The Official 2023 ES Free Agency Thread... available until Free Agency 2024 begins

[Conn]

1 hour ago, philibusters said:

PFF puts the the estimated market for Kamren Curl extension in the 3 year 40 million dollar range with about 2/3rds of that guaranteed

 

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-projecting-early-extension-candidates-defense-2020-nfl-draft-trevon-diggs-alex-highsmith

If it happens with us, I could see the funny numbers equaling that total but the guarantees will easily be less than 2/3 of the deal imo. That’s a large overestimation of his market value, safeties always have a tough time banking it unless they’re coming off a season with lots of big plays generated 

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

10 hours ago, Conn said:

If it happens with us, I could see the funny numbers equaling that total but the guarantees will easily be less than 2/3 of the deal imo. That’s a large overestimation of his market value, safeties always have a tough time banking it unless they’re coming off a season with lots of big plays generated 

 

The average per year for that would be 11th for safeties. The top guy is getting 19m a year. 13.33m is a good deal for us.

[Koolblue13]

 

[xxprodigyxx]

3 hours ago, Koolblue13 said:

 

obviously, washington is tops on his list.

[ntotoro]

16 minutes ago, xxprodigyxx said:

obviously, washington is tops on his list.

Lost me at “stable management”  🤣

[xxprodigyxx]

16 minutes ago, ntotoro said:

Lost me at “stable management”  🤣

why? we employed vinny and bruce for a long time. if you look up "stable" in the dictionary, you see us.

[NickyJ]

"QB that loves the game and brings everyone on board with him". I'm surprised he'd feel the need to throw that on there. I thought he already had that with Colt McCoy.

[ExoDus84]

1 hour ago, ntotoro said:

Lost me at “stable management”  🤣

 

Well, we sure as **** didn't have that before, but I think we just might have it now 🍻

 

21 minutes ago, NickyJ said:

"QB that loves the game and brings everyone on board with him". I'm surprised he'd feel the need to throw that on there. I thought he already had that with Colt McCoy.

 

Colt has everything a person could want in a QB, except for the ability to play QB well.

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by ExoDus84

[NickyJ]

6 minutes ago, ExoDus84 said:

Colt has everything a person could want in a QB, except for the ability to play QB well.

True. Kyler could get get everyone on board with him if Madden let online franchises have more than 32 players.

[Koolblue13]

4 hours ago, NickyJ said:

"QB that loves the game and brings everyone on board with him". I'm surprised he'd feel the need to throw that on there. I thought he already had that with Colt McCoy.

I guess dude hates COD.

[philibusters]

As of May 27th, I think the positions where we could most benefit from adding free agents are O-Line, LB, TE.  So below I am going to make a list of the best free agents available starting at O-Line:

 

OFFENSIVE LINE

On the O-Line we could a Guard who would be a potential starter or a Tackle. If we add a Tackle its possible they could start at Tackle and push Wylie to Guard but more likely we would just be adding a depth piece.

 

1.  Dalton Risner:  Risner who will turn 28 in July played 967 snaps last year at LG, our weakest position on the O-Line.  He was okay with a 61.1 PFF grade, which was the lowest of his career (barely).  He has been consistently average in his four year career amassing 3773 snaps (all at LG) with his lowest PFF grade at 61.1 and his highest grade in 2021 at 68.5.   He averages out to a maybe 64 PFF grade type player.  He has been durable, amassing almost 4000 snaps in four years.  All four years he has been better in pass protection than as a run block.  His lowest pass protection grade is 69.6 and his highest is 73.6.  By contrast is run blocking, while not terrible is pretty meh.  His lowest run blocking grade was 53.4 and his highest was 63.2.   He would make the team better this year.  He wouldn't be expensive but he wouldn't be cheap either.  PFF projects a contract for him at 4 years 32 million with 20 million be guaranteed.

