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1) We had one of the best O-lines in the league last year and have upgraded it even more with Baas. And we have excellent versatile depth and young guys coming up. Our running game, which was already pretty good, should be even better. With Baas, Snee and Diehl inside we should be able to run inside the tackles, especially on the right side. 3rd and short need not instill fear in us anymore.
2) Eli has averaged 17 INTs per 16 game season so there is no reason to think he won't regress back to his mean - which means a likely significant decrease in INTs
3) We have an excellent crop of receivers including arguably the most dynamic duo in the league in Nicks and Manningham. Smith is a question mark but we have an experienced guy in Hixon and a young guy in Jernigan plus some other guys so we should be OK.
4) Contrary to mythology Brandon has lost nothing and had his best per carry average last year. We have him in his perfect niche as the second back.
5) We are either going to have an experienced veteran punter in Weatherford or an outstanding young punter who has improved enough to beat out Weatherford in Dodge, Either way it is a big step up.
6) We are getting back our best return guy in recent years with Hixon and have another potential returner in Jernigan.
7) On defense we have a guy, JPP who improved by leaps and bounds as last year progressed and shows every sign of being a special player.
8) Even without Osi we have, with JPP, Tuck, and Kiwi, as good a trio of DEs as there are in the league.
9) We are in our second year implementing Fewell's defense. And despite all the moaning and groaning about our weak SAM position, the fact is that we don't have that many plays where we even have 3 LBs on the field at once. It is better not to be weak anywhere, but if we have to be weak this is the position to be weak.
10) We have Kenny Philips in the second year after surgery who should now be completely recovered physically and ready to flash some of the brilliance we saw in his rookie year. And with a year of experience under his belt he should be better at reading the pass patterns. Rolle was a Pro Bowler (something that invariably is seen as a plus for players on other teams but generally poohed poohed for our players by people who prefer their own biases) and should play well. And although we are losing Grant, apparently, there may be a chance to ease Sash onto the field for some snaps and see what he has.
Granted we still have some question marks. Mainly the signing of Smith, Bradshaw, and Boss. And resolving the Osi situation which, as far as I am concerned, is entirely of his own making. But these are all doable. And in the case of Bradshaw and Boss, if they don't get it done there are decent options in free agency. And if it takes a while for Smith to get back full force we have lots of depth at WR. And if Osi goes we have our big 3, plus Tollefson and we can even try Sintim on the edge in special situations.
Oh, and let's not forget that before all this we were a 7 minute brain-fart away from making the playoffs. And who is to say that if we had we wouldn't have been the ones making the run, like Green Bay (with the same regular season record we had) did. |
