The safeties

[Garrus]

I was upset when they let Bell walk, I understood letting Bates go. The secondary is pretty young now except for Hilton, so it is understandable they are not as good as the last few years. The hope is they will be much improved next year as they continue to get game experience.

My big issue/fear with the future of the defense is the DL/pass rush. Murphy showed something last game, but we cannot yet depend on him developing enough to be a large contributor next year. We can hope he does become that guy, but he has not showed enough yet for him to be counted on.

Reader is a FA and will be another year older. There are already whispers that he has lost a step this year. I cannot confirm or deny that, but regardless that means NT needs filled next year, and I don't think we have anyone on the roster to replace him. Hill is a decent 3-tech, so I am fine with him, but Carter hasn't shown much to be good depth. I think they need another 3-tech to help with the pass rush like when we had Ogunjobi.

I'm not sure how much money there will be this offseason to find players Reader's caliber to replace him, so they may try to just resign him to a 1-year deal if he is willing. Basically I worry about the depth and future of our DL. Outside Trey we have no pass rush and that makes the young secondaries job even harder.