 

2.  Michael Schofield:  Schofield would likely be a 1 year option at LG while the guys in the pipeline continued to develop.  He is coming off a knee injury last year.  Unlike Risner, Schofield has primarily been a RG in the NFL though he has about 300 snaps at LG, but he would still be making a transition.  Schofield projects as about 65 grade PFF based on his last 5 years.  Like Risner over the course of his career he has been a better pass blocker than run blocker, but the trend is slightly less clear in his case.  The main advantage to Schofield is you could add him for one year and not make any long term commitments.  With Risner you probably have to give him guaranteed money for 3 years and we have guys like Chris Paul and Braeden Daniels in the pipeline.  Schofield is a cheap one year option.   A one year deal could cost in the ball park of 2 million dollars.

 

3.  AJ Cann will be 32 in October.  Like Schofield he has primarily been a RG so he would have to make a transition if you wanted him to start at LG.  Cann has played well the last two years he has been healthy (2022 and 2020) with PFF grades of 69 and 67.  In between those years he was hurt in 2021.   Cann has a more up and down career than a guy like Risner who has been really consistent.  He has a couple years in the mid 50's (2017 and 2019) , but also a year in the low 70's (2016) and multiple years in the high 60's, so you are not exactly sure what you are going to get.  If you can get him cheap he could be an option.  Like Risner and Schofield he has been a better pass blocker, though like Schofield the trend is not as strong as with Risner.

 

4.  George Fant will be 31 in July.  He is similar to Cornelius Lucas in that he is a swing tackle with plenty of experience at both LT and RT.  A year ago Fant's stock would have been higher coming off a year where PFF graded him at 71, but this past year he graded at just 48.  At this point he just a good depth piece very similar to Lucas.   If you could get him cheap he wouldl certainly add to the depth at T, but if he is not really cheap, he seems very similar to Lucas.

 

5.  Brandon Shell turned 31 in February.  Unlike Fant who has lots of experience at LT and RT, Shell has played RT almost exclusively throughout his career.  Shell is a starter quality player so getting him as depth would probably be hard.  If 4,415 career snaps over 8 seasons, he has never had a season PFF graded lower than 63.  His highest season was graded 73 so he is consistent.  Like Fant, he is probably going to be too expensive to sign as depth.  It would make more sense to sign him if we needed a starting RT (he'd be cheap for a starter) or if Wylie or Lucas get hurt in training camp.  But he is a decent player and would certainly help the depth.

 

6.  Yodny Cajuste turned 27 in February.   Unlike Fant and Shell he doesn't have a somewhat impressive resume.  He has played 400 snaps over the past couple years for the Patriots at RT and been around a PFF grade 60.  That is his entire resume.  That said he is a bit younger and potentially because his resume is not as impressive, he could be a cheap option.  Right now we really only have 3 Tackles on the roster in Wylie, Leno, and Lucas and while Cosmi could kick out in case of injury, that would leave a hole at G.  Cajuste would give us a fourth tackle and would probably not be that expensive.

 

In terms of my thoughts on these guys, I think a lot depends on if you think Schofield or Cann can transition to LG fairly easy.   Risner would help the team this year, but with Paul and Daniels in the pipeline at G, I am not sure we want a multiple year commitment.  Schofield or Cann make more sense cause they are probably one year commitments, but they would both have to transition to the other side of the O-Line.  Given that I may rate the options at Guard as Cann, Schofield, then Risner in that order.   At Tackle, the issue is all about cost.  I am assuming at this point if we want to add in O-Lineman we want him to be relatively cheap.  Fant and Shell are both borderline starters and would probably have to be paid as such.  They would be cheap as starters, but would be expensive depth.  Too expensive realistically for us to afford.  By contrast Cajuste may be more affordable, but you are not going to be as confident that if injuries occur, that you are still all set at T.    I would probably rank them Shell, Frant, and Cajuste in terms of my want list, but in terms of what makes sense for us, maybe Cajuste would make the most sense.  In generally I think there is a slightly higher chance we add a G vs.a T.

[FootballZombie]

As much as we need O-line I am just terrified at TE.

 

I didn't think we had a good group last year and this year its even worse.

