Risky 3 (Defense)

Risky 3

Bears- The Bears have had so much hype for the past couple of years, but they haven’t delivered. The Bears were last in forced fumbles last year. Their defensive-line can’t get a push for their life which makes line-backers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs not very effective. Corner-back Nathan Vasher is often injured and got benched a lot last year for poor tackling. I don’t want to rule out the Bears just yet, but to call them a fantasy starter is a long stretch.

Packers- The Packers are making transition this year from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense and I don’t think the switch will be effective during the first year but in a year or 2 it might be better. Star defensive-end Aaron Kampman is making a switch to outside line-backer. If he can make a smooth transition I like the Packers defense a little better, especially their line-backers. A.J. Hawk, Nick Barnett, Aaron Kampman, and rookie Clay Mathews are all studs but that’s about the only part of the defense that I like. CB’s Al Harris and Charles Woodson are way over-rated and are too slow. Overall, I think the Packers defense could be good, but they are too risky because there is no telling if they can make a smooth transition into the 3-4 defense.

Chargers- The Chargers defense didn’t live up to the hype last year. OK, so Shawne Merriman was out for the rest of the year, but the Chargers had a lot more troubles on defense then just the absence of Merriman. Antonio Cromartie was often injured and got burned way too many times. In ’07, the Chargers had 42 sacks, in ’08, they only had 28. Safety Clinton Hart played awful and line-backer Stephen Cooper lead the team interceptions. This year I expect better from the Chargers, team leaders (Antonio Cromartie and Shawne Merriman) need to show some leadership to get this defense back on track.