EJW's (see what i did there?) 2013 Offseaon Projection : Final

EJW's (see what i did there?) 2013 Offseason Projection : Final

My friends/fellow who dats.


The offseason has been fun and it hasn't even gotten started yet. Its already on course to make us forget about last offseason. Seeing the forums filled with so much discussion unrelated to the bounty mess almost brings a tear to my eyes.



This will be my final offseaon projection Defense/Offense. At least until after FA so lets dive right in.





These are some basic notes b4 hand on wht u can expect.





*Quddus is still not a starter..but because hes a restricted FA next year we will be able to keep him if Jenkins doesn't pan out so he is a hell of an insurance policy.


*Roman Harper/Will Smith/Jabari Greer all restructure(if you don't have any good players to replace them with....or money to spend in FA to replace them....u don't cut them. This is even more important because of the scheme switch and the lack of draft picks. Cutting guys like Roman Harper and Will Smith would mean we would have to sign/draft replacements for depth. We don't need to CREATE holes..that we already can't fill for cap/draft pick reasons)


*Hawthorne does get cut


*Bushrod is allowed to walk and we don't sign another Tackle in FA (this will up our chances@ a compensatory nxt year) Charles Brown will be given the opportunity to be the next man up...however he will see some competition.


* if u don't see a player on this list we either allowed him to leave via FA or he doesn't make the roster.


*We hire Todd Grantham as the D-coordinator because of his experience with the read option AND overseeing a SUCCESSFUL switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 down in Georgia.


* Ivory does get traded for a 5th rounder. Same as reggie and im going to call it to the Colts. Who are in desperate need of another guy in the backfield. They don't have anyone outside of Donald Brown that rings a bell.






FA Aquisitions


Bryan Thomas - SOLB
Paris Lenon - MLB
FS - Ed Reed


**Defensive Veterans all have 3-4 experience.





Draft:


1st - Lane Johnson. He will provide instant competiton to Brown. Letting him know this is his one shot to stay healthy and prove he belongs. If not...we have our fall back option for next year and we can let Brown Walk.


3rd - Robert Alford - CB SE Louisiana Its hard to find good corners deeper in the draft. Greer is getting long in the tooth and might not make it past this year. Robinson also needs to show hes consistent enough to remain a starting corner for us. This pick looks toward the future. He is the down the road replacement for Greer/Robinson.


4th - Devin Taylor DE/OLB South Carolina A little higher than hes projected but think Akiem Hicks last year. He has the measurables we begin to look@ later in rounds. He projects better as an Standup OLB and would also fill a need for SOLB depth as well..though he can play on both sides. Grantham also gives us a little insight on this player as they were both in the SEC.


5th - Kwame Geathers NT Georgia - Another prospect with good measurables but really raw. The guy stands up and gets moved off the ball a lot. With hicks doing some backup work@ NT we could bring Geathers along slowly and then allow him to replace Hicks next year in the NT rotation when hicks is moved to RDE.


5th - Denard Robinson QB/WR - Michigan - What a WR/QB but why? He can share kick return duties with Cadet and and also be the scout team QB.


6th - Ray Ray Armstrong SS Miami - The new breed of SS. We bring him in to be an understudy to harper. He is another look to the future pick as his size in theory should better allow us to match up with these athletic TE's. He isn't asked to start right away because of the presence of Harper so he can be humbled by playing ST his first year. Hes been out of FB a year so it would be the ideal situaton.




Offense*


QB - Brees/Daniels/Robinson - I know people are going to bomb me for Denard Robinson but this is for strategic purposes. I'm thinking about what SP said and this is just another way to help him grasp the read option. I doubt we install it on offense but having a QB as athletic as Robinson running it can only help our defense by giving them a good look. The scout team is important and Joe Vitt did mention last year that he wasn't too happy about it.


RB - Ingram/Sproles/Pierre/Cadet - Ingram is going to be looked@ to be the lead back to relieve Drew of some pressure. Expect our runniing game to look like the 2006 version. Ingram playing the deuce roll, Sproles playing the reggie role, and Pierre playing the Aaron Stecker role. Pierre is still our best 3rd down back as far as pass protection as Ingram hasn't proven he can do that consistently.



FB - Jed collins - He will probably be used more next year.



WR - Colston/Moore/Morgan/Toon/Henderson/Tanner - Devery is brought back because he can play XYZ positions in case of injury. I don't trust any of the other guys to be able to do that yet. So we bring henderson back for 1 more year as an insurance poilicy@ WR and also to help groom Morgan. Sign him to the veteran minimum.


TE - Graham/Thomas/Higgins - Thomas isn't the matchup problem that another young athletic TE could be if we drafted one but he is so versatile. He also caught a few TD's for us and will be another year removed from the concussion issue. He isn't high priced and is under contract for 1 more year. Higgins will be the 3rd TE. No need to draft one.



LT - Charles Brown/Lane Johnson - Much like bushrod Charles will have every opportunity to prove that he can start on this team this year. He was a 2nd rounder that the team has stuck with and he has gotten better in each year. Only problem is hes injured a lot. In comes lane Johnson. We are finally in a good position to draft a Tackle with our 1st round pick. Also because of the new rookie contracts it won't cost us an arm or leg in the present or future. Competition competition competition. If Charles Brown doesn't do well then we allow him to walk and we already have our replacement on deck.


LG - Ben Grubs/Andy Tiller - Pretty much set here.