Everyone left either has not shown they are capable of getting fully back from injury, or have not displayed the ability to be dependable and stay healthy.

 

 

The amount of proven production available at the position gives me nightmares.

Bates has 34 career recs. (Thank goodness he can block)

Turner has 1 more rec than his career tackle total of 1.

Hodges has 0

 

I need to find a Voodoo Queen willing to accept sacrifices on behalf of Logan's health.

 

Plz sign somebody w a lil XP.

[DWinzit]

1 hour ago, philibusters said:

As of May 27th, I think the positions where we could most benefit from adding free agents are O-Line, LB, TE.  So below I am going to make a list of the best free agents available starting at O-Line:

 

OFFENSIVE LINE

On the O-Line we could a Guard who would be a potential starter or a Tackle. If we add a Tackle its possible they could start at Tackle and push Wylie to Guard but more likely we would just be adding a depth piece.

 

1.  Dalton Risner:  Risner who will turn 28 in July played 967 snaps last year at LG, our weakest position on the O-Line.  He was okay with a 61.1 PFF grade, which was the lowest of his career (barely).  He has been consistently average in his four year career amassing 3773 snaps (all at LG) with his lowest PFF grade at 61.1 and his highest grade in 2021 at 68.5.   He averages out to a maybe 64 PFF grade type player.  He has been durable, amassing almost 4000 snaps in four years.  All four years he has been better in pass protection than as a run block.  His lowest pass protection grade is 69.6 and his highest is 73.6.  By contrast is run blocking, while not terrible is pretty meh.  His lowest run blocking grade was 53.4 and his highest was 63.2.   He would make the team better this year.  He wouldn't be expensive but he wouldn't be cheap either.  PFF projects a contract for him at 4 years 32 million with 20 million be guaranteed.

 

2.  Michael Schofield:  Schofield would likely be a 1 year option at LG while the guys in the pipeline continued to develop.  He is coming off a knee injury last year.  Unlike Risner, Schofield has primarily been a RG in the NFL though he has about 300 snaps at LG, but he would still be making a transition.  Schofield projects as about 65 grade PFF based on his last 5 years.  Like Risner over the course of his career he has been a better pass blocker than run blocker, but the trend is slightly less clear in his case.  The main advantage to Schofield is you could add him for one year and not make any long term commitments.  With Risner you probably have to give him guaranteed money for 3 years and we have guys like Chris Paul and Braeden Daniels in the pipeline.  Schofield is a cheap one year option.   A one year deal could cost in the ball park of 2 million dollars.

 

3.  AJ Cann will be 32 in October.  Like Schofield he has primarily been a RG so he would have to make a transition if you wanted him to start at LG.  Cann has played well the last two years he has been healthy (2022 and 2020) with PFF grades of 69 and 67.  In between those years he was hurt in 2021.   Cann has a more up and down career than a guy like Risner who has been really consistent.  He has a couple years in the mid 50's (2017 and 2019) , but also a year in the low 70's (2016) and multiple years in the high 60's, so you are not exactly sure what you are going to get.  If you can get him cheap he could be an option.  Like Risner and Schofield he has been a better pass blocker, though like Schofield the trend is not as strong as with Risner.

 

4.  George Fant will be 31 in July.  He is similar to Cornelius Lucas in that he is a swing tackle with plenty of experience at both LT and RT.  A year ago Fant's stock would have been higher coming off a year where PFF graded him at 71, but this past year he graded at just 48.  At this point he just a good depth piece very similar to Lucas.   If you could get him cheap he wouldl certainly add to the depth at T, but if he is not really cheap, he seems very similar to Lucas.

 

5.  Brandon Shell turned 31 in February.  Unlike Fant who has lots of experience at LT and RT, Shell has played RT almost exclusively throughout his career.  Shell is a starter quality player so getting him as depth would probably be hard.  If 4,415 career snaps over 8 seasons, he has never had a season PFF graded lower than 63.  His highest season was graded 73 so he is consistent.  Like Fant, he is probably going to be too expensive to sign as depth.  It would make more sense to sign him if we needed a starting RT (he'd be cheap for a starter) or if Wylie or Lucas get hurt in training camp.  But he is a decent player and would certainly help the depth.

