Looking At Our ''New'' Core - And Thoughts Moving Forward (Offense Edition)*

[SetfreexX]

In my mind October 10th should be a national holiday after the firing or Rhule, at the time I told myself I don't care what happens the rest of this season; I was just happy he was finally gone. So many people here, and in other social spaces that don't casually follow the team could see he was holding us back, this was fairly obvious end of year one, and blatantly obvious by the time he started throwing Cam under the bus to prop Darnold, and in an attempt to shift blame. (This isn't a Cam thread)

I think we have all seen a new ''life'' in the team since the change, and I'm even more surprised than I expected to be as Wilks has the team ''competing'' and that's something we were not doing, and that alone has made the last two games worth watching. I'll give LAR a pass as it was right after the firing; with likely little time to have an offensive plan in place; or perhaps in retro it was a CMC showcase for bidders 

Either way all of that has led to a new core, so let's explore who that currently is: (Core Players in my estimation in BOLD)

QB - None, Matt Corrall is intersting, and PJ is slinging it, but all signs point to taking a QB in the 1st

HB - None, however I'd like to see D'Onta Foreman retained, I was excited when we signed him but was frustrated at the absence under Rhule, Chuba is a nice piece, but he still can't catch

WR - DJ Moore, this is obvious, I'm inclined to include Terrace Marshall, as imagine that the 3rd of the LSU trio who was a 1st round prospect outside of the knee concerns has looked legit as his snaps have increased, again Rhule...wtf was he doing!? It was also nice to see redzone fade pass attempts to a guy that's a clean 6'3''. Also, anyone notice Shi Smith (former 6th) has been featured less, he's been on the field, but the targets are down since Rhule left. 

TE - None, I remain intrigued by Tommy Tremble, he seems to get a little more involved downfield than Thomas, and has more TDs over the past two seasons than Thomas. I'd like to see us to commit to Tommy as the starter and let Thomas continue to be TE #2. But I sweat McAdoo gonna get Ian that one TE screen a game. 

OL - This is where I kind a have to pinch myself...Ickey Ekowonu has been all we thought in the run game, and even more in pass pro after getting acclimated, Brady Christensen has settled in at LG, meanwhile the C we all felt was better Bradley Bozeman has played well now that he's on the field. Austin Corbett, and Taylor Moton are my other two core OL pieces. Arguments are definitely available to add Brady, and Boze to this, but Boze is on a one year deal, and I hope we are able to keep him, while Brady has performed right around average, no egregious issues, but nothing that stands out about him. If this was our starting five next year I'd be fine with that as well. 

Total Offensive Core Players - 4 out of 11 (Dj, Ickey, Corbett, Moton)

As you can see we still have a lot to do, but there are some promising pieces here as well (Foreman, TMJ, Tremble, Brady, Boze). I will concede that I subscribe to the belief that inserting a talented rookie into this mix could see us competing at a higher more consistent level. I like PJ and that throw last Sunday....sheesh, but we have to be honest he's not the long-term answer; and likely neither is Matt. I suspect he could have looked better in the pre-season as it should have been ''at that time at least'' Baker with the 1's, Matt with the 2's, as you don't trade for Baker to ''compete'', Sam with the 3's because we'd seen enough and PJ as the odd man out. Wasted reps all around in my opinion the way it was handled. 

[grimesgoat]

1 hour ago, SetfreexX said:

In my mind October 10th should be a national holiday after the firing or Rhule, at the time I told myself I don't care what happens the rest of this season; I was just happy he was finally gone. So many people here, and in other social spaces that don't casually follow the team could see he was holding us back, this was fairly obvious end of year one, and blatantly obvious by the time he started throwing Cam under the bus to prop Darnold, and in an attempt to shift blame. (This isn't a Cam thread)

I think we have all seen a new ''life'' in the team since the change, and I'm even more surprised than I expected to be as Wilks has the team ''competing'' and that's something we were not doing, and that alone has made the last two games worth watching. I'll give LAR a pass as it was right after the firing; with likely little time to have an offensive plan in place; or perhaps in retro it was a CMC showcase for bidders 

