow managed to find just as many late-round gems as early-round misses, that would be fine. Statistically improbable, but fine.

But the benefit of finding one late round gem doesn't begin to approach balancing out his failure to find one single All Pro or even Pro Bowler among his early round picks... or in any round at all so far with his 35 picks.

 

[Krangodnzr]

WTF are you talking about? Our defensive line is effectively one guy who is coming off injury, our edge room is basically one guy who wants outta here, our ILBer situation hinges on a slightly better than JAG, and I don't even want to talk about our secondary. Or depth!

I like Roy Lopez. I think he's a capable player, but the problem is that the defense needs more than just capable players.

 

[Krangodnzr]

It’s so good that a fifth round pick is giving Monti’s second round pick everything he can handle.

I don't like arguments like this though. Burke played fairly well last year. If he had been a 2nd round pick and played like he did, I think people would be a little more content with the CB room.

I know you aren't a fan, but he gave up a 70.8 QB Rating which is a short term slam dunk for a fifth round pick.

 

[Krangodnzr]

The point here is missing high on players ad nauseum. Has Monti found a gem that will be good, or is it just that Melton is so bad he can't beat him out? We don't have any idea yet.

Well Burke did play well last year, so there is objective data out there.

He led the team in pass defenses (11), interceptions (3), and depending on which charting site you follow, allowed a below average completion % and QB Rating.

He was legitimately a good player for the Cardinals and did this on 59% of snaps played.

For a fifth round pick, this is highly encouraging. I'm pretty bearish on the Cardinals overall, but let's at least be reasonable and objective when a player actually played pretty well.

Like I've said I like Roy Lopez, I'll call him a very solid player. The problem with the front seven though is that DRob needs to play better than below JAG level and the other OLB spot opposite Sweat produces very little pass rush at the moment, do effectively the Cardinals are relying on Sweat and MAYBE Nolen to create a pass rush. That sucks.

 

[kerouac9]

I like Roy Lopez. I think he's a capable player, but the problem is that the defense needs more than just capable players.

Roy Lopez can be the worst player on a playoff team.

The problem is that so can Zaven Collins and maybe Rabbit.

I’m not sure Darius Robinson or the other LB are anything but sub players on a good defense.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't like arguments like this though. Burke played fairly well last year. If he had been a 2nd round pick and played like he did, I think people would be a little more content with the CB room.

I know you aren't a fan, but he gave up a 70.8 QB Rating which is a short term slam dunk for a fifth round pick.

I literally made the argument already, but I don’t like passer rating against as a metric for CBs unless the sample size is huge.

I think Burke was fine, but it’s more frustrating that Melton can’t see the field and was benched last year.

Huge opportunity cost when we could have drafted the next BJ Ojulari.