(07-11-2024, 12:44 PM)Jag149 Wrote:

(07-11-2024, 08:09 AM)Caldrac Wrote: I think the hamstring injury really messed him up last year. They also rushed him back out there too soon medically. Ended up getting exposed against the 49ers and Ravens as well because of that. 

Secondary play will benefit the most this season with a rebolstered front seven and a new approach coaching wise. It's the interior that needs to make it's presence felt early and often in 2024. 

Relying heavily on Hamilton, Armstead, Smith and Jefferson to get it done. It's rare we saw the pocket collapse on defense. A lot of Allen and Walker's sacks were hustle and great effort pursuits that were made running around the windmill. 

I also think, again, our schedule and the QB's that we face in 2024 are a little bit more pass rusher friendly than we had in 2023. That schedule last year was absolutely brutal down the stretch. We had a gauntlet of top ranked defenses with quality QB play for what felt like a straight month in a row.

This was made worse as the injuries on offense began to stack up and it clearly reared it's ugly head starting after that Bengals loss.

One thing I'll be following closely is Hamilton. Is he back to his full self? Is that full self good enough to repeat last year's camp? After all Fortner and the other guards were thrown around by everyone. I really don't know what that would say about him or our new look O line.  Gonna be quite interesting.

Agreed. Hamilton I thought had flashed some ability to get into the backfield during the preseason. It was maybe against the Steelers or Dolphins. He looked pretty twitchy. I do agree with dialing down the excitement though when we hear this group is getting after the offensive line group. 

A lot of teams got after this offensive line group last year. And the year before that as well. It's not saying much until they prove and show otherwise. At least with Armstead you know what you're getting when he's healthy. We're hopefully getting Maason Smith at the right time coming off his injury that set him back at LSU.

He was one of the top two or three interior DT's last year that led the nation in QB pressures. That has to be a good sign of his progression and recovery.

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