Either way all of that has led to a new core, so let's explore who that currently is: (Core Players in my estimation in BOLD)

QB - None, Matt Corrall is intersting, and PJ is slinging it, but all signs point to taking a QB in the 1st

HB - None, however I'd like to see D'Onta Foreman retained, I was excited when we signed him but was frustrated at the absence under Rhule, Chuba is a nice piece, but he still can't catch

WR - DJ Moore, this is obvious, I'm inclined to include Terrace Marshall, as imagine that the 3rd of the LSU trio who was a 1st round prospect outside of the knee concerns has looked legit as his snaps have increased, again Rhule...wtf was he doing!? It was also nice to see redzone fade pass attempts to a guy that's a clean 6'3''. Also, anyone notice Shi Smith (former 6th) has been featured less, he's been on the field, but the targets are down since Rhule left. 

TE - None, I remain intrigued by Tommy Tremble, he seems to get a little more involved downfield than Thomas, and has more TDs over the past two seasons than Thomas. I'd like to see us to commit to Tommy as the starter and let Thomas continue to be TE #2. But I sweat McAdoo gonna get Ian that one TE screen a game. 

OL - This is where I kind a have to pinch myself...Ickey Ekowonu has been all we thought in the run game, and even more in pass pro after getting acclimated, Brady Christensen has settled in at LG, meanwhile the C we all felt was better Bradley Bozeman has played well now that he's on the field. Austin Corbett, and Taylor Moton are my other two core OL pieces. Arguments are definitely available to add Brady, and Boze to this, but Boze is on a one year deal, and I hope we are able to keep him, while Brady has performed right around average, no egregious issues, but nothing that stands out about him. If this was our starting five next year I'd be fine with that as well. 

Total Offensive Core Players - 4 out of 11 (Dj, Ickey, Corbett, Moton)

As you can see we still have a lot to do, but there are some promising pieces here as well (Foreman, TMJ, Tremble, Brady, Boze). I will concede that I subscribe to the belief that inserting a talented rookie into this mix could see us competing at a higher more consistent level. I like PJ and that throw last Sunday....sheesh, but we have to be honest he's not the long-term answer; and likely neither is Matt. I suspect he could have looked better in the pre-season as it should have been ''at that time at least'' Baker with the 1's, Matt with the 2's, as you don't trade for Baker to ''compete'', Sam with the 3's because we'd seen enough and PJ as the odd man out. Wasted reps all around in my opinion the way it was handled. 

Good writeup. 

I'd include TMJ as a core piece.  It was criminal how we failed to develop him until now.

With the way the offensive line is playing, I'm coming around to Young in the first despite his size.

Re-sign Bozeman and Foreman.  Then get a big pass-catching TE with one of our seconds.  Add C/G in the 4th and we'll be a playoff team in 2024 and a superb owl contender in 2025.

[Sgt Schultz]

Good job!

Add to the October 10 holiday that I want to hire Demeco Ryans as Team President.  He helped get The Process terminated, so we owe him.

I like your assessment.  On the OL, I would add that we can't declare victory because once it is built (and it may be), it has to be maintained meaning we need depth from up-and-comers so when we lose pieces to injury or FA, we are not left with gaping holes.  Having an OL is new territory for us, so continual care and feeding needs to be learned.

[*FreeFua*]

The good news is we should be able to sign just about any cheap RB and they’ll look good behind this OL

[SetfreexX]

1 hour ago, *FreeFua* said:

The good news is we should be able to sign just about any cheap RB and they’ll look good behind this OL

I think we are in prime position to draft a runner in the 3rd, or even with one of the 2nd round picks though I'd prefer a TE / Edge compliment to Burns earlier than another runner, but getting a talent back at the top of the 2nd if things trend to more losses isn't lost on me. 

