Fixing The Flops

[Clutch Ravens]

You tend to see a Mock Off-season or two by Ravens fans for the Ravens. I'm interested to see what some of you would do to, hypothetically, fix the worst teams in the NFL.

Would you stick with your coaches or go in a different direction? Which players would you look to, feasibly, add through free agency? Who would you draft?

Pick a bottom 5/10 team and try to fix 'em.

I'm opting to fix the Bills (hypothetically):

Coaching: I'd stick with Chan Gailey. He gets offensive production from nothing and seems to have the offensive players believing in his system. The Bills lack an identity on defense and can't decide on a 3-4 or 4-3. I'd go get Marvin Lewis after Cincy cut ties with him and tell him to be as creative as possible with a 4-3 Scheme, due to the number of 3-4 teams.

Free Agency: I'm not entirely sure who is out of contract, but if I'm the Bills I go after Gaither. He's shown great ability in the past and would be cheap after an injury plagued season. I believe Mathias Kiwanuka is out of contract at the end of this season, he'd be a good building block to pick up for the 4-3. I'd also re-sign Shawne Merriman IF he can play with his hand in the dirt.

I'm assuming that the Bills end up with the 2nd overall pick, with the Panthers picking 1st:

If the Panthers leave Andrew Luck then I'm shopping the 2nd overall pick to anyone and everyone for a couple of reasons - I need as much help as I can get, my owner doesn't like big contracts and I have some faith in Fitzpatrick. I think Arizona pulls the trigger and gives up their 1st, 2nd and 5th to move up from 9th to 2nd.
I think the Seahawks end up with the 16th overall pick, but want Locker and give up a 3rd and 4th to get him.

1st Round - 16th Overall - Stephen Paea DT, Oregon State: My run D stinks (32nd overall) and I want to fix it. At 16th overall Paea is likely one of the top players available and he fills a need.

2nd Round - 34th Overall - Gabe Carimi OT, Wisconsin: The offensive line class ain't great, but Carimi looks like a solid lineman. Games are won and lost in the trenches and the Bills need to start winning.

2nd Round - 41st Overall - Greg Jones LB, Mich. State: Again, my run D stinks and could use a tackling machine like Jones.

3rd Round - 66th Overall - Sam Acho DE, Texas: I've got guys like Merriman, Kiwanuka, Maybin and Kelsay rushing the passer. Another one can't hurt.

3rd Round - 80th Overall - Luke Stocker TE, Tennessee: A well-rounded TE that can help Fitzpatrick/Any QB out of sticky situations.

4th Round - 98th Overall - Zach Hurd OG, Connecticut: A big bodied guy that would allow for Eric Wood to be moved to center.

4th Round - 112th Overall - Chris Hairston OT, Auburn: The Bills O-line is REAAAAALLY bad.

5th Round - 162nd Overall - Ricky Stanzi QB, Iowa: A noodle-armed QB, but accurate and a winner. Fits Gailey's scheme

5th Round 169th Overall - Cory Grant DT, TCU: Going back to the 4-3 and sticking to it requires decent depth at DT, which the Bills don't have.

That's as far as I'm going because it took longer than expected and you can't really predict, accurately, what'll happen in the next few months.

[flaccopoe]

For the 49ers, I would advise releasing Alex Smith: Troy is much more reliable and much less prone to throwing INTs. I would also consider releasing Singletary for a tried&true coach.

[JO_75]

I'll fix the Panthers who most likely will have the # 1 Pick.... yay me, I get to over pay someone big time. First thing first, John Fox is gone. I would keep the OC(to keep things steady with Clausen so he don't have to learn a new playbook) and do all I could to hire Jeff Fisher if the Titans fire him but if I couldn't my second choice would be Bill Cowher. My third choices would Eric Mangini or Rob Ryan. Before the draft the first thing I'm doing is signing Jon Beason to a 5-7 Year mega contract and move him back to ILB. I will also sign DeAngelo Williams to a solid 4-5 year deal and get back to being a run first team. I'll Trade Matt Moore to a team who could use use him and focus mostly on Clausen and give Clausen the whole off-season as the starter. Since David Getiss is emerging as a good WR, I'll move him in as the # 2 receiver. I'll trade Steve Smith for a 3rd Round pick. I would sign Kelly Washington as a slot receiver. Considering I'll have the # 1 Pick and won't be able to trade out of the spot. Moving on to the draft...

