Romeo Okwara...

he was outplayed by the DEs/ERs that the team kept

(plus Tomlinson/Hill) and he lacks the athleticism to play OLB.

Personally, I would've kept him over Wynn, but Wynn is stronger at the POA and against the run.

cut probably made him play with a chip on his shoulder this season. When he was here, he definitely made plays but I guess not enough of them. It's his 2nd chance, so to speak. Either way, as an ND fan I'm super happy for him, he was always a really great person.

too small to play 3-4 end, not athletic enough to play 3-4 LB

In comment 14251962 jlukes said:

Quote:

too small to play 3-4 end, not athletic enough to play 3-4 LB

He's listed (pro-football-reference) as being 10 lbs heavier and 1" shorter than Wynn. Certainly looked smaller than Wynn from what I remember though.

Plain and simple. He has plenty of size to play the 5 technique in this front and he played in a 3-4 in Detroit so all previous "answers" are just erroneous. He should have made the team, but Wynn's value on specials probably tilted it in his favor if they were only keeping one 5T. He could easily have played where Kareem Martin did and probably better too, it was a bad move.

I know Joey doesn't agree regarding fit, but the decisions to let go of Okwara, JPP, and Kennard had a lot to do with projected lack of fit in the 3-4 and more behind the scenes.

Let go.

I'd much rather him this year and on a tender next year than the ghost of Connor Barwin who will cost money to cut and need to be replaced.

I thought so then and I still think so. He played well in the preseason. I think he was a "culture" cut and being a fringe player from the previous regime made him expendable.

.

There really wasnt a reason to get rid of him.

Your going through a complete overhaul of personnel and are looking at discarding some decent players. Never liked it and still don’t.

but it's worrisome when players are released because of behind the scenes/off the field behavior, and they go on to be productive elsewhere while the replacements don't do any better.

You start to wonder if maybe there's something else behind the scenes than just the players they swapped out.

But his stats were largely gathered over a 4 game stretch early in the year. The last 9 games he amassed 2.5 sacks and 2 tackles for loss. I didn't watch most of those games so I'm not sure if he played better than those numbers suggest

In comment 14252002 jcn56 said:

Quote:

but it's worrisome when players are released because of behind the scenes/off the field behavior, and they go on to be productive elsewhere while the replacements don't do any better. You start to wonder if maybe there's something else behind the scenes than just the players they swapped out.

Out of these 3, IMO the only one that was moved because of "behind the scenes" stuff is JPP and one could argue his replacement (Hill) was just as good overall. I'm certainly taking Hill over the next 3 seasons and I was a big JPP fan.

Kennard got a big contract for someone that couldn't stay on the field and I'm glad (even in hindsight off his career season) that the Giants didn't match it.

Seeing as Okwara was brought to camp and was one of the final cuts, I don't think his release had anything to do with locker room stuff. I think they merely felt (perhaps incorrectly) that the other guys were better options.

At least a few have turned out to be mistakes.

Gettleman perhaps letting his ego get the better of him..

Looks like his brother might be a fit for the Giants.

In comment 14252011 giants#1 said:

Quote:

In comment 14252002 jcn56 said: Quote: but it's worrisome when players are released because of behind the scenes/off the field behavior, and they go on to be productive elsewhere while the replacements don't do any better. You start to wonder if maybe there's something else behind the scenes than just the players they swapped out. Out of these 3, IMO the only one Kennard got a big contract for someone that couldn't stay on the field and I'm glad (even in hindsight off his career season) that the Giants didn't match it.

If the Giants were going to sign Kareem Martin they might as well of kept Kennard who is a better player

and kept around simply because he knows Bettcher's D

In comment 14251972 JonC said:

Quote:

I know Joey doesn't agree regarding fit, but the decisions to let go of Okwara, JPP, and Kennard had a lot to do with projected lack of fit in the 3-4 and more behind the scenes. Let go.

Lions run a very hybrid 3-4 too. The DL is A'Shawn Robinson, Snacks and former Redskin Ricky Jean Francois. Kennard and Okwars are the edge guys.

In comment 14252106 Toth029 said:

Quote:

In comment 14251972 JonC said: Quote: I know Joey doesn't agree regarding fit, but the decisions to let go of Okwara, JPP, and Kennard had a lot to do with projected lack of fit in the 3-4 and more behind the scenes. Let go. Lions run a very hybrid 3-4 too. The DL is A'Shawn Robinson, Snacks and former Redskin Ricky Jean Francois. Kennard and Okwars are the edge guys.

They're entire DL was on IR in Ansah, Robinson, and Hand. Okwara was starting at one DE spot not as an ER.

who showed very little here.

I have no idea what happened in DET but it's hard to get upset letting him go.

That said - he's better than the corpse of Connor Barwin but I think again DG wanted to bring in some positive veteran influences in lieu of a bit more production from young immature guys.

And overall team - the Lions were a joke again and left the fans disappointed.

Especially with the "behind the scenes" comment that everyone seems to be conveniently ignoring.

during his presser, the clean up effort is one of their biggest priorities.

it seemed like Gettleman was trying to change culture of defense
and just improve OL on Offense

it was a bit schizophrenia. and resulted in a surging Offense in the second half of season and a worsening defense ..

In comment 14252046 GeorgeAdams33 said:

Quote:

and kept around simply because he knows Bettcher's D

If you were listening to Carl Banks' calls for about the first four games, there wasn't much sign Martin knew positional fundamentals - at least the ones Banks was expecting to see. Not sure what that says about Martin or Bettcher's system. Banks isn't always right, but it was kind of funny, because you could hear it starting to piss him off.

towards the end - but when you look at the plays some OLB make in the league - disappointing