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☹ Official 2020 Las Vegas Raiders thread ☹ (1 Viewer)

Worley brought back. 

Arnette and Abram likely out for this weekend. Isaiah Johnson dealing with a groin injury. 

Also, Rivers dealing with a severe case of turf toe. 

 
Chadstroma said:
Worley brought back. 

Arnette and Abram likely out for this weekend. Isaiah Johnson dealing with a groin injury. 

Also, Rivers dealing with a severe case of turf toe. 
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Expect Indy to run the ball early and often.  Limited Rivers and facing a weak run D means start Taylor and Hines if owned.  

 
Reports look like we are getting Jacobs and Trent Brown back this weekend, which should help us. A lot.

D needs to stick to bending, not breaking. Not looking forward to seeing Nevin Lawson out there starting, and time for Harris and Heath to step the f up. 

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Reports look like we are getting Jacobs and Trent Brown back this weekend, which should help us. A lot.

D needs to stick to bending, not breaking. Not looking forward to seeing Nevin Lawson out there starting, and time for Harris and Heath to step the f up. 
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Need the pass rush to show up big time to help these DBs out! Nice to see Ferrell playing like a 1st round draft pick last week. We really need him now, more than ever. Any word on Beasley playing this weekend? 

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Reports look like we are getting Jacobs and Trent Brown back this weekend, which should help us. A lot.

D needs to stick to bending, not breaking. Not looking forward to seeing Nevin Lawson out there starting, and time for Harris and Heath to step the f up. 
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If Joyner stepped up to play at the level we signed him, that will go a long way to taking care of the secondary. Heath DNP with concussion as well. We are super thin there and we also are thin at DT. Collins on IR. Hankins DNP (can't see why hoping just giving him a rest day) and Hurst limited with cap.

I think they gave the interior line a day off with Good, Hudson and Jackson all DNP with no disclosure as why. 

I saw a tweet that T. Brown responded to a tweet if Carr saying he is the best at what he does and sounded motivated. A motivated Brown is going to do some damage for us. 

We beat the Saints and statistically they have a better D than the Colts but the Colts have one of the best defenses in the league for sure. 

 
Bruno2 said:
Need the pass rush to show up big time to help these DBs out! Nice to see Ferrell playing like a 1st round draft pick last week. We really need him now, more than ever. Any word on Beasley playing this weekend? 
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He took 8 snaps last game. I suspect that will increase. They benched Nassib for him and publicly talked about playing the guys who practice the hardest/best.

 
Raiders going deep for 'contingency plans' at safety

Levi Damien 

December 11, 2020 4:49 pm

They call it the safety position because it’s the last line of defense. So, then, what happens if your last line of defense is at its last line of defense?

That’s what the Raiders are facing right now. They will be without their interception leading safety Jeff Heath (concussion) on Sunday when they face the Colts and could be without starting safety Johnathan Abram, who missed last Sunday with a knee injury and is questionable for this week’s game.

Should Abram be unable to go, that would leave just Erik Harris and Dallin Leavitt as the starters with some creativity needed should one of them be lost during the game.

“We’re running out of safeties,” said head coach Jon Gruden. “Hopefully, Abram can play and stay healthy. Something he hasn’t done. We need him to do that to be the player that we need him to be. Dallin Leavitt is a trained safety, he’ll play back there and play well if need be.”

What they would do should they be forced to find another player to come in a safety is not known. Nickel cornerback Lamarcus Joyner is an experienced safety, so he could potentially move. Although with starting cornerback Damon Arnette out this week with a concussion, they can ill afford to lose a cornerback to another position.

The team brought back Daryl Worley this week, who played some safety for them last season, but he won’t be eligible to play until next week.

Isaiah Johnson has played some snaps at safety, but he too is questionable for the game with a groin injury.

“We’ll have a contingency plan, but right now we are getting tired of contingency plans, to be honest with you,” Gruden added. “We’ve had a lot of defensive players go down, especially in the secondary and we’ll use the next-man-up as they all say but Leavitt is a guy we’ll be prepared to go to quick.”