 

6.  Yodny Cajuste turned 27 in February.   Unlike Fant and Shell he doesn't have a somewhat impressive resume.  He has played 400 snaps over the past couple years for the Patriots at RT and been around a PFF grade 60.  That is his entire resume.  That said he is a bit younger and potentially because his resume is not as impressive, he could be a cheap option.  Right now we really only have 3 Tackles on the roster in Wylie, Leno, and Lucas and while Cosmi could kick out in case of injury, that would leave a hole at G.  Cajuste would give us a fourth tackle and would probably not be that expensive.

 

In terms of my thoughts on these guys, I think a lot depends on if you think Schofield or Cann can transition to LG fairly easy.   Risner would help the team this year, but with Paul and Daniels in the pipeline at G, I am not sure we want a multiple year commitment.  Schofield or Cann make more sense cause they are probably one year commitments, but they would both have to transition to the other side of the O-Line.  Given that I may rate the options at Guard as Cann, Schofield, then Risner in that order.   At Tackle, the issue is all about cost.  I am assuming at this point if we want to add in O-Lineman we want him to be relatively cheap.  Fant and Shell are both borderline starters and would probably have to be paid as such.  They would be cheap as starters, but would be expensive depth.  Too expensive realistically for us to afford.  By contrast Cajuste may be more affordable, but you are not going to be as confident that if injuries occur, that you are still all set at T.    I would probably rank them Shell, Frant, and Cajuste in terms of my want list, but in terms of what makes sense for us, maybe Cajuste would make the most sense.  In generally I think there is a slightly higher chance we add a G vs.a T.

Great post. Unfortunately it convinces me more that there are no real decent options.

 

The only two options from that pile would be Schofield or Risner, with RIsner hanging awaiting a big contract

 

The June 1st cuts can't come quick enough...and that goes for TE and LB too

 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by DWinzit

[DWinzit]

14 hours ago, ntotoro said:

Lost me at “stable management”  🤣

Yeah that's been an elusive word around Washington

 

Although you could say RR and JDR have been stable in their positions....Okay, maybe slightly wobbly

[HigSkin]

 

[xxprodigyxx]

1 hour ago, HigSkin said:

 

we shoulda brought in sal cannella if we are looking at xfl players. he's looked good in, both, the usfl and xfl.

[philibusters]

In addition to waiting for teams to release veteran guys, you could try to trade for a O-Lineman.  At RT, Kelvin Beachum could be a target.  He'll turn 34 in June so not a long term play, but he has 2 years 5.2 million left on his contract.  He has been a solid starter for a decade now.  Averaging the last 5 years or so he is a high 60's PFF grade type player at RT.   He is a solid pass protector, meh run blocker.   A lot like Leno.  Has 9699 career snaps, about 6,000 at RT and 3000 at LT so he can play either spot.   I doubt the Cardinals are willing to move him, but drafted Parris Johnson Jr. at number 6 and they already had two starting T's in DJ Humphries and Beachum.   Given Beachum's age and the fact that he called out Kyler Murray which could cause animosity with their starting QB, they may be willing to move him for fairly cheap (e.g. a 6th rounder).  That said, Beachum is a good player on a relatively cheap contract, and tackles are always in demand so I think a lot of this is wishful thinking.   That said if you got him, he would be your starting RT (he is a bit better than Wylie) and Wylie goes to LG where he fixes that position.  We then have two guards who could move to Tackle if injuries were really bad.

