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One of these days, we will do our master debating on either Tuesday or Friday. We are not there yet. Right now, we are just enjoying any master debating that we can fit into our hectic June schedules.
The topic today is pretty clean: second-year player Trent Murphy vs. rookie Preston Smith.
We all know about Murphy's 2.5 sacks last season, and his eight starts subbing in for the injured Brian Orakpo. We all got a chance to see what Trent looked like on Sundays, and I think it would be fair to suggest that while he didn't blow our collective skirt up, he also is far from "bust" territory.
When we drafted Murphy, I marveled at his size, as well as the potential for him to add bulk to that frame. With Preston in the fold, we now boast two very, very large pass rushing defenders that will start a lot of plays standing up. We all know that McLovin' favors size and physicality on defense, and it is hard to say that we don't have exactly that in these two players.
From today's vantage point, one would give Murphy's experience in the league the edge, knowing that at least initially the decision is between these two for one spot. Part of me, and surely each of you, looks forward to a defense that can utilize both of these players on the field at the same time. I am sure we will see that sooner rather than later, though I certainly hope that it is not because of an injury to one of our other stalwart pass rushers.
The truth is that as much as I love Preston Smith, and believe he is going to contribute THIS YEAR in an extraordinarily meaningful fashion, until the bullets start flying we simply won't truly know.
And yes, Preston is my Spencer Long this year. I know Spencer did not make me look good his rookie year, but I figure he still has time to make me smart. Preston Smith will likely have to have a far greater impact on the team during his rookie year. It says here that is exactly what is going to happen.
How do you see this battle shaping up? How do you see these two squaring off? In what ways can the team utilize both of these players together--without taking anyone off of the field that we can ill afford to lose?