Who is Our Jenga Piece?

[Bluesy]

So I'm a fan of Dave Dameshek over at NFL.com, throws some humor in with football talk and just talk about whatever nonsense comes up. He has a pretty good podcast.

Anyway, he's always talking about how every team has a Jenga piece (QB's aside) that if you take away the team will "crumble" so to speak. The Lions have Calvin Johnson, the Saints have Jimmy Graham, etc. Now, I mentioned QB's aside because pretty much any team will struggle when their starting QB goes down.

So, who is our Jenga piece not named Sam Bradford?

Personally, I think it is hard to name one for our team because of all the young players we have. I really don't see too many "superstars" on our team. But to counter that, we have more depth with good-great players. The wide receiver group is a good example. No superstars just yet in my opinion, but all of them are more than adequate. This is a good thing, we don't need to worry about a situation similar to what the Falcons went through last year.

It is tough for me to decide, but I think it's got to be Laurinaitis. Such a great leader of the defense and we don't necessarily have a deep LB corps, so that's who gets my vote.

 

[Memphis Ram]

No one.

 

[Bluesy]

No one.

Haha, but seriously, it is very hard to decide. It's good in a way.

 

[Mister Sin]

JL, we have terrific depth at the other choices.

 

[Jorgeh0605]

Considering JL55 is the one with no back up I think he falls into this category. Dunbar or Ogletree are not ready to lead this defense. He may not be the best but the depth behind him is the thinnest and we lose a lot of leadership if he goes. So he has my vote.

 

[Bluesy]

JL, we have terrific depth at the other choices.

Considering JL55 is the one with no back up I think he falls into this category. Dunbar or Ogletree are not ready to lead this defense. He may not be the best but the depth behind him is the thinnest and we lose a lot of leadership if he goes. So he has my vote.

Yep, that's how I looked at it too. We've been fortunate enough that he's been rock solid his entire career here (knock on wood). Almost feel bad for the guy, seems like he gets easily overlooked.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Quinn

Easily our best player on the team.

 

[Bluesy]

Quinn

Easily our best player on the team.

Yeah, but we have a loaded d-line. We could easily slide someone else in there, and while they might not be near as good, they will be good enough.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Yeah, but we have a loaded d-line. We could easily slide someone else in there, and while they might not be near as good, they will be good enough.

I am impressed with our depth. I agree our line will perform well in his absence.

But...

Teams must game plan for R Quinn. No other defensive player on this team does that.

JENGA!

 

[Bluesy]

I am impressed with our depth. I agree our line will perform well in his absence.

But...

Teams must game plan for R Quinn. No other defensive player on this team does that.

JENGA!

Can't argue that. Although we could have a few other of those types of players by the end of the year. Still gonna be hard to get as much attention as Quinn though.

 

[Memphis Ram]

I am impressed with our depth. I agree our line will perform well in his absence.

But...

Teams must game plan for R Quinn. No other defensive player on this team does that.

JENGA!

Greg Williams has been able to manufacture pressure without players like Quinn in the past, so I wouldn't say the team would crumble without him.

 

[Barrison]

How about Jake Long, then we have to slide Saffold to take his spot which durability wise scares me to death. Replace his spot with Davin Joseph who doesn't exactly have a squeaky clean injury history either. If Jake goes down our o-line is in serious trouble.

 

[blackbart]

I think there is enough depth on this team that there isn't currently anyone other than Bradford that would stop this team from having a chance to win most every game if they are out.

 

[CanRamFan]

This may not be a popular choice but i'm going to say Hekker. The dude is a stud, if he went down I don't even know who replaces him, and he's way under appreciated for what he does.

Field position is extremely important and he's one of the very best at that.

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

I vote Jake Long as well, I hope he's ready to start the season.

 

[Rambitious1]

Quick.

If we can get him productive, and have Tavon, Sted, Cook and Britt just step it up......Jenga!

 

[Jorgeh0605]

Quick.

If we can get him productive, and have Tavon, Sted, Cook and Britt just step it up......Jenga!

How do you play Jenga?

 

[PhxRam]

This may not be a popular choice but i'm going to say Hekker. The dude is a stud, if he went down I don't even know who replaces him, and he's way under appreciated for what he does.

Field position is extremely important and he's one of the very best at that.

We need to get that dude back on here

 

[BigRamFan]

How about Jake Long, then we have to slide Saffold to take his spot which durability wise scares me to death. Replace his spot with Davin Joseph who doesn't exactly have a squeaky clean injury history either. If Jake goes down our o-line is in serious trouble.

I voted "other" and J. Long was exactly who I had in mind. Take him out of our OL and the season could be affected. So glad we drafted Robinson.

 

[PolarBear]

No one, we won't crumble unless Bradford is injured. I guess we might crumble if Fisher has a heart attack or something and can't coach leaving the team in disarray, so I'll put him as the "other".