Don’t be a prisoner of the moment. CJ was running for his life last night. Fant was exposed. Juice played like a rookie. Dieter was an abomination. Tunsil continues to jump in important games. You owe it to CJ to give him a line that will execute in high leverage situations. Particularly RT and C. Health is not an excuse. A #3 WR is not slowing down pressure.
Absolutely. 4-3 DTs have to keep the backers clean. We were getting pushed into the 2nd level by a premiere OL and our best attempt to fix that is by looking for wideouts? Fix the trenches. Get rid of overpaid and underperforming linemen and watch the team become a legitimate contender.
Me and @deb4rockets have been saying this all season while others want to tell us that juice and dieter will be pro bowlers in a few season. Ridiculous. We need a RG/C
You do need more depth/competition on the Oline but it’s a mistake to spend significantly more money or a 1st round pick this offseason. There were too many injuries to know what you have yet. You’re basically adding Tytus, Green, and Patterson to what was trotted out last night. DRAFT (assuming your address DT in free agency) 1. Brian Thomas Jr WR 2. Calen Bullock/Javon Bullard S 3. Bucky Irving RB 4. Blake Fisher OT 4. Kamal Hadden CB 5. Edefuan Ulofoshio LB 7. Gabe Hall DT 7. Brevyn Spann-Ford TE id also be ecstatic for DeJean in the first the. Wait until 2nd for a receiver like Adonai Mitchell.
He completely unlocks any offense. Sometimes I think Slo' thought we were that advance with our running game, which resembles more of a power walk.
Stroud displayed exceptional poise and veteran presence in the pocket for us this season and grew over the course of the season. Stroud demonstrates the ability to stand tall under pressure and deliver accurate passes downfield. We should use the Jacksonville Jaguars as a case study in how not to support a young quarterback. The Jaguars failed to prioritize improving his offensive line. They did not invest enough draft capital or free agency money into either starting linemen or depth. As a result, Lawrence was under constant duress and took tremendous punishment. The Jaguars had one of the highest pressure rates and sack rates for their quarterback this season. This likely contributed to his struggles and being banged up during the season. subsequently it hindered Jacksonville's offensive production. The Texans allowed the 10th most sacks this past season, subjecting Stroud to running for his life as we saw yesterday. While we have cap flexibility with Stroud still on his rookie contract, we cannot make the same mistakes as Jacksonville. We must devote resources to keeping Stroud upright, whether using mid-round picks or free agent dollars. An improved offensive line will also aid in establishing the run game and allow more time for plays to develop downfield. With proper protection, Stroud displayed moments of promise despite the deficiencies around him. It is imperative we surround him with the supporting cast to aid his development, unlike the Jaguars with Lawrence. Shoring up the offensive line does not require overspending with a 1st rounder, but it necessitates investing adequate resources for competitiveness during Stroud's rookie window.
Patterson showed some promise. He and Scruggs should be contributors long term, so it’s not all doom and gloom. The logic of health expected to boost that unit should be applied to our WR room as well. A healthy Tank Dell would have been monumental for us vs BAL. An elite DT would boost the entire defense.
Yes Tank Dell would help, but the rest of the wr corp has issues with getting separation as well. Unless Hutchinson or Metchie make a big jump in the offseason we need another receiver as well. We aren’t one healthy player in receiver group away from being good. Multiple offensive line players were out with injuries that had legitimate chance of making a difference not just one player.
Tank Dell changed this offense by himself even when the line played bad. He is always open. Noah Brown when healthy was also doing nice things. CJ makes any WR room look good. I’m jealous of how good the BAL OL plays. They know what they are doing apparently - let’s copy some of that. Patterson and Tytus (at RT) will help. The same way some guys want game changing skill players I want game changing linemen.
Get the Greens and Patterson healthy and the IOL will be fine. Like it or not Tunsil's a top 5 LT in the NFL. He's tough, he played well on a knee most of the year that's going to need surgery this offseason. Tell me if Howard will be healthy and if the answer is no then they need to draft a RT that can play LT if needed. A WR3 can help open up the run game. Collins/Dell/Thomas will keep teams from stacking the box. Teams dont fear guys like Metchie/Hutch and stack the box. But I agree with you on needing a RT. Howard is a sunk cost.
Before yesterday I was leaning d line or secondary, now I’m hoping for WR in the first. Tank and Nico are great but you can’t rely on both being healthy, we were desperately missing an offensive playmaker yesterday when CJ extended plays. Overall think we need more playmakers on both sides of the ball, but as long as the young guys keep getting better the roster should look stronger.
There were plays to be made. CJ was a little shook. That one weird double handoff screen would have been a TD if the pass was better. Kid only had 1-1.5 seconds to throw most of the game. Hard for anyone to shine that way.
I understand what you are saying but a lot has been invested into the OL the past 2yrs and you have to see the players they invested in through. Remember, they had 5 players along the OL get hurt and they paid 3 long term deals and many were playing out of position This yr you have to invest in the DL and playmakers. That DL looked helpless on yesterday and if Tank or Nico goes down at any point, we are screwed.
It’d be nice in the offseason if we solved the glaring gaps with FAs and then truly felt we could go BPA at improvements from there. If we could sign a solid DT and WR, the first round now is more wide open. I’m also a big fan of stacking rooms. CJ makes WRs better and can mask gaps. Imagine if we signed a Higgins or Evans to pair with Nico/Tabk and still drafted a Brian Thomas Jr. or an Adonai Mitchell with one of our first two picks. Now we go from Nico on an island yesterday to creating a ton of running room as well.