The first step is to find out if Abram can go. If he can’t, it gets sketchy. If he can, the hope is that he is able to perform at a high level despite his injury. No use fighting through an injury if it causes you to be a liability.
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Raiders Sign Rookie DT, Cut Veteran WR

The Las Vegas Raiders have needed help on the defensive line after Maliek Collins got hurt and Daniel Ross was released. They may have found it in the brother of a former starter for the team. The Raiders announced the signing of rookie defensive tackle Lee Autry to the practice squad.

Autry is the brother of former Raider Denico Autry, who now plays for the Indianapolis Colts. Denico played four seasons for the silver and black and was part of the team that made the playoffs back in 2016. He had 2.5 sacks that season.

Lee Autry is shorter but weighs more than his big brother. Denico is more of a defensive end while Lee is a defensive tackle. He played college football at Mississippi State and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chicago Bears in the offseason. He’s bounced around on a couple of teams and might actually have a shot to get some playing time with the Raiders.

Marcell Ateman Cut

In order to make room for Autry, the Raiders had to cut wide receiver Marcell Ateman. The team had too many wide receivers on the practice squad, to begin with, so letting one go makes sense. However, Ateman has stuck around the team for three seasons now. He was part of Jon Gruden‘s first draft class since returning to the team.

The wide receiver has even gotten a decent amount of playing time. He’s opportunities to earn a spot on the roster but hasn’t ever taken great advantage of it. He had five catches last season for 116 yards. While the Raiders are letting him go now, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s back on the roster at some point within the next year.
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Clemson Connection: Raiders’ Clelin Ferrell enjoys teaming up with Vic Beasley

Raiders putting two of college powerhouse’s all-time great pass rushers next to each other

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 | 2 a.m.

With only seconds to spare before the Jets snapped the ball for a play late in the first half on Sunday, Vic Beasley turned to Clelin Ferrell and suggested they run a pass-rushing stunt.

Ferrell went with it and wound up with one of the best plays of his professional career. While Jets left tackle Mekhi Becton’s attention was temporarily diverted to Beasley, Ferrell dipped past him and leveled Sam Darnold from the quarterback’s blindside to cause a fumble the Raiders recovered.

It was the second-year defensive end’s second strip-sack of the game and kept the Jets from adding a field goal — they were already in range — going into halftime.

“I was really just going to spy the quarterback on that play, but (Beasley) did a good job of calling that and it came up,” Ferrell said after the game.

Playing a handful of snaps alongside Beasley for the first time since the Raiders signed the veteran former All-Pro two weeks ago proved not only fruitful for Ferrell, but also surreal. Ferrell described Beasley as someone he's looked up to ever since he was in high school.

Beasley was a two-time All-American defensive end at Clemson while Ferrell was building himself into a top-100 nationally ranked recruit at Benedictine College Preparatory in Richmond, Va. Ferrell ultimately decided to follow in Beasley’s footsteps and commit to Clemson, arriving on campus for his freshman season months after the latter was taken eighth overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Immediately, comparisons were made between Ferrell and Beasley among the Clemson fan base with coach Dabo Swinney even telling the The Post and Courier at the time that they were not “unfair for his potential.”

Ferrell turned out to be every bit as productive as his predecessor, making one All-American team of his own and helping the Tigers to a pair of national championships. He did something Beasley didn’t in declaring for the NFL Draft after his junior season.

Ferrell gave a reminder of that part of his history along with his pleasantries upon the Beasley's recent arrival to the Raiders.

“I told him if I would have went back for my senior year, I would have broken all his records,” Ferrell said with a smile. “I think I was six sacks away from his sacks record and eight TFLs away from his tackle for loss records.”

The similarities between Ferrell and Beasley have continued with their professional trajectories. After an up-and-down rookie season with the Atlanta Falcons, Beasley broke out in his second year and led the NFL with 15.5 sacks and six forced fumbles.