C- Brian De La Puente - Isn't going anywhere. He will return cheap and is a solid option between Evans and Grubbs


RG - Jahri Evans/Andy Tiller - Same as above


RT- Zach Strief/Marcel Jones - Jones is a redshirt rookie that showed promise last year. He received the 1 year mulligan like most of the guys do that we see promise in. I know people are screaming what about RT but its not a NEED. Running the ball will help the entire offensive line look better. Including Strief.


Defense*





RDE - Will Smith/Akiem Hicks/Tom Johnson - There is no reason to create a depth issue along the line by cutting smith. HE is a prime candidate for restructure b4 anything. Since we don't have many draft picks instead of forcing HIcks into a starting role we can use him to spell the LDE/RDE position as well as the NT position with bunkley. Allowing us to bring along Geather slowly. When will is gone after next year then u move Hicks to RDE and move Geathers up to NT#2. Then we can draft for depth as well have a full round of picks/money. Will Smith also is familiar with the 3-4 scheme...another plus for him.


LDE- Cam Jordan/Akiem Hicks/Tyrunn Walker - Enough said this is about whats expected. Again Hicks can be used to spell Jordan. Walker will have another year to develope and can possibly move to #2 in the rotation next year and provide depth. Depending on how he pans out.



NT - Bunkley/Hicks/Geathers - The big 3. Bunkley can 2 gap...he will just need to be kept fresh. You guys can ease your worries and we get the NT we need later in the draft. Again hicks is capable of playing any position along the 3-4 front. Thats an asset and can be used to our advantage for at least 1 more year.



ROLB - Gallete/Broughton/Romeus - The latter two guys have shown enough promise for the team to keeep 1 around after a 2nd ACL tear and Broughton was just signed to a future contract. Im pretty sure he will be allowed to compete with Gallete. He and Romeus


RILB - Martez Wilson/Paris Lenon/Chamberlain - If you have read my threads you know my reason for this. I want this guy in the middle. He is our best tackler and i just think those talents go to waste being an edge rusher that may or may not get to the QB every play. In the middle he has the potential to effect every play...run or pass. Chamberlain is kept mainly for ST purposes. He was a ST demon first last year.


LILB - Curtis Lofton/Paris Lenon - Curtis would be responsible for the B gap. You know what that means?? More Curtis lofton in the backfield. The guy can make plays and we hadn't seen a MLB show those types of flashes since Vilma's first year.


LOLB - Bryan Thomas/Devin Taylor - Bryan Thomas would be an excellent stop gap. He has the size we need for the position and while he may not have had the amount of sacks that Shaun Phillips had...he also graded out much better in coverage/runstopping. Could come in and start for a year and come out in nickle situations giving way to Taylor.


CB (Boundary) - Malcolm Jenkins/Corey White - I went over this several times in my head and actually resisted moving him to CB and almost kept the same FS/SS combo for next year. Then it hit me. We've had the same safety combo for 2 years now and they have what...4 picks between them? Not going to cut it. We need a ballhawk @FS and while i would like to give Jenkins the benefit of the doubt...watching those highlight tapes i noticed one thing. He doesn't attack the ball..he attacks the ball carrier. I saw like 4 different plays where he went for the hit on the receiver(which i love) when the ball was in reach for him to make a play.


CB (field) Robinson/Greer/Alford - Id prolly prefer greer on the edges here but Robinson had already started to take over the primary receiver duties. If Malcolm is moved to CB as im suggesting then that means Greer would most likely go to the slot. Robinson could probably play it better as the nickel CB is Granthams D is like a utility tool. Responsible for blitzing on some plays and coverage in other. With robinsons speed hed be better in the slot than Greer. Alford would provide excellent depth. Wouldn't need to come right in and start.


FS Ed Reed/IAQ - We needed a ballhawk so we went after one. Sometimes to develop that instinct@ FS it can take years. some guys can come right in and do it "Jairus Byrd" some guys don't figure it out. Instead of wondering if Jenkins can make the leap we go ahead and bring in Reed to see if we can duplicate the Sharper story. In theory Ed Reed would allow us to play Roman Harper to his advantages. We don't draft a FS as IAQ has shown he can start but provides valuable depth. He is also a restriced FA so that basically guarantees hes coming back. We can then just draft a FS next year.


SS - Roman Harper/Ray Ray Armstrong - We were seen looking @ some safeties @the East West Shrine and Senior bowl so im making a strong assumption that we will be drafting a safety and it will probably be to succeed Harper. We all know harpers problems but i stick by him being a good safety.....he just has to be used better. HE was a two time Pro Bowler under Williams.......thats how he should be used.








That about sums it up. Its as well thought out as i can get and should please just about everybody. We keep a lot of good players as well as add a few pieces to help us get over the hump. Combine that with the switch to the 3-4 and teams having no tape on us in that formation and i can see us being another team that switches to the 3-4 and sees instant results.



We don't have any depth issues in this scenario.



Team speed on Defense increases, we get our best passrushers on the field, bigger @ corner, and a ballhawk FS. Everything we needed to help this defense turn the corner.




**For all intents and purposes. I can see us NOT signing ed reed and leaving Malcolm Jenkins@ FS along with Harper @ SS and Quddus still serving his backup role. The only difference is instead of Robert Alford we would draft Blidi Wreh Wilson and have him and Corey White compete for boundary corner. Everything else would remain the same.



As usual Critique and enjoy.