A Perspective of the Roster (Red Meat to chew on)

[Navy_football]

What about Demani Richardson. I think he can replace Woods role. But we do need a ball hawking and coverage FS.

[NAS]

We’re about to be extremely active in free agency.  Have to add a lot of pieces but don’t expect huge signings but a lot of good ones just to get us respectable on defense.  There simply isn’t enough draft capital to close the gaps and we need to stick to our BPA strategy .  

[hepcat]

The roster is a mess if you zoom out. 

They have to rebuild the entire defense this offseason.

The offense is in better shape but mainly because they spent a lot of money and resources on it last offseason. 

I think the first round pick will be a LB, probably of the pass rushing variety. Huge need on the edge for guys who can rush the QB. They got their moneys worth out of Clowney this year, but he’s signed for another season at a $10m cap hit. I wonder if he’s a cap casualty. But on a roster as barren as this one, especially on defense, they might have to keep him out of sheer necessity. Wonnum made an impact once he returned from injury but they need to get depth on the edge. DJ Johnson didn’t make much of an impact. DL in general could be in for a reshuffling with some younger veterans being brought in. 

They need to upgrade at safety big time. Jordan Fuller was a bust, a healthy scratch by the end of the year. Xavier Woods can go. So many times he showed up on game day with a bad play or badly timed penalty. I expect they’ll go free agency for this but who knows, they have some draft picks to work with. They might retain some of the young players who they played late in the season for training camp and see who sticks. 

CB Mike Jackson is a no brainer to re-sign to me. He expressed an interest to return to the team and won’t command a top dollar in free agency. Behind him the team needs to probably draft a mid round corner as depth to develop and sign a veteran in free agency. If they re-sign Jackson, the corner position is in a good place. They’ll probably look to lock up Horn long term this offseason. 

The offense is surprisingly in a much better position than last year. The WR position is deep. Thielen is probably in his last season with the team, but he’d be best served as a WR2/3. Legette needs to take a step up along with Coker. I definitely think bringing back David Moore makes sense. He made plays and seemed to have a connection with Bryce.

TE is in decent shape with the emergence of JT Sanders. Hopefully we have seen the last of Ian Thomas. Tremble is a FA and I’m curious if they re-sign him. He isn’t horrible but they could also use someone with a higher ceiling to be that elite pass catching TE. If Tremble doesn’t break the bank, might be worth re-signing him and re-evaluating the position next year with bigger needs on the roster. 

The Brooks injury really f*cked up the RB room. He wasn’t worth the draft pick and might go down as an Eric Shelton level bust. I agree that cutting Sanders is a no-brainer but disagree with re-signing him. I’d honestly like to see if they could sign Jaylen Warren as a compliment to Hubbard, with Blackshear returning as the RB3. Warren won’t be cheap but less expensive than Sanders was. Brooks should be IRed for the entire season and not return until 2026. Maybe he has a long career due to these years off from football similar to what happened with Thomas Davis, but it’s hugely disappointing to spend a 2nd round draft pick on a player who will not see the field for two seasons, and had an injury to start his NFL career to boot. A late round RB in the draft makes sense as depth. 

OL needs Brady Christensen back and I think they have to pay him starter money to keep him. I’m fine with it. He can play all the positions on the OL. Essentially a 6th man. Pay him. Protect Bryce. After that they have a decision to make with Icky who had an up and down season, and Taylor Moton getting up there in age. Another reason Christensen is a priority to re-sign, with Nijman walking and no depth at tackle after that. A free agent tackle like Nijman makes sense again. 

Overall there’s a few key re-signings (Christensen and Mike Jackson) that will really set up the offseason. If they don’t get Jackson back, they’ll have to spend to get a starting caliber corner under Horn. If they don’t get Christensen back, they’ll have a depth problem on the offensive line. All the other needs are obvious. The safety room is going to be completely redone, the linebacker position needs a blue chip player, defensive line will be reshuffled. It’s a lot of moving parts. The good thing is, if Bryce takes another step forward, Dan Morgans job is much easier.