Offensive Line: I am not sold on anyone besides maybe Linder. This unit played abysmal most of the year. The worst thing to do is gamble and hope the young guys will get better. Bring in competition across the board. This is where the majority of free agent money should be spent.
Defensive Line: When healthy this is one of the better lines in the league. This line is good but getting a difference maker like JPP could turn this line from good to great. The marks injury also really hurts so this probably will get filled in the 1st or 2nd round. If there is no premiere talent available then spend most of the draft in this area
Linebackers: This is an area that needs a complete overhaul. Poz is a good vet but he is really a two down LB. We need a new Mike LB and a new Sam. Ideally you would love to see Telvin Smith use that Athletic ability to edge rush the QB from the weak side. Telvin is the only long term player I see here.
Wide Receivers: This area I am pretty happy with. Lee became better later in the season and A. Robinson has fantastic hands. Shorts should be allowed to walk with a more dependable veteran taking his place. If Justin Blackmon does come back and can still play this could be a very dangerous young group.
Tight Ends: Dire Need: Lewis is way overpaid and under performed. Let him walk and use that savings to bring in 2 good free agent tight ends. If you see one with playmaking ability snab him in the draft. Harbor was invisible most of the year so he is a non factor
Secondary: The CB position is actually pretty solid. I hope gratz gets demoted to nickle and Colvin proves he can play outside. The Safety position is a mess. I believe this should be filled by signing 2 safetys in free agency. Cyprien does make his fair share of tackles but also misses on many that allow big plays. It's painfully obvious when you watch a game how many ball carriers make Cyprien miss or just plow right through him. The FS spot needs a big upgrade. This is an area that I believe veteran leadership is vital. Some free agent money should be spent here
Running Backs: Potential is there. Toby played much better when he became healthy later in the season. If D. Rob is coming back healthy I think it could be a one two punch. If a solid one drops in day 2 or 3 in the draft snab him.
QB: I like all the traits we have seen in blake. We just got to hope he comes back throwing less ints and more TD's. Henne is a decent backup but ideally we would like to snag a veteran from free agency to replace Henne (even Vick) I would like to see blake learn from a Qb who has done some great things with their career than Henne who has not been there.
Quote:
Defensive Line: When healthy this is one of the better lines in the league. This line is good but getting a difference maker like JPP could turn this line from good to great. The marks injury also really hurts so this probably will get filled in the 1st or 2nd round. If there is no premiere talent available then spend most of the draft in this area
:blink:
I could see an early pick on a pass rusher and another at some point on a lineman - but
spend most of the draft??
You must be joking.
Yeah basically FA = Offense
Draft = defense
Is there a reason you listed QB twice?
Also if you think Cyprien is going to be replaced this year you might end up disappointed. Caldwell seemed impressed with him when asked about certain players in his press conference.
Quote: :blink:
I could see an early pick on a pass rusher and another at some point on a lineman - but spend most of the draft??
You must be joking.
Clemons is not getting younger. Marks status is uncertain as is Alualu. Yes upgrade the defensive line and make it a priority.
Quote:Clemons is not getting younger. Marks status is uncertain as is Alualu. Yes upgrade the defensive line and make it a priority.
You want them to spend four picks on the D-line? Wow.
Not gonna' happen.
Very good post. I see us upgrading our RB and the rest is dead on the way I feel.
A good late pickup could be Nick Marshall from Auburn. He could be the emergency 3rd QB but also played DB at Georgia. For those who followed the SEC he is a fantastic athlete and will not be drafted in the top 5 rounds.
Good post. Agree mostly across the board. I think the OL is better off than you think...I think that Joeckel is gonna be fine. I do agree with FA to bring in some competition. RT and perhaps LG...which gives you two OL men to compete. Agree linebacker corps needs some long-range improvement. Might be late in the draft or cheap FA for now. Next year, perhaps for bigger improvement. Absolutely draft DL. They are relatively old now and gonna get older. And there are some good choices in the first round there...one of which ought to be available at 3.
Kind of nice to see that Caldwell had a plan and it seems to be coming together. Of course it may all crash, but as the optomist said as he fell past the 34th floor..."so far so good..."
Jim
You fix the o-line and get a better FS, and you'll see things turn around pretty quick, in my opinion.
I know our LBs have gotten some flack, but I thought they played OK. Maybe someone can help enlighten me, but I just didn't think the LBs were getting torched out there as much as maybe some others do? Yes, invariably, there would be one play (maybe 2) per game where a TE or slot reciever got open for 20-30 yards. But those plays never really killed us. Honestly, I think after about Mid October, our D was very solid. Including the LBs. And I'm hopeful Poz is back next year! I wonder... How much better would our LBs look in passing situations if we had a FS with more talent and football IQ than Evans? I do think we need more depth in our LB corps, but you could say that about practically every unit.
I'm not sure I'd put them too high in terms of needed to revamp the entire unit. I'm nervous about how Marks recovers, I'm hoping he comes back at 100% by October 1...
Blue Print:
1. Fix the Oline!! FA and draft, wherever!
2. FS, we just need one. Really bad.
3. Pass Rushing DE.
Quote:Linebackers: This is an area that needs a complete overhaul. Poz is a good vet but he is really a two down LB. We need a new Mike LB and a new Sam. Ideally you would love to see Telvin Smith use that Athletic ability to edge rush the QB from the weak side. Telvin is the only long term player I see here.
Yes it needs to be overhauled, but Telvin is the WLB. He's the athletic guy who can drop into coverage and cover a slot receiver or TE. Thomas played decently at the MLB spot. Watson was the failure at LB. He was supposed to be the Otto/Sam who would either rush the passer or fill run gaps, but he ended up sucking. Telvin should be a long term fixture at the WLB spot. Thomas is versatile enough to play MLB and Otto. They just need to figure out where they want to go with the Sam LB spot.
