Countertrey wrote:Kilmer72 wrote:No, there is plenty of blame to go around. I chalk it up to bad QB play, Oline being manhandled,injuries and playing 4 days later, missing DHall and money not being spent well on Rakpo. I know he was playing injured but, it seems he disappears a lot in division games. I wish we could have gotten a RT and our center doesn't look very good to me. So far except for this disaster, I feel good about our coach and I think no matter who was coaching defense, it wouldn't matter. ST is the most frustrating, I thought they were trying to fix that. We are not good enough yet. That Giants game was an eye opener. We suck. I do believe we can fix it though and play better.
What ever we do next off season I really do hope that they draft many and high at Oline. We can't ignore the Oline any longer. We also can't fix everything.
We've also got some serious work to do in the defensive secondary... we have problems that won't be fixed in one draft, alone.
I think that if we draft well (assuming we have a top 5 pick) and keep all our picks this year, we could do some major damage in filling the holes in our depth chart. To the point, if our FO was smart, we could solidify our 2ndary and OL in 1 year and be a playoff team (assuming the QB position is ok).
I consider rounds 1-3 to be immediate impact players (when you have a good GM) --- especially if you have a pick in the top 15 of the 3rd round. We'll have Breeland, Amerson, and DHALL next year. They aren't the best, but good enough. We need an upgrade at the Safety position on both sides. I would focus 1 of those top 2/3 picks on replacing Merriweather. We need upgrades at 2 positions on the OL --- OG and RT. We should use our #1 on a top RT (only because top T go early) and the #2 on an OG or safety depending on what is best available. That being said, OG is a position that you can acquire decent talent in FA --- so I would heavily perfer a FS/SS pick at #2. If we can acquire someone via FA, that would make the draft easier. Safety is one of those positions that is difficult to transition from college to the NFL, but Clark should prove to be valuable resource in assisting in the transition. Depending on what we get in FA and what we draft in rounds 1 & 2, #3 should be on the best available between safety, DE, or OG.
The good thing about our team is that offensively, we only have a couple positions to upgrade. We are set at LT, QB, RB, HB, TE, WR, C.
On the other hand, defensively we have a serious weakness in the 2ndary --- so much so that it makes the entire D look horrible. It also doesn't hurt that our DEs aren't applying any pressure on the QB. How's this for embarrasing: outside of the JAC game, our D has 1 SINGLE SACK THIS YEAR. And this is coming from a defense that is based on applying aggressive pressure...... We need an upgrade at LDE at a minimum. Murphy can come in at OLB if Orakpo takes off next year. We need to focus our upgrades at FS, SS, and DE. If we can get impact players at those positions, we'll be at least a mediocre D next season (opposed to a bottom 5 as we are now).
If our FO is smart and makes sound decisions, we could be a playoff team. All we need are quality upgrades at OG, RT, SS, and DE. I may include FS on this list, but we have 5 positions to fill. To a quality FO, this isn't a huge deal, but to an inept FO, this seems like a 2-3 year gig.
RIP Sean Taylor. You will be missed.