Hampton is done! Now what?

Just read that Hampton had ACL surgery to fix his knee which means his career is over. No way we keep him even at a pay cut. So, where do we go from here. Draft! FA? Or as some have said let Hood try the position? I'm not sure Ziggy can do it?

 

You're maybe jumping to conclusions a little bit.

However, we've known that we need to draft an NT this year since Casey looked ordinary early on in the season. Personally, I hope we try and pick up a reliable BU in free agency (a kind of Hoke-esque player), and then hope for a good 3rd or 4th rounder.

 

I think we're going to be 4-3 team very soon.

 

on the roster right now.....
mike blanc 6-4 297 auburn
corbin bryant 6-4 300 north western
miguel chavis 6-5 285 clemson
ziggy hood 6-3 300+ mizzou
steve mclendon 6-4 280+ troy
kade weston 6-5 315 georgia
al woods 6-4 307 lsu
cam heyward
brett kiesel
aaron smith

 

If there is anybody who thinks Snack is coming back you put down the pipe quickly! Hampton is done!

 

If he takes a significant pay cut I would welcome him back. But 8mil against the cap is too much for a two-down lineman.

 

I don't understand. Did you read he's retiring, or that he had surgery? He could come back from that, and I'd welcome him back. With a pay cut, of course.

 

1.) i had read he wouldn't need surgery. i guess that changed?

2.) he was very likely to be released regardless of injury so . . . not really 'news', per se. but it IS worthy of discussion. what do we do with the d-line? 3-4? 4-3? hampton AND hoke gone . . . now what? who plays nose? hood? heyward? mcclendon?

 

If he wouldn't be ready until a couple months into the season they wouldn't keep him on the roster.

 

I read somewhere that (I think it was) Ziggy Hood was taking reps @ nose tackle throughout the year.

 

If he had surgery, they can't release him due to the injury. I believe that was an article back in October about some other injuries sustained during the season.

 

Any player can be released. Depending on the technicalities/rules of things and contracts...in some cases an injury settlement would need to be reached. However I'm not sure how things are during the off season and such for a team.

 

Hampton is having surgery Friday morning. I don't want him back honestly as he kind of fell off this year. His cap hit next year is 8 million so there is no chance they bring back somebody his age this time. I didnt know Hood took reps at NT?

 

So of the guys listed above is there any on our current roster that can start and dominate at the nose? I hope we can find a young NT that can play and dominate with us as long as Big Snack did.

 

His play hasn't been what it once was. And considering that he is 325, well listed at 325 anyways... probably more like 360, it is a stretch to believe that he'll ever be able to play at a high level again. That is just too much strain and torque for a fat guy that needs to rely on leverage. This doesn't bode well for Fat Snack.

 

It won't be an easy to recover from, especially at his size, and the fact that it was so late in the year hurts, but I'll believe he's done when I hear it from him or the team.

 

Trade Ben to Detroit for Dominick Suh and Stafford!

 

Might as well throw in wallace in for megatron

 

I think hood is going to beef up and slide inside.

 

Would it be possible that Heyward could play nose. Seems to be strong enough. Is he too small?

 

ziggy played a good bit of NT last year. cam will play DE, so will keisel. there are a few decent guys out of that bunch. alot of SEC guys, so they have been tested through college. bryant also played as a DT in the big 10. they seem to like him. we will need some backup DE's out of that group, unless they draft one, but those guys were pretty good in college and should get a legit shot.

 

Cam's a natural DE. If Ziggy does move to nose, Cam will have to move to the left side. He'll be fine I'm sure, but he looks good on the right.

 

its not looking to good for Big Snack, As several posters said, it is hard enough to
overcome an acl at a decent weight and age, let alone Casey's. We may have seen the last of
the Big Snack in a Steeler uniform.

 

Somebody on the roster can play that spot.Blanc or chavis can play that spot and are quicker and younger

 

While I'm not gonna say Hampton is done I will say its not good. He's in his mid 30's, 3 knee operations, High Salary and cap hit plus he a part time player anyways. He never plays on obvious passing downs and rotates in & out the other downs. It is time to cut him loose.

Problem is Hoke is gone too. Add to that A. Smith is most likely retiring and our D-Line is hurting. We knew this day was coming and drafted Hood & Heyward but they aren't NFL NTs. Neither is McLendon. At least not a very good 3-4 NT playing zero-technique. At least not an every down NT. Neither is Hood. They do ok, avg at best but our scheme demands more than that.

Added to the problem is we're gonna lose either Farrior or Foote or both. At least we need to in order to get cap space since we're 25 mil over at this point. Timmons is NOT good enough to take over the reigns and run this defense being our field general. With Timmons being "the man" in the middle making the calls and pre-snap adjustments with our DL as listed by Mcdaddy we are in trouble. We'll be very lucky if the defense is ranked top 15.

My solution, and just know that I'm not qualified anywhere but my living room, is to sign Paul Soliai - NT- UFA from miami, then cut hampton and farrior. First round in the draft we need to pick a stud ILB and then the 2nd rd needs to be BPA either OL or DL. Third rd same approach as 2nd rd.

Cajun-