Agree or Disagree...

[Mr. Scot]

Yes

Yes

Yes.

Thank you, Daniel.

[CRA]

I'm going to do it as of THIS POINT 2 years ago, which means Mike Mitchell, Dominique Hixon, Chase Blackburn, Ted Ginn, Melvin White, Star Lotulelei, Kawaan Short, A.J. Klein, etc. are not included.

1. Much Better on Defense Now. Slightly better on Offense then (mainly due to experience)

2. Yes. 2013 Ron Rivera learns to take "calculated gambles." 2014 Ron Rivera learns to trust GettleGod's pickups. Shula is still incompetent.

3. I feel much better about our future now than I did at this point in 2013.

But I am a half glass full kinda guy.

1. How are we much better on D? Hardy gone. Seconfary is still meh. On O we had Gross on the OL and the rest is a push. Would argue at this point we are worse at RB bc we are getting very old.

We have potential on O and D that you likely couldn't be looking forward to but better IMO is counting that potential as more certain than it is

[pdub0702]

Yes

no

Yes

[stirs]

not sure of the coaching, but the front office and talent level is certainly on an upswing

[dos poptarts]

Yes. For the long haul, younger is better.

 

No. I think McDerm(Rivera) D took a step back. The big running plays against the front seven had nothing to do with Bell at LT and cutting Smitty. The blitz packages seem much worse. I think on 3rd down stops, the D was bottom 10 in the league.

 

Yes. BUP BUP BUP

[Toker Smurf]

1. No. QB slightly better due to experience, Oline worse, WRs & TE wash, RBs worse due to age. D-line worse, LBs wash, secondary slightly better.

2. Yes. Experience.Willks, new roles.

3. Yes. Salary cap is improving. I think talent will be better after this season than 2 years ago.

[RelaxImaPro]

1. How are we much better on D? Hardy gone. Seconfary is still meh. On O we had Gross on the OL and the rest is a push. Would argue at this point we are worse at RB bc we are getting very old.

We have potential on O and D that you likely couldn't be looking forward to but better IMO is counting that potential as more certain than it is

 

No Star/Short/Benwikere, Munnerlyn was still considered a liability, Nakamura/Fua/etc., it was a foregone conclusion that Gamble and Anderson were gone that offseason, Norman and Thomas were considered our #1 and #2 CBs... and that was before Norman looked anywhere near as good as he did this season.

 

Hardy is a huge loss, but overall I'd take this D over what we had going into the offseason that year.  DT alone was such a huge liability that year that we're extremely lucky we fixed it as well and quick as we did.

[O-Ther]

Two years ago today coming off the 2012 season vs. today today: not counting experience(+) or injuries(-)

QB, C, LDE, MLB, SLB, P, K, LS=samey-same

RB Fozzy > Kenjon Barner

TE Ed Dickson > Ben Hartsock

WR Smitty =(maybe just a smidge >) Benji, LaFell > Cotchery, Cory Brown > Armanti + Pilares + Gettis

OT Gross >>> Bell, Bell + Chandler << Remmers

OG Norwell > Silatolu + Wharton, Turner >> Bernadeau + Chandler + Williams + Hangartner

 

RDE Hardy > Alexander + Ealy + Addison + Horton

DT Star >>> Nick Hayden + Fua, KK >>> McClain + Ron Edwards

WLB Klein + Glanton > Beason or Anderson

CB Norman = Gamble, Bene = Munnerlyn

FS Boston > Nakamura

SS Harper > Godfrey

 

So we've gotten worse at #2 WR, LT, and RDE, and have improved at #3 RB, #2 TE, #3 WR, RT, LG, RG, DT, DT, WLB, FS, and SS. I'd say YES we have improved the overall roster from 2 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CRA]

Two years ago today coming off the 2012 season vs. today today: not counting experience(+) or injuries(-)

QB, C, LDE, MLB, SLB, P, K, LS=samey-same

RB Fozzy > Kenjon Barner

TE Ed Dickson > Ben Hartsock

WR Smitty =(maybe just a smidge >) Benji, LaFell > Cotchery, Cory Brown > Armanti + Pilares + Gettis

OT Gross >>> Bell, Bell + Chandler << Remmers

OG Norwell > Silatolu + Wharton, Turner >> Bernadeau + Chandler + Williams + Hangartner

RDE Hardy > Alexander + Ealy + Addison + Horton

DT Star >>> Nick Hayden + Fua, KK >>> McClain + Ron Edwards

WLB Klein + Glanton > Beason

CB Norman = Gamble, Bene = Munnerlyn

FS Boston > Nakamura

SS Harper > Godfrey

So we've gotten worse at #2 WR, LT, and RDE, and have improved at #3 RB, #2 TE, #3 WR, RT, LG, RG, DT, DT, WLB, FS, and SS. I'd say YES we have improved the overall roster from 2 years ago.

One fact that gets overlooked is older players.....that are still here can't be viewed as constants. They get worse.

For example, Fozzy is better than Barner. Rest of our RB corp is two years older. They are old enough that when comparing themselves vs younger versions results in a decline.

Current Luke is better than old Luke. Bc he is still on the incline.

Harper as much as a hated Godfrey IMO can't be viewed as better. Not sure Harper can even earn a roster spot this next season

[AU-panther]

1.  Yes, because when I look at a roster I also consider the contracts.  The current roster is younger and in better shape financially. 

 

2.  No.  I knew we had some deficiencies in last years roster but I had hoped we could scheme around some of it.

 

3.  Yes.  From what we have seen so far I am a fan of what appears to be DG's philosophy towards building a team.  Next two years will show us a lot about DG.  He will have some large contracts to negotiate and some hard decisions to make about some of our older core players.

[firefox1234]

Undecided, ask me after FA and draft

No, Ron doesn't know when to call timeouts

Yes

[VerticalThreat]

- We have a better roster than we had two years ago.

Yes, younger and cheaper. Those guys are a great baseline. If we get better players via draft or FA, then we have great depth.

- Over the past two years, we have seen improvement from our coaching staff.

I'm in the fence about this one. I don't know if I've seen improvement. At times it seems like they're better but for me to say that is improvement and not luck I'll need to see it consistently throughout a season and then from season to season.

- Our front office has us headed in the right direction

Absolutely. For years I felt like our FO was just marching to their own drum. While other franchises were participating in free agency and finding a franchise QB, we were stockpiling RBs and seemingly playing old man's football in what has become a more dynamic league. We still have the traits of a pounding football team but our FO has said publicly that we must become more athletic and faster to keep up with the league. That in itself is a step in the right direction.

Nice topic, Mr. Scot.

[Goondal]

Yes, better in some places, wise in others. I think we are better overall if only for Star and Short

No

Yes

[JccOldTime23]

1. Yes. Our roster now is better than at the end of the 2012 season. Receiver is weaker, the tackles are weaker. The other offensive positions I'd say are equal or better. On the defense the line is leaps above where it was, the linebackers are the same, and with the young talent in the secondary I'd say it's better.

2. This is a difficult question to answer. Ron showed improvement in 2013. There is no doubt there. But then regressed in 2014. He then said he learned a lesson about being conservative. Except he'd already learned that lesson at least once before. So has he really learned anything at all?

3. Yes. Dave Gettleman is the best GM this franchise has had and it isn't close. The talent he's gotten in his 2 draft classes alone is phenomenal. The future is very bright with Dave in charge. The only negative is his age and he doesn't look like a particularly healthy man.