1st Round- AJ Green WR Georgia: The Trading of Steve Smith clears the way for AJ Green to be the new # 1 receiver in Carolina. Clausen will now have a legit # 1.

2nd Round- Since John Fox loves to trade future picks, I'll play the what If game; If I did have the second round pick, I would take Jerrell Powe the NT out of Ole Miss, and instead of switching to a 3-4 without having 3-4 guys in place, I can start drafting 3-4 guys and switch to a 3-4 within 2 years.

3rd Round- Marcus Cannon G TCU: With this pick, I would take Guard Marcus Cannon out of TCU to help solidify the offensive line and open up holes for Williams/Stewart.

3rd Round(Via Steve Smith Trade)- Mark Barron SS Alabama: Panthers need some Safety help and drafting Barron can bring some competition at the SS position.

4th-7th: Trade Down for more picks or BPA.

[flaccopoe]

If I owned the Bengals, I would release Palmer and Marvin Lewis immediately! This team (2-9), is a complete train wreck, so fixing it would require serious measures!

[1/28/01]

[quote name='flaccopoe' timestamp='1290747499' post='551073']
If I owned the Bengals, I would release Palmer and the HC immediately! This team[b] (3-8)[/b], is a complete train wreck, so fixing it would require serious measures!
[/quote]
Weird.....I could have sworn they got whooped tonight!

[flynismo]

Cool topic ... I'll take the Lions. I'd start off by addressing the team's weakest unit, the secondary, by spending my top 5 pick on CB Patrick Peterson. In round two, I would nab SS Mark Barron to complement FS Louis Delmas and Peterson, turning a weakness into a unit that could be one of the top secondaries in the league for years to come. In Round 3, the OL cant be ignored any longer, so I would take Ben Ijalana, who reminds me a lot of Yanda, and like Yanda, can play well at both OT and OG. Rounds 4-7, I would draft the best WR/LB/OL available, and hope that at least one of them pans out.

[Malkavian Raven]

[font="Century Gothic"]I'd take any of these teams & apply the same thinking I did on Madden Franchise mode (Lions) -- a complete overhaul.

Took me three off-seasons to do it, but... punter aside; I believe everyone -- coaches included -- are 1st, 2nd or 3rd year. There are bound to be a few players with some raw talent to build off of.

With the lack of talent on the Lions' roster, it didn't put me too far into the red to buy out contracts & with all the rookies that were passed up on, my entire roster is only costing me $32 Million. Sure, I probably won't make a playoff run but as it sits right now this team went from 3-13 to 5-11 to 6-10 to 8-5 (at the moment).

So, I must be doing something right.

[i]<WARNING: Malkavian Raven is a straight-up balla & plays his football at the All-Madden level; not recommended for those prone to throwing video game console controllers.>[/i][/font]
[font="Century Gothic"][i]
[/i][/font]
[font="Century Gothic"][i]~ Malkavian[/i][/font]

[BloodRaven]

Two things for the initial post, Paea is strong, but could he play NT in a 3-4 at 6'1" and 305lb? also Gabe Carimi and Greg Jones are two of the top ranked players in their respective position, do you project them both to fall into the 2nd?

[Clutch Ravens]

[quote name='BloodRaven' timestamp='1290778137' post='551140']
Two things for the initial post, Paea is strong, but could he play NT in a 3-4 at 6'1" and 305lb? also Gabe Carimi and Greg Jones are two of the top ranked players in their respective position, do you project them both to fall into the 2nd?
[/quote]

I had the Bills converting back to a 4-3, like they've been playing lately due to their ineptitude in the 3-4. I think Paea is a very good 4-3 DT prospect.

I think Greg Jones continues to struggle and slides some, since linebackers tend not to go early anyway. 9 slots out of the first isn't unreasonable, I think. There are a couple of tackles that are better than Carimi and, given the other strengths of this class, I think he could definitely slip to the 2nd pick of the 2nd round.