Jump to content

FA DT Darwin Wlaker great option


Recommended Posts

DT Darwin Walker, 6'3". 295 was released by the Bears. He is 30 years old, but until '07 he was pretty much injury free. The Bears signed him to a 5 year $25 million contract before last season. He played through a lot of injuries because the Bears had already lost two other DTs to injury, and he had a poor season. However in the five years prior to that he had been one of the better DTs in the league racking up 26.5 sacks (the Bengals leading sack man over the last 5 years is Justin smith with 28.5). Walker was a starter (82 career starts) on some very good Eagle defenses, and he holds a special place in my heart for being an absolute stud on the University of Tennessee team that won the National Championship in '98.

[b]IF HE IS HEALTHY[/b] then he would be as good as Robertson for millions less. The injuries he had last year included knee, elbow, and wrist. I don't know which one finally got him benched for the last three games, but I know that he had been playing injured for a while before that.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='fredtoast' post='641960' date='Mar 9 2008, 04:43 PM']DT Darwin Walker, 5'3". 295 was released by the Bears. He is 30 years old, but until '07 he was pretty much injury free. The Bears signed him to a 5 year $25 million contract before last season. He played through a lot of injuries because the Bears had already lost two other DTs to injury, and he had a poor season. However in the five years prior to that he had been one of the better DTs in the league racking up 26.5 sacks (the Bengals leading sack man over the last 5 years is Justin smith with 28.5). Walker was a starter (82 career starts) on some very good Eagle defenses, and he holds a special place in my heart for being an absolute stud on the University of Tennessee team that won the National Championship in '98.

[b]IF HE IS HEALTHY[/b] then he would be as good as Robertson for millions less. The injuries he had last year included knee, elbow, and wrist. I don't know which one finally got him benched for the last three games, but I know that he had been playing injured for a while before that.[/quote]


rather pudgy little fellow
















:ninja:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='PakMan' post='642005' date='Mar 9 2008, 06:30 PM']He's [color="#FF0000"]NOT [/color]5'3". Maybe 6'3"

But no thanks. We would be reaching.

If we're going to get a small, old DT, it should be Rod Coleman.

Otherwise Frank Okam or Red Bryant.[/quote]

:o
;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='GoBengals' post='641973' date='Mar 9 2008, 05:11 PM']if they signed him to a 25 mil deal before last year, arent they taking it in the ass via the cap cutting him now? and if so id say he must really suck at this point if they are willing to take it in the rump to get rid of him.[/quote]
Sounds like a stereeotypical DT.They get beaten up pretty fast fending off blockers.I'll pass.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Patmo' post='642024' date='Mar 9 2008, 07:43 PM']Sounds like a stereeotypical DT.They get beaten up pretty fast fending off blockers.I'll pass.[/quote]

Here's a run down on college DT's.Not a very promising group,imo.

[url="http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/rankings/dt.html"]http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/rankings/dt.html[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='GoBengals' post='641973' date='Mar 9 2008, 05:11 PM']if they signed him to a 25 mil deal before last year, arent they taking it in the ass via the cap cutting him now? and if so id say he must really suck at this point if they are willing to take it in the rump to get rid of him.[/quote]
I'd venture a strong guess that very little of it was signing bonus so most would be year to year salary and only the years he was actually on the roster would hit their cap. I'd imagine his bonus had to be minimal no more than a couple million, tops.


Having said all that, like fredtoast said - if he's healthy he's a gamer. Good locker room presence, no trouble off the field type that just got it done. He'd be had for relatively cheap and is immediately better than Myers and Thornton for sure, possibly Peko but I guess Peko would get the nod for youth. Again, if healthy he upgrades your DT rotation just by being better than those two certainly.

I'd hope that if he were signed that it didn't automatically take us out of the DT market though...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='bengalbutch' post='642056' date='Mar 9 2008, 09:55 PM']He's not as good as Robertson IMO.[/quote]

but neither is he as expensive... i wouldn't over pay but i would rather sign him then keep JT

i would love walker and peko starting with meyers and a rook rotating in
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='bengalbutch' post='642056' date='Mar 9 2008, 08:55 PM']He's not as good as Robertson IMO.[/quote]

Walker was injured in '07, but before that he was pretty much injury free. If you compare his 5 years prior to '07 with Robertson's 5 years in the league you can see how really good Walker is. Robertson has more total tackles, but Walker blows him away as far as being a disruptive force in the backfield. Walker has 12 more sacks and 13 more blocked passes during that period plus 2.5 more stuffs (tackles for loss on running plays).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='fredtoast' post='642075' date='Mar 9 2008, 10:20 PM']Walker was injured in '07, but before that he was pretty much injury free. If you compare his 5 years prior to '07 with Robertson's 5 years in the league you can see how really good Walker is. Robertson has more total tackles, but Walker blows him away as far as being a disruptive force in the backfield. Walker has 12 more sacks and 13 more blocked passes during that period plus 2.5 more stuffs (tackles for loss on running plays).[/quote]


well... everyone was injury free until they were injured...

:mellow:


but if he is such a gamer and is such a great presence, he wouldnt be getting cut this early, especially a measly 5 mil per year cap hit...

must be an injury thing lingering if all else is true..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At this rate we're better off drafting either Ellis or Laws(in round 2). Other than that they're are no DT's worth drafting that would be an upgrade for us.

As for FA's, maybe Rod Colman, but he's been a bit crippled in recent years - that kind of puts me off a bit.

The real reason, according to some reports why the Bengals didn't sign Robertson, was a degenerative knee condition which he seems to be suffering from.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='EnglishBengal' post='642107' date='Mar 10 2008, 06:14 AM']At this rate we're better off drafting either Ellis or Laws(in round 2). [b]Other than that they're are no DT's worth drafting that would be an upgrade for us.[/b][/quote]


I dunno about that. They aren't as highly regarded as Ellis and Dorsey, but there are still some pretty darn good DT's in the draft such as Balmer, Sims, Laws, and Okam.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...