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Some thoughts on the DL.
1st, and I'm not trying to build up anybody's expectations here, but Allen Bailey played decent against the run and had two pressures in the 1st quarter. Of course, that's a very high level of pressure coming from an end spot. If he can somehow play like that this year, we better be looking to re-sign him, because the Chiefs have been unable to get pressure from the DE position ever since we switched to a 3-4.
Poe played sturdy. He had a gorgeous move on Jason Campbell's touchdown pass, where he blew by the lineman playing him and was inches away from plowing down Campbell.
Jaye Howard is a bunch of meh. He didn't play very well against the 1st team, but his quality of play picked up against the 2nd team -- but even then the Chiefs put him in a weird situation because they went primarily nickel- and dime-package on the 2nd team. He doesn't have the explosion of either Bailey or Catapano, and he gets washed out pretty frequently (and badly) against the run.
Vance Walker is a waste of a signing. He didn't show any explosiveness, and was on rollerskates against the run.
Dominique Hamilton looked pretty alright as a backup nose. He wasn't getting much push (although he did get great push on his first snap), but he isn't getting pushed back on his heels like Howard is.
JMJ looks fantastic. And Josh Mauga isn't a world-beater, but he plays pretty smart, even when his tackling isn't all there... Nico Johnson will almost certainly get cut this year.
Ford played well, I think. Milkman criticized him for not playing with full effort, but he played to the whistle on every snap but one that I watched. Ford forced incompletions by being in Campbell's passing window, he forced a holding, he played the run poorly but he was enthusiastic -- he just needs to learn how to shed blockers better. And as should surprise no one, he plays with great speed.
Less enthused about Josh Martin. Martin gets little pressure, and struggles to play the run. I'm not sure why he gets the nod right now over Zombo.
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