Touchy Subject....How is Derwin James "Elite"?

[21&500]

Right now, I don't think is the time to single anyone out on defense.
The whole unit is a mess and not playing together.
This is a coaching/communication issue, not a 1 or 2 players not balling out week 1 issue.
K9 too, I went hard after him yesterday, but I will give this defense 3 more games to see steady improvement before I judge Staley.
after said steady improvement and performance, I will judge individual players.

[21&500]

DJ directly stopped a pass into the red zone, I'd say he did more than most yesterday.

That's 1 play.
he also whiffed on a well time blitz.

As an aside:
K9 was flatfooted and waited for the rb to come to him.
Oh and guessed wrong.
iirc, when playing iLB, you're supposed to defende the inside first, especially when there is another defender (Bosa) on the outside.
DJ did enough to slow the rb down, but K9 failed to close in.

[Lefty2SLO]

DJ directly stopped a pass into the red zone, I'd say he did more than most yesterday.

I thought Derwin made impact plays yesterday - he was one of our better defensive players. I'm not qualified to make a determination as to if he was good in coverage, and even if I was what we get shown on TV makes it hard to tell.

Regardless as to how bad the secondary played, we lost this game primarily because we couldn't get pressure on Tua. Going forward the JC Jackson issue can be resolved simply by replacing him (Taylor or Leonard are both better than him right now), but what do we do about our highly paid and grossly underperforming pass rushers? If they can't get it done against the average oline Miami threw out there yesterday, what's our hope going forward? Blitz like madmen??

THIS is going to be a season long issue . . . . . . . . . . it's a passing league. Without pressure you're cooked . . . . . . . . . . . .

[21&500]

I'm in favor of simplifying the defense and give everyone 1 fulltime job.
we have absolute stud athletes, we need to utilize that and stop worrying about making them "cerebral" players.

Bring Gus back... okay, wait, no. But you understand me.

[Lefty2SLO]

Can we NOW trade Boso?

Missed that window . . . . . . . . . . . we're stuck with him at least through the year, and probably through next year as well due to his salary.

[jamrock]

I'm in favor of simplifying the defense and give everyone 1 fulltime job.
we have absolute stud athletes, we need to utilize that and stop worrying about making them "cerebral" players.

Bring Gus back... okay, wait, no. But you understand me.

That is supposedly what worked later last season when Bosa and DJ were out as well as most of the DL.

As for Derwin, he made a couple of plays yesterday but I would think he'd be the over the top help on the long TD to Tyreek that JCJ got badly beaten on and the long throw to Tyreek on Miami's last drive that Jasir got beat on.

[BigBad]

Right now, I don't think is the time to single anyone out on defense.

Paying Derwin, JC, Bosa, Mack, Mike Williams STAR money means we can't pay for solid players and depth. When the "STARS" play at best like above average guys you get yesterday.

[Lefty2SLO]

I'm in favor of simplifying the defense and give everyone 1 fulltime job.
we have absolute stud athletes, we need to utilize that and stop worrying about making them "cerebral" players.

Bring Gus back... okay, wait, no. But you understand me.

Simplifying the defense, while probably a laudable goal, won't generate additional pass rush pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . you need good / great players and clever scheming to do that . . . . . . . see Dallas v Giants from last night . . . . . . . . . .

[Lefty2SLO]

Paying Derwin, JC, Bosa, Mack, Mike Williams STAR money means we can't pay for solid players and depth. When the "STARS" play at best like above average guys you get yesterday.

If they had (all) played like above average guys we would have won . . . . . . .

[Velo]

I thought Derwin made impact plays yesterday - he was one of our better defensive players. I'm not qualified to make a determination as to if he was good in coverage, and even if I was what we get shown on TV makes it hard to tell.

Regardless as to how bad the secondary played, we lost this game primarily because we couldn't get pressure on Tua. Going forward the JC Jackson issue can be resolved simply by replacing him (Taylor or Leonard are both better than him right now), but what do we do about our highly paid and grossly underperforming pass rushers? If they can't get it done against the average oline Miami threw out there yesterday, what's our hope going forward? Blitz like madmen??

THIS is going to be a season long issue . . . . . . . . . . it's a passing league. Without pressure you're cooked . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yes, Derwin was good in this game. He made a few plays. I 100 percent agree the reason for Tua's big day is because the defense could get no pressure on him. In last season's game they got to Tua a couple of times at key moments and the defense had a lot more pressure on him than yesterday. I don't have an answer for how to get our highly paid pass rushers to play better. Maybe they are physically unable to play at a high level or maybe they are not happy in Staley's defense. If both edge rushers continue to underperform, then give Tuli more playing time. I wouldn't rule out or oppose a trade for pass rushing help if it continues to be a problem. I wish they could find a way to get more of a pass rush from the IDL, it seems totally non existent and that allows the defense to focus on stopping the edge rushers. I hate to say it, but that was the one thing that Jerry Tillery seemed to do well - rush the passer from the interior.

I'm in favor of simplifying the defense and give everyone 1 fulltime job.
we have absolute stud athletes, we need to utilize that and stop worrying about making them "cerebral" players.

Bring Gus back... okay, wait, no. But you understand me.

Yes, we do understand.

[Bolt4Knob]

Missed that window . . . . . . . . . . . we're stuck with him at least through the year, and probably through next year as well due to his salary.

They can release him by the third day of the new league year In March 2024 - at that time -- he would be guaranteed $7m of what he is owed

He actually could be a good candidate to trade as his base salary (along with Mack, Williams and Allen) are all the league minimum.

If there were a market for him - they should have traded him earlier this year.

[gzubeck]

Missed that window . . . . . . . . . . . we're stuck with him at least through the year, and probably through next year as well due to his salary.

Bite the $20 mill bullet. We would be saving $14 mil on his $34 mil contract next year. The only way he stays is if he agrees to take a substantial pay cut and even then I wouldn't trust him as a full time starter anymore. Bosa looked like a wet puppy playing out there...