Ferrell’s statistics haven’t skyrocketed the same way this year, but he’s become a much more consistent and dangerous player. In his first game back from coronavirus, Ferrell broke out against the Jets with six tackles and three quarterback hits including his pair of sacks.

“He made some impact plays,” Gruden said after the game. “That’s what we need from him. He’s a hard-nosed, energizing finishing player.”

Ferrell will be essential to the Raiders’ hopes for the rest of the season and likely for years to come, but Beasley’s role is less solidified. Despite his indirect contribution of helping Ferrell get into position against the Jets, Beasley recorded no statistics in the eight snaps he spent on the field.

He was also mostly invisible in five games to start the season with the Tennessee Titans before the team eventually cut him. The Raiders signed him to their practice squad with hopes that a change of scenery could help, and so far, the coaching staff has hinted that they got more than expected.

“He’s got really good first step quickness,” defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. “He’s really smart, he’s picked up the playbook. He adds some speed to our front.”

Las Vegas demonstrated its belief in Beasley by making him active in New York. Beasley got the final defensive-line spot on the roster over Carl Nassib, whom the Raiders signed to a three-year, $25 million contract this offseason.

Gruden said the defensive-line situation would continue to be fluid on a weekly basis.

“We try to play the guys that have the best weeks of practice,” he said. “We feel like we want to create competition; Vic Beasley is here to create that. He didn’t come here to sit on the bench.”

Ferrell lined up as a defensive tackle on plays where Beasley was next to him. Many edge rushers of Ferrell’s caliber would prefer to not play the interior, but it’s a spot he’s always welcomed.

And now it’s a spot where he can now collaborate with a veteran in Beasley whom he once idolized.

“It’s great to have him on the team because he’s a guy who can add value to any D-line in the league,” Ferrell said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or
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Arnette and Heath- out. 

Abram. Jacobs and Johnson- questionable 

Rivers was full particapant in practice and thurs and fri after sitting wed and not listed on status.

 
Still very early in the game, but Chiefs of course not doing us any favors.

MIA all over Mahomes with two picks in the first quarter that MIA is capitalizing off of. 

Thanks, Ketchup Kermit. 

 
Well, we're at the 3/4 pole and this team has been a conundrum to say the least. Beat the best team in the league at their place but get crushed by 37 points by a below average team. Soundly beat a perennial Super Bowl contender but should have lost to the worst team in the league.

Carr, Waller and Jacobs (to a little lesser extent) have been bright spots. Miller is a solid LT and should remain so for a decade. Hudson has brought his usually reliable, solid play. Had some nice fill in performances along the OL. Agholor has been a pleasant surprise. On defense, Ferrell has come along nicely, Crosby hasn't taken the next step but is still clearly someone to be reckoned with, Kwiat has been solid, Arnette looks like he can be a player and Mullen has improved.

Four games to go. I could see em winning all four or losing all four. I had em 9-7 before the season started. I'm still comfortable with that. But don't ask me which two they'll win and which two they'll lose. ;-)

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Still very early in the game, but Chiefs of course not doing us any favors.

MIA all over Mahomes with two picks in the first quarter that MIA is capitalizing off of. 

Thanks, Ketchup Kermit. 
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Mahomes is human and definitely makes mistakes when pressured.   It would be very surprising for Miami to beat KC.   I don’t see how Miami can score enough since they lack talent on O.   

 
King of the Jungle said:
Wonder how many rookie receivers they would take over Ruggs at this point.
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This dumpster fire has nothing to do with Ruggs. They are so bad defensively right now, it doesn't matter who they have on offense. Now if we want to question the Ferrell and Abram picks, that makes sense.

 
Bruno2 said:
This dumpster fire has nothing to do with Ruggs. They are so bad defensively right now, it doesn't matter who they have on offense. Now if we want to question the Ferrell and Abram picks, that makes sense.
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I know, just venting after trading for him and week after week watching him do nothing.

 
DocHolliday said:
Lamb was the correct choice at the time.  Now there are a few others.  Until the Raiders draft better, they will remain an average team.  Sadly that’s a step up from many years.  
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I was shocked they passed on Lamb. Seemed like a great fit. I think playing Tyreek twice a year got in their heads.

