Adulais Thomas

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is he a LB or a DE? Doesn't he wear #94 and returned the fumble yesterday against Pitt? That guy looked to huge to be a LB. If he's fast enough to play LB with that size then he goes right to the top of my FA wish list.
 

CtCardinals78

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He's a stud. If we got this guy and paired him up with Hayes and Dansby I think we could have one of the best linebacker corps. If we can't get him, Lance Briggs would be a good second choice. I think the problem we are going to see is players not wanting to come to Arizona though(unless we shell out an exorbitant amount of cash and overpay). Hopefully Wilson can lobby one of those two and Clements or Samuel to come here @ the Pro Bowl like Fitz did w/ Edge last year.
 

Ryanwb

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Does B-more still run the 3-4? I think he'd be a DE here
 
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He's a stud. If we got this guy and paired him up with Hayes and Dansby I think we could have one of the best linebacker corps. If we can't get him, Lance Briggs would be a good second choice. I think the problem we are going to see is players not wanting to come to Arizona though(unless we shell out an exorbitant amount of cash and overpay). Hopefully Wilson can lobby one of those two and Clements or Samuel to come here @ the Pro Bowl like Fitz did w/ Edge last year.

I'm not too sure that will be the case with free agents anymore. The new stadium has to help. The key will be the new staff and their scheme. I would think Rivera would be a huge influence to getting Briggs,or other defensive guys, here. A competent GM wouldn't hurt matters also.
 

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Baltimore is primarily an 8 man front team. They are in a 4-3 most of the time, and mix in the "46" defense as a change of pace. Adulais Thomas is a stud, but I doubt any of our coaches would have the creativity to use him like Rex Ryan does. He plays DE, LB, and SS in Baltimore's complex 4-3 and "46" scheme.
 

BigDavis75

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Baltimore is primarily an 8 man front team. They are in a 4-3 most of the time, and mix in the "46" defense as a change of pace. Adulais Thomas is a stud, but I doubt any of our coaches would have the creativity to use him like Rex Ryan does. He plays DE, LB, and SS in Baltimore's complex 4-3 and "46" scheme.

You haven't watched them lately then. They have almost completely moved to the 3-4 with Suggs standing up on the Weakside. Adalius Thomas will be a SSOLB wherever he goes. You are correct about his athleticism though, he even plays a gunner on PR. He is good enough to play in a 4-3 or a 3-4 (heck, he has done both in BAL) but he is 29 years old. I love Thomas, he is a great pass-rusher and very very underrated in coverge but I don't want to give a guy a huge contract for only 2-3 years of play at that level. I would go with Briggs b/c he plays the WSOLB and then we can keep Dansby at SSOLB and hopefully play a lot more Cover-2 (Rolle would certainly benefit).
 

Boyd Cardinal

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You haven't watched them lately then. They have almost completely moved to the 3-4 with Suggs standing up on the Weakside. Adalius Thomas will be a SSOLB wherever he goes. You are correct about his athleticism though, he even plays a gunner on PR. He is good enough to play in a 4-3 or a 3-4 (heck, he has done both in BAL) but he is 29 years old. I love Thomas, he is a great pass-rusher and very very underrated in coverge but I don't want to give a guy a huge contract for only 2-3 years of play at that level. I would go with Briggs b/c he plays the WSOLB and then we can keep Dansby at SSOLB and hopefully play a lot more Cover-2 (Rolle would certainly benefit).

I usually watch all of Baltimore's games because I am a huge fan of both Rex and Rob Ryan. I had the opportunity to listen to an impassioned speech Rex gave about the "46" defense when he was DC at the University of Cincinnati.
The Ravens starting lineup is listed as a 4-3. DL is Gregg, Nugyata, Suggs, and Pryce. LB's are Scott, Lewis, and Thomas. Db's are Reed, Landry, McCallister, and Rolle. I will agree that the Ravens are a multiple front defense and may play some 3-4, but Scott and Thomas both are on the LOS in the "46" too. It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between the "46" and 3-4 when teams spread you out in passing situations.

I find it hard to believe that the Ravens are running a 3-4 almost all the time when Ryan made the switch from a 3-4 to 4-3 when named DC. He joked that in the 3-4 Ray Lewis was a nose tackle and in the 4-3 and "46" he would be a free runner to the ball. His brother Rob switched Oakland to a 4-3 and Buddy ran a 4-3 his entire career.

It doesn't really matter. Thomas would be a great pick-up, but we need to hire someone that would utilize his talents. It would be our luck to pick him up and have a Marmie/McGinnis clone come in and run some vanilla defense.
By the way, do you think the Cardinals could effectively run a Tampa 2 style of defense? I am extremely scared of us trying to stop the run with seven in the box and Dockett as a run plugger. However, it would help Rolle out in the secondary.
 

