TDOTSEAHAWK
Active member
First off, I am very very happy with this team right now.
We have 15 million in cap room (most in NFC West by far) and didn't have a huge drop in talent overall. Some key depth left but overall, especially if Harvin is healthy all year, we are very close to as talented as we were last year and have room for some young guys to develop. Moreover, we definitely have the cap flexibility (especially with the cap rising next season) to extend our key players. On to some thoughts:
I am glad that keeping Bennett was the biggest priority for this team. The pass rush and back end feed off each other and that is huge moving forward. Losing Clemons and Red hurts a little but I think we have the horses to compensate and the money saved was very important.
I think McDaniel is cheap and can handle the snaps that Red took last year. He is a big body that can handle the RT/TE double teams. He can also spell Mebane if need be and slide into the 3 spot so Bennett can play strong side on passing downs.
One player who is poised to have a big season is Bruce Irvin. He could be under the radar scary good this year lining up as a joker rush player that we thought we might have had him in last year. I see him taking snaps at LEO, strong end and taking zone drops that just frustrate QBs and blocking schemes. Last year was quiet for him but he slowly developed into a very well rounded player from the raw one tool players he was out of the draft.
On the offensive side of the ball, I am very happy we were able to retain Miller; especially at a discount. I wanted to keep him even at the old price as I thought we would let Giacomini go and having a stalwart run blocking tight end who can catch would be important to the young right Tackle we were going to start next year. The re-signing of McCoy is nice too and solidifies a position I thought we may become very thin at.
At WR, if Harvin is healthy all year, we have an upgraded unit from last year (from game 8 on anyway). If we add in a nice body from the draft or if a flier free agent works out for the split end position (?re-sign Rice, Chris Matthews) then we have a better unit then we had for last year.
On the offensive line we have the LT and C position figured out with interesting options for starters at RT, RG and LG. I like Sweezy and Bailey (as far as average starters with upside go - they certainly aren't All Pros) and unsure about Bowie at this point. That being said, I am still quite quite happy we did not re-sign McQuistan and happy we didn't overpay for Breno (though I wouldn't have minded keeping him for the right price). I am definitely off the Carp train and think we need to grab a draft pick or two for the line this year but don't need to overkill it.
Within the draft, I think we can go any direction but would love to see a WR, OT or pass rusher with the first two picks. I also think we need to re-stock DB and LB so that we don't kill ourselves trying to keep Maxwell and Wright next year.
We have 15 million in cap room (most in NFC West by far) and didn't have a huge drop in talent overall. Some key depth left but overall, especially if Harvin is healthy all year, we are very close to as talented as we were last year and have room for some young guys to develop. Moreover, we definitely have the cap flexibility (especially with the cap rising next season) to extend our key players. On to some thoughts:
I am glad that keeping Bennett was the biggest priority for this team. The pass rush and back end feed off each other and that is huge moving forward. Losing Clemons and Red hurts a little but I think we have the horses to compensate and the money saved was very important.
I think McDaniel is cheap and can handle the snaps that Red took last year. He is a big body that can handle the RT/TE double teams. He can also spell Mebane if need be and slide into the 3 spot so Bennett can play strong side on passing downs.
One player who is poised to have a big season is Bruce Irvin. He could be under the radar scary good this year lining up as a joker rush player that we thought we might have had him in last year. I see him taking snaps at LEO, strong end and taking zone drops that just frustrate QBs and blocking schemes. Last year was quiet for him but he slowly developed into a very well rounded player from the raw one tool players he was out of the draft.
On the offensive side of the ball, I am very happy we were able to retain Miller; especially at a discount. I wanted to keep him even at the old price as I thought we would let Giacomini go and having a stalwart run blocking tight end who can catch would be important to the young right Tackle we were going to start next year. The re-signing of McCoy is nice too and solidifies a position I thought we may become very thin at.
At WR, if Harvin is healthy all year, we have an upgraded unit from last year (from game 8 on anyway). If we add in a nice body from the draft or if a flier free agent works out for the split end position (?re-sign Rice, Chris Matthews) then we have a better unit then we had for last year.
On the offensive line we have the LT and C position figured out with interesting options for starters at RT, RG and LG. I like Sweezy and Bailey (as far as average starters with upside go - they certainly aren't All Pros) and unsure about Bowie at this point. That being said, I am still quite quite happy we did not re-sign McQuistan and happy we didn't overpay for Breno (though I wouldn't have minded keeping him for the right price). I am definitely off the Carp train and think we need to grab a draft pick or two for the line this year but don't need to overkill it.
Within the draft, I think we can go any direction but would love to see a WR, OT or pass rusher with the first two picks. I also think we need to re-stock DB and LB so that we don't kill ourselves trying to keep Maxwell and Wright next year.
