Our schedule looks a ton harder than last year's (although things change....Atlanta was a tough game on paper in the preseason), yet I think we can hit the same record and maybe improve it if:
Harvin can stay on the field. Thing is, I can see this happening. We can use him so many ways, but we have Baldwin, Kearse, Miller, maybe Rice, and Lynch that will get the ball. We won't have to use him like Minny used him; getting him 10 touches a game at the LOS and in the middle of the field where he's going to take shots from larger athletes (even then he wasn't hurt from contact, it was an ankle that sidelined him).
Richardson pans out league average for a rookie. League average for him is going to be huge as he specializes in catching the long ball and we like to throw it deep. That's going to create a lot of stress on a defense. I see us having PR on one side of the field and PH on the other. Baldwin and maybe a TE or Kearse underneath.
Willson improves. There were times Miller broke open, but he broke open a second too late as the pass rush already got to Wilson and at least caused him to pull the ball down and reset. Willson is faster and should get open against LBers and even safeties more quickly than Miller does. He doesn't have to improve a lot really, and it's more in the run game than the pass game. He WILL be better in the pass game due to experience and chemistry with Wilson.
Kearse improves. This gives us a dangerous 4th weapon. It also gives us a different look as we can go 4 wide with a single set back, and most of the WRs on the field block well...it's a tough set to cover for passing and we could run well out of it as well.
Lockette improves. From what I've read from OTA's, Lockette is looking pretty good. He's also damned good on ST; combined with Lane our ST's will be lights out again this year. This really only imrpoves depth, but it allows us to rotate our WR corps like our DL does, keeping guys healthy and defenses guessing. It's really hard to have to watch tape and prepare for 4-5 WRs, but this is what I realistically expect to see next year from us.
Lynch stays the same. We really only need the same production and consistency from him. If he plays in every game, it's going to be tough sledding against us again. Add in our backups and we really could be anything we want to on offense. If our OL improves it's run blocking, we can literally bludgeon teams start to finish. With our outside speed, we can kill teams over the top with PA. With our depth, we can spread the field and cause instant mismatches.