We only have Chuba under contract into next season, I am also not against extending Foreman as I believe he is currently 25, or 26. I think people forget how young he is due to the missed time after the knee injury back in HOU. 

He was actually really good coming out of Texas. 

[rayzor]

Starting OL is set, but I'd love to see us add/improve our depth. wouldn't want to mess around with any of the starting pieces we have right now...and that means keeping Boze at center.

I feel good about the WRs. There's plenty to build on in that corps. I wouldn't be opposed to adding more talent, but i think it would be best to focus capital on other positions and just work on developing these young guys and giving them experience. Mainly DJ, Shi, and TMJ.

Keep Foreman. Keep Chuba (but don't expect him to catch the ball). And add another RB to the group, but don't go overboard trying to find someone. we don't need another CMC. we just need someone that is going to push the chains and it doesn't take much to find someone to do that with this OL.

TE....meh. Aside from Tremble there isn't much to like. Really need to invest here, especially if we are getting a young QB. We need another Olson/Shockey type combo for at least a year.

QB.... I'd like for us to draft one of the top picks for next year, keep Corral, and I wouldn't mind at this point keeping PJ around just for the lockerroom, but i'd rather us get a more experienced vet QB to help mentor the two young QBs. 

If I had to name a group of guys i'd consider to be the "core of the offense...I'd have to say all of the current starting OL, DJ, and that's it. All the rest are pretty replaceable, but if we can avoid gutting the WR room and just adding depth to the OL, and even building on the RB room we've got, I'd be happy with retooling everything else. 

On defense, Burns, Brown, Chinn, Horn, Luvu, and possibly Shaq (who is better than what we give credit for). I'd like for us to see McCall get more action and experience. I think Woods is solid experience. Cj has potential (but he's also got a lot of potential for costly mistakes). But aside from those first 5-6 I listed, i think we could definitely stand to build around them Those guys are pretty much the core of the defense. 

[rayzor]

6 minutes ago, rayzor said:

Starting OL is set, but I'd love to see us add/improve our depth. wouldn't want to mess around with any of the starting pieces we have right now...and that means keeping Boze at center.

I feel good about the WRs. There's plenty to build on in that corps. I wouldn't be opposed to adding more talent, but i think it would be best to focus capital on other positions and just work on developing these young guys and giving them experience. Mainly DJ, Shi, and TMJ.

Keep Foreman. Keep Chuba (but don't expect him to catch the ball). And add another RB to the group, but don't go overboard trying to find someone. we don't need another CMC. we just need someone that is going to push the chains and it doesn't take much to find someone to do that with this OL.

TE....meh. Aside from Tremble there isn't much to like. Really need to invest here, especially if we are getting a young QB. We need another Olson/Shockey type combo for at least a year.

QB.... I'd like for us to draft one of the top picks for next year, keep Corral, and I wouldn't mind at this point keeping PJ around just for the lockerroom, but i'd rather us get a more experienced vet QB to help mentor the two young QBs. 

If I had to name a group of guys i'd consider to be the "core of the offense...I'd have to say all of the current starting OL, DJ, and that's it. All the rest are pretty replaceable, but if we can avoid gutting the WR room and just adding depth to the OL, and even building on the RB room we've got, I'd be happy with retooling everything else. 

On defense, Burns, Brown, Chinn, Horn, Luvu, and possibly Shaq (who is better than what we give credit for). I'd like for us to see McCall get more action and experience. I think Woods is solid experience. Cj has potential (but he's also got a lot of potential for costly mistakes). But aside from those first 5-6 I listed, i think we could definitely stand to build around them Those guys are pretty much the core of the defense. 

all that said (and yes, I'm quoting myself), The OL is the only thing I wouldn't trade away. Everyone else has a price...if you're offering multiple first round picks,

[hepcat]

Honestly as Cam showed us, none of this sh*t matters as long as you have a franchise QB. He had garbage around him most of his career on the Panthers and managed to have an MVP season. His best receiver was a TE.