Editorial Note: Stanley played for the Falcons in 2007, starting 6 games and recording 35 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries. He injured his biceps early in 2008 while playing for the New Orleans Saints.
The Jaguars announced today the acquisition of defensive lineman Montavious Stanley. Room was made for Stanley by releasing George Hypolite, an UDFA DT from Colorado. The Jaguars and Gene Smith clearly recognize where the weakest link on the team is, defensive tackle. Montavious is a serviceable lineman who can hold his own at the point of attack. He's nowhere near the run-stuffer that this team has been accustomed to in the past, however, he is a large bodied veteran who is capable of making the squad, if nothing else.
Gene has gone to great lengths to shore up a patch-work defense with cheap free agent signings who have a shot to contribute. He did it at the safety position with Sean Considine, Marlon McCree, and Gerald Alexander. Now, Gene has turned his attention to rectifying the substantially more ominous problem of fixing the DT position. Finding BIG men who can play in the trenches is much harder than finding players to cover the safety position.
It will be interesting to see how the DT spot shapes up... Here are the most likely candidates to make the final roster, I would be surprised if we keep more than 4 or 5 DT's, and if anyone can play DE in addittion to DT (Rob Meier), they will have an even greater chance of cracking the final 53. Barring injury, Terrence Knighton, and Derek Landri are locks to make the squad, with John Henderson an extremely likely candidate (unless he is traded, which is still a possibility in my book).
J. Henderson
D. Landri
R. Meier
A. Ellison
M. Stanley
T. Knighton
J. Lewis
PIck your DT's....
-Collin Streetman