Ware says Olshansky, others can fill in ably for Canty

By Eric Edholm
April 4, 2009

PFW spoke with OLB DeMarcus Ware on Tuesday, and when the subject came to who will replace departed DRE Chris Canty — who lined up in front of Ware and occupied a lot of blockers during Ware’s 20-sack season, Ware sounded disappointed at the loss. “With Chris, we lost a lot,” Ware said. “We lost a guy who can hold it down in run situations, but also it takes almost two guys to block him because he is so big and one guy can’t block him.” Ware, though, pointed out that he believes new DE Igor Olshansky and two holdovers, Jason Hatcher and Stephen Bowen, have a great chance of filling in ably for Canty. “We’re bringing in a guy with Igor that’s the same way [as Canty],” Ware said. “You’ve got to have two guys on him or he’s going to kill you. We’ve got depth, too. We’ve got Jason Hatcher, Stephen Bowen — those guys are about stepping up, and that’s what they do. They get pressure on the quarterback. Last year, when we ran a 4-3 [defense on passing downs], Bowen and Hatcher went in for pass-rush situations. I think they are great assets for us.”