Edited May 27, 2023 by philibusters

[philibusters]

LINEBACKER

 

1.  Anthony Barr:  He turned 31 in February and is a big guy 6'5 255 pounds.  We don't have a player with that size in our LB corps.  From 2014 to 2018 he put together 5 good seasons in a row where he made 4 stragiht pro bowls including one fantastic season in 2015 where he a 90 PFF grade.  Since 2019, he has been a borderline starter, a low 60's PFF grade type player.   One of the thing that I notice about his grades is he well rounded.  From 2014 to 2018 he did everything reasonable well, no weaknesses.  Since 2019 he is done everything average, no real strengths or weaknesses.   He plays the run average, his coverage is average, his pass rush is average.  Given his size that is a bit surprising.  

 

2.  Kwon Alexander:  He will turn 29 in August.  He is a high 50's/low 60's PFF grade type player.  His run defense grade has varied but averaging it out he is probably a low 50's PFF grade guy against the run a mid 60's guy in coverage. He is also a decent pass rusher.  His strengths are in passing downs in coverage and pass rushing.  His weaknesses are run defense and tackling.   He is much smaller than Barr at 6'1 227 pounds.   He is another 3 down option and is good depth.  

 

3.  Rashaan Evans:  Before this past season, Evans was a bit of a liability as a starter.   In the 4 seasons from 2018-2021 he averaged out to maybe a low 50's PFF grade type player playing a decent amount of snaps.  Last year, he played more snaps than ever before had a relatively good year for him, getting a 59.6 grade.  Maybe the added snaps helped him develop and he is now a low 60's type PFF player, but I would still worry that last year was just him near the high of his variance.  For example his variance maybe mid 40's to low 60's.   So how do you look at his 59.6 grade last year.  He played over 1000 snaps.  Is that who he is now, or does he regress back to what he has averaged out to over his 5 year career, a low 50's PFF grade type player.

 

4.  Jaylon Smith:  He'll turn 29 in June.  From 2017 to 2019 he looked like a really good LB'er.  However, the last three years he has been a high 50's/low 60's type LB.  Decent depth but a borderline starter.  What is interesting is his strength and weaknesses are not consistent year to year.  Last year his weakness was coverage, but before last year he was better in coverage than against the run.  Part of that may be scheme related.   One thing he is consistently good is tackling.

 

5.  Zach Cunningham:  He turned 28 in December.  He is essentially the opposite of Kwon Alexander.   He is a good run defender, who is a bit of liability in coverage.  He lead the NFL in tackles a couple years ago.   Overall he is a low 60's PFF grade type player.  He has never had a season below 60.2 in regards to his PFF grade, but has never done better than 69.  Averaging it out, he is a low 70's PFF grade guy against the run and a high 40's/low 50's PFF grade in coverage.  If you are looking for a run defender he is a good option, but he is not a three down backer.

 

To me, Anthony Barr is the most intriguing player of the group.  He has unique size and has no weaknesses.  I don't think he ever gets back to the level of play he was at between 2014 to 2018, but he a known commodity and well rounded player.   Alexander and Cunningham are opposites, one is better in coverage and the other against the run.  What does our front office think we need more.   Evans and Smith have less clear strengths and weaknesses.  If I was ranking.  I would go Barr first, Alexander second.  I think Mayo is a decent run defender but bad in coverage.   Alexander compliments him as a decent player against the pass.

Edited May 27, 2023 by philibusters

[El Mexican]

5 hours ago, FootballZombie said:

As much as we need O-line I am just terrified at TE.

 

I didn't think we had a good group last year and this year its even worse.

Everyone left either has not shown they are capable of getting fully back from injury, or have not displayed the ability to be dependable and stay healthy.

 

 

The amount of proven production available at the position gives me nightmares.

Bates has 34 career recs. (Thank goodness he can block)

Turner has 1 more rec than his career tackle total of 1.

Hodges has 0

 

I need to find a Voodoo Queen willing to accept sacrifices on behalf of Logan's health.

 

Plz sign somebody w a lil XP.

 

I was really surprised when we took exactly ZERO TEs in this year's draft given how important it has been for EB's offensive strategy for years now.

If he wants to even come close to what he achieved in KC that should have been one of the top priorities here.

