This is the Worst Free Agency I've Ever Seen since Burrow was Drafted.

[CJD]

(03-14-2023, 01:26 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Eh, none of this is even final yet with the guys we supposedly lost. But there is always a knee jerk reaction every FA around here.

No surprise. Dax Hill could be better than both Bell and Bates and it isn't like they played great last year. Bell had some head scratching
plays and Bates played soft half the year. We can still add a vet and we have Michael Thomas as a leader for Tycen to help him come 
along if that is the worst case scenario, which I agree, would be dire. But still, I will wait and see how everything shakes out even after
the draft before I call all this the worst. 

We all predicted this would be the most inactive we would of been in FA, but we needed to bring back our own if this was the case.

Now we are forced to go out and get a vet Safety which sucks, but Lou can work with what we get and we can still be a top 10 D.

I think we're going to feel Bates' absence in 2023. He didn't make a lot of splash plays and he wasn't a punishing tackler, but his instincts and range probably prevented more plays than any of us realize.

Bell, on the other hand, was good, but a significant portion of his contribution to the team was as an emotional leader. I thought we'd keep him for sure because we knew Bates was gone and we wouldn't want to replace both starters in a single season since Lou's scheme seems to be fairly complicated. I think we'll probably give up more big plays than we did in 2022 just from the unfamiliarity with Lou's scheme causing some confusion with 2 new safety starters.

All told, we had 28 turnovers (13 INT, 15 FF) last year and 11 of them (8 INT, 3 FF) just left the building.

Pratt staying, however, may make up for a fair amount of that. He was a playmaker in every sense of the word for our defense. He led the team in passes defensed with 10 and had 3 turnovers as well (2 INT, 1 FF and FR, same play). He was also a key figure in the Sam Hubbard TD return as he is the one who held at the point of attack.

I think our defense is currently worse than it was last year, but if we sign a good veteran safety like CJGJ or Thornhill, we're probably at ~90% defensive strength and that's before the draft, where I hope we add a good cornerback and pass rusher (as well as getting Awuzie back).

If we just roll with Tycen, I'll be concerned though. a 5th round 2nd year player who didn't play a snap as your de facto starting SS is...not good. That's something bad teams do. Championship teams don't let unproven, low drafted players get uncontested starting spots.

The key to getting back to the Super Bowl next year will be all about the offensive line, which is why it's frustrating that we haven't addressed RT yet.