Offseason Review

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

Now, the honest truth here is. We had a very good year last year. Our defense was reinvigorate with the acquisitions of Mosley and Jernigan. Adding a very interesting dynamic to the defense. Giving us two key players in the near future. Brandon Williams also finished his development rather quickly or it accelrated. I have no doubts in my mind that if we were healthy, we would've been playing the Seahawks and have possibly beathen them.

We had a few needs this offseason. I'll list them off now.

1. Fix the secondary- Only reason we lost to the Pats. Don't give me the "Pees is a terrible DC" argument. It's simply not true. I refuse to believe that a front seven that played as well as it did solely because of talent. Scheme had something to do with it. Even with the loss of Ngata and McPhee, we posses a potent front 7. Natrually, a potent front 7 + an average secondary should mean we should have a defense to help us get to the SB? Yes. Ozzie Newsome thought this as well.

With Kyle Arrington, we get a very good slot CB who has good hands and can make plays. With a front 7 generating good pressure and Jimmy Smith there, Arrington could be a valuable piece. Vaughn provides much necesary depth. Walker is a project but one I trust Ozzie in.

Kendrick Lewis is an average player. But average is an upgrade over Elam. When you place only an average piece in place of an atrocity(which Elam is), you get good results.

Yes, the secondary has significantly improved if it remains healthy. Well done Ozzie.

2. Replace Torrey Smith

Torrey's departure was a big loss. He gets a lot of crap, but as a pure deep threat, he's honestly one of the best. Even if he doesn't always catch the ball, defenses has to respect his speed.

Torrey had two fatal flaws that prevent him from being a #1 WR. He wasn't a pure hands catcher, and was a poor route runner.

Enter Breshad Perriman. Perriman has a concentration drop issue, but honestly I'm not too worried about that. He has spectacular catches in his resume as well and does actually know how to use his hands, as well as his body. Not only this, but he's faster than Torrey. His hands will improve, seeing as they truly aren't terrible. NFL coaching should help with this(Torrey's hands did improve as well with a terrible WR coach.. Have no doubts in my mind that Perriman's will improve. He does not lack confidence).

Perriman is a lot more polished than Torrey was coming out of school. Barring injury I think that Perriman will have as good if not better of a rookie year than Torrey.

Perriman has the chance to be a #1 WR.

3. Replace Dennis Pitta

Hip Injuries are an animal that I don't want to deal with. Honestly will be surprised if Pitta turns out to be the same again post recovery.

Enter Maxx Williams. Natural hands and a good route runner. Not fast, but not slow(40 times are overrated... Football speed is different then running in a straight line). He won't be good off the bat but next year I expect big things. Crockett will probably turn out to be a servicable player for a year.

Those were the three major things. Otherwise our team didn't fundamentally change. Most could see the Ngata trade coming from a mile away.

Overall, the offseason was a major success. We improved in both facets of the game.We lost two good pieces in Ngata and McPhee, but we drafted Ngata's replacement the year before... McPhee will be missed but it's not an extreme loss.

We not only added good talent in the secondary but added depth.

Season Prediction: *knocks on wood*. We will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl(health pending... *knocks on wood*). We have the three things necesary to win a championship.

1. A Franchise QB(Flacco is good).

2. Good trenches(We have a very good offensive and defensive lines)

3. We have an identity. We are going to have a run first offense that excells with play action and a defense that stops the run and generates pressure.

We don't have a definitive weakness here. And posses excellent talent on both sides of the ball. This offseason we did nothing wrong. We didn't get a star, but do we ever(Dumervil is an exception).

The Offseason gets an A in my book.

[lgcs27288]

I'm not a fan of the if our secondary remains healthy, we are that much better this year argument. Mainly because if our secondary was healthy last year we would've been better. Kyle Arrington was a great signing, but to give it an A, I'd need another veteran outside CB for depth. (Someone other than Vaughn)

I'd also like to see a little more experience for receiver. I know we all want to see what these young guys can do, but no matter what the potential of some of these younger guys, you just can't overlook previous production on this level. Hopefully these young guys make me eat my words.

Id give us a B to B+. Overall, we have a very solid roster with great depth. I see our offense starting the season slow with the young talent at WR and te, but picking up by midseason. A lot of check down passes to Forsett. I see our defense being a top unit in the league.

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

I'm not a fan of the if our secondary remains healthy, we are that much better this year argument. Mainly because if our secondary was healthy last year we would've been better. Kyle Arrington was a great signing, but to give it an A, I'd need another veteran outside CB for depth. (Someone other than Vaughn)

I'd also like to see a little more experience for receiver. I know we all want to see what these young guys can do, but no matter what the potential of some of these younger guys, you just can't overlook previous production on this level. Hopefully these young guys make me eat my words.

Id give us a B to B+. Overall, we have a very solid roster with great depth. I see our offense starting the season slow with the young talent at WR and te, but picking up by midseason. A lot of check down passes to Forsett. I see our defense being a top unit in the league.

Doubt we are getting another corner. Not sure we have the cap for it at this point. And don't really want another vet WR. But agree to disagree I guess

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

I'm not a fan of the if our secondary remains healthy, we are that much better this year argument. Mainly because if our secondary was healthy last year we would've been better. Kyle Arrington was a great signing, but to give it an A, I'd need another veteran outside CB for depth. (Someone other than Vaughn)

I'd also like to see a little more experience for receiver. I know we all want to see what these young guys can do, but no matter what the potential of some of these younger guys, you just can't overlook previous production on this level. Hopefully these young guys make me eat my words.

Id give us a B to B+. Overall, we have a very solid roster with great depth. I see our offense starting the season slow with the young talent at WR and te, but picking up by midseason. A lot of check down passes to Forsett. I see our defense being a top unit in the league.

There just isn't quality depth out there for the secondary. Healthy last year vs healthy this year it's still a vastly improved unit. Both safety positions improved as hill can play his natural SS position and Lewis is a better FS than Hill.

Smith will be a year better, Webb fully recovered from injury. Arrington is an excellent slot corner, an upgrade as our 3rd cb over anyone we've had since Graham. Melvin will be better. Any added depth is useless bc they won't see the field. If there are injuries they'll add.

And same with WR. There's a ton of talent and they need reps. If they don't perform we'll go get a vet like Reggie Wayne or someone else at a bargain. But with SSS, Perriman, Aiken, Brown, Gillmore, Williams, Juice, Forsett and possibly Pitta there just aren't enough targets to go around as is - and certainly not enough to warrant adding yet another weapon until proven otherwise.

And we might be the best in the league when it comes to the trenches.

This team is deep and well balanced. This team needed a few tweaks and depth. Check and check.

Aside from another fax snafu I don't know that there's anything the FO could have done better in building this team sans Ngata being willing to agree to an extension. That was out of their control so enter Jernigan.

[Cillmatic]

We've had like 7 of these.