BACH

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I think Briggs would be a better fit for us. We already have Pace and Dansby in the DE/OLB mold.
 

RugbyMuffin

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:bang: We should of got Terrell Suggs!!! :mad:

Agreed.

I didn't know A.Thomas was a FA at the end of this year.

Size? Who friggin' cares how big the guy is !

He is more than fast enough to play LB, and would be a HUGE pick up if we got him as FA.

But the Ravens would be crazy to let him go.
 

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You haven't watched them lately then. They have almost completely moved to the 3-4 with Suggs standing up on the Weakside. Adalius Thomas will be a SSOLB wherever he goes. You are correct about his athleticism though, he even plays a gunner on PR. He is good enough to play in a 4-3 or a 3-4 (heck, he has done both in BAL) but he is 29 years old. I love Thomas, he is a great pass-rusher and very very underrated in coverge but I don't want to give a guy a huge contract for only 2-3 years of play at that level. I would go with Briggs b/c he plays the WSOLB and then we can keep Dansby at SSOLB and hopefully play a lot more Cover-2 (Rolle would certainly benefit).

Makes total sense.:thumbup:
 

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I live in Baltimore, and IMO, the Ravens will definitely resign Adalius Thomas. He is probably more important to their D than Ray Lewis (now that Bart Scott has proven he can really play), and as important as Ed Reed.

The one thing the Ravens have been able to do, that the Cardinals haven't done, is consistently re-sign their core players.

Continuity is key!
 

dreamcastrocks

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The one thing the Ravens have been able to do, that the Cardinals haven't done, is consistently re-sign their core players.

Continuity is key!

Name a core player in the past few years that didn't resign?
 

Crazy Canuck

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I live in Baltimore, and IMO, the Ravens will definitely resign Adalius Thomas. He is probably more important to their D than Ray Lewis (now that Bart Scott has proven he can really play), and as important as Ed Reed.

The one thing the Ravens have been able to do, that the Cardinals haven't done, is consistently re-sign their core players.

Continuity is key!

According to the NFL Network, he will definitely test the open market at end of season.

P.S. resign does not mean re-sign ;)
 

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I usually watch all of Baltimore's games because I am a huge fan of both Rex and Rob Ryan. I had the opportunity to listen to an impassioned speech Rex gave about the "46" defense when he was DC at the University of Cincinnati.
The Ravens starting lineup is listed as a 4-3. DL is Gregg, Nugyata, Suggs, and Pryce. LB's are Scott, Lewis, and Thomas. Db's are Reed, Landry, McCallister, and Rolle. I will agree that the Ravens are a multiple front defense and may play some 3-4, but Scott and Thomas both are on the LOS in the "46" too. It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between the "46" and 3-4 when teams spread you out in passing situations.

I find it hard to believe that the Ravens are running a 3-4 almost all the time when Ryan made the switch from a 3-4 to 4-3 when named DC. He joked that in the 3-4 Ray Lewis was a nose tackle and in the 4-3 and "46" he would be a free runner to the ball. His brother Rob switched Oakland to a 4-3 and Buddy ran a 4-3 his entire career.

It doesn't really matter. Thomas would be a great pick-up, but we need to hire someone that would utilize his talents. It would be our luck to pick him up and have a Marmie/McGinnis clone come in and run some vanilla defense.
By the way, do you think the Cardinals could effectively run a Tampa 2 style of defense? I am extremely scared of us trying to stop the run with seven in the box and Dockett as a run plugger. However, it would help Rolle out in the secondary.


The Cards are lacking a good enough WSOLB to make the full Tampa 2 move but if we can get Briggs then I'm all for it. Hayes has shown some serious range in his zone coverages and Dansby is good in coverage too. Also, I'm not sure how well A. Wilson would translate to a Tampa-2, but I firmly believe that players like Rolle, Green (who reminds me a lot of Brian Kelly, but without good catching skills), and Dockett would really benefit from a move to the Tampa-2.
 

Duckjake

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I live in Baltimore, and IMO, the Ravens will definitely resign Adalius Thomas. He is probably more important to their D than Ray Lewis (now that Bart Scott has proven he can really play), and as important as Ed Reed.

The one thing the Ravens have been able to do, that the Cardinals haven't done, is consistently re-sign their core players.

Continuity is key!

