(03-05-2024, 02:23 PM)Caldrac Wrote:

(03-05-2024, 01:55 PM)NYC4jags Wrote: $50 mil in cap space and 5 picks before the end of the fourth round oughta' do it if they don't screw it up. 

Monumental "if"

Yeah. That's the key. "If". I have gone on record saying this more than once now, and so, I'll repeat it here. Baalke has his high's and low's. I can say that one of his high's is having a decent eye for players and personnel within the secondary.

I am confident in his evaluations there. If Hewitt says he needs "X, Y & Z" to make his defense thrive? Baalke's the right guy for the job. I think he'll more than likely lean towards defense in the first round, as that has been his tendency historically, and, he's had success there.

So, if he drafts a DT, a S or a CB there? Fine by me. I think we're getting a good starter there for sure. Hopefully he's more ready to go than having to wait and see a little bit like we did with Walker and Lloyd, but, we'll see what happens there. 

It's how he handles the WR position and the OL group now though that is absolutely crucial for me as a fan. We cannot go into this training camp again with minimal efforts made at these two groups. We just can't. 

Our offense has more holes than just Fortner at Center and it's my biggest fear this off season, that, he'll just accept one lump and eat his mistake in selecting Fortner and find his replacement and then think that's enough to get the offense back on track. 

LT - Major concern
LG - Not on the team at the moment
RG - Age, durability and concerning
WR - Major concern 

When you look at the offensive side of the football. Just like last year proved? It's ONE injury away from being shot in the water.

We lost a LT? Bad things happened. On an already weak unit. It got WORSE without a competent LT. 
We lost a slot WR? Bad things happened.
We lost a deep threat at WR? Bad things happened. 
We lost a LG? Bad things happened. 

Anytime something bad happened at a starting position, again, on an already BAD unit even with it's best five out there or best three out there, they went from being competent to looking like [BLEEP] on a shingle. That cannot happen again in 2024. 

What if it's Engram in 2024 that goes down? Is Strange ready to produce 100 receptions or more and roughly 1,000 yards on offense?

What if it's Etienne in 2024 that goes down? Is Bigsby ready to make guys miss tackles without fumbling the damn football and put up over 1,000 yards on offense?

What if we don't bring back Ridley? And Kirk gets hurt again? Or Jones? Is Agnew even on the roster in 2024? Do we think we're getting their production out of Washington, the other Jones and Cooks? 

It's bad man. Pretty bad. The offense is dangerously close to just being a shell of whatever former "self" it had left from 2022 because it started to show horribly down the stretch in 2023 against tougher opponents. 2024 will be just as difficult schedule wise.

• We knew we wanted to upgrade IDL - there are three threads on it. Now we know they want to as well. 
  
• adding an average center and a solid guard instantly makes this offensive line much better than it was in 22/23
  
• We have three offensive tackles currently on the roster - they can wait on addressing LT till next year if they choose
  
• We need Kirk and Engram to be healthy most of the season- just as most teams feel about their most productive receivers
  
• We can play the what if game with every team in the league - no one has a spare ETN laying around - but every year 6 no name RBs come off the bench and play incredibly around the league
  
•  They've got ~5 starting roles to fill in an offseason. It's a challenge and they'll probably botch one or two of them. But if they nail the right 3... they could still win the division.