Solid post! I think Victor Green would blow shit up under rex. not to get safty heavy, but he probably could have turned jon mcgraw into a player more resembling jim leonhard
I would love to say Abraham but he is a complete pussy. The 2 glaring ones are Klecko and Gastineau. If he could channel Gastineau's bullshit, Rex could make that guy into a monster. For as much as an asshole he was he was a talented player. I don't think I need to get into Klecko's attributes.
Gastineau easily comes to mind more than anyone for me. After that Aaron Glenn, and of course Curtis Martin. Ole Curtis could hold the single season rushing record if he were playing for rex right now in his prime . (And just realize this was about D but any good defense needs a HB to keep them off the field)
I know he never played special teams, but I firmly believe Westhoff would have driven Gastineau deep into the woods and left him there during the first two weeks of TC.
Nice thread idea. My first thought was James Farrior since his talent was wasted here and he left to have a pretty good career. Victor Green was pretty damn good without Rex so I am omitting him from this conversation. Same goes for Klecko. He was successful under Joe Walton for god sakes. He could have been good for anyone. I also wonder if Erik McMillan could have played the Ed Reed here. He was a ballhawk but he declined rapidly. Mo Lewis would have had fun in this D as well.
I know it's been posted already, but a version of Kerry Rhodes circa 2007 would have run rampant in Rex's system.
You can't say that because there are plenty of "dogs" out there and I fel that Rex wouldn't put up with shit like Rhodes for long. Queen Abraham for one would have been sent packing after he got queasy on the eve of a playoff game.
Why do people keep saying Vilma? He's to small for the 3-4 which is still Rex's base defense. The way he shifts personnel around they give different looks, but usually the only different personnel lineup is the 4-6 which he doesn't use that often. And Vilma is a starter even with his health problems. He wasn't going to exist on a team making a bunch of money and getting second string amount of snaps (mostly nickel/dime snaps on third downs). It's as mentioned. A lot of past LB's would have fit well, Mo Lewis, Bryan Cox, Marvin Jones, James Farrior (who excelled in the 3-4 in Pittsburgh until he got older, though he's still solid). Obviously a guy like Victor Green Rex would've loved because of his style. Martin is a given, he likes to run and he's essentially T-Rich as a RB (does his job well, is a leader, and does it with class). For those continuing to talk about Abraham, he would've been fine (he plays standing up and drops into coverage sometimes in Atlanta) and put up huge sack totals if he was healthy (he put up big ones as it was as a 4-3 DE). He was traded because he wanted to be paid and he was never healthy. If he could stay on the field Rex wouldn't have had issues with him because he was nothing like Rhodes was when it came to actually playing. He's essentially DeMarcus Ware if Ware's career continued to be interrupted by injuries (and if he played on largely 4-3 teams).
One recent player that comes to mind is Abram Elam. Hard Hitting Safety! I remember when he was here, he always used to make plays. Kinda dissapointed when we let him go.