Poz is a 2 down MLB in a standard 4-3 defense, which we're not running.
But, he's white, played with a bloody nose once, and has a cool last name, and knows how to talk to the media so I guess that means he's good.
Quote:Yeah basically FA = Offense
Draft = defense
I was hoping to get a couple rb and ot in the draft.
Quote:I was hoping to get a couple rb and ot in the draft.
Dave said in his presser that RB isn't going to be a huge priority this offseason.
But I would love to have Gurley or the kid from wisconsin.
Quote:Offensive Line: I am not sold on anyone besides maybe Linder. This unit played abysmal most of the year. The worst thing to do is gamble and hope the young guys will get better. Bring in competition across the board. This is where the majority of free agent money should be spent.
Defensive Line: When healthy this is one of the better lines in the league. This line is good but getting a difference maker like JPP could turn this line from good to great. The marks injury also really hurts so this probably will get filled in the 1st or 2nd round. If there is no premiere talent available then spend most of the draft in this area
Linebackers: This is an area that needs a complete overhaul. Poz is a good vet but he is really a two down LB. We need a new Mike LB and a new Sam. Ideally you would love to see Telvin Smith use that Athletic ability to edge rush the QB from the weak side. Telvin is the only long term player I see here.
Wide Receivers: This area I am pretty happy with. Lee became better later in the season and A. Robinson has fantastic hands. Shorts should be allowed to walk with a more dependable veteran taking his place. If Justin Blackmon does come back and can still play this could be a very dangerous young group.
Tight Ends: Dire Need: Lewis is way overpaid and under performed. Let him walk and use that savings to bring in 2 good free agent tight ends. If you see one with playmaking ability snab him in the draft. Harbor was invisible most of the year so he is a non factor
Secondary: The CB position is actually pretty solid. I hope gratz gets demoted to nickle and Colvin proves he can play outside. The Safety position is a mess. I believe this should be filled by signing 2 safetys in free agency. Cyprien does make his fair share of tackles but also misses on many that allow big plays. It's painfully obvious when you watch a game how many ball carriers make Cyprien miss or just plow right through him. The FS spot needs a big upgrade. This is an area that I believe veteran leadership is vital. Some free agent money should be spent here
Running Backs: Potential is there. Toby played much better when he became healthy later in the season. If D. Rob is coming back healthy I think it could be a one two punch. If a solid one drops in day 2 or 3 in the draft snab him.
QB: I like all the traits we have seen in blake. We just got to hope he comes back throwing less ints and more TD's. Henne is a decent backup but ideally we would like to snag a veteran from free agency to replace Henne (even Vick) I would like to see blake learn from a Qb who has done some great things with their career than Henne who has not been there.
So really our D line was good, everyone else was par to,sub par,or flat out horrible. That is incredible. Yet somehow fans thinks this blueprint maker isn't seriously flawed in his calculations? The team should be a third to half built, at least at this stage. You just listed one good area, and maybe receiver( in the unlikely event Blackmon puts down the bottle.). I feel like I live in Jonestown at times. We are on the ten year plan I suppose.
This is the entire problem ive had with Caldwell from the start. We're here year 3 the year it comes to focuse and we should be competing for the division. Minimum a .500 team. Let's just look at what we're counting on, we're counting on older vets to continue their performance without missing a beat because we can't really draft heavy defensive line players. We're counting on the three rookie wr to not hit a sophomore slump and continue progressing in development. We're counting on the worse offensive line unit in our franchise history to improve with an offseason. We're damn near empty at lb so you have to focus on that in the offseason, not to mention the holes in the secondary, assuming cyprien pulls himselft out of the sophomore slump and the rookie Colvin is as Addertised.
It's just to much to gamble the defensive line is going to see some decline these guys are not young pups it's natural, we have to reload. But we can't really justify the natural reloading need on the line because we still have glaring holes at starting positions all over the roster.
It's a constant game of catch up, it's why the entire blow it up premise is flawed and rarely works.
Hopefully David can pull off a miracle.
I see us drafting a special teams player. Return man, even kicker, believe me nothing wrong with Josh but you never know if he'll pull something. Draft a D-lineman only for learning and depth b/c IF! the Offense stays on the field longer the D will be better rested and shape for the whole game and be all over the other team. Also draft a TE that will make a difference. We can draft a O-lineman to make the others really try to improve. Push each other. Sign Tebow for a back-up QB. It won't hurt believe me. You can put him on the field also for trick plays. We could line him up as TE or even Slot. Double passes and screens. It would make nightmares for opposing teams. They won't know how to prepare for that kind of Offense.
I remember a couple months ago Caldwell was on the radio saying he wanted to get faster on the defensive side. Specifically at linebacker. So I wouldn't be surprised if we grabbed Perryman from Miami or Shaq Thompson from Washington in the second.
Quote:Also if you think Cyprien is going to be replaced this year you might end up disappointed. Caldwell seemed impressed with him when asked about certain players in his press conference.
Not saying he's going to do so, but Caldwell has shown he can conceal his true intentions pretty well.
Remember the run up to the third pick of the 2014 draft and the shock at taking Bortles?
Quote:
1. Fix the Oline!! FA and draft, wherever!
2. FS, we just need one. Really bad.
3. Pass Rushing DE.
Even just the first two on your list coupled with a mild improvement from Bortles means a much more competitive team.
(i.e. - they'd have won 6 games in 2014)
These ^ things are definitely on Caldwell's list.
Adding a home run slugger at LEO is certainly part of the equation as well. Milking some sacks from an aging Clemons and a host of "contributors" was impressive, but the elite defenses out there almost always have a guy that's a nightmare to defend on passing downs without needing help from a TE or RB. The Jags don't have that guy yet.