MartinC

Im more concerned that Ron Rivera is still the HC …

Well, given the state of the drains and various plumbing leaks they might be wet ...

Scheme has to mesh with personnel (and over time visa versa). I agree with you that with the personnel we have we are better suited to a gap/power scheme. We might evolve over time to more zone - but we are not built for it right now. I think we will run mainly gap and Robinson will get more of the 1st and 2nd and on schedule carries (though I’m sure it will be a bit running back by committee with Robinson and Ekler sharing carries). Ekler will get the 3rd down/passing down touches. It will be interesting to see what we do with Daniels in regards to designed QB runs. I’m sure there will be a liberal sprinkling of RPO’s. I hope we don’t overdo that - although it’s probably the easiest way to get Daniels feet wet it might not be the best way to develop him for the longer term.

7 is the over/under number for me.

If Ertz can stay healthy (if) he is probably a 40-50 catch guy. I think/hope Sinnott can get to around the 30/40 catch mark as well. Ekler caught over 100 balls two seasons ago. I don't think he will be in that range but if he plays 17 games he's going to be in the 60+ range. Then add in BRob who can catch some balls as well on check downs and screens. Lets say we have circa 400 completions next season - circa 180 of those will go through the RBs and TS. Maybe more. Terry will be in the 80 catch range. That still leaves around 140-150 balls that the balance of the WR room need to go get - plus the importance of them taking advantage of what are likely to be favorable coverage matchups as coverage slants towards Terry and Ekler. A lot of our explosive plays need to come from WR #2 and WR #3.

Just bought my ticket for the Cardinals game!

Giving your number to a rookie is not exactly a vote of confidence.

If we are bringing people like Bryant for workouts its shows how weak our WR depth. Going into last season I think the consensus was WR was a strength - Dotson having a poor second year has changed that perception quickly. Terry, Dotson, Crowder, McCaffrey seem locks (Crowder can stil play but hes not the guy he was in first go around here and McCaffrey obviously is a rookie so who knows - neither can be relied on for big numbers at this point). Beyond that probably two spots up for grabs and no one competing for those spots really stands out as a high potential developmental guy. Only Terry is a proven high quality WR receiver at this point. Austin Ekler and the TEs (probably by committee) are going to catch a lot of balls this season.

4 weeks is an extremely optimistic timeline for this kind of surgery. 6 weeks seems to be at the short end and ‘several months’ at the thick end. He certainly has a shot to be physically ready for the start of the season but that’s far from certain. But even if he is available he will likely have a missed a lot of camp and preseason - he is probably not going to be ready for much playing time early in the season. It is what it is, but if he had this medical concern him dropping in the draft is starting to make more sense.

At some point. But it’s a heck of a projection to draft someone in the third round as an opening day starter at a premium position like LT. If he’s even pencilled in as opening day starter at this point it’s a sign of the lack of talent we have on the roster at OT.

To be fair he was decent/solid his first couple of seasons. He dropped off a cliff last season. He was tinkering with his technique but it was probably just mental. He just lost confidence and had zero consistency.

It demonstrably wasn't a well coached team in any aspect. Player development, scheme, game planning in game play calling, in game use of personnel to create or avoid matchups, in game adjustments. Flat bad across the board. I think thats generous. I cant think which coaching staff would have been worse - maybe Carolina. Maybe.

It was a while ago but we drafted an OT called Andre Johnson first round in 96 ( we actually traded up to pick him!). He was cut before the start of the 97 season at the end of preseason without taking a single snap in a regular season game.

I'm old enough to recall Heath Shuler wearing #5 - and that didn't work out well.

Russell Wilson played decent to good last season. He was far from the problem in Denver - but he just wasn’t what Payton wanted at any point. Wilson was doomed there the moment Payton was hired. I think he will play well for the Steelers and they have the infrastructure and team around him where they could make some noise.

Correct - the whole of Davis four year deal was guaranteed. The 5th year option is a team option and we declined that (to no great surprise).

He will have to earn his spot for sure. But his film and play is good enough that he justifies his place. I wouldn’t be surprised if we use some 3-4 looks in base - we kind of have the personnel for it.

He’s at least a solid starter who only costs about $4M on the cap. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t make the roster. How he is used will be interesting though - I’d like to see him used more in pass rush.

Hey PM me when you are down this way - I will buy you a coffee!

I'm in Chandler (Ocotillo).

We literally had the worst coaching in the NFL last season. No hyperbole - I really believe that especially on defense. Just getting competent coaching on that side of the ball will give us a big lift. That plus having NFL calibre linebackers on the roster. I do worry about where the pass rush is going to come from - it is going to have to be much more schemed than we have seen in the last few years.

The only way is up from last year in terms of talent and coaching. But there are way too many new parts that have to come together, plus some key missing pieces (OT, possibly CB) for me to think we have a real shot at a division title this year.

You think you get to know people on these forums and then we find out Conn is addicted to TMZ. You just never know ...

It was less we showed him the money, more we showed him the CB depth chart.

I think he will get every opportunity to prove himself. But the current GM and HC are not tied to him in anyway, if he doesn’t perform it’s a short trip from the bench to the street.