I think he still has gas let in the tank and will be a solid contributer for our defense. With that being said, I still think that the new rookie class is going to surprise a lot of skepticals.

Ga Tech guy … overshadowed only by the Mack Brown years at Carolina? (had to get one in)

I like our defense with Brooking here… for this year. But going forward, I think it’s fair to draw comparisons to Greg Ellis, who was drafted the same year. Ellis’ productivity dropped last year as far as run support was concerned, and you’d be crazy to ignore the potential for a decline in Brooking’s play. Does Ellis still have a solid year in him? I’m hoping so, and until proven otherwise, he’s the starter… and the same goes for Brookings… as long as they’re still proving it on the field.

I’m still optimistic that Spencer is the heir apparent for Ellis, but who is the future next to James? These issues lend credence to the need to keep 10 LBs and give some of these younger guys time to develop. The secondary is in a similar situation, but the larger concern seems to be long-term at LB. Wade can stretch the careers of these two by the rotations he employed last year, so here’s hoping the guys we drafted are ready to go.

His odometer has a lot of miles on it. If he can maintain the level of play he’s accustomed to, he’s a nice addition.

like Zach did last year. Anything over that will be an improvement.

He’s bigger and a former pro bowl player with great leadership skills. I like the signing.

Brooking was a stud for the majority of his career, and I always considered him one of the underrated MLBs (or WLB, when he was playing it) in the game. He was what Dan Morgan could’ve been if he’d stayed healthy. Watching Brooking last year, however, I saw three big problems:

1) He looked like his legs were coated in cement when forced into any type of pass coverage. He just couldn’t keep up with RBs or TEs at all. He really appeared to be a run-stop LB only at this point in his career. Which brings me to the second area of concern…

2) He cannot shed blocks in the run game anymore. He seemed to consistently get caught up in the wash on running plays and did not knife through traffic to the ball carrier like I was used to seeing him do. I used to be a big fan of his and was legitimately shocked on a few plays at how much he had fallen off from his peak just a couple years ago.

3) He’s not the tackler he once was. He used to be Zach Thomas-like in his wrap up ability, but RBs seemed able to escape his grasp more easily last year.

Now, that was in a 4-3 scheme, with a coach in Mike Smith who was not familiar with Brooking and probably was not focused on maximizing his talents. Wade is going to be much more knowledgeable on what Brooking can and cannot do, and I am sure he will put him in a position to succeed.

But to expect him to be an UPGRADE over Zach Thomas seems like wishful thinking to me. My best guess would be that we’d get something very similar to what Thomas provided us, with maybe a slightly downgrade in football smarts and tackling ability. He and Thomas are probably at similar points in their careers, although Thomas at his peak was a superior player, so Brooking’s downside is probably a bit lower than Thomas’ downside.

Overall, I’m sure he will be okay as a first and second down stop-gap solution, and he is far from the biggest question mark on our defense (safety, backup OLB and NT), but I am really hoping Carpenter or Jason Williams flashes some ability inside early in the year, because while it’s obvious Keith is not a long term solution, I’m not convinced he’s even a difference-making solution for the entirety of this year.

They really should’ve given him the starting job.

Brooking sounds like a stopgap at best. I was never in favor of the Z. Thomas signing, and his performance validated my concerns. I hold out a little more hope for Brooking, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was somewhat ineffective by season’s end.

At least we drafted J. Williams. Seriously, if he doesn’t work out, we’re in trouble.

if we should be wary of Brooking