 
Why the hell is there any talk about Ruggs? For crying out loud.  I think there are only 3 other teams with more points than us the year. 

The issue is the defense. 

Guenther has to go. 

Nassib, Collins, Joyner and Littleton have fallen flat as big defensive FA signings. Did they all just forget how to play ball? All of them have had drastic fall off in production from their previous. I don't see any reason for that other than the coaching. 

Fire him tomorrow and give the defense to Marinelli. See if that makes a difference. 

 
Chadstroma said:
Why the hell is there any talk about Ruggs? For crying out loud.  I think there are only 3 other teams with more points than us the year. 

The issue is the defense. 

Guenther has to go. 

Nassib, Collins, Joyner and Littleton have fallen flat as big defensive FA signings. Did they all just forget how to play ball? All of them have had drastic fall off in production from their previous. I don't see any reason for that other than the coaching. 

Fire him tomorrow and give the defense to Marinelli. See if that makes a difference. 
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Seriously?   You don’t know why there is talk about Ruggs?   There will always be high expectations for a first round pick and the first WR chosen in a loaded WR class.  Does the pick matter?  

The defense is the problem and seems like it’s always the problem.  At least Carr has played well and the Raiders don’t have to try to find a QB.   Gruden must draft better in 2021 than he has been.   

 
Chadstroma said:
Why the hell is there any talk about Ruggs? For crying out loud.  I think there are only 3 other teams with more points than us the year. 

The issue is the defense. 

Guenther has to go. 

Nassib, Collins, Joyner and Littleton have fallen flat as big defensive FA signings. Did they all just forget how to play ball? All of them have had drastic fall off in production from their previous. I don't see any reason for that other than the coaching. 

Fire him tomorrow and give the defense to Marinelli. See if that makes a difference. 
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How about tonight?

 
Chadstroma said:
Why the hell is there any talk about Ruggs? For crying out loud.  I think there are only 3 other teams with more points than us the year. 

The issue is the defense. 

Guenther has to go. 

Nassib, Collins, Joyner and Littleton have fallen flat as big defensive FA signings. Did they all just forget how to play ball? All of them have had drastic fall off in production from their previous. I don't see any reason for that other than the coaching. 

Fire him tomorrow and give the defense to Marinelli. See if that makes a difference. 
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Well. You called it!

 
DocHolliday said:
Seriously?   You don’t know why there is talk about Ruggs?   There will always be high expectations for a first round pick and the first WR chosen in a loaded WR class.  Does the pick matter?  

The defense is the problem and seems like it’s always the problem.  At least Carr has played well and the Raiders don’t have to try to find a QB.   Gruden must draft better in 2021 than he has been.   
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I asked last week if the problem was coaching or the players. We now have a partial answer with the firing of Guenther. I think that the players drafted/signed are also the issue. Let see if a coaching change improves the defense. I suspect it will not which then points to Talent evaluation as the other problem.

 
32 Counter Pass said:
I asked last week if the problem was coaching or the players. We now have a partial answer with the firing of Guenther. I think that the players drafted/signed are also the issue. Let see if a coaching change improves the defense. I suspect it will not which then points to Talent evaluation as the other problem.
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The offense is good enough to play with anyone, especially if they improve at WR.   The D must be the focus from this minute on.  

 
Finally Guenther is gone. We had been calling for this for a while, and arguably it should have been done earlier, but it was hard to see when that would have been.

I would have thought after the Bucs loss -- at that point we had lost 3 of 4 games, allowing the other team to hang at least 30 point on us (32.8 average points against for the year to that point). However at that point we had beat the Chiefs in that run so likely riding some hope.

Similarly, you could argue that Guenther should have been gone after the Falcons or Jets games -- we had allowed 6, 26, then 12 points against the Browns, Chargers, and Broncos, then our defensive abilities regressed back to mean where we were narrowly outpaced by the Chiefs who put up 35 on us and utterly destroyed by the Falcons. We squeaked by the Jets but they too were able to hang 28 on us. Could see how that game gave a "one more try" mentality for Guenther.

