Off-season so far ....

[panthers55]

The potential is there to be better but it is all about fit. It doesn't matter what your individual skills may be if you aren't in a good system that fits your strengths. Every new coach says the goal is to maximize the players potential but at least in our case it hasn't happened in a long time

[hepcat]

Probably better because it’s hard to go lower than only winning 2 out of 17 games, but I suppose they could win 0

[strato]

We still have that QB. How do you judge, with that as the centerpiece of things? To me that’s an F all day long.

[rayzor]

I guess part of this is also does the coaching staff have more to work with?

Considering the coaching staff had a hand in who we got, Canales got his OL and an upgraded WR and Evero got some of his guys.

I think they might feel like it's a better fit for what they have in mind. I'm sure they would have liked to keep Luvu and he's really the only one I wish we'd been able to keep, but for the most part I think they are getting who they want.

[panthers55]

4 minutes ago, rayzor said:

I guess part of this is also does the coaching staff have more to work with?

Considering the coaching staff had a hand in who we got, Canales got his OL and an upgraded WR and Evero got some of his guys.

I think they might feel like it's a better fit for what they have in mind. I'm sure they would have liked to keep Luvu and he's really the only one I wish we'd been able to keep, but for the most part I think they are getting who they want.

That is Morgan's supposed job. Get Canales and Evero the folks they want while fitting it in the cap.

[Bear Hands]

It's tough. Yet again, such a huge roster flip.

10 starters added via FA/Trade - LG, RG, WR, TE, CB, S, ILB, (2) OLB, & (1) DL

And then, whether internal moves/promotion/coming off injury, our starting C, TE, and other ILB (Shaq) will be different from last season.

So we're looking at 13 new starters for a 2-15 team.  Losing Luvu stung a bit, but the rest were all understandable moves.  I am whelmed.  Without knowing results, it's a B for this team mid-reconstruction.

Problem I still see--I don't know how we're going to generate offense with our current RB & Receiving rooms.  Dionte is a good addition but we still have no one to really become the "dude" on offense.   

We're still pretty sparse and needing the Kyren, Achane, St. Brown, Collins, DeVonta type addition that could help this team do something, anything on offense.  The player that can help truly define an offense if you don't have a QB that's a top-level playmaker.    

The good news is that I think we have a OL that will be able to pave lanes for that type of threat, we just need to land one now.  

   

 

[Navy_football]

8 minutes ago, rayzor said:

I guess part of this is also does the coaching staff have more to work with?

Considering the coaching staff had a hand in who we got, Canales got his OL and an upgraded WR and Evero got some of his guys.

I think they might feel like it's a better fit for what they have in mind. I'm sure they would have liked to keep Luvu and he's really the only one I wish we'd been able to keep, but for the most part I think they are getting who they want.

I think we're downplaying Jewell. He's more of a prototypical MLB. Luvu was a Jack of all trades, but not a true MLB. 

[PNW_PantherMan]

Just now, Bear Hands said:

Problem I still see--I don't know how we're going to generate offense with our current RB & Receiving rooms.  Dionte is a good addition but we still have no one to really become the "dude" on offense.

I agree.  I like the Diontae Johnson trade in vacuum.  It's pretty low risk by itself.  But as our biggest skill player acquisition, it's pretty underwhelming.  Beyond him, it's just Adam Thielen.  And Thielen could fall off a cliff at his age.

[OldhamA]

46 minutes ago, Shotgun said:

I do think it will be very hard for Young now that the NFL has so much tape on him. A sophomore slump is highly probable in my opinion. 

 

Wait, you're saying he could get worse!?!

Is that even possible?

[shaqattaq]

1 hour ago, rayzor said:

Is this team 'as is' better than it was?

Also, where do we still need to improve?

Better. The only 2 players who we lost that we lost that I'm concerned over is Luvu and Bell. I think that their FA replacements are not as good. I almost included Bozeman on this list, but his pass protection last year was so bad that an often injured guard may be an improvement at center.

Still need to improve... Secondary, ILB, WR, TE (as always), edge, and obviously center.

[strato]

I guess I should have said better. I didn’t understand some of what was done last year from the year before, but I don’t see the OL as much of a question mark where last year it was. 

And the staff knows for sure what they have to deal with at the QB position where it was a question for some last year. 

[Greatman77]

Looking better to me so far. But so much depends on Young's development. If he can start hitting open receivers in stride, I could see us winning 6 - 7 games. If his development stalls/backslides, yikes...

[rayzor]

45 minutes ago, Bear Hands said:

It's tough. Yet again, such a huge roster flip.

10 starters added via FA/Trade - LG, RG, WR, TE, CB, S, ILB, (2) OLB, & (1) DL

And then, whether internal moves/promotion/coming off injury, our starting C, TE, and other ILB (Shaq) will be different from last season.

So we're looking at 13 new starters for a 2-15 team. 

I think this is what got me thinking about it.

When you have the worst record in football, you have problems on all fronts.

The obvious first step in correcting that is changing out coaching staff. Defense was far from perfect, but it was also far from the biggest issue. I think we made corrections there where needed.

Then comes the personnel. It's not just improvements in talent that is needed, but you want a fresh start on the identity. You keep too much of the losing team, you risk keeping the same losing mind  may have contributed to it.

You need major upheaval and turnover. I still remember not having a great team when hurney was around when they bragged about keeping 20 of 22 starters or whatever it was.

I think I was just surprised seeing just how drastic and massive it was in one snapshot. I've been watching it all happen, but spread out over a couple weeks it didn't strike me how big it really was.

[shaqattaq]

58 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

I think we're downplaying Jewell. He's more of a prototypical MLB. Luvu was a Jack of all trades, but not a true MLB. 

I sure hope so!