Woods;3238650 said:
Clearly last off-season JJ needed to make sure his stadium was completed in time. Also, guys like TO, Tank, Pac-Man, etc were shown the door. He upgraded STs coaching. I wish JJ had kept a spot for Reeves, but it didn't happen.
This off-season, I have to think it will probably be quieter in general. I think JJ will look mostly to upgrade
1. FG kicker. This is a no-brainer.
2. Extend guys including Austin on offense, and probably Spears and Bowen on the DL.
3. Maybe 1 OL in FA? I think JJ should try to bring in atleast 1 guy via FA, but that said, in JJ's mind, he may have a clearer opinion on Brewster, plus I think he likes what he has in Free. JJ may think by drafting 2 OL he can save money rather than going the FA route.
Assuming this coaching staff stays in tact for the most part, I really only see JJ tweaking a couple of roster spots.
Opinions?
1. Kicker is an obvious one - maybe we bring back Folk, maybe a FA, maybe a draft pick. Clearly Suisham isn't the guy. He misses big kicks - the game is too big for him.
2. OL is the other issue. I do think that Free is a keeper and is probably our best overall OL right now. He held up fine against Allen which is probably the stiffest test he will face as an OLT in the league right now. The rest of the line needs work. I think we can work with Gurode and we have to keep Davis because of that contract. I do think we look to upgrade LG (unfortunately Kosier just can't hold up against powerful DTs) and more importantly RT. The love affair this board has with Colombo will have to end. He is a JAG who did well as a stopgap solution for a few years. He is too athletically limited to play RT without lots of help. Edwards owned him in a way that I haven't seen since Torrin Tucker and Rob Pettiti were cut.
I think the best route to go is ask Houck which position Brewster can play next year: RT, LG or neither. Depending on that answer you know the immediate need you have to fill in draft or FA. We must replace Colombo and I would like to replace Kosier. i could see us using 2 of the first 3 picks here. I would actually favour trading Flo for a 2nd or 3rd rounder (whatever we can get) and then drafting an OL there, too.
After this the needs drop off a ton and it is more at the level of want in terms of improving the talent level of the team:
3. ILB: Both are slow and neither is a great blitzer - James had one freak season where he got lots of sacks. I think we need a catalytic player here to take this defense to the next level. We need a guy who is good against the run, good against the pass and very good as a blitzer. Then we have OLs truly flumoxed about who is the biggest threat as a blitzer. Maybe Jwill has this projection but it is really hard to project that far down the line. He is still mostly just an athlete trying to learn the pro game. In 3-4's you can never have too many LBs.
4. Nickel ILB: I think this position has JWill's name all over it so cancel it as a need. We just need to get him ready to go next year.
5. Safety: I would like a guy with more coverage ability than what we have. Maybe Ball can be this player but he is still trying to make that conversion. Perhaps he is more useful right where he is as 4th CB and backup safety. I just don't like Sensabaugh in coverage on TEs or deep. He is very good coming downhill but we probably need to go in another direction.
6. NT: I am ready to call the experiment of Ratliff on the nose off. I think it takes too much out of him and he was pretty mediocre down the stretch. I want him to be fresher on passing downs. I would like to use him in a rotation at DE and as a 3-technique type DT in the nickel. If we could keep him fresher for the nickel, we are a better team. We are just asking too much out of him. No other DL in the league is asked to do what he does. If there is a FA available who could do this job, I would chase him aggressively.
In terms of re-signings the priorities are:
1. Miles Austin - an absolute must. this offense goes nowhere when he is not out there.
2. Marcus Spears - he is a good rotational 3-4 DE. I wouldn't give him Canty money but I would offer him Igor money.
3. Bowen/Hatcher - both are useful in the nickel as DTs and as depth at the DE. Both are reasonably young. I would tender them at the 2nd round level.
What to do with some of the riff-raff:
1. Flo: trade him for a 4th rounder of better, release him if we have the RT of the future on the roster/draft or keep him if we find neither.
2. Barber: trade him if we can get someone to bite or release him. Garrett keeps thinking he is Emmitt Smith.
3. Hamlin: he is an okay player. I'd keep just so we don't have to try and find his replacement.
4. RW11: He has the summer to show his dedication to turning himself into a good football player. If come TC he isn't worth his contract, release him.