 

 

[Darth Tater]

18 hours ago, ExoDus84 said:

 

Well, we sure as **** didn't have that before, but I think we just might have it now 🍻

 

 

Colt has everything a person could want in a QB, except for the ability to play QB well.

 

However, I do think Colt found himself a good niche here as QB #2.  He'd should have been a quality 2 QB in Arizona. Though, maybe this speaks more to the lack of good QBs, period.

[method man]

11 hours ago, philibusters said:

As of May 27th, I think the positions where we could most benefit from adding free agents are O-Line, LB, TE.  So below I am going to make a list of the best free agents available starting at O-Line:

 

OFFENSIVE LINE

On the O-Line we could a Guard who would be a potential starter or a Tackle. If we add a Tackle its possible they could start at Tackle and push Wylie to Guard but more likely we would just be adding a depth piece.

 

1.  Dalton Risner:  Risner who will turn 28 in July played 967 snaps last year at LG, our weakest position on the O-Line.  He was okay with a 61.1 PFF grade, which was the lowest of his career (barely).  He has been consistently average in his four year career amassing 3773 snaps (all at LG) with his lowest PFF grade at 61.1 and his highest grade in 2021 at 68.5.   He averages out to a maybe 64 PFF grade type player.  He has been durable, amassing almost 4000 snaps in four years.  All four years he has been better in pass protection than as a run block.  His lowest pass protection grade is 69.6 and his highest is 73.6.  By contrast is run blocking, while not terrible is pretty meh.  His lowest run blocking grade was 53.4 and his highest was 63.2.   He would make the team better this year.  He wouldn't be expensive but he wouldn't be cheap either.  PFF projects a contract for him at 4 years 32 million with 20 million be guaranteed.

 

2.  Michael Schofield:  Schofield would likely be a 1 year option at LG while the guys in the pipeline continued to develop.  He is coming off a knee injury last year.  Unlike Risner, Schofield has primarily been a RG in the NFL though he has about 300 snaps at LG, but he would still be making a transition.  Schofield projects as about 65 grade PFF based on his last 5 years.  Like Risner over the course of his career he has been a better pass blocker than run blocker, but the trend is slightly less clear in his case.  The main advantage to Schofield is you could add him for one year and not make any long term commitments.  With Risner you probably have to give him guaranteed money for 3 years and we have guys like Chris Paul and Braeden Daniels in the pipeline.  Schofield is a cheap one year option.   A one year deal could cost in the ball park of 2 million dollars.

 

3.  AJ Cann will be 32 in October.  Like Schofield he has primarily been a RG so he would have to make a transition if you wanted him to start at LG.  Cann has played well the last two years he has been healthy (2022 and 2020) with PFF grades of 69 and 67.  In between those years he was hurt in 2021.   Cann has a more up and down career than a guy like Risner who has been really consistent.  He has a couple years in the mid 50's (2017 and 2019) , but also a year in the low 70's (2016) and multiple years in the high 60's, so you are not exactly sure what you are going to get.  If you can get him cheap he could be an option.  Like Risner and Schofield he has been a better pass blocker, though like Schofield the trend is not as strong as with Risner.

 

4.  George Fant will be 31 in July.  He is similar to Cornelius Lucas in that he is a swing tackle with plenty of experience at both LT and RT.  A year ago Fant's stock would have been higher coming off a year where PFF graded him at 71, but this past year he graded at just 48.  At this point he just a good depth piece very similar to Lucas.   If you could get him cheap he wouldl certainly add to the depth at T, but if he is not really cheap, he seems very similar to Lucas.

 

5.  Brandon Shell turned 31 in February.  Unlike Fant who has lots of experience at LT and RT, Shell has played RT almost exclusively throughout his career.  Shell is a starter quality player so getting him as depth would probably be hard.  If 4,415 career snaps over 8 seasons, he has never had a season PFF graded lower than 63.  His highest season was graded 73 so he is consistent.  Like Fant, he is probably going to be too expensive to sign as depth.  It would make more sense to sign him if we needed a starting RT (he'd be cheap for a starter) or if Wylie or Lucas get hurt in training camp.  But he is a decent player and would certainly help the depth.

