Blow up the roster vs tweak the roster

[richpjr]

Okay, now that we seem to have pissed away this year, it will be very interesting to see what the team does this offseason. The inevitable blow the roster up threads have started and you can make a case they are warranted. Our local writers say we have the worst tackling defense and worse secondary in team history - that is saying something considering how bad some of our defenses have historically been. We all pretty much see the glaring holes along the roster.

Having said that, while we are 4-6 and on a downward trend, is the team really that bad? Despite the horrid secondary, non-existent pass rush, disappointing play at ILB and dline, injuries at WR and all along the oline, and some questionable play calling, we are, once again, literally just a play or two in 4 of our 6 losses from winning those games. If McCoy and Whiz can eliminate a few coaching mistakes (and perhaps replace Pagano?), we go through another draft and FA, a few injured players come back, and the young players can improve, would that be enough to make just 1 or 2 more plays per game? I fully realize every season is different, we'll play different teams, etc., but we are not getting beaten 35-3 in these losses (which probably makes them all the more frustrating). I am wondering if TT is really going to do a major blow up or just some tweaking. And if I had to guess, I'd probably guess it will be more on the tweaking side.

What do you think?

[oneinchpunch]

It should've been blown up more and some of the free agents shouldn't have been signed

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Your saying this roster needs to be twerked?

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Oh and this year was twerked becuase Spani waffled two years ago...

[TTK]

I think TT will continue what he's doing. Build through the draft and bring in some cheaper, younger free agents.

I don't know what they'll do with the defense though. Not a fan of Pagano but is it his fault that this defense can't tackle? But team Hydra should let MM bring in his own DC instead of forcing him to keep Pagano.

[Bearded14YourPleasure]

Realistically I think it's somewhere inbetween. It will take a lot more then tweaking, but there are definitely solid building blocks on both sides of the ball that could speed up the process. With a solid draft and reasonable health I think we could be a Wild Card team next year.

[blahblahblah]

Roster? We have a roster?

[6025]

RT? We have a RT?

[zoom]

I think TT will continue what he's doing. Build through the draft and bring in some cheaper, younger free agents.

I don't know what they'll do with the defense though. Not a fan of Pagano but is it his fault that this defense can't tackle? But team Hydra should let MM bring in his own DC instead of forcing him to keep Pagano.

he was forced to keep Pagano? Where did you read that?

[Panama]

(1) I continue to maintain we have not pissed away this season. On the contrary, this season has been extremely useful. This was never going to be a playoff team, despite some of the fantasy scenarios being bandied about whenever we won a game. This season we have answered some important questions about our personnel (e.g., English) and given young players valuable developmental experience. Rather than try to keep from sinking by plugging in holes with aging vets (AJ's approach the previous two seasons), we blew apart the defense in order to set the foundations for a stronger defense in years to come. We're experiencing the growing pains of that right now, but there are many encouraging signs to indicate that this could pay dividends in the near future.

(2) The media, as always, and a lot of fans are engaging in hyperbole. I have seen worse tackling performances from the Chargers, and I remember worse secondaries, although both have been pretty bad.

(3) To answer your question, I think TT already did his blowup this past season. He recognised that you have to tear down to build up properly. He's done the tearing down and the process of building up has begun but is a slow process.

I imagine there will be some slight tinkering on the offense, the usual season-to-season thing, nothing major -- except maybe adding a LT if Dunlap's long-term health is a concern and/or one falls into our laps in the draft.

On the defense, I think TT's priority will be to upgrade the front 7, both adding quality OLBs and DT and upgrading the general depth. As for the secondary: This will surprise/disappoint a lot of you, but I wouldn't be surprised if he stuck with Cox. An improved pass rush covers up a lot of deficiencies in the secondary, and Cox has the tools. It's all in his head. That said, I'd rather see Patrick starting over Cox, or maybe they give Williams or another draft pick a shot. And at safety, I think the team will stay pat if they feel confident about Taylor/Addae or look for someone in the draft. (Actually, they'll probably take a S late in the draft anyway.) But it should all be tinkering and retooling.

On defense, I do believe Ingram, Liuget, Reyes, Butler, Te'o, Weddle, and Wright will be solid as starters at their respective positions. And offense is even stronger, as I believe Rivers, Mathews, Dunlap, Troutman/Rinehart, Hardwick, Clary, Fluker, Gates, and whichever three emerge from Alexander/Allen/Brown (at a different WR position)/Floyd/Royal will be fine at their respective starting positions plus Woodhead and Green. Thus, there's no need to blow things up. That's a solid core. We just need to tinker and retool to upgrade a few positions and improve overall depth.

And as long as Rivers is our QB, this should remain our approach. I don't believe a team should ever completely blow it up and start over when they have a top-flight QB.

[madcaplaughs]

(1)


I imagine there will be some slight tinkering on the offense, the usual season-to-season thing, nothing major -- except maybe adding a LT if Dunlap's long-term health is a concern and/or one falls into our laps in the draft.

On the defense, I think TT's priority will be to upgrade the front 7, both adding quality OLBs and DT and upgrading the general depth. As for the secondary: This will surprise/disappoint a lot of you, but I wouldn't be surprised if he stuck with Cox. An improved pass rush covers up a lot of deficiencies in the secondary, and Cox has the tools. It's all in his head. That said, I'd rather see Patrick starting over Cox, or maybe they give Williams or another draft pick a shot. And at safety, I think the team will stay pat if they feel confident about Taylor/Addae or look for someone in the draft. (Actually, they'll probably take a S late in the draft anyway.) But it should all be tinkering and retooling.

On defense, I do believe Ingram, Liuget, Reyes, Butler, Te'o, Weddle, and Wright will be solid as starters at their respective positions. And offense is even stronger, as I believe Rivers, Mathews, Dunlap, Troutman/Rinehart, Hardwick, Clary, Fluker, Gates, and whichever three emerge from Alexander/Allen/Brown (at a different WR position)/Floyd/Royal will be fine at their respective starting positions plus Woodhead and Green. Thus, there's no need to blow things up. That's a solid core. We just need to tinker and retool to upgrade a few positions and improve overall depth.

And as long as Rivers is our QB, this should remain our approach. I don't believe a team should ever completely blow it up and start over when they have a top-flight QB.

I couldn't agree more. The thing is, is that we're going to need to eventually retain some talent that we won't have money for unless we jettison a couple/few vets. Most particularly, I think Gates will have to go this year or next. We may have to let Butler go in free agency as well.

A credible left tackle would improve this team immensely. If we don't win out, one of the top 4 LT's is a lock (Lewan, Matthews, Richardson, or the guy from Alabama, K......). Losing both Ingram and Freeney killed us this year. If we get a LT, and have at least one pass rusher, I think we're close to being a playoff team. I don't think we'll be elite, like Seattle, New England, or San Francisco, but at least we could win some games.

[KYBoltsFan]

Even the marginal play of King Dunlap has produced immense benefits when it has existed. The offense still hasn't recovered from the 1-2 punch of McNeil and Dielman's "retirement via injury". That is the biggest problem we've had since 2011.

Agree with the sensible assessment of Panama above. Something else to consider besides LT is depth along the OL (or at least better starters that can stay healthy), a revamped secondary and LB corps, and Gates' age and the lack of size at WR.