If we look at the recent roster churn there are a few things that are becoming clear.
Pete’s not happy with the back end of his D, the churn continues at DB, and there has been a rebuild that is ongoing there. I want to see what Diggs will do when he gets healthy. Will he be a S or a NCB? Blair seems to be a developing talent. McDougald is not healthy this season. The team is investing a good deal into improving the back end. In this I am happy with Griffin this season and think he’s now comfortable on his side. Flowers has struggled some in comparison but still is a good CB and will eventually be healthy and over the sophomore blues. I like his play and think he has a very great upside. At present I’m not sold on the NCB and think the team has stepped backwards there, assuming Diggs was brought in to play this position instead of S which may be a mistaken assumption the team could be quite better quickly at nickel. The amount of yardage being given up makes this a critical weakness.
The team has churned for a quick look a large number of Leo type players and the team is looking for a guy who can get it done on that side as what we have isn’t yet and seemingly can’t stay healthy. In all I regret losing Jacob Martin but I don’t regret acquiring Clowney who should be kept. Martin was a player who seemed to have a quick first step and was effective in limited appearance getting pressure on opposing QBs. This is an area where the searching presently seems to be continuous. This effectiveness of the pass rush has been wanting this season as the supporting cast for Clowney isn’t showing up, or hasn’t yet. This is an area of significant weakness.
The interior OLine doesn’t seem to be able to stay healthy and the team is churning through players at both OG positions. The OLine has as a result been in constant flux and the changes seem to be happening weekly. Fortunately the team has some depth here and on PUP and that depth has been needed. I expect to see more changes before the season ends. This also is an area of concern for the team but there there could be future starters here already.
As well it seems to me the FO is unsatisfied with the depth at WR and the team is combing the castoff piles to find young talent. While it is confusing to see 8 WR s on the 53 the team is choosing to season the two rookie WRs this year and are redshirting them. That is not to missed but so is the need for better play from other than the top two WRs of the 8. I expect to see some change here if Gordon shows up and can stay clean.
It is easy to be critical of the FO but to me they are being very focused upon fixing areas of the team that they see need improving.