Glad he's gone, not sure Marinelli is going to bring anything incredibly different to the table, but we'll see. Watching a defensive unit give up like that is disheartening.

Technically if the Ravens lose tonight and we win out, we could still back-door the playoffs but we definitely don't deserve to be there based on level of inconsistency.

Will this team ever consistently put their pieces together?

We'll see, but it looks like this is yet another lost year.

 
DocHolliday said:
Seriously?   You don’t know why there is talk about Ruggs?   There will always be high expectations for a first round pick and the first WR chosen in a loaded WR class.  Does the pick matter?  

The defense is the problem and seems like it’s always the problem.  At least Carr has played well and the Raiders don’t have to try to find a QB.   Gruden must draft better in 2021 than he has been.   
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Yes, seriously. I was a little unhappy yesterday so I think I came in a little hot. 

As discussed before, he is a rookie. Not every rookie blows up into all pro status right off the back. Further from being a rookie, he has missed a good amount of time this season which certainly does not help his development or chemistry with Carr. 

Yes, would it be nice if he exploded in terms of production. The most productive rookie WR this year is Jefferson. I do not recall one single person saying that we should draft Jefferson with our first pick. Maybe someone argued about picking a defensive guy and then going back later to someone like Jefferson but other than that no one said anything about taking him. I argued that if we did not get Lamb or Jeudy to take BPA on defense and then look to Claypool later.  You can't say take X player there because any change in the draft on one spot is like a butterfly affect changing the rest of the draft as we know it. Further, you can't just take a player doing well on another team and plug them in to our team and take their stats to us. Would Jefferson or Claypool have the same year as they are now as Raiders? I have no idea. 

In the end, our problem isn't the offense. As I mentioned before we have the 5th best (I think I said higher before but I think the points we gave up to the Colts... now 4th.... were not added in yet) scoring offense. Conversely, if are 31st in giving up points. If we got to 1st in scoring maybe our schedule gets better by a game? If he got marginally better in defense, we could easily have flipped 3 or 4 of the losses we have. 

We fired Guenther and now Rod can play with it to see what he can do. I want to see this to see how much talent we really have on the defense as I am not convinced that some of these players are as they have played. We can't see Collins but do we get more out of Joyner and Littleton? (Not sure if Nassib gets a chance or not) do we get more out of some of the guys we have brought in like Beasley, McMillan and Smith? Do they bring up Irving? I don't know. But I want to see the talent level of what we got on the defense and this is the best way to see that and not give excuses of the coach. 

To sum it up, Ruggs is a rookie. Defense is our problem.

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Finally Guenther is gone. We had been calling for this for a while, and arguably it should have been done earlier, but it was hard to see when that would have been.

I would have thought after the Bucs loss -- at that point we had lost 3 of 4 games, allowing the other team to hang at least 30 point on us (32.8 average points against for the year to that point). However at that point we had beat the Chiefs in that run so likely riding some hope.

Similarly, you could argue that Guenther should have been gone after the Falcons or Jets games -- we had allowed 6, 26, then 12 points against the Browns, Chargers, and Broncos, then our defensive abilities regressed back to mean where we were narrowly outpaced by the Chiefs who put up 35 on us and utterly destroyed by the Falcons. We squeaked by the Jets but they too were able to hang 28 on us. Could see how that game gave a "one more try" mentality for Guenther.

Glad he's gone, not sure Marinelli is going to bring anything incredibly different to the table, but we'll see. Watching a defensive unit give up like that is disheartening.

Technically if the Ravens lose tonight and we win out, we could still back-door the playoffs but we definitely don't deserve to be there based on level of inconsistency.

Will this team ever consistently put their pieces together?

We'll see, but it looks like this is yet another lost year.
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Yes, not out of it for sure but we need to win out from here and need help. 

It is frustrating as a fan because we have suffered for so long and we got teased with what looked like a real contender to only have it start falling apart late. But let's take a step back and look at what we have going on here. 

