everything at once???? are you kidding?? MM has now drafted two, count em, two OL in FOUR YEARS, AND BOTH IN ROUND FIVE. My God, the jets play 5 OL at a time but only three DL. yet in 2018 he picks up 3 DL and no OL. Dumb shit!!!!
It'll have to be. We'd better hope that there are some excellent OL, edge rushers and #1 WR types in the draft next year.
IMO, OL and edge rusher are far bigger needs than #1 WR. I'm ok with a solid WR group. This is assuming that Anderson can stop doing stupid things off the field and Enunwa comes back from his neck injury and shows he can continue where he left off in 2016.
The players Macc took seem to be good value...for what they are, but I remain mystified at his seeming lack of concern for the OL. Yes, I know the draft was thin on OL, but still. he couldn't ONE? And how about an edge rusher? Consider that most lower round picks 4-7 are marginal by NFL standards. Sure, sometimes you strike gold, but it's like hitting Lotto: you spend hundreds of dollars and then FINALLY! hit a pot for $500.00 and you're ecstatic. Meanwhile overall you're in the hole. On balance, Macc is in the hole. Yes, getting Darnold was great, and I do give him credit for trading up to make that possible, but if you set aside Darnold, Adams, and Williams, and Maye, who has really made an impact on this team from his drafts? I'm trying to have patience, but it's running real thin.
I applaud most of MMs moves this offseason, but why the hell is the offensive line still being neglected? If our offensive line looks like last year, we might as well keep Darnold on the bench until we actually get some better pieces there. Long I assume will be an upgrade over Johnson but 4 out of the 5 crappy starters are coming back. I assume Winters healthy will be solid for us. They also brought in a new offensive line coach. Despite all that, I still think we have a bottom 10 offensive line this year and Bowles and Mac are rolling the dice because I could see them both getting fired for it. Has anyone read or heard an explanation from Bowles/Mac regarding the offensive line?
Beachum was actually pretty solid for us last year. I think Long was a solid signing and should help transition the team to zone-blocking schemes. Our line is filled with players that are "good enough" but no one is particularly good. It's hard to find athletic offensive linemen these days, especially after round 1. There are many fat-asses that can squat 500 but don't have the arm length, speed, or balance to survive in the NFL.
In spite of Mac's making a great move to trade up early to secure our getting one of the top 3 QBs, I hope they will both get fired. Not addressing the OL in a more signficant fashion over the last 4 years is inexcusable as is his failure to draft a higher level edge rushing prospect. He had every chance to draft Ogbo Okoronkwo in this draft and totally passed. Unless he can come with a good reason for not drafting him, I want his ass fired. The OLBs that he has drafted have all been too slow, not skilled pass rushers, nor even had the potential to become quality pass rushers.
Well lets see how this year goes first. They must have a great deal of confidence in this line to put their jobs on the line for it. I have been saying this team needs to spend a 1st rounder on offensive line since Mangold and DBrick hit their early 30s. Idzik nor Mac have done much of anything. My biggest fear is that Darnold gets happy feet in the pocket and cant recover. This is why I am so sick of defensive coaches because you knew Bowles had to get his defensive guy after probably being pissed that we couldnt take Chubb in the first round. Edge rusher is important too, but its not easy to get one. Drafting a guard or tackle however is.
I pretty much guess how the year is gonna go. The OL will be a little better with a new OL coach, Winters healthy and a new starting C. Carpenter will probably play even worse than last year because he is not a good fit in a zone scheme. That's why he left Seattle. He struggled badly in Seattle with their zone scheme. He played better here because we were in a man scheme. One of the top priorities should have been replacing Carpenter and Mac made no attempt to do so as far as we know. Evidently, he just hoped that somehow Carpenter would be better. Beachum will probably be about the same, but may be a little worse since he's another year older. If Long and Swanson can't stay healthy, it's gonna be a long season for the offense. Similarly, the pass rush will be no better. Even if Shephard proves to be a find, unless you have a player of JJ Watt's talent and abilities, a 3-4 DE is just not gonna get the pressure a 3-4 OLB can get because of the lack of speed and quickness. It appears that Mac and Bowles are just as stupid as Tanny, Rex and Idzik when it comes to the pass rush. How are things supposed to be any better or different? They're doing the same things the same way their predecessors did and expecting things to be different. That's insane. I'm sick of it! I know that neither is going anywhere this season, so all we can do is wait and hope, but unless a miracle happens, I want Mac and Bowles fired the second the 2018 season ends.
Eh, we did fill some spots like bringing in a #1 corner, a future QB (knock on wood), and a younger runningback. I think its unfair to expect all of these things to get addressed after 1 year of rebuilding, but I still think this team is mostly treading water when it comes to improving on paper. We may have a young nucleus, but it seems like we lose as much as we gain when it comes to free agents. I expect the lack of offensive line and pass rush will be clear reason why we don't get to that next step this season and it will finally get addressed next year. I still think we are 2 years away, but I do see the roster starting to come together at least.
Yes, Mac has added some good young talent, and all our holes definitely couldn't be filled in one year or even two. The OL and Edge Rusher were needs even before we started rebuilding last year, and for the most part Mac has ignored those position high in the draft. Mac has focused primarily on the defense (as his predecessors did). Even with that, as important as the pass rush is to the success of the D and has been for the last 30 years or so, he has settled for mediocre prospects in the 3rd round. I don't know if you remember, but I was one of his biggest supporters his first year or two, but there have been too many "tries" but did not succeed and too many misses. His priorities are wrong too much. He's definitely the best GM we've had in a long, long time, but as you know, that's not saying much.
My greatest fear is that Sam gets beat up this upcoming season and THEN Mac finally makes the moves necessary to protect a QB. I do not want Darnold to play behind this Oline, but my guess is that they play him anyway which would be a tragic mistake.
I don't see that... Macc reverted back to form after the Darnold pick and I expect both him and the CS to continue developing Qb's the way they always have. That is, a clipboard and a seat on the bench next to the starter whoever that is..If we're lucky, they'll actually be successful this time developing a Qb. If they are, it will be the first since Pennington.
I hope you are right Cman. I would even be good with him playing the last couple of weeks, but please God not the whole season.
I don’t think the offensive line is that terrible. The only starter who was atrocious last season was replaced in free agency (Wes). Wes was so bad that he made 2 solid guards pick up the slack and subsequently look bad themselves. Winters was also working off a brutal injury that hampered him. Beachum, Spencer Long and Carpenter are good starters. Winters was improving drastically until his injury last year, and Shell has been a competent right tackle. This isn’t an elite unit but it’s more than serviceable for now. Hopefully we make a big free agency splash and use the 1 on OL next year to further solidify it.
