Thread: Good Defensive Line Crop This Year................

Fair enough and I believe from what little I know I'd probably take Coples too just on the basis of that ability to dominate. Jones is a good ballplayer but I don't believe he's as dominant as Coples..........yet. Better motor though.

As far as the injury thing goes I answered that in another thread. There's a difference between an injury which heals and a player goes on and a medical issue that may not go away. So which is it with Jones. If it's just an injury you should be fine with that. You defended the Carmi pick on that basis and you can't reverse course here if that's you're real concern.

I think I've reached the point where I see 4 guys who could come in and play for us in 2012 and Jones is just one of the four. Damn but Thursdays gonna be interesting especially if we get an "offer we can't refuse" for Forte.

Originally Posted by soulman

Fair enough and I believe from what little I know I'd probably take Coples too just on the basis of that ability to dominate. Jones is a good ballplayer but I don't believe he's as dominant as Coples..........yet. Better motor though.

As far as the injury thing goes I answered that in another thread. There's a difference between an injury which heals and a player goes on and a medical issue that may not go away. So which is it with Jones. If it's just an injury you should be fine with that. You defended the Carmi pick on that basis and you can't reverse course here if that's you're real concern.

I think I've reached the point where I see 4 guys who could come in and play for us in 2012 and Jones is just one of the four. Damn but Thursdays gonna be interesting especially if we get an "offer we can't refuse" for Forte.

What was the nature of Jones' injury? I've only begun hearing about him in the past couple of weeks from Windy. I would definitely agree with you based on the circumstantial injury bit, but I'm sort of riding the fence right now. Do we really know that based on what we read in the other thread that I think you posted whether or not Jones' injury was circumstantial to warrant Emery's watchful eye? I'm curious to know. Right now, Wikipedia isn't telling me anything about the nature of his injury, so I don't really know what to think at this point.

Knee sprain I believe. Bad enough to keep him out but no surgery that I know of.

Originally Posted by soulman

Knee sprain I believe. Bad enough to keep him out but no surgery that I know of.

Well hell fire! If it was a MCL sprain (assuming that's what it was), he will good to go for the draft. By the way, one of the NFL.com contributors has the Bears taking Jones at #19. I find that interesting that they would choose Jones over Mercilus knowing what they know Mercilus is capable of but not being quite so sure about Jones. The thing that intrigues me the most about Mercilus is the nine forced takeaways he had at Illinois last year. I don't know if he's is comparable to John Randle during Randle's time as a DE, but height wise, he's taller, and he's not as heavy.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Well hell fire! If it was a MCL sprain (assuming that's what it was), he will good to go for the draft. By the way, one of the NFL.com contributors has the Bears taking Jones at #19. I find that interesting that they would choose Jones over Mercilus knowing what they know Mercilus is capable of but not being quite so sure about Jones. The thing that intrigues me the most about Mercilus is the nine forced takeaways he had at Illinois last year. I don't know if he's is comparable to John Randle during Randle's time as a DE, but height wise, he's taller, and he's not as heavy.

Randle played DT. He was 6'1" and about 280. The guy who plays like Randle is Melton. Those two would be comparable but not Mercilus.

College isn't the NFL Dags. I expect Mercilus to do very well but to believe he'd come in and dominate at this level like he did in college is hoping for a lot. He'll be lining up across from 32 of the best LT's or RT's he's ever
faced. The real question for the Bears is this. Assuming they even have Jones ranked on par with Mercilus do they want a guy who would probably be limited to RDE or a situational rusher at LDE or a guy who may not be as natural a rusher but can play LDE right out or the gate and still do some damage?

Mercilus has more upside as a pass rusher whereas Jones may have more upside as an all around DE. He may never play RDE like Mercilus will but as long as Pep is around nobody is gonna take hi job away from him. Izzy ia another story. Pep is under contract through 2015 but Izzy has just this year. Who do you replace first?

I'm not saying it will be Jones or that the Bears have him rated anywhere near where they do others I'm just following a line of logic which says IF they do then either Coples or Jones allows them to do that sooner than they could probably do with Mercilus.

Edit: I could go the other way to and say that Trace Armstrong was a great DE pass rusher for the Bears and the Phins and he played LDE at 6'4" 260lbs his whole career and he could play the run too. So size isn't the only factor. Mercilus has freaky abilities.

More poop on the pass rushers.






Whitney Mercilius compares favorably to J.J. Watt, according to STATS

By Sean Jensen on April 24, 2012 9:27 PM | 6 Comments | No TrackBacks



There are a lot of questions about Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus, who led the nation with 16 sacks.
Is he better suited for the 4-3 or 3-4? Is he a one-year wonder?


But, according to STATS LLC, Mercilus had a remarkable season that topped J.J. Watt, the defensive end for the Houston Texans who was selected 11th overall last year. While Watt had just 5 1/2 sacks during the regular season, he intercepted a pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in the Texans' first playoff game and returned it for a touchdown in a 17-10 win. Then, against the Baltimore Ravens, Watt had 2 1/2 sacks.

Watt had 16 1/2 hurries in 2010, at Wisconsin -- twice as many as Mercilus last season -- but he had five fewer knockdowns (19 1/2 to 14 1/2).


Mercilus had 27 1/2 knockdowns in 2011, two more than Melvin Ingram of South Carolina, according to STATS.


Of the draftable pass rushers, here's how they stack up in knockdowns (national ranking in parentheses):
1) Whitney Mercilus -- 27 1/2 (6th)
2) Melvin Ingram -- 25 1/2 (8th)
3) Nick Perry -- 21 (20th)
4) Courtney Upshaw -- 19 1/2 (30th)
5) Quinton Coples -- 19 (32nd)
6) Bruce Irvin -- 17 1/2 (40th)
7) Shea McClellin -- 17 (46th)