Our offense is, without doubt, legit. Whether Ruggs turns into Hill version 2.0 or Jett version 2.0, regardless, we are a legit offense. Not only that but we are a young offense. Incognito is long in the tooth to the point of worry. Hudson and Good are older but still have several good years left. Other than that the entire offense is young or entering the prime years.

Defense. The good news is we are again young. The bad news is that we suck. There are pieces for sure though. I like Kwiat at MLB as a jack of all trades solid glue type guy. Clelin is under appreciated because he does not rack up the sacks and his draft position. Maxx is legit but needs help. Mullen looks to be a solid starting CB. Arnette has flashed but hasn't been in there long enough to really know. Abram is the heart of the defense but needs to mature in terms of playing smart. We need a playmaker. Someone who disrupts the opponent. A guy like TJ Watt that the an offense must account for. We need to get more big plays- more sacks, fumbles and INT's but in the end, even if we turn into a real bend but don't break defense we can win a ton more games. We MUST get better. 

 
From a stats perspective, Justin Jefferson has obviously been the cream of the rookie WR crop.

Tee Higgins and Lamb follow, with Claypool and Aiyuk next after them. Claypool has 664/8, Aiyuk with 660/4.

Jeudy has 636/2.

Ruggs is at 414/2 and has played in 2 less games that all of the above except for Aiyuk.

If we had drafted Jeudy we would be making the same complaints at this point in the year.

If we had drafted a guy like Tee Higgins, we definitely would be filled with way more "WFT!?!?!" than we did when we took Ruggs, who was consensus Top 3. I don't recall anyone here pounding the table for Jefferson let alone Higgins, Claypool, or Aiyuk (I could be wrong, someone may have ranked these guys higher but that would have been an outlier opinion)

Bottom line, complaining about having Ruggs and not another WR is a pretty hollow and pointless exercise. We all wanted him to explode out the gate, sure, but for those expecting league-leading performance from Game 1 onward, I don't know what to tell you other than your expectations are out of whack with the reality that it takes more players time to adjust than not.

I am willing to have some patience. The skills are there, the chemistry and learning are in progress.

 
Chadstroma said:
Yes, not out of it for sure but we need to win out from here and need help. 

It is frustrating as a fan because we have suffered for so long and we got teased with what looked like a real contender to only have it start falling apart late. But let's take a step back and look at what we have going on here. 

Our offense is, without doubt, legit. Whether Ruggs turns into Hill version 2.0 or Jett version 2.0, regardless, we are a legit offense. Not only that but we are a young offense. Incognito is long in the tooth to the point of worry. Hudson and Good are older but still have several good years left. Other than that the entire offense is young or entering the prime years.

Defense. The good news is we are again young. The bad news is that we suck. There are pieces for sure though. I like Kwiat at MLB as a jack of all trades solid glue type guy. Clelin is under appreciated because he does not rack up the sacks and his draft position. Maxx is legit but needs help. Mullen looks to be a solid starting CB. Arnette has flashed but hasn't been in there long enough to really know. Abram is the heart of the defense but needs to mature in terms of playing smart. We need a playmaker. Someone who disrupts the opponent. A guy like TJ Watt that the an offense must account for. We need to get more big plays- more sacks, fumbles and INT's but in the end, even if we turn into a real bend but don't break defense we can win a ton more games. We MUST get better. 
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Good post. 

I think if we can get Brown healthy and playing to his fullest motivated potential, our line of MIller/Hudson/Jackson/Brown is solid and we can continue to groom Good and Simpson as replacements for Incognito. Good is solid if not at the level of the others. I would love another bona fide WR1 on the other side of the field from Ruggs, but our offense is indeed stable -- and still young.

Our D needs more for sure. Agree that Cle, Crosby and Kwiat are the key three, and we desperately need production or an influx of quality skill through draft/FA to improve our interior D line. Hurst or Key haven't taken the steps I would have wanted them to this year but that's still possible with Mo (maybe not Key), and the rest is a mash unit of meh. Nassib certainly looks like a bust, hopefully Beasley is not. 