 

6.  Yodny Cajuste turned 27 in February.   Unlike Fant and Shell he doesn't have a somewhat impressive resume.  He has played 400 snaps over the past couple years for the Patriots at RT and been around a PFF grade 60.  That is his entire resume.  That said he is a bit younger and potentially because his resume is not as impressive, he could be a cheap option.  Right now we really only have 3 Tackles on the roster in Wylie, Leno, and Lucas and while Cosmi could kick out in case of injury, that would leave a hole at G.  Cajuste would give us a fourth tackle and would probably not be that expensive.

 

In terms of my thoughts on these guys, I think a lot depends on if you think Schofield or Cann can transition to LG fairly easy.   Risner would help the team this year, but with Paul and Daniels in the pipeline at G, I am not sure we want a multiple year commitment.  Schofield or Cann make more sense cause they are probably one year commitments, but they would both have to transition to the other side of the O-Line.  Given that I may rate the options at Guard as Cann, Schofield, then Risner in that order.   At Tackle, the issue is all about cost.  I am assuming at this point if we want to add in O-Lineman we want him to be relatively cheap.  Fant and Shell are both borderline starters and would probably have to be paid as such.  They would be cheap as starters, but would be expensive depth.  Too expensive realistically for us to afford.  By contrast Cajuste may be more affordable, but you are not going to be as confident that if injuries occur, that you are still all set at T.    I would probably rank them Shell, Frant, and Cajuste in terms of my want list, but in terms of what makes sense for us, maybe Cajuste would make the most sense.  In generally I think there is a slightly higher chance we add a G vs.a T.

I would be happy with Jason Peters. I get Ray Brown circa ‘05 vibes from him. He actually has a chance to come here given the Juan Castillo connection. Doubt he wants to go through a TC though.

 

Risner is not a fit here. Don’t think be has the athleticism EB is looking for in his guards

[philibusters]

35 minutes ago, method man said:

I would be happy with Jason Peters. I get Ray Brown circa ‘05 vibes from him. He actually has a chance to come here given the Juan Castillo connection. Doubt he wants to go through a TC though.

 

Risner is not a fit here. Don’t think be has the athleticism EB is looking for in his guards

 

Don't know a ton about Risner other than the information I get at PFF.  Athleticism may be an issue; however, he is better at zone blocking than gap blocking, so he has other issues than athleticism.   He had 224 snaps last year on run plays with zone blocking and had a PFF grade of 57.1 on those, whereas 113 snaps on gap blocking plays he only had a 43 PFF grade.   He is also a good pass blocker, so he must have decent feet.

 

Peters at 41 years old is still a decent player. He had a 71 PFF grade last year and 77 the year before.   He absolutely would bolster the O-Line for a year, much like Donald Penn did in 2019.  I didn't really consider him, but he would be a decent one year option.

Edited May 27, 2023 by philibusters

[method man]

41 minutes ago, philibusters said:

 

Don't know a ton about Risner other than the information I get at PFF.  Athleticism may be an issue; however, he is better at zone blocking than gap blocking, so he has other issues than athleticism.   He had 224 snaps last year on run plays with zone blocking and had a PFF grade of 57.1 on those, whereas 113 snaps on gap blocking plays he only had a 43 PFF grade.   He is also a good pass blocker, so he must have decent feet.

 

Peters at 41 years old is still a decent player. He had a 71 PFF grade last year and 77 the year before.   He absolutely would bolster the O-Line for a year, much like Donald Penn did in 2019.  I didn't really consider him, but he would be a decent one year option.

Given all the young guys we have, having a future HOF leader type who is a coach on the field will be a force multiplier. Tyler Smith attributes some of his rookie success to playing next to Peters.