Well it helps to actually have some core players. The Cardinals seem to really have trouble developing players especially their 3-5th round draft picks.
They'll have some guys step up and develop into solid starters who are recognized around the league but not many. Right now, not counting the rookies, I'd only put Boldin and Wilson in that catagory.
 

DCCardsFan

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Well it helps to actually have some core players. The Cardinals seem to really have trouble developing players especially their 3-5th round draft picks.
They'll have some guys step up and develop into solid starters who are recognized around the league but not many. Right now, not counting the rookies, I'd only put Boldin and Wilson in that catagory.

Well I'd argue this point to a certain extent. It's almost a chicken or the egg question. You could say "The Cards hardly ever get any all-pros, therefore they don't draft well." Of course, the counter-argument is that the reason we don't have any all-pros is because we have losing teams, and the media finds a way to give credit to winning teams, not losing teams. That doesn't mean, IMO, that we don't have plenty of all-pro talent on our roster every year. It just means we haven't put it together, for whatever reason.

The players that get blamed for the team being terrible (and rightfully so - you can't blame an undrafted free agent for the team's problems) are the high-draft picks, free agents, and big money players. Those players then get forced out of town by the fans. The Bidwills, unlike some other organizations, seem to make their decisions based on the overall temperature of the fans, and therefore we're constantly getting rid of our core players.

We then restock with the draft and/or free agent bottom feeders.

The problem with that is that players coming out of college really are "developed" during the time of their initial contract. 4-5 years out is usually when they start to come into their prime. Between the ages of 26-31are when players are in their prime. And that's exactly when we're letting them go! For what? To pick up guys like Emmitt Smith.

And we have let countless free-agents go over the years. Maybe no-one big in the last couple years, but you look around the league and see Thomas Jones (could've been re-signed for peanuts - and then we wouldn't have had to spend big money for Emmitt and Edge, and might not have felt the need to draft JJ), LJ Shelton, Pete Kendall, Simeon Rice, etc, etc. You go back before that and see Jamir Miller, Larry Centers, and Lomas Brown were not brought back (to make way for the fan favorite, Plummer). Now, I admit that most of these players had soured on the organization in one way or the other, and sort of needed to go. But why is that? Is it JUST because of the Bidwills? I don't think so - it's because of a general negativity surrounding this team. And that is engendered by the media and fans. We build them up, and then tear them down.

Right now, it seems like Big is probably on his way out. While he has made more than his share of mistakes, the truth is that he is a core member of this team. And when he leaves some other core player(s) will get singled out as "the problem" with this team and will be released or given a low-ball offer. Dansby maybe? Elton Brown? Blackstock? Pace? These guys may not be great players, but being around for a couple years is an advantage over some 22 year old or free agent signing.

The beauty of being a bad team is that your players don't get that much credit, so you can usually re-sign them for less than you would, if say, they were all-pros playing on a good team. I honestly believe a guy like Big, if he were playing for the Bengals or something, would be an all-pro.

Somehow, I doubt we'll re-sign both Fitz and Boldin, and I honestly wonder if Leinart will still be here in 5 years. Are you telling me the fans won't turn on him if he hasn't taken us to the playoffs by then?

I know it's just an opinion, but it seems like we're a little like the Redskins, in that we don't have the patience and confidence to stick with a plan and keep consistent personnel through some bad times, all the while knowing that eventually once the team gels, there will be good times.
 
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lobo

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I live in Baltimore, and IMO, the Ravens will definitely resign Adalius Thomas. He is probably more important to their D than Ray Lewis (now that Bart Scott has proven he can really play), and as important as Ed Reed.

The one thing the Ravens have been able to do, that the Cardinals haven't done, is consistently re-sign their core players.

Continuity is key!

are you ever right!!! i have seen him play so many positions in so many formations it is unreal!!! not too many people ever talk about him because of some of the so called marquis guys on the ravens...but if i had to take one he would be da' man!!
 

SuperSpck

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You haven't watched them lately then. They have almost completely moved to the 3-4 with Suggs standing up on the Weakside. Adalius Thomas will be a SSOLB wherever he goes. You are correct about his athleticism though, he even plays a gunner on PR. He is good enough to play in a 4-3 or a 3-4 (heck, he has done both in BAL) but he is 29 years old. I love Thomas, he is a great pass-rusher and very very underrated in coverge but I don't want to give a guy a huge contract for only 2-3 years of play at that level. I would go with Briggs b/c he plays the WSOLB and then we can keep Dansby at SSOLB and hopefully play a lot more Cover-2 (Rolle would certainly benefit).

The other fella's right, they run a 4-3 base and the 4-6 as a followup more than the 3-4.

The 3-4 was more of a thing with the previous coaching staff.
 
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