10-15-2017, 12:20 PM
(10-15-2017, 11:26 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: You're spitting fire today! I think people have trouble evaluating the roster because the defense is so good.
PFF or some similar site analyzed Super Bowl teams and figured out how many average starters a team was away from a Super Bowl. The premise being yes every team has some really good players but the NFL is more than just about having stars...you need your weak links to be minimal.
Our weak links, as I see them are:
1 ) 4 offensive lineman that aren't starter quality.
2 ) A WR2 that isn't starting quality. (Lafell has declined this year for whatever reason.)
3 ) TE - We counted on Eifert. Kroft shows potential...but I would say he's still a below average starter for now.
4 ) DT - Billings/Sims aren't great. The defense does a lot of things like moving MJ inside to hide this. Plus, Geno is so dominant.
So that's 7 positions. And I won't get into LB where Minter is signed for 1 year or positions like that. We'll assume they're good.
So we know that we don't rely heavily on free agency. Where do we upgrade these positions?
Is it internal development? Maybe for TE and DT. Maybe Ross eventually develops into a WR2. Maybe Ced and Fisher get better?
When you rely on internal development and they don't develop...you're in trouble though.
Things happen with 1st Round picks. Jackson getting injured was unforeseen.
Ross though? He has major injury red flags and he's small for a WR being sub-190 lbs.
Ced had an ACL injury when the Bengals drafted him. And people were like Oh he's behind because he was injured. We spent a 1st Round pick on a guy who blew out his knee 3 months earlier. Plus, he gave up a lot of sacks in college. Just a bad pick.
Who would you have picked then? Offensive line is obviously the first need according to your list and rightly so. There were no O-Lineman worthy of that pick.
You have #2 Wideout as your second need and we drafted a WR. He was hurt in college but AJ needs a speedy receiver on the other side and they got that.
Kroft is better than O.J Howard at this point. I know they have Brate but I have watched Tampa this year and he looks lost and wouldnt have played much either.
After Geno I havent seen much from the D-Line either but there wasnt much there either and they hadnt seen Billings play yet. He can cover up a lot of flaws so Im not too worried about that.
The only rookies that were drafted in the first round after the Bengals that I see are having stand out years are: Dashaun Watson (12 td's 2 rushing td's) Malik Hooker (3 Int's), Evan Engram (26 rec, 200 yards), and T.J. Watt (3 sacks)
Who would you have picked to come in and start immediately? The only one I see would have been Hooker or Maybe Foster but he isn't tearing it up either and he has been injured.