[DWinzit]

17 hours ago, philibusters said:

LINEBACKER

 

1.  Anthony Barr:  He turned 31 in February and is a big guy 6'5 255 pounds.  We don't have a player with that size in our LB corps.  From 2014 to 2018 he put together 5 good seasons in a row where he made 4 stragiht pro bowls including one fantastic season in 2015 where he a 90 PFF grade.  Since 2019, he has been a borderline starter, a low 60's PFF grade type player.   One of the thing that I notice about his grades is he well rounded.  From 2014 to 2018 he did everything reasonable well, no weaknesses.  Since 2019 he is done everything average, no real strengths or weaknesses.   He plays the run average, his coverage is average, his pass rush is average.  Given his size that is a bit surprising.  

 

2.  Kwon Alexander:  He will turn 29 in August.  He is a high 50's/low 60's PFF grade type player.  His run defense grade has varied but averaging it out he is probably a low 50's PFF grade guy against the run a mid 60's guy in coverage. He is also a decent pass rusher.  His strengths are in passing downs in coverage and pass rushing.  His weaknesses are run defense and tackling.   He is much smaller than Barr at 6'1 227 pounds.   He is another 3 down option and is good depth.  

 

3.  Rashaan Evans:  Before this past season, Evans was a bit of a liability as a starter.   In the 4 seasons from 2018-2021 he averaged out to maybe a low 50's PFF grade type player playing a decent amount of snaps.  Last year, he played more snaps than ever before had a relatively good year for him, getting a 59.6 grade.  Maybe the added snaps helped him develop and he is now a low 60's type PFF player, but I would still worry that last year was just him near the high of his variance.  For example his variance maybe mid 40's to low 60's.   So how do you look at his 59.6 grade last year.  He played over 1000 snaps.  Is that who he is now, or does he regress back to what he has averaged out to over his 5 year career, a low 50's PFF grade type player.

 

4.  Jaylon Smith:  He'll turn 29 in June.  From 2017 to 2019 he looked like a really good LB'er.  However, the last three years he has been a high 50's/low 60's type LB.  Decent depth but a borderline starter.  What is interesting is his strength and weaknesses are not consistent year to year.  Last year his weakness was coverage, but before last year he was better in coverage than against the run.  Part of that may be scheme related.   One thing he is consistently good is tackling.

 

5.  Zach Cunningham:  He turned 28 in December.  He is essentially the opposite of Kwon Alexander.   He is a good run defender, who is a bit of liability in coverage.  He lead the NFL in tackles a couple years ago.   Overall he is a low 60's PFF grade type player.  He has never had a season below 60.2 in regards to his PFF grade, but has never done better than 69.  Averaging it out, he is a low 70's PFF grade guy against the run and a high 40's/low 50's PFF grade in coverage.  If you are looking for a run defender he is a good option, but he is not a three down backer.

 

To me, Anthony Barr is the most intriguing player of the group.  He has unique size and has no weaknesses.  I don't think he ever gets back to the level of play he was at between 2014 to 2018, but he a known commodity and well rounded player.   Alexander and Cunningham are opposites, one is better in coverage and the other against the run.  What does our front office think we need more.   Evans and Smith have less clear strengths and weaknesses.  If I was ranking.  I would go Barr first, Alexander second.  I think Mayo is a decent run defender but bad in coverage.   Alexander compliments him as a decent player against the pass.

I wanted them to draft Cunningham so bad. Can't tell you how disappointed I was when they announced Ryan Andersons name...still irks me

 

They had opportunities in the past at some of these guys and skipped out. Barr is the only one really worthy at this point. 

 

I don't understand what happened to Smith, he was looking like he was on the verge of stardom a few years ago

[MartinC]

13 minutes ago, DWinzit said:

I wanted them to draft Cunningham so bad. Can't tell you how disappointed I was when they announced Ryan Andersons name...still irks me

 

They had opportunities in the past at some of these guys and skipped out. Barr is the only one really worthy at this point. 

 

I don't understand what happened to Smith, he was looking like he was on the verge of stardom a few years ago

Smith just can’t run anymore. It looked like he was in quick sand the later part of his Cowboys career and his stay in Green Bay was very brief. He’s done.