The Tutelate of Andy Reid

[Brown Warrior]

Getting my arms around the Shurmur hire (which I like a lot), I think this article is fantastic. Reid has already sent Harbaugh (special teams) and Spags (DC) to head coaching jobs. After a two-year stop in LA with Spags, Shurmur is up now.

Mariucci went from WCO QB coach straight to head coach, so it would not have been a shock for Shurmur to have gone from 10 years with the Eagles, 8 as a QB coach, to a head coaching gig. But he got two years as an OC in a VERY difficult situation, which can only help.

Reading that Mike McCoy is the favorite at OC and he'd also be the QB coach. In addition to cornering the market on all the young WCO dudes, McCoy is good friends with Delhomme, increasing the chances that Delhomme stays on as mentor figure and backup at a reduced rate.

Very happy that this will finally be Holmgren's team with Holmgren's systems. A little nervous about the defense. I would prefer to stay in the 3-4 and be like Green Bay.

Eagles coach Andy Reid, Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo believe Pat Shurmur is ready to succeed with Cleveland Browns | cleveland.com

[Enigmatic Evil]

I'm nervous about the defense as well. It was better at times and bad at times. Inconsistency and injuries kind of stacked on top of each other, but it was improved. I don't think Shurmur will have a big ripple that affects our D. I think we're kind of at a crossroads where we can take a path, go 4-3 or get players to enforce the 3-4.

I think that we are likely to see a larger offensive overhaul, to go with this new coach. Some new WR's preferably.

[DawgFan]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic Evil

I'm nervous about the defense as well. It was better at times and bad at times. Inconsistency and injuries kind of stacked on top of each other, but it was improved. I don't think Shurmur will have a big ripple that affects our D. I think we're kind of at a crossroads where we can take a path, go 4-3 or get players to enforce the 3-4.

I think that we are likely to see a larger offensive overhaul, to go with this new coach. Some new WR's preferably.

We have nobody to play end for a 4-3....but almost nobody for end (at least impact wise) for a 3-4....so yeah, I guess you could say we are at a crossroads.

The truth is, the only player that really fits the mold of a 4-3 DE is Roth. The rest are a little too big and lack the pass rushing skills. They are 3-4 guys that are either raw at the position, or so long in the tooth as to be virtually useless.

I have been harping on the DL for the past 2 years....and it may even be worse now (despite Rubin) than it was back then.

Rogers was a HUGE bust at DE...or NT for that matter this year. I don't think we can count on R.Smith anymore...and Coleman isn't all that young either.

As for the LB's....who would play MLB for us? Too many parts to move in my opinion to make the move, but a lot of work either way.

[kydawgfan]

Like heckert said, on defense we have to get younger and i think most agree here..
We need to rebuild/replace/upgrade much of the front 7 regardless and we are in as good of a position as it gets to convert to the 4-3 if we are going to do so..
We currently dont have the front 7 to run either defense efficiently and tom heckert has really got his work cut out for himself if anything positive is going to develop on either side of the ball but i cant think of a better guy to handle it....

[Enigmatic Evil]

I agree we absolutely need a new starting DE, maybe two. Regardless of going to a 4-3 or keeping with a 3-4. Was Rogers a HUGE bust? I don't know... but he definitely had a quiet season after Holmgren expected him to stand out. Maybe we'll be trading him this season?

MLB? Well... I don't know who would be our starting MLB. We've basically got a pool of LB's for our rag-tag 3-4 set up. I think if we moved to a 4-3, we would see some changes in our LB personnel just like we woudl on the line as well.

The moral of the story DF is that the team still needs a lot of work before we could consider ourselves a consistent winner. We all want to be making the playoffs and the superbowl but we're at team that still struggles to win the close games. There's a long way to go before we will be a consistent winner, let alone a playoff contender.

[Brown Warrior]

Rubin's really active, so I think he'll make a good 4-3 DT. We have a lot of candidates to play next to him, depending on which we keep, in Shaefering, Ivey, Rogers, Coleman, and Smith. I agree that Matt Roth seems like a prototypical 4-3 DE and I'd love to keep him. Benard is already being talked about as a pass rush specialist and that's ideal. We need more DEs.

I fully expect Gocong and Fujita to start. DQJ has often been called an ideal 4-3 MLB. We need 4-3 OLBs who can cover, probably a couple. Linebacker seems thin.

[Legendary]

I would focus on sorting offence out and change it to West Coast and improve passing game and stick with 3-4 for defense and make minor changes in it then sort out defense in 2012 draft and change it to 4-3 if needed.

[Vegasdogg]

Well you know Heckert was looking towards a possible change to a 4-3, so I am pretty sure Gocong and Fajita are playing LB. I would say they need to sign Roth. And much to some peoples chagrin we could be picking 2-3 more D players with our first 2-3 picks.

[BernietheKid]

Originally Posted by Vegasdogg

Well you know Heckert was looking towards a possible change to a 4-3, so I am pretty sure Gocong and Fajita are playing LB. I would say they need to sign Roth. And much to some peoples chagrin we could be picking 2-3 more D players with our first 2-3 picks.

I agree with this and I said last year don't be shocked if we picked two DB. Well don't be shocked this year if we picked two DL. If you look at drafts in Philly that Heckert was a part of they chose a DL in the first round 4 out of the 9 years. In two of those years they didn't even have first round picks so I would say that he puts a premium on certain positions.

[Alo]

I'm not sure that both Fujita and Gocong would start. Both fit best in a 4-3 as strongside linebackers, and Gocong's lack of athleticism makes him a less than ideal fit even at that spot: it's why a lot of people thought moving to a 3-4 would do wonders for his career.

So you're looking at bringing in two new starting linebackers, most importantly a capable inside man. And we'll need to add a lot more athleticism to our LB corps.

[Brown Warrior]

It would help a lot if we could bring in a RT in free agency so we could go WR in round one and then front 7 in rounds 2 and 3.

[PB&J]

With everyone saying "we don't have any ends beside Roth in the 43, I wonder about Jayme Mitchell. He was the third end beyond some really talented guys in Minny. I remember him being talked about having starter potential before we traded for him. He was probably inactive all of last year on account of never having played in a 34, but I expect some contribution this year.