I don´t expect him to get a lot of snaps this season at all, but he´s too small to play at NT.
Capers has run the same defensive scheme for his entire career, he won´t change it entirely at this point in his career. So I think as Thompson and McCarthy have held on to him it is their responsibility to bring in players that fit the scheme. That obviously hasn´t happened enough over the last three seasons.
The solution to that should be either to bring in a new DC who´s capable of working with the guys on the roster or the GM bringing in players capable of playing in Capers scheme. IMO both Thompson and Capers are to blame for the defense´s shortcomings.
There´s no way Burnett should play at FS, so Clinton-Dix was the right choice. Raji played his best football playing at NT, so there´s hope he can once again be the impact player he was in 2010. But I´m concerned as well that he could just continue to be the lazy bastard he was last season.
Burnett should be fine and our best option at SS with a solid guy at FS.
I hope that´s where Clinton-Dix will have the most impact. He has made the defensive calls for the Crimson Tide over the past two seasons in a pro-style defense. I´m really tired of all those miscommunications in the secondary.
Hard to find either a GM or DC who can make do with the sort of injuries this team suffers each season. Does Teddy draft brittle players, or does the medical/training staff struggle to keep players healthy. Maybe Doctor MacKenzie is too protective of the players. I'd argue that the Defense was starting to look very promising last season back when they were relatively healthy, but alas injuries took care of that.