The first week of training camp has started and the reviews are positive, very positive about the return of B. J. Raji to the field. In fact, everybody's favorite punching bag, except mine, has had such a good start to camp that Mike McCarthy and Dom Capers are more than considering moving Letroy Guion to left defensive end.
Making the move more intriguing is that 2013 No. 1 draft pick Datone Jones, who was slated to occupy the left defensive end spot has been suspended for the season opener leaving just Josh Boyd as the only other player with experience after Luther Robinson was released during the summer.
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| Letroy Guion |
However with Guion looking at an up to three-game suspension (after being arrested for possession of marijuana) it would seem Boyd has the upper hand to start the opener with Jones, who is at a crossroads with his career having two games to make his case to either take over the left end spot or at least be a productive member of the rotation when Guion comes back.
Guion has always been a defensive tackle/nose tackle during his seven-year career. He more than filled in last year when Raji went down with a torn biceps posting the most solid numbers from the nose since Raji's second season in the league.
Guion started all 16 games during the season with 32 total tackles, including a career-high 3. 5 sacks, with 1 pass defensed and 1 forced fumble. He spend his first six seasons with the Vikings becoming a starter at nose tackle his last two seasons and came in with only five career sacks.
The move to left defensive end by Guion seems to me to be a great idea. Raji's second season Ryan Pickett was moved to left end to replace a suspended Johnny Jolly and the starting unit of Pickett, Raji at nose with Cullen Jenkins and later Howard Green at right end, when Jenkins got hurt, was very solid, especially in the playoffs, after the unit of Jolly, Pickett and Jenkins led the league against the run in 2009 - the first year of the change from 4-3 to 3-4.
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| B.J. Raji |
Raji was especially effective collecting 6.5 sacks after having just one his rookie season as a reserve. But for some reason that I can't figure out Capers, in his ultimate wisdom, switched Pickett and Raji, thusly ruining Raji's career. He managed three sacks in 2011, but only 1 sack since then as a defensive end.
I have tried to alert everyone to the fact Raji was and is and will always be a nose tackle and was drafted as a nose tackle and was playing out of position, but everyone likes to just look at numbers and not the facts behind them to call Raji a bust. I consider Capers a bust, but no one listens to me.
Raji tore his biceps in the second pre-season game last year and missed the entire season and has come to camp 10 lighter and ready for action. When the unit of Guion, Raji and Mike Daniels finally line up together they should go a long way towards solving the run defense problem that has been an issue since Raji was moved to end.
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| Dom Capers |
I have been screaming about this since it happened in 2011, so maybe Capers finally heard me yelling from the wilderness. This move alone gives me hope for the defense to become a plus instead of being a constant and consistent minus since the Super Bowl.
While still having Capers around continues to give me heartburn - for his lack of halftime adjustments and playing soft in the second half - having both Raji and Guion on the field at the same time may just be the soothing Rolaid I need to enjoy our annual run to return to the Super Bowl.
I really hope it does. Now if the linebacking situation works itself out and replacing Tramon Williams at corner doesn't turn out to be a issue maybe we finally have a defense to go with our world class offense. I have my fingers crossed.
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