Littleton to me is a bit of a bust, and Morrow is way too variable to be dependable. We likely need more help in our midfield to help Kwiat.

I think Mullen is a solid corner, and Arnette will be one with some seasoning. After that, Joyner is ineffective, Lawson and Nixon are more liabilities than help, jury is still out on Johnson and Robertson though they haven't shown a ton so far.

Abram is the real deal but desperately needs better coaching and to get through his learning curve ASAP. Outside of him, no-one I'd really put a lot of faith in.

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Good post. 

I think if we can get Brown healthy and playing to his fullest motivated potential, our line of MIller/Hudson/Jackson/Brown is solid and we can continue to groom Good and Simpson as replacements for Incognito. Good is solid if not at the level of the others. I would love another bona fide WR1 on the other side of the field from Ruggs, but our offense is indeed stable -- and still young.

Our D needs more for sure. Agree that Cle, Crosby and Kwiat are the key three, and we desperately need production or an influx of quality skill through draft/FA to improve our interior D line. Hurst or Key haven't taken the steps I would have wanted them to this year but that's still possible with Mo (maybe not Key), and the rest is a mash unit of meh. Nassib certainly looks like a bust, hopefully Beasley is not. 

Littleton to me is a bit of a bust, and Morrow is way too variable to be dependable. We likely need more help in our midfield to help Kwiat.

I think Mullen is a solid corner, and Arnette will be one with some seasoning. After that, Joyner is ineffective, Lawson and Nixon are more liabilities than help, jury is still out on Johnson and Robertson though they haven't shown a ton so far.

Abram is the real deal but desperately needs better coaching and to get through his learning curve ASAP. Outside of him, no-one I'd really put a lot of faith in.
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I think Good is what Good is and that is good. Not sure there is a ton more upside from there. However, if Incognito is done (who knows?) then Good is a solid G. Simpson has upside for sure but has a much lower floor. A project that could develop or not. Unless you had a Quentin Nelson or Zack Martin type of top tier guy to upgrade there then I don't think you put any effort in it. 

Miller is a lock down LT. A healthy Brown is the best RT in the game without it being close. Hudson is my pick for best C in the game. Jackson bounced back and is a good RG. 

I think we have a lot of growth and development in our WR corps to go. Again, both Ruggs and Edwards are rookies who have missed significant time. 

I wonder if Joyner is in the being played out of position and should be FS next to Abram at SS. If I remember correctly, he played his best ball with the Rams as a safety including earning a franchise tag in 2018 before we got him in FA. We have mainly played him at nickle back and that has not worked. I have no clue what the hell is going on with Littleton. Morrow has developed but would need to further develop to help us improve the D unit as a whole. 

I haven't sniffed the college players yet. Would love a difference making DT though at my wish list position. A guy we can get 6 or 7 sacks from and generally be disruptive in the middle would be a guy that I think would really help the entire defense get better as I think it would loosen things up for Cle and Maxx on the edges (and whomever we rotate through now that we have like 15 DE's) 

 
I knew about Cle (shoulder) but did not know about Johnathan Abram (concussion) and Nicholas Morrow (concussion). 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Glad he's gone, not sure Marinelli is going to bring anything incredibly different to the table, but we'll see. Watching a defensive unit give up like that is disheartening.
Click to expand...
I think Marinelli is the better coach of the two. His specialty is the defensive line though, so he has to be part of the problem as well.

They can't change the players but some different play calling might help.

 
Biabreakable said:
I think Marinelli is the better coach of the two. His specialty is the defensive line though, so he has to be part of the problem as well.

They can't change the players but some different play calling might help.
Click to expand...
And tweeking of scheme. You can't just throw in a whole new scheme but you can adjust as well as game plan. He has a pretty decent record as a DC. At least a better one than Guenther had. 

 
Can't fully grade these defensive players until with a legit DC. I am not convinced Marinelli is that guy. Would love Wade Phillips, if he has something left. And need to find impact 3-Tech, OLB and FS